What is "Justice" for Victims of Eminent Domain?

Detroit can claim the first mile of concrete paved road in the United States (Woodward from 6 Mile to 7 Mile) and the first "urban, depressed" freeway (The Davison). But did you know that Detroit once boasted one of the most important streets in Black America and that politicians chose to demolish it in order to construct Interstate-375?

When the decision was made to use eminent domain and evict the people of Hastings Street, it shut down what had been the highest concentration of Black-owned businesses anywhere in the United States. Hastings boasted blues bars, eye doctors, greasy spoons, dry cleaners, locksmiths, lawyers and dentists. Property owners on highway sites received only 30 days of notice from the state and no assistance with relocation.

But my how times have changed. From the AP...

Michigan pays $16 million in M-5 land seizure

January 3, 2009

LANSING -- Michigan has paid a developer $16 million after seizing land for a highway project in metro Detroit.

The settlement reached early last month ends 13 years of legal wrangling.

In 1995, the Michigan Department of Transportation, or MDOT, used eminent domain to take 51 acres of vacant land to help build the M-5 Haggerty Connector in Novi.

The state in 1996 paid nearly $2.8 million for the land, which was owned by Haggerty Corridor Partners Limited Partnership. The developer said the land was worth more because adjacent property it owned was rezoned later for high-tech offices instead of residential homes and agricultural uses.

This is quite a different result compared to the eminent domain used to seize property for highway construction some 60 years ago.

Eminent domain is used in the construction of every major freeway. Freeway siting in Detroit (and almost every other major U.S. city) has historically been used to dismantle minority communities under the guise of "slum clearance":

In each case, hundreds of residents and businesses were forced to relocate and paid far below the fair-market value for their properties. Communities were shattered and neighbors were literally separated by uncrossable "urban, depressed" freeways.

- The Lodge Expressway tore through Detroit's original Chinatown near 3rd and Howard. It relocated to the area near Cass and Peterboro.

- I-75 in SW Detroit cut through Mexicantown, bisecting Bagley Street, formerly the commercial thoroughfare. M-DOT is finally building a pedestrian bridge to reconnect Bagley this year as part of its seemingly never-ending "Gateway" project.

- I-96 landed right in the middle of an enclave of middle-class African American homes along Grand River Ave. on the west-side, making the neighborhood very difficult to access.

- I-94 took out a swath of the northern part of the Paradise Valley neighborhood.


Now, over half a century later, "Haggerty Corridor Partners Limited Partnership" has been paid a handsome sum to, er, compensate for the loss of their, er, formerly undeveloped swamp?

The $16 million is in addition to the $2.8 million already paid to the developer.

"I admire the government for realizing what's fair," said Alan Ackerman, an attorney for the developer. "It's not easy to give money away, especially in these times."

A message seeking comment was left with an MDOT spokesman Friday afternoon.

It was unclear how the settlement will affect the state budget, which Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration has said is facing a shortfall of at least $106 million in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Is it really unclear how it will affect the state budget? They owe an additional $13.2 million to a faceless group of developers and their cadre of lawyers plus whatever they've spent trying to fight the lawsuit. It will affect the state budget *negatively*.

CVS and Detroit

Trips to CVS (or Walgreen's or Rite-Aid for that matter) in Detroit are a rather unpleasant experience. It gives me great pain and discomfort to hear god-awful white pop music blaring in the aisles at its many Detroit locations. I've always noticed the lack of 24-hour stores in the city limits (only 4 in all Detroit compared to 44 in the suburbs). The drug store chains have a love/hate relationship with Detroit. They love to be the only stores where health and other products are available in many neighborhoods. They hate to serve these neighborhoods late at night, or in ways that promote the dignity and respect of their customers.

A new campaign, called "Cure CVS" is online at www.curecvs.com.

The campaign has released a study that documents a number of city/suburb disparities in major U.S. metropolitan areas, including Detroit. Among the Detroit findings from survey of 206 metro stores:

CVS stores in minority communities had 65 percent more health violations than stores in white communities.

CVS charged more for items than posted or advertised prices.

Security is heightened in Detroit, with more guards and items like infant formula and condoms kept in locked cases, making it difficult to compare prices.

One store per 30,000 residents in Detroit, compared to one store per 9,000 residents in Northville and Northville Township.

Re-Attached

Back in Detroit most days now! Avalanche of postings to come! Hooray!

Winter at Palmer Park

North Fishing Pier - Belle Isle

A few pictures from Belle Isle's north fishing pier (about five weeks ago). Looking good, Detroit...

Wurlitzer Building

On a much-revitalized strip of Broadway that features the new YMCA and a host of other business, a gem of a 1926 building sits neglected.


A view from the back alley...

The Wurlitzer's last tenants moved out in 1982. The owner at the time, Gerald Tobin of Annapolis, MD, purchased the building in 1980. The heat and water were shut off in the winter of 1982, even though tenants such as a photographer, two furriers, the Travelers Aid Society, a religious supplies firm, a legal printing company and the Detroit Police Lieutenants and Sergeants Association were still paying rent. Although the owner claimed he was "absolutely not" trying to drive out the occupants by allowing the heat and plumbing to be cut off, he admitted to owing Detroit Edison thousands of dollars and claimed that the long-term leases with tenants were no longer economically viable.

"I'm not really trying to sell it. I suppose my basic plan is to wait until I can free up some cash and renovate the heating system," he told the Detroit Free Press at the time.

Paul Curtis, a lawyer, purchased the Wurlitzer in 1995 for $211,021. Successful businesses have recently helped make Broadway a viable commercial strip again and lifted the once sagging property values. Yet, the Wurlitzer has decayed significantly during Curtis' ownership. A broker cited by the Free Press in 2004 claimed that the asking price of the building had climbed to 2 million dollars.

This is urban venture capitalism at its worst. A slew of skyscrapers like the Wurlitzer sit empty downtown while their owners wait for some sucker to shell out top dollar for their rotting, asbestos-filled beauties. Mr. Curtis has repeatedly made promises to renovate the deteriorating structure. This seemingly typical move attempts to justify owning a decaying structure and taking no action to renovate or demolish while hoping for someone to come along and buy the land its on. I don't know if Mr. Curtis still owns this building, but I do know that not much is happening with the property currently. (Also - is he the same person as the lawyer from Detroit "Paul L. Curtis" accused in 1994 by federal prosecutors of revealing the identities of two would-be informants [who were later killed] and arranging a $600,000 drug deal in order to set up another man's death?? Somebody help me.)

"Detroit Blog" has a bit more information about the history of the building. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy these snapshots from a few weeks ago...


The building betrays a breathtaking musical history. From "Saul's Medley Land" to the "Ayotte's Booking Agency" (complete with audition room) to the music libraries on the higher floors.



On the rooftop...







The Metropolitan Building sits empty next door.

Detatched

So I've temporarily left Detroit, due to a number of commitments:

-needing to teach in $hithole Ann Arbor to still get bread
-needing to have public transportation that would take me (and T Bozz) to said $hithole on weekdays
-needing to remain close to Detroit so I could still do "research"

Do the math, folks. That adds up to Ypsilanti. Ypsilanti is a fine city, with far more history and charm than Ann Arbor, not to mention lower rents.

I think of Detroit like a lost love lately. I've always known that I can't spend my whole life in Detroit, or even Michigan, the Midwest, the United States, etc. But I'm gonna miss Detroit dearly someday. Since I'm only a half hour ride from the city now (and with "research" still to do there and places to explore and be), I'm only feeling bits and pieces of that detachment here in Ypsilanti. More postings and pictures will crop up on this site if you check back soon...

Detroit Media Distorts Tiger Stadium Issue Beyond Recognition

This post is not about the "impending death" of Tiger Stadium. First of all, its demolition is just about as impending as it was when we were told demolition would take place last summer. Detroit's city council voted last week to tear down the stadium, but they immediately followed that vote with a vote NOT to turn ownership of the old ballpark over to the quasi-public agency in charge of redevelopment. Huh?

To hear it from the local (yokel) media outlets:

1. The stadium will be torn down soon! (Don't ask when or what portions will be saved or what exactly is going in it's place.)

2. Everybody except for a few sentimental crazies wants to get rid of Tiger Stadium!

Distorted reports and editorials have appeared in the Detroit News, Free Press and on local TV stations like WDIV.

- In an editorial on Tuesday, July 31, the Detroit News made the false claim that "every" proposal to save the stadium has lacked financing plans. The editorialist notes that the city is paying $25,000 per month to secure the building, but fails to mention that demolishing the stadium will cost millions of dollars. The upcoming hole in the city's budget on item-line "Tiger Stadium Demolition" is estimated at $4-6 million. That's only if neglected relics from inside the stadium (such as dugout urinals) fetch tons of money at auction. If they don't fetch tons of money?

Hey, speaking of holes, the editorial also omits mention of the vast open space that will be located where the stadium is currently located because there is no development scheduled to be built in its place. Shrugging this issue off, the editorialist writes:
"Developers who see value in the Corktown land have been reluctant to act because they don't want to be the party responsible for tearing down the ballpark."

Yeah, you know how developers are so very sensitive to the needs of surrounding communities. I bet that's why the proposed Wal-Mart never came through.

- On July 26, the Free Press suggested that all the stadiums "neighbors" (read: Corktown yuppies) want the stadium demolished.

"In Detroit's Corktown neighborhood Wednesday, people who live or work near the old ballpark said they were ready for something new."

The stadium also straddles the Briggs community. I have not seen an article where Briggs residents are asked their opinion about this issue. Why must Corktown yuppies be the only sources ever solicited for the "local" opinion? Are the reporters paid to report this story too lazy or too scared to walk over the Cochrane St. bridge and talk to people immediately to the north? Are they too poor to formulate opinions north of the stadium?

- Perhaps the most offensive bit of distortion came from the local NBC affiliate. When broadcasting legend Ernie Harwell made a plea for the city council to delay voting on the issue until their September meeting, they neglected to mention the main point of his speech: delay the vote so that a new proposal to convert the building into a smaller baseball stadium with a Detroit music museum could be heard.

They selectively quoted from Mr. Harwell:

"The old stadium has stood there like the house by the side of the road for a long, long time now," Harwell told the council. "There's been a lot of going back and forth, a lot of bitterness and acrimony. We want to try to eliminate that and move on. We've had some ideas. Mr. Spicer has studied this situation and we think there are viable solutions."

While WDIV omitted his position from their coverage, the freep chose to distort it, only quoting him saying:

"If we can’t (save part of it), we’ll have to keep Tiger Stadium in our memory, our mind and our heart, and cherish it that way."

It's disingenuous to present this as a simple choice of demolition vs. continued abandonment, which is what nearly every local news outlet has done. Today, like last year, the plan for the "impending" demolition is about as transparent as how that $2.6 million stadium maintenance fund got spent. Uh.

Update - Jeffries East Housing Project

I posted back in January a discussion of the plans to demolish the Jeffries East Housing Project.



The housing authorities had slated mid-February 2007 as the date when the last families would be evicted. Last month, a razor wire fence was built to surround the project. This haphazard gesture has been met with resistance by folks who are not ready to abandon these homes.




I recently drove down 4th street with a friend and took this video:

Fisher Body Plant

I went in the old Fisher Body Plant for the first time the other day. Located at Hastings and Piquette, the building is a crumbling masterpiece of industrial architecture. Forgotten Detroit once again does a better job describing the building's history.

I submit pictures for your consideration:


A fire hydrant outside dates from 1912.




Heading in...




The boss wants you to punch your card AND sign in and out in the lobby.


Auto bodies were raised and lowered on a contraption (the remnants of which can be seen on the floor) through the enormous rectangular hole in the ceiling.






Washroom basins crowd men like dogs; they rinsed blood, sweat and grime.

Memorial Day in Detroit

Postal Shutoff South of 8 Mile

In the block bounded by Greenlawn, Pembroke, Woodingham and Chippewa, residents are currently being told to pick up their mail at the College Park Post Office at Livernois and Eight Mile. According to the postmaster, the shutoff of postal service was prompted by loose dogs and dogfighting in the area. The Post Office is demanding that the city of Detroit work with Animal Control to contain the problem. They're also demanding Animal Control escorts when service resumes (reminiscent of the Bus Union's recent demand for police escorts on buses).

Caught in the middle of this battle between the City, the Post Office and Animal Control are CITIZENS. These citizens may or may not be able to easily get to their mail.

Although postal workers in metro Detroit have been bit 34 times this year (including 3 incidents in Livonia and 4 in Westland), there was no SPECIFIC incident cited by the postmaster other than reports of dogfighting on the block. It is predictable but sickening to see Detroit residents paying the price for bad dog owners everywhere.

Abe's on Lincoln

One of my favorite sights around town (the scrubbing-bubble looking thing) has been covered up at Abe's...


...but lives on elsewhere, like Eastern Market.

International Workers Day in Detroit

From the always low-brow freep:

UPDATED AT 1:33 p.m. -- Thousands of immigrants jammed into Clark Park in southwest Detroit on Tuesday, calling for immigration reform and an end to deportations that they say are splitting up families.

- A crowd estimated as "Thousands of immigrants". Firstly, there were many non-immigrant U.S. citizens there, including many families with non-immigrant child born here. Secondly, "thousands" is a pretty half-assed estimate (1000-999,999). I would say that at least 10,000 people were there (including many "immigrants").

- "...jammed into Clark Park". Poorly chosen words? Actually there was plenty of space to walk around at Clark Park, even though "thousands" turned out. We also "jammed" Vernor Highway with a 2-mile march from Patton Park.

- "...deportations that they say are splitting up families". Are we actually going to debate whether or not deportations split up families? Who's "they"? And who could deny that the majority of deportations separate family members from each other?

Anyhow, enough freep-bashing. Here are some pictures:


The march gets underway at Patton Park.




Around the curve at Vernor and Dix...


...and under the train tracks


Clark Park

Coal

A faded advertisement for a coal company greeted northbound drivers on Rosa Parks as they approached Antoinette for decades. I'm not quite sure what happened, but it looks like the brick building upon which the coal was advertised just got a buzz cut. Perhaps it was the Rainbow Action Network, who plan to protest the continued proliferation of coal power at the Chase Bank building in Downtown Detroit on Friday...






Be careful driving in that right lane!

Rant: The CoPa

I admit it, I've been to the last three games at the CoPa (including Game 2 of the World Series, a.k.a. "Smudge-gate"). When Detroit's new baseball stadium opened in 2000, I swore I'd never go to it. I made a special trip from Florida to see a game at Tiger Stadium in it's final year, 1999. When I moved back to Michigan, my boycott was abandoned because of curiosity and a brother with the money for season tickets.

Having watched games at roughly a dozen major league parks, I can't help but be appalled by what a LOW-RENT CIRCUS watching a game at the CoPa continues to be this season:

1. When the Tiger's raised their AL Pennant flag on Opening Day, fireworks and smoke filled the afternoon sky. Fireworks are always lame during the daytime.

2. Very few of the songs played on the stadium's bumpin' sound system are less than 9 years old, with the exception of some of the music players pick out for their personal introductions. 1998's "Gettin' Jiggy With It" and the annoying Jet song appear to be the youngest songs played to energize the crowd.

3. One of the Tiger's new promotional partners, a sexist, crappy hair salon for men, finds a male crowd member once a game that they deem to be in need of a hair cut. The lucky fan wins a free hair cut.

4. ComCrapst sponsors the new pitch-speed and pitch-count scoreboard in left-field. The pitch speed was broken on opening day (like most of ComCrapst's services in Detroit) and the scoreboard no longer indicates the type of pitch thrown.

5. One of the loudest moments of Opening Day was when the mostly white crown jeered the Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, as he threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

6. The crowd will silently sit on their asses, eat junk food and drink beer until the scoreboard graphic, "Make Some Noise!" appears on the scoreboard. Game situations that call for cheering are met with apathy unless the graphic is displayed.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

This year's Saturday calendar date (Mar 17) for St. Patrick's Day means 7 days of mid-lent partying in Detroit. That's because our St. Patrick's Day Parade was Sunday (Mar 11) in Corktown. Corktown was Detroit's hub of Irish immigration from the 1830s onward and still (cheaply and desperately in some ways) retains it's Irish character. Today, it's the last neighborhood in Detroit where you can find homes built in the 1840s and it still hosts a string of Irish pubs and plain old bars along its main corridor, Michigan Avenue.

Here are pictures from the parade:


This was perhaps the funniest thing spotted at the parade. A public short bus from the city of River Rouge has been converted into a rolling keg party.



The white castle on Michigan Ave. gets a "walk-thru" on parade day. It was astonishing to see so many white people walking around a neighborhood where you rarely see white people walking around.


People tend to think of Detroit as a "black" city, when in fact white people still wield an astonishing amount of influence in the city through property ownership, businesses, churches and politics--even "ethnic" whites still retain a presence in 2007.


White people

Not surprisingly, the "droves" of white people mostly drove to get to the parade:







Afterwards, a Star Wars troupe (except for Vader) agreed to pose for me in front of a beautiful Corktown home. Please note the Storm Trooper on the segway.