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| Northeast Livonia; How will we combat blight? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 16 2008, 03:46 PM (3,271 Views) | |
| livoniarocks | Jan 20 2008, 06:31 PM Post #41 |
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And seeing that all of this property is zoned commericial, there is that to combat also if going the condo/housing way. Whomever it is that comes in there, they have to want to (obviously). Mom and Pop shops are great, but unfortunately in this kind of economy they do not do very well, so I think it would be very difficult to fill that space with a bunch of independent owners/shops. The reason that cell phone stores and coffee shops move in to areas like that is because they do have the corporate money backing them. |
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| Deleted User | Jan 20 2008, 08:12 PM Post #42 |
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I know this may be impossible, but if we could find a way to build nice one level condos, with mixed store fronts that are easily accessible from the condos..... I don't know, we have lots of older folks that don't want to leave their homes, but don't want the upkeep any more. And don’t want to pay the extra taxes when they move. One level condos, with walk able store fronts would be appealing to my parents anyway. And find a way to ease the tax burden if they decided to move. Is anything like this even remotely possible? |
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| Mrs.M | Jan 20 2008, 09:47 PM Post #43 |
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Sounds familiar, remember, that's what Kalinski was emphasizing. |
| I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be WRONG. | |
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| livoniarocks | Jan 21 2008, 11:52 AM Post #44 |
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I think that is a great idea, but you hit on a VERY important point. The fact that seniors do not want to sell their homes that they purchased 50 years ago to go into a new place with the pop up tax. I know legislators in Lansing are looking at a way to fix this problem, but there isn't a way to exempt them because it's unconstitutional. |
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| Vanna White | Jan 21 2008, 02:44 PM Post #45 |
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In general, I would much rather see affordable single family homes rather than condos, so we can try to attract young families (and help combat declining enrollment.) In this economy, we will probably not see any new housing starts. |
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| livoniarocks | Jan 21 2008, 02:59 PM Post #46 |
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It's going to be very difficult to convince anyone to build new homes when there are homes for sale all over the place. |
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| BrokenRhino | Jan 22 2008, 11:14 AM Post #47 |
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The way that the (mc sports, Sveden house) strip mall looks, you will never get any development in tat area. The only nice looking building in that section of Livonia is the old Farmer Jack. Here are a few of my ideas. -Demo the MC/Sveden strip and build small condos. -Keep farmer jack building and move something in like a kohls or babies r us. Maybe build a Barnes & Noble or a Borders next to it. -Demo Livonia mall but keep Sears. -Reface sears and build a sports complex like soccer zone next to it. -On the seven mile side of the mall put in little strips like the new Wal-Mart/target did. -Have city inspectors go thru the neighborhoods behind the mall and get strict, make them clean up their yards and do some landscaping. It isn't hard to plant some flowers keep you grass relatively green. Just because those houses are smaller than other parts of Livonia doesn't mean that they don't have to keep up their looks. -It is important to bring in some more restaurants into the area; the best way to fill up a wasted parking lot is with restaurants. They drive traffic. I know I hate going to the Haggerty area during thurs-sund for dinner. We need more options, the rest of the restaurant in Livonia are too scattered to drive traffic. -I understand that these companies need to see that this will be profitable. The city needs to form a committee for developing this area. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. NE Livonia is by far our weakest link. People need to start taking pride in their community or we will lose it. The next step is taking a look at Clarenceville Schools. But that is a job for a greater man than me. |
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| livoniarocks | Jan 22 2008, 12:17 PM Post #48 |
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I think it's great that people are thinking about this, but you also have to think about things such as: 1)more condos just means more housing for sale 2)All of those Big Box stores need to want to come HERE, it's not like we are fighting them off with a stick because so many want to come in. 3)Have to have Sears agree to be refaced, they own their building. 4) Sports complexes have been talked about for years, they never seem to take because those who run them dont' see the need in Livonia. We keep throwing out the same ideas, and they get shot down left and right because those places do not want to come here. We need to look at new stores and new restaurants, ones that don't have a specific demographic that they cater towards. Maybe the Village Shops at Wonderland will see a need to come to NE Livonia also. Who knows? |
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| Otis B. | Jan 22 2008, 01:54 PM Post #49 |
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Are they in bad shape? I don't have kids there so I don't know. |
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| BrokenRhino | Jan 22 2008, 02:28 PM Post #50 |
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It's not that they are bad, they are just not as good as LPS. My kid is too young for it now and he will go to LPS anyway but it is a part of our city that we do not control schools are one the major factors for people moving to an area. I think Livonia should control all of Livonia. When I was growing up I knew kids that went to both and they said that it was a lot worse there. Just not the same education and students conduct of as with LPS. Just my anecdotal experience and really when people are moving in that is what is important. I know a couple of couple that live there and are moving to other parts of Livonia when their children get close to school age. |
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| Mrs.M | Jan 22 2008, 03:13 PM Post #51 |
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When I was growing up, kids used to talk about their teachers - kids still do nowadays, even from the same school, differing opinions even about the same teacher. If you think Livonia should control all of Livonia, do you think Westland should control all of Westland? Westland's got 5 different school systems it feeds to. really when people are moving in that (schools) is what is important. That's what may be holding potential residents from moving into the LPS area. |
| I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be WRONG. | |
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| livoniarocks | Jan 22 2008, 03:46 PM Post #52 |
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Clarenceville feeds Livonia, Redford and Farmington. 2 counties, 3 cities, just FYI. |
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| Nikki | Jan 22 2008, 03:55 PM Post #53 |
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That is not the case anymore. Maybe 5-10 years ago......LPS not what it used to be. |
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| Otis B. | Jan 22 2008, 03:57 PM Post #54 |
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So you are saying that Clarenceville has maintained while LPS has been slipping? |
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| BrokenRhino | Jan 22 2008, 04:41 PM Post #55 |
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I think that is what she has been saying. So nikki, you would rather have you kid go to Clarenceville high school than Stevenson High school? |
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| Mrs.M | Jan 22 2008, 06:36 PM Post #56 |
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Actually, it's the other way around parts of Redford, Livonia, and Farmington FEEDS Clarencville. My question is pertaining to BrokenRhino's comment it is a part of our city that we do not control, schools are one the major factors for people moving to an area. I think Livonia should control all of Livonia. . Since he thinks Livonia should control all of Livonia... Do you think Westland should control all of Westland? Westland's got 5 different school systems it feeds. Do you think all cities should keep their residents within their own city and within their own school system? (if they have their own school system?) |
| I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be WRONG. | |
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| Deleted User | Jan 29 2008, 07:02 PM Post #57 |
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Livonia Mall; Livonia, Michigan Posted in Michigan by Prange Way on May 31st, 2007 In the suburbs of the Motor City, the mall reigns supreme. So much so, in fact, that the retail hubs in the Detroit area are located completely within the suburban realm. There are no major retail draws in the city of Detroit today, which isn’t surprising because Detroit is largely a vastly depressing urban wasteland. Though urban revival attempts continue, much of the city of Detroit is the most horrific example of rust belt economics and white flight. As factories moved out of the area, taking tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of jobs with them, the city went fallow. Today, large swaths of Detroit remain completely abandoned. Entire city blocks which once had houses and activity have essentially returned to nature as prairie grasses and wilderness has grown up through condemned structures, many of which were arsoned. Poverty is also an issue in Detroit, as over one-quarter of the city is beneath the poverty line. Despite the condition of the city itself, there is a relatively healthy economy in the Detroit metro area suburbs. In fact, a stark contrast exists as many areas of northern and western Oakland county, along with areas by the St. Clair shores such as the various Grosse Pointes have some of the highest per-capita incomes in the United States. Livonia, Michigan is a thoroughly blue collar, middle-class suburb directly west of the city of Detroit. With a population of about 100,000, Livonia sprang up from the dust during the post-war building boom. In fact, it ceased growing completely during the 1970s, and has been shrinking ever-so-slightly since as people move farther out to newer and “better” suburbs. Livonia was home to three enclosed malls until fairly recently. Wonderland Mall, which was enclosed in 1985, closed in 2003 after a protracted period of failure and was finally demolished in 2006 for a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Laurel Park Place, which trends upscale, opened in 1989 in far northwestern Livonia along I-275, and is very successful. Livonia Mall, their third mall, opened in 1964 at 7 Mile Road and Middlebelt. Anchored by Sears, Kresge and Kroger, the mall grew in pieces over the years and decades. A southern wing was added anchored by Detroit-based Crowley’s in 1972. Nine years later in 1981 Mervyn’s arrived with a new northern wing. K-Mart closed Kresge in 1987 with the rest of the Kresge locations, and soon after a Child World/Children’s Palace opened up in the spot which lasted until the early to mid 1990s. In 2000, the Crowley’s chain dissolved and became Crowley’s Value City, which is now just Value City and part of the Columbus, Ohio based chain. In 2006, Mervyns left the north end of the mall as the chain pulled out of Michigan and other regions to focus on their core western and southern markets. Today, only Sears and Value City remain, with a rather ragged roster of in-line tenants. In terms of decor and design, Livonia Mall is very dark and outdated inside and out. It hasn’t actually been remodeled since it opened, so there are many wooden store facades and ancient signage. A favorite is the Koney Island location near one of the southern entrances, which is clearly a decades-old fixture in the mall and still in operation. Also, the mall features a unique coffee shop-style restaurant right smack dab in the middle of the mall near the northern end. The Child World/Children’s Palace distinctive castle design is also still present at the western end of the mall, which was most recently a paintball facility. Another interesting feature is the way the mall corridor snakes around sears and exits beside it, making the mall significantly larger. Also, several ancient fountains exist within the mall which are great throwbacks to a bygone era of retail aesthetics. So what’s killied Livonia Mall? Aside from the decor issues and outdatedness, which definitely accounts significantly for the loss of traffic, the mall’s roster and offerings cannot compete with the newer mall across town at Laurel Park Place. In addition, other nearby west suburban malls like Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn and Westland Center in Westland have updated and modernized continuously despite being decades old. Shoppers continue to flock there, and the competition from all of these, as well as super-regional draws in Troy and Novi are sucking traffic away in droves. Livonia Mall might sustain itself and avoid the sinking-ship phenomenon, but only if it repositions itself as a successful ancillary to the larger malls. In 2006, plans were announced to disenclose the outdated mall and build the ever-popular Lifestyle Center in its place, but fell through because negotiations failed with the Sears anchor, which owns its space separate of the mall. As of May 2007, the mall is still in operation. Many of the in-line stores are increasingly local stores and services, rather than traditional national tenants. Livonia Mall is currently ailing, and our prediction is that the mall will go downhill significantly fast in the near future if rehab isn’t done. We’ll put this one on death watch for now, but at least we can enjoy the pictures. Livonia Mall in April 2001: http://www.labelscar.com/michigan/livonia-mall |
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| hopefloats | Jan 29 2008, 07:57 PM Post #58 |
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Nikki-When discussing the decrease in quality of education in LPS what time period are you referring to and specifically what do you think is a problem. I am really interested to know why you think LPS has gone downhill. I have had children in the elementary schools for the last years and have not seen negative changes in that time. In fact I see my youngest learning more in the earlier graes then my oldest did. I also have been very impressed with the classes and quality in the middle and high schools. Obviously this can vary from school to school but I moved to Livonia for the schools and have not been disappointed yet. As far as Clarenceville goes .... People who substitute for both districts say without a doubt LPS has much better behavior because of the expectations placed on the students and the policies regarding consequences when wrong choices are made. As described by a substitute the difference is night and day and that at the middle and high school in Clarenceville it is difficult to teach anything because of the behavior problems. |
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| hopefloats | Jan 29 2008, 08:02 PM Post #59 |
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Okay so back to the topic of this thread. One thing I think would greatly benefit Livoni would be a place like high velocity or soccerzone. Those places are gold mines. Kids are playing games there as early as 5:30 am and as late as 11:00Pm because they are so popular. We need this in Livonia so we can serve our citizens as well as bring in tons of people from other communities. These places also provide great jobs for young people refereeing and such. If I had the money to do it I would. So any ambitious entrepreneurs out there??? |
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| Bill Williamson | Jan 30 2008, 10:55 AM Post #60 |
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It's a shame there is not a way to get WAZA, the Meteors, Livonia Soccer club and the other small soccer organizations to form an investment group. Shares could be sold to raise funds to create the plans for a state of the art facility. Whether it be built at 7 and Middlebelt, Schoolcraft and Middlebelt behind the Home Depot, the GM Levan / Schoolcraft site or where the Kroger facility is moving from on Industrial, build the interest and the rest will fall in place. |
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