This an interesting feature for a downtown park. It is kind of screaming "vandalize me"! I hope that does not happen, they should be able to close and secure this area at night. I do like that the city is trying to expand options and attractions but like the "never has a fire fireplace" this looks good and is a nice idea but I don't see it getting a lot of use. I will look forward to being wrong about this I hope I am.
Wow that's a pretty sizable townhome development. Google Maps Streetview has some good pictures of it under construction from August 2019 as well as pictures that show the single house that was on the property before this. That transformation will show the neighbors what they will be able to do if they want to rebuild or market their land for redevelopment.
That story about the brothers being killed is really sad. I didn't realize exactly where that was until now. I used to go to that plaza pretty often back in 2003/2004. The Streetview images of it show it pretty much as I remember it.
Wow that's really good digging you did there. Thanks for the background, I read up on those minutes you posted. I wonder how much he was charging for the cups of ice for it to be worth the trouble. I guess people also buy other things while at the store.
I had never heard of the cup of ice thing. That was very irresponsible and nearly criminal, did they sell the cough syrup too? I am still hoping that the legalization of marijuana will give folks a better option than drinking cough syrup. The idea of a universal minimum wage that could allow people to get out of the endless cycle of poverty with its poor education and poor mental and health care that create situations where people want to chug cough syrup and to think the best way to solve a problem is to shot someone. I am sure that there would still be drug abuse and stupid people but perhaps a lot fewer.
I forgot to reply about the FitLot north of Rotary Park. That is really awesome to see. I hope that is just the start and we see more of these get put in neighborhood parks. It is great for providing a free exercise area as well as getting neighbors to meet each other.
I lived in California for a couple years and there was a park near my apartment that had equipment like this and I was always amazed to see the people from all ages using it. Most of the people I saw using it were the elderly though I also saw little kids exercising and young adults too, it just depended on the time of day.
I took a look at the two buildings going up on W Ottawa across from the Capitol Complex yesterday. It looks like the structures are finished and they are starting work on the exteriors. They are not finished yet but I was kind of disappointed to see the rather cheap-looking "siding" they are using. I am hoping it all comes together when finished and we will have some nice looking new buildings in that neighborhood.
I also noticed the building going up on N Washington at W Saginaw looks like it is being constructed with steel and bricks! and stands tall on that corner.
Downtown a bank branch is moving into the Washington Tap spot on S. Washington and Michigan Ave. I am neutral on bank branches, it is good to have a business move into a vacant space but a bank branch is not very exciting.
I have also noticed that a Turkish coffee shop/bakery has opened on S. Washington! Now that is exciting, I can't wait to try a Turkish coffee and some baklava.
I was thinking that this is a rather nice and historic neighborhood for this cheap look too, it is interesting to try and understand why these developers go for the cheap on the exteriors these days and it is always so disappointing. Why wouldn't you want your building to look attractive, I would think that would help rent the apartments. Maybe it will look better finished!
Oh, wow. That's impressively bad, it takes the spot for the worst new apartment building by a long shot. Trash windows, trash siding and absolutely no thought given to design. This would be unacceptably bad for the most nondescript suburb, let alone a historic neighborhood right in downtown. If the renderings had accurately showed this I have no doubt the neighborhood would have been against this and the city would not have approved it, I'd be angry if I lived nearby. This building just looks really, really horrible.
I'm assuming the city will have no recourse with these sorts of things until they get the form based code passed?
It looks like a warehouse the was rehabbed. I had not seen this view, geez and awful about cover it. If materials they are using here are not what was depicted for the city to pass then they required to build the building they proposed to the city.
The new Lake Trust building is looking kind of interesting, there is a wedge/fin-shaped marquee on the St Joe side that I would guess recalls 1950's tail light fins or maybe a motel sign, it looks interesting anyway. It is a smaller building than I would like to see on that spot but at least some thought has been put into the design. There is a depiction of the new building on a sign, around the front fence.
Comments
That story about the brothers being killed is really sad. I didn't realize exactly where that was until now. I used to go to that plaza pretty often back in 2003/2004. The Streetview images of it show it pretty much as I remember it.
I lived in California for a couple years and there was a park near my apartment that had equipment like this and I was always amazed to see the people from all ages using it. Most of the people I saw using it were the elderly though I also saw little kids exercising and young adults too, it just depended on the time of day.
I also noticed the building going up on N Washington at W Saginaw looks like it is being constructed with steel and bricks! and stands tall on that corner.
Downtown a bank branch is moving into the Washington Tap spot on S. Washington and Michigan Ave. I am neutral on bank branches, it is good to have a business move into a vacant space but a bank branch is not very exciting.
I have also noticed that a Turkish coffee shop/bakery has opened on S. Washington! Now that is exciting, I can't wait to try a Turkish coffee and some baklava.
I'm assuming the city will have no recourse with these sorts of things until they get the form based code passed?