Detroit - Page 3

ltsmotorsport · #41 Posted **Nov 12, 2008, 6:05 PM**

Moving thread.

mmmatt · #42 Posted **Nov 12, 2008, 6:23 PM**

This made my day

Thanks for the great tour

tjh1 · #43 Posted **Nov 12, 2008, 11:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fangorangutang

What is the name of this building? It's spectacular!

LMich · #44 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 3:39 AM**

It's name is the Book Tower, and while still partially occupied, it's in pretty serious disrepair.

SNWEB.ORG Photography - http://www.flickr.com/photos/snweb/

Evergrey · #45 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 3:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LMich

It's name is the Book Tower, and while still partially occupied, it's in pretty serious disrepair.

SNWEB.ORG Photography - http://www.flickr.com/photos/snweb/

what is the off-white building to the right of Book Tower?

Cbautz · #46 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 4:06 AM**

I concur with all of the comments, this thread is great!

Rizzo · #47 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 4:36 AM**

Now in all fairness, the Book Tower is not in serious disrepair. It needs a moderate amount of maintenance and a healthy renovation indeed, but since I've been inside as of 8 months ago. All floors were clean, lights were still working, and the bathroom fixtures worked just fine, and the heat is still on. A building in serious disrepair might be the Broderick Tower for example where windows are broken, plumbing and electrical have been stripped, and vandals have smashed through walls and burned entire floors.

The off-white building next to The Book is Trolley Plaza, although I think it's now called Washington Square apartments. It's a fairly nice and affordable place to live from what I've heard. It's only moment of bad history I can think of was an elevator incident.

LMich · #48 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 7:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayward

Now in all fairness, the Book Tower is not in serious disrepair. It needs a moderate amount of maintenance and a healthy renovation indeed, but since I've been inside as of 8 months ago. All floors were clean, lights were still working, and the bathroom fixtures worked just fine, and the heat is still on. A building in serious disrepair might be the Broderick Tower for example where windows are broken, plumbing and electrical have been stripped, and vandals have smashed through walls and burned entire floors.

Are you talking about the Tower, Building, or both? I was debating on whether to use the word serious, but as far as currently occupied high-rises go, this is one is probably in the worst condition. Of course, I wouldn't be comparing this to abandoned high-rises.

Rizzo · #49 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 9:31 AM**

Well the lowrise may appear to be in rough shape simply because they started some interior demo and never finished. But I've been on quite a few levels of the tower and it was in decent condition.

From an architectural standpoint, by saying "serious disrepair" you are talking about stripped building infrastructure, structural issues, water infiltration, and drywall and plaster damage all throughout....which is exactly what the Broderick looks like. The Whitney from where the above photo was taken is probably half way there.

As for MCS, the visit above is really showing of exponential decay. I couldn't believe stairways that existed over a year and half ago just aren't there anymore. Pieces of reinforced concrete are now beginning to drop from structural members above. Although still salvageable, the building really can't go another decade just sitting like this.

boden · #50 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 7:38 PM**

Perfect!

UCityGardener · #51 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 8:07 PM**

My heart literally aches when I see some of the spectacular architecture being left to rot in that once great city.

We have been a throw-away society for so long that we collectively regard it as "normal" to see a rust-belt city have vast areas of dilapidated and decaying buildings and infrastructure. It's such a waste of resources.

We need to start exploring how to refurbish and restore some of these beauties and reuse the precious natural resources that went into creating them.

tech12 · #52 Posted **Nov 13, 2008, 11:10 PM**

Wow, amazing thread.

I couldn't help but think of what a great intersection this would be, if it were all built out with old buildings (which I'm sure it was in the past), and had a vibrant street life and everything:

BigKidD · #53 Posted **Nov 14, 2008, 1:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech12

Wow, amazing thread.

I couldn't help but think of what a great intersection this would be, if it were all built out with old buildings (which I'm sure it was in the past), and had a vibrant street life and everything:

I was going to comment on this very photo, but you have already. Nevertheless, I concur. Also, some revitalization has taken place in Detroit, but can it really be brought back?

Michi · #54 Posted **Nov 14, 2008, 1:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UCityGardener

My heart literally aches when I see some of the spectacular architecture being left to rot in that once great city.

Detroit still is a great city. It's just not the center of the world like it use to be.

Michi · #55 Posted **Nov 14, 2008, 2:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigKidD

I was going to comment on this very photo, but you have already. Nevertheless, I concur. Also, some revitalization has taken place in Detroit, but can it really be brought back?

The answer is no.

There always seems to be spurts of hope for Detroit on macro levels: GM investing billions of dollars to be downtown, Quicken announcing their HQ move, high profile mixed use developments, rails to trails project, etc etc...but we never really ever seem to "seal the deal" and just lolly-gag ourselves into an unacceptable status quo of drag the loser attitude until its spread so thin that it's reached Lansing and gets closer to the brink of total collapse. Imagine if Los Angeles mimicked Detroit.

TransitEngr · #56 Posted **Nov 14, 2008, 3:23 AM**

Excellent work!

Detroit amazes me... such incredible beauty... filled with many many wonders (particularly architectural) , but it's also in horrible decay.

BigKidD · #57 Posted **Nov 14, 2008, 7:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michi

The answer is no.

There always seems to be spurts of hope for Detroit on macro levels: GM investing billions of dollars to be downtown, Quicken announcing their HQ move, high profile mixed use developments, rails to trails project, etc etc...but we never really ever seem to "seal the deal" and just lolly-gag ourselves into an unacceptable status quo of drag the loser attitude until its spread so thin that it's reached Lansing and gets closer to the brink of total collapse. Imagine if Los Angeles mimicked Detroit.

Well, that's quite sad then.

LMich · #58 Posted **Nov 14, 2008, 8:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech12

Wow, amazing thread.

I couldn't help but think of what a great intersection this would be, if it were all built out with old buildings (which I'm sure it was in the past), and had a vibrant street life and everything:

It's funny this photo has been brought up, because I think it illustrates another reason why it's hard to bring back certain parts of downtown, and that's the awkward street grid. While it creates some awesome sightlines, it makes it like hell to redevelop anything beyond single-tenant buildings. With the local economy already making development difficult, these triangle lots make building speculative projects almost impossible on these specific lots.

fangorangutang · #59 Posted **Nov 14, 2008, 3:05 PM**

Thanks, again, for all of the views and comments! I'm glad this thread started so much discussion.

jodelli · #60 Posted **Nov 14, 2008, 9:04 PM**

Excellent thread!
Were some of these taken earlier? In that picture of Grand River and Cass the high school is still under construction. The Temple Bar looks different too. Just curious.

Thanks for the pics.