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Old 07-25-2013, 10:13 AM
 
Location: Somewhere flat in Mississippi
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Poletown East, Detroit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 07-25-2013, 12:36 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
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It was the punk rock capital of MI back then.
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Old 07-25-2013, 03:48 PM
 
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I remember. It was sort of disheartening to see them just plow Poletown under like that. It was only years later that I learned they'd already done the same to the Beal Street neighborhood, claiming that it was necessary to do construction there -- but then the construction never happened and there was just a giant trench in the ground for years, replacing one of the city's most vibrant neighborhoods.

At least the highway they put in place of Poletown wasn't just a ruse to chase away the people in that community.
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Old 07-25-2013, 09:22 PM
 
Location: West Loop, Chicago, IL
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Stumbled across this on Google. Make sure you click on "Poletown 1981" on the left side of the screen for beautiful B&W photos.

Poletown
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Old 07-25-2013, 09:33 PM
 
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Long story short, it was Coleman Young's "revenge" for the plowing down of Hastings Street/Black Bottom to build I-75.
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Old 07-26-2013, 01:18 AM
 
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I knew the area before all of this happened. My Grandparents raised their family (7 kids) there in a 3 family residence, they had the top floor. We played on the streets, picked raspberries and peaches in the postage size back yard, walked to my cousins house and the corner store for candy treats. We used to sit on the front porch on hot summer afternoons. Lots of great memories!
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Old 07-26-2013, 04:10 AM
 
Location: Michigan
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Man, if it was a choice between saving a thriving urban neighborhood and building a car factory... I'd go with the thriving urban neighborhood.
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Old 07-26-2013, 09:43 PM
 
Location: West Loop, Chicago, IL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by animatedmartian View Post
Man, if it was a choice between saving a thriving urban neighborhood and building a car factory... I'd go with the thriving urban neighborhood.
True, but of course hindsight is 20/20. Detroit had been bleeding jobs since the '50s. Here was a chance to save some of them. Perhaps the jobs seemed like more of a guarantee than the neighborhood continuing to thrive. Different mindset back in the '80s when all the Rust Belt cities were still suffering significant population losses and were desperate to do anything they could to keep a tax base.
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Old 07-27-2013, 08:09 AM
 
Location: Somewhere flat in Mississippi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 313Weather View Post
Long story short, it was Coleman Young's "revenge" for the plowing down of Hastings Street/Black Bottom to build I-75.

"Poletown" was actually racially and ethnically mixed by the time it was destroyed.
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Old 07-27-2013, 09:25 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo View Post
"Poletown" was actually racially and ethnically mixed by the time it was destroyed.
True, indeed, though at the time, it represented the only significant white population on the city's near east side.
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