Sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I have just been really busy with my own life a lot of my hobbies and things like that took a back seat. Its getting cold in Michigan by now anyway, so its prolly going to be pretty hard for me to take any pictures of my explorations. There are still quite a few malls and shopping centers that I can put on here that I know of, though. Thankfully for the state of MIchigan, I haven't noticed any new significant closinging around here...well, other than Circuit City planning to close 150 stores nationwide soon. I can imagine more than a few of those being in Michigan...sigh...so that more empty hulks to plague our landscape. If you ask me with that state of things as far as these gigantic empty stores, they should all be torn down and turned into parks or something like that.
Take for instance all these empty Home Quarters buildings...nones ever going to buy or lease such large buildings, so they are just going to let them sit there all the while paying leases, utilities and property taxes? I don't pretend to know much about real estate so correct me if I'm wrong, but that just doesn't make sense to me. Metro Detroit is one of the most retail saturated merto areas that I know of as it is...we have way more choice than we need in some areas.
Another example:
Dearborn has a Best buy, a Target, and a Home Depot all adjacent to Ford Rd. and Southfield Fwy. If you hop on Southfeild and head maybe 2 miles south you will find the Fairlane Green shopping center Which also has ALL THREE OF THE SAME STORES plus lots more. Its wasteful and it worries me somewhat. Dearborn is right next to Detroit and I know that scares retail away more often than not. I think its planning ahead, but fro the worst. I see it this way; if the fourtunes of Detroit go down any further than it will beigin to infect the surrounding suburbs wich may force retailers to close stores like those in Dearborn and because of FG, the wont have to build a new store nearby to fill the void.
I'm trying to have a more optimistic view of the future these days though.
About Me
- Eric
- I'm a 31 year old male living in Southeast Michigan. I grew up on the westside of Detroit and developed an appreciation for all things Detroit. I love photography, history, and city life all of which and more lead me to make this blog. I am an active member of many Detroit related forums and enjoy reading anything new.
2 comments:
I never can understand why we keep developing further and further away while we leave hundreds of empty strip malls and big box stores behind. Currently I live in Redford, Michigan(The Gateway to the Suburbs), very close to the closed Livonia Mall site. I cannot even begin to count all the empty buildings I see eveyday. Not to mention, many of these places did good business in the area and are needed, but decided to close down or move somewhere else like the comerica bank on Seven mile road. It closed about four months ago, but they left the ATM open, which there is always a line for. Another instance is the Farmer Jack that used to be across the street from Livonia Mall, it was always busy. Many of my neighbors shopped there and now there is nothing. If you live in north Redford, you have to drive at least 5 miles to get to a grocery store or even farther to find a restaurant that is not a coney island. I have read somewhere that Utah has a cap on urban sprawl, where people can only develop to a certain point. This forces businesses to redevelop some of these empty places instead of moving farther and farther away.
I agree 100% and i think thats a great Idea. I can only hope that we catch on before its too late.
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