I am of the opinion that the Mission is fine where it is, I really never see much activity outside the building anyway. I said "if it were me" that was homeless and in need of shelter I might prefer to not have to be out on Michigan Ave. with all kinds of people staring at me from their cars. I would not want to hide the homeless I would want to find them a home, healthcare, and income. The only thing that bothers me about seeing homeless people is that there are homeless people and I can't do much to help them. it must be a great feeling to be a Rescuer because you are doing something to help. I want to see the day when the Mission closes due to a lack of people in need. Lansing is one place where there could be zero homelessness.
Thanks GB, I'm a little sensitive about the issue. The Mission was founded by the Doltons in 1911, rented space on Michigan Avenue and purchased the building at 611 Michigan Avenue in 1948. My Mom's best friend was a granddaughter of the Doltons and my family has been involved ever since I was little. It's humbling to serve meals to men (and now women and children) who are so grateful for food to eat. They are not a proud lot, nor is Mark Criss the director. 85% of monetary donations goes directly to helping the needy - well above the national average for charities. I, too, wish for the day when missions are not necessary, unfortunately the numbers of those in need are growing. Peace to all.
I can't bring myself to pretend that I think that having the mission right on Michigan Ave with all the people congregating on the sidewalk at meal time isn't a significant detractor for that area, it may have well been a factor in that areas decline into the red light district it once was. It isn't hiding the homeless to spread them around the city, it's integrating them into society. I do not see how cramming the homeless all in one area and into a few large shelters is a positive for them, much less the area that they are crammed into. If you want to help them, getting them out of the "homeless community" would be the best thing for them.
It's interesting how a lot of these old houses on Michigan Ave had storefronts cobbled together onto the front. The one at 1800 seems to have been cobbled together every which way if you take a look at it on google maps. I've always wondered how they managed the interiors when they made these sorts of additions.
I know it sounds rather unachievable but a universal minimum wage could go a long way to ending homelessness. I like the idea of a very small tax on corporations[like google] for internet transactions which could be a way to pay for it. If people don't have to spend all their time finding shelter and food they can go to school learn a skill, raise their children, get health care, go to work. We all could have used another $1,200 from the Feds. during this crisis, think about how important that money was and how at least I put it right back into the economy. I think this way we as a country could stop relying on charitable and religious organizations to take care of people left out of the rather cruel and racist economy.
I saw a lot of old houses with storefronts bump-outs and dormers added out east. The thing that often happens to the floor plan is that they end up with no hallways just one room leading to another. So one might have to walk through a couple of rooms to get to the bathroom which could have a door right in the kitchen. I like having the bathroom down the hall! Some of these houses dated from the early 1800s and they would do a "historic preservation" which would strip everything down to the joists and wallboards. To me this kind of wrecked the authenticity of the house, but the interesting part was to see the wide boards that they used for the walls and floors. The walls would be a patchwork of different sized boards, often these boards were from derelict or wrecked ships. There were some that were from the Colonial Period which you could pick out because they were 23 inches wide.
I saw the house you guys are talking about on Michigan Ave... There I noticed kind of a strangely ornate wooden arch holing up a bay window frame. It looks like it had been covered up and I noticed it because it was kind of fancy for its function. It looked like the arch may have come from another part of the house and was repurposed for the job at some point. The arch is on the side of the house across from the pizza place.
I noticed that arch on that house when I was at Papa Johns last week, it's sort of a nice touch. I'm surprised to see what looks like a renovation going on there, I'd honestly rather see most of those houses with storefronts tore down and replaced with something more substantial.
A lot of older houses never had hallways on the first floor, my house just goes from room to room, so that may not have been an artifact of any storefront renovation.
It may be time to resurrect the name Lanstredam! There is a "growing" number of people working in this industry, with real tax-paying jobs. I wonder if after seeing Lansing have success in this "field" other communities will change their views on cannabis and want some of the tax money Lansing is now receiving.
I feel like being centrally located gives Lansing an edge for these sorts of facilities being built. You can hop on the freeway in all cardinal directions and get to where you need to go to distribute.
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I saw the house you guys are talking about on Michigan Ave... There I noticed kind of a strangely ornate wooden arch holing up a bay window frame. It looks like it had been covered up and I noticed it because it was kind of fancy for its function. It looked like the arch may have come from another part of the house and was repurposed for the job at some point. The arch is on the side of the house across from the pizza place.
A lot of older houses never had hallways on the first floor, my house just goes from room to room, so that may not have been an artifact of any storefront renovation.