Re: Packard Plant Update - February 2019

Posted by Leeedy On 2019/2/9 12:56:35
Quote:

HH56 wrote:
With the investment made by the developer and city demolition removing the worst of the falling down buildings, has the area and particularly the surrounding neighborhoods close to where the money is being spent stabilized any or is the entire area still considered a place only the foolhardy would venture into without backup. I remember some posts a few years back that suggested anyone driving in the area stay in the car and keep moving ready to hit the gas even during daylight hours.


This entire area has been on the skids since the late 1950s when Packard (or Studebaker-Packard-as some might insist) pulled out. The only thing that held the area together after Packard's departure was that there were lots and lots of big and small businesses renting space in the plant and they created jobs and generated taxes. But the people running Detroit smelled federal poverty pimp money- if only they could just get their hands on all of that Packard property and turn it into some kind of "enterprise zone." So? They got greedy and kicked out all of the existing tenants -imagining all this would turn into a bonanza. (Yesssss, I know it wasn't all this simple and yesss the ugly mess of drugs wormed its way in here too). Meanwhile there was a lengthy court battle and stupid demolition started when it was not supposedly authorized by the court... and then the buildings underwent years and years of vandalism while the city fathers sat and fiddled while Rome burned. There was MONEY to be made, so what did it matter if people were thrown out of work and businesses tossed out of their habitats? So the Packard plant turned into the world's largest abandoned industrial site with destruction and malicious mayhem totally out of control. Those who should have cared did nothing. In the end, the whole thing went down like the Hindenburg.

Anyway, the surrounding neighborhood was instantly converted to ghetto. Property was worthless. I know. My dad owned commercial property on Mt. Elliott within walking distance of the southern end of the plant (the parts the city now owns). When my father died in 1965 there were old Packard retirees living in some of our apartments. By the time I came back from Viet Nam in late 1968, I realized I had walked out of one war only to enter another one! I would go to collect rent and sometimes the new tenants would pull guns on me! And that was 50 years ago... so use your imagination on how it is now. It certainly didn't take a turn for the better! Frankly a lot of the houses and apartments around the plant are now vacant lots (including the commercial properties I owned). And with this, far fewer people in the area than there used to be. BUT... it is not the kind of area where I would even want to stop at a gas station-even if I was "packing heat."

Area stabilized? We won't see anything near this notion in our lifetimes. They're still tearing things down and there are untold numbers of gutted properties in the area. There are still "hot-sheet motels" in the area where they rent by the hour. One needs to prepare one's mind for a whole new level of sad devastation when talking about this area and other parts of Detroit. While there are certain areas that appear to be holding their own (and yes everybody talks about building going on downtown with sports stadiums and casinos). BUT even some of the areas that are hanging on have abandoned houses with the front doors standing open or boarded up.

The colossal greed and corruption and the conversion mentality that merely accepts what ought to be unacceptable has gone on so long, and so deeply ingrained that a total stabilization-much less recovery-is still on the level of science-fiction right now.

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