| What should happen to the Metropolis? |
| tear the sucker down |
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14% |
[ 1 ] |
| rehab it and save it |
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85% |
[ 6 ] |
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| Total Votes : 7 |
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| Author
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Post |
 
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Tegan
F L I N T O I D
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Are these people insane? The Metropolis is one of the most architectural interesting buildings in downtown Flint, and the article in the newspaper gave absolutely no reason or justification for calling it an eyesore or why it should be demolished.
Besides, tearing down a perfectly viable building and destroying its embodied energy, and putting extra strain on the earth's resources to build a shiny new building with new materials would be environmentally irresponsible in an ever growing Green world.... you Hippies...
Its crazy to tear down the building, especially when its at least eligible for a 10% federal historic preservation tax credit because it is a building older than 1936 and is being extensively rehabbed for nonresidential use. And I'm sure there are other funding options out there.
I can go on and on about how demolition is not the answer and how the Metropolis is important to the cultural heritage and persona of Flint, but that doesn't resonate with those people. I guess only money does. Well, its sad because Flint's downtown will never be on par with Ann Arbor, Monroe, Kalamazoo, Adrian, because it thinks that demolition is the road to progress. I will concede that abandoned and rat infested neighborhood houses that are a danger to children and magnet for gangs and drugs may need to meet the bulldozer, but the Metropolis?
Seriously? |
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Fri Oct 03, 2008 11:18 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| There's probably extra money for someone's pocket if it's torn down, as opposed to renovating it. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:09 am |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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It needs to be restored!!!
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_________________
Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:35 pm |
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Tegan
F L I N T O I D
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| I just called the Community Foundation... left a message for someone, but I would encourage others to do the same. Although I'm fairly naive, maybe enough people calling will make a difference.... |
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Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:47 am |
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WhatsUpDowntown
F L I N T O I D
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Tim Herman is a Moron!!! He has no idea what he is doing, only that his pockets are getting fatter with every dirty deal.
They refuse to allow private investors into there WASP downtown.
We need to speak out against them before they own everything and destory what little history we have left in our downtown. |
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Sat Oct 11, 2008 9:36 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Downtown, the college & cultural area, carriage town, Hurley & Kettering will be turned into an Ann Arbor clone. The rest of Flint will be ignored and rot. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:56 am |
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Gumby
F L I N T O I D
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| Well if that is where the people want to locate then so be it. I am sorry but who in there right mind is going to invest into the North end right now with all of the recent shootings or the depressed east side. I hate to be the realist here but until our downtown, carriage town college cultural center, Hurley & Kettering are a clone of Ann Arbor than the other areas will rot because it just won't make economic sense to invest outside of said areas until the land values are to high and then it will slowly start to branch out into the outlying neighborhoods. |
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Mon Oct 13, 2008 3:31 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Nice to know that those with unacceptably low income levels don't count. Gonna keep all the poor folks in the ghetto, huh? |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:52 pm |
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Tegan
F L I N T O I D
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Some of the most profitable investments are done in low income neighborhoods and use low income housing credits or other systems to avoid gentrification, so that the rising property taxes or rent hikes do not force poorer people from their homes.
The scary psychology of this city is that the only way to "improve" is to demolish and build new. This is the SAME mind set as urban renewal in the 1970s, and I thought that they had learned their lesson, that it doesn't work.
I received a voicemail back from the Community Foundation. They said that the Journal article was very misleading and sounded like they were further along in their plans than they actually were. She invited me to call her back so that they could explain their plans to me. I plan to do that today, so I will keep you posted.
Whether or not money is being invested in downtown or neighborhoods or whatever, investors shouild recognize the importance of the existing architectural and cultural resources. You can't just scrape everything old away and expect the masses to have the same connection to the new.
Not to mention that in ten years, the new architecture will be considered ugly and boring. |
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Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:16 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| As far as houses go, I'll take mine, built in 1917, over a new one any day. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:38 am |
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Gumby
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Nice to know that those with unacceptably low income levels don't count. Gonna keep all the poor folks in the ghetto, huh?
Now where in my message did I say that? In fact, I have devoted my life to helping those low income people.
All I stated was the reality of the situation that no one is going to invest a lot of money in the neighborhoods that are not helping themselves until the neighborhoods you mentioned are an Ann Arbor clone. I am sorry if reality sucks but thats just the way it is. I hope I am proven wrong but it isn't the private investors responsibility to make sure the underprivledged areas are fixed up. In fact one might argue you are dead wrong that the other neighborhoods are being ignored. University Village, Metawanee Hills, and the proposed New Landmark Grocery Store and transportation hub at Buick City are all outside of the neighborhoods you mentioned.
I too hate to see the Metropolis torn down and was pissed when they turned The Copa into a grassy area. But at least with the Metropolis they have a plan in place before they tear it down so it wont be a vacant lot for who knows how many years. |
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Tue Oct 14, 2008 1:57 pm |
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