Quote:
Originally Posted by hudkina
Uh... 25 years ago is irrelevant. And the state of Northland has little to do with the success of retail in the northern half of the city. It's irrelevant in regards to any discussion of the middle-class neighborhoods/shopping centers north of 10 Mile Rd.
|
The point I'm trying to make is that Northland was at one time and for a long-time the crown jewel of Metro Detroit and specifically Southfield retail. If a suburb allows its once prime shopping district to dramatically decline, then it doesn't bode well for that suburb's other areas over the long-term unless there is sort of turn around. All indicators of a retail turn around are negative in Southfield (declining median incomes, property values...).
I also don't consider the Big Lots on Twelve Mile in Southfield as a sign of a stable and solid middle class.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by hudkina
But you are wrong on that account. Northland has certainly declined as it was always geared toward Detroit and its residents. However, Meijer, Best Buy, Target, Lowe's, Kroger, The Home Depot, Starbucks, etc. These are all major retail giants that were perfectly fine with opening locations within the city. Even Walmart wants to tear down the old St. Bede's church and build a supercenter. And there are plenty of smaller national retailers that have opened shop as well. Honestly, Southfield never had a major retail presence as it was more heavily geared toward office development, but there are still plenty of retail options.
|
Bollocks! Northland was the first mall to open in Michigan and it was the only mall in Oakland County for nearly ten years. East side Detroiters were much closer to Eastland Mall and downtown shopping. Even those on the northwest side went downtown or had options at Grand River & Greenfield which was still a viable shopping district in the late 1970s and a competitor to Northland only two or three miles away.
Southfield "never had a major retail presence"
Pray tell, outside of Troy, which Oakland county suburb or Metro Detroit suburb had more retail than Southfield until recently? And what Home Depot in Southfield. The one near Northland closed a few years ago.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by hudkina
I don't know what fantasy world you live in, but none of those brands are low-class. They certainly aren't Pottery Barn or Nordstrom, but come on; every middle-class city has these types of shopping centers. If you think that power center is low-end, then 90% of American shopping centers must be low-end to you. The other anchors of Tel-Twelve were Montgomery Ward and Crowley's. Either one was not much better than a J.C. Penny or Kohl's (and honestly before they closed, both brands were in the dumps).
|
I clearly said mid to low-middle class.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by hudkina
Then I can't imagine you're doing much looking around. Because when I go through the northern half of the city I see a stable, solidly middle-class, well-maintained city with a fairly typical array of retail.
|
Maybe you should slow down from 50 MPH when traveling down Telegraph or Northwestern Highway. You'll see the empty storefronts and "For Lease/Rent" signs on not just small shops, but large, mostly empty, shopping centers and office buildings too. Most of the retail on Telegraph south of Tel-Twelve has seriously declined. And in the neighborhoods and apartment districts one can see evidence of declining property investment.
One could say that many northwest and northeast Detroit neighborhoods in 1990 were solidly middle class, stable, and well-maintained. No one is arguing that those area's are not middle class, it's that at Southfield's current rate of decline, those areas will not be middle class for much longer. Many of those neighborhoods (specifically north of 10 Mile for your purposes) were filled with lawyers, teachers, businessmen and people with college degrees. They're being replaced by bus drivers and unskilled auto workers.