I always notice that in these old photos the streets seem to be paved so nicely. Somehow during the Depression, the city managed to keep the streets in much better condition than today. What was their secret?
Lighter vehicles (no 3,4, 5 axle semi trucks), cars only have been widely accessible for 20 years or so, so less wear on the new streets, fastly-growing population which assured adequate taxing and thus regular maintenance, the fact that the streets were relatively new compared to the fact that a lot of road repairs are resufacing instead of reconstruction of the entire road bed, etc...a whole host of reasons.
Check out this old photo of Oldsmobile Park:
It must be from 1996 or 1997 as the current Shiawasee Street Bridge appears under construction, still. You can see the old railroad viaduct that used to serve the Ottawa Street Station. Also, 101 South Washington Square (upper left-hand corner) had not be reconstructed, yet.
Check this out. There was a plan back in '72 to build a route around downtown East Lansing to relieve congestion on Grand River. Looks like it would have butchered Valley Court Park. Though at the same time, now one can deny the pressure this would have taken off Grand River, which can get pretty crazy at times. And, really, the street layout west of Abbot has always been horrible, which is why I'm glad to see that the developments taken on that part of town reshape the roads making them better for pedestrians and motorists.
Check out the old JC Penny on the northwest corner of Washington and Kalamazoo back in what I assume is the 80's?
It is now, of course, Cooley Law School's library. This is one of the very few reconstructions that ended up looking better than the original building. lol
This is I believe the Mid-'70's judging by the cars, that is a '72 Chevy Vega[?] turning down S. Washinton Ave. Also those cement flower planters are from that era.
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And the JC Penny building was transformed into the Cooley Law School library.
From the city's public service department twitter page, a street sweeper in 1938:
It must be from 1996 or 1997 as the current Shiawasee Street Bridge appears under construction, still. You can see the old railroad viaduct that used to serve the Ottawa Street Station. Also, 101 South Washington Square (upper left-hand corner) had not be reconstructed, yet.
It is now, of course, Cooley Law School's library. This is one of the very few reconstructions that ended up looking better than the original building. lol