[60'sGal]

Hillsdale is not a Town I knew back then. I know it as it is now, and must say it is one of the few Towns I would willingly move to. Nice Town, nice people.

I think that we can never go home again. It just never looks the same and in our heart, we want it to. I experienced that on a return visit to my hometown of St. Louis, Mo. I cried till I was dry. We drove back through again several days later before we left and I was able to see there were still good things and many happy families there. Oh, it wasn't as I remembered, but I bet those who live there now will say the same thing when they visit years from now.

[WheredoIlive?]

Originally Posted by Marti191

Nash Drugs is still open at this point. They've moved some of the Hallmark cards into it. Nash also has a mini-store inside of the Market House. I have no idea how the Market House can stay open through these times-especially with super Wal-mart now there. I'm glad they do, they are a huge contributer to the schools and sports teams in the community.
It is becoming a ghost town though, sad to say. We visit a couple times a month (settled in Lansing for now), and it just feels like there are fewer people around. I know that most of my graduating class moved away. Oh! another unfortunate casualty has been that Savarino's is now sold to the owner of the Hunt Club who is turning it into a sports bar restaurant.

I am glad Market House has stayed opened. I shopped there the most when I lived in Hillsdale. I hope they make it. Did Kroger close yet? I could tell there was less people there by 2007 and friends have said things have only gotten worse. That is sad. I feel bad about Savarino's being closed, sports bar...ugh....I used to eat there at times. That is the only fancy restaurant in all of Hillsdale for goodness sakes, now everyone will have to go down to Jonesville for the Chicago Water Tower- {Im fuzzing out on name but people will know what I mean} I guess nothing stays the same, that is for sure.

[WheredoIlive?]

Originally Posted by 60'sGal

Hillsdale is not a Town I knew back then. I know it as it is now, and must say it is one of the few Towns I would willingly move to. Nice Town, nice people.

I think that we can never go home again. It just never looks the same and in our heart, we want it to. I experienced that on a return visit to my hometown of St. Louis, Mo. I cried till I was dry. We drove back through again several days later before we left and I was able to see there were still good things and many happy families there. Oh, it wasn't as I remembered, but I bet those who live there now will say the same thing when they visit years from now.

Did you live there before? You are right we can never go home again, nothing stays the same. I have gone back to places 20 years even after leaving, and nothing remains the same. Even two years is enough to have a place drastically change like with Hillsdale. I understand the tears. I somehow have ended up with a life with everyone far away. I guess this is a harsh reality we all must face as we age.

[c_foste11]

Sorry this took so long for any posting to happen, but I typically dont check out much about the current town I live in until today..... I am one of the many people who feel this is a big problem right now, Hillsdale is a town I have called home for all of my life (minus 5 yrs, I moved to a different city in MI, after graduation).... the things happening here are awful and very sad.... Let me be the first to clarify the problem Hillsdale is having IS NOT the mayor that is 19 yrs old, IT IS the individuals that sit on the board for the city of Hillsdale, that handle all the cards... even when the town was run by much older gentleman from ages 40-mid 50s, the town would never allow growth.... the individuals whom comprise the board for city of Hillsdale need the finger to be directly pointed to them!!!! THEY will not allow the city to upgrade their technology (they have on record dimissed on numerous occasions the chance for fiber optic technology to be utilized for our city) they have also dismissed on other numerous occasions the chance for any new company (industrial or other wise) to come into our city....
The board decided the best thing for this city is to keep the OLDER, RETIRED community and anything to do with the College WELL FUNDED and most certaintly taken care of and they have overlooked any chance of families expanding and calling Hillsdale their own. Every city that sees growth and can maintain a good lifestyle must also deal with a SLIGHT increase in city taxes and the ability to allow this town to GROW!!! There are MANY towns across the US that indeed maintain a balance of NORMAL EVERYDAY FAMILIES as well as the GROWTH and EXPANSION of their COLLEGES to occur... if you look at the Top 25 cities to live in the US, I would easily say more than half of them are driven by a small University, a small college or any type of university presence... yet a town of a mere 10,000 people cannot flourish and also share these same benefits! Something is the matter here and maybe this is something the City of Hillsdale board member should see.

[WheredoIlive?]

Originally Posted by c_foste11

Sorry this took so long for any posting to happen, but I typically dont check out much about the current town I live in until today..... I am one of the many people who feel this is a big problem right now, Hillsdale is a town I have called home for all of my life (minus 5 yrs, I moved to a different city in MI, after graduation).... the things happening here are awful and very sad.... Let me be the first to clarify the problem Hillsdale is having IS NOT the mayor that is 19 yrs old, IT IS the individuals that sit on the board for the city of Hillsdale, that handle all the cards... even when the town was run by much older gentleman from ages 40-mid 50s, the town would never allow growth.... the individuals whom comprise the board for city of Hillsdale need the finger to be directly pointed to them!!!! THEY will not allow the city to upgrade their technology (they have on record dimissed on numerous occasions the chance for fiber optic technology to be utilized for our city) they have also dismissed on other numerous occasions the chance for any new company (industrial or other wise) to come into our city....
The board decided the best thing for this city is to keep the OLDER, RETIRED community and anything to do with the College WELL FUNDED and most certaintly taken care of and they have overlooked any chance of families expanding and calling Hillsdale their own. Every city that sees growth and can maintain a good lifestyle must also deal with a SLIGHT increase in city taxes and the ability to allow this town to GROW!!! There are MANY towns across the US that indeed maintain a balance of NORMAL EVERYDAY FAMILIES as well as the GROWTH and EXPANSION of their COLLEGES to occur... if you look at the Top 25 cities to live in the US, I would easily say more than half of them are driven by a small University, a small college or any type of university presence... yet a town of a mere 10,000 people cannot flourish and also share these same benefits! Something is the matter here and maybe this is something the City of Hillsdale board member should see.

When I used to live in Hillsdale, I used to just be astonished at the decisions made at the higher levels {it was like they wanted the town to die} I wasnt sure what was behind a lot of it. I rented, but even finding out about the crazy property taxes on homes within the city and more, told me a lot about why people were moving out. I can understand wanting to keep HIllsdale smaller and keeping its character, but they went so overboard, in denouncing any growth, they went from stagnation to having the town die! So I know exactly what you are talking about. I and some folks I knew in Hillsdale used to be astonished at many of the decisions made on top. How are things doing there now? I remember when they killed the fiber optics proposal, truly astounding! I was still living there then. Thanks for posting.

[wagonman76]

the town would never allow growth.... the individuals whom comprise the board for city of Hillsdale need the finger to be directly pointed to them!!!! THEY will not allow the city to upgrade their technology (they have on record dimissed on numerous occasions the chance for fiber optic technology to be utilized for our city) they have also dismissed on other numerous occasions the chance for any new company (industrial or other wise) to come into our city....The board decided the best thing for this city is to keep the OLDER, RETIRED community and anything to do with the College WELL FUNDED and most certaintly taken care of and they have overlooked any chance of families expanding and calling Hillsdale their own. Every city that sees growth and can maintain a good lifestyle must also deal with a SLIGHT increase in city taxes and the ability to allow this town to GROW!!! There are MANY towns across the US that indeed maintain a balance of NORMAL EVERYDAY FAMILIES as well as the GROWTH and EXPANSION of their COLLEGES to occur... if you look at the Top 25 cities to live in the US, I would easily say more than half of them are driven by a small University, a small college or any type of university presence... yet a town of a mere 10,000 people cannot flourish and also share these same benefits! Something is the matter here and maybe this is something the City of Hillsdale board member should see.

This is something I notice a lot around here. A lot of small and mid size areas are run by a handful of loudmouths who refuse to let growth happen. They want the area to be the same as when their parents or grandparents grew up. Any time a new business wants to come to town, they get together and fight tooth and nail to keep it out. "NIMBY-not in my backyard." It looks like eventually companies gave up and decided to just build elsewhere. And we wonder why unemployment is higher here than just about anywhere.

[knf]

One (or two) bright spots: since this original post, both the bookstore and the coffeeshop are back!

[Ummagumma]

This is not the town's problem, or Michigan's problem. This is not even just America's problem, although things are much worse here since people are so politically inactive compared to most other developed countries. This issue has nothing to do with Union greed or local politicos, although I personally detest both. A COUNTRY CAN NOT KEEP BUYING FOREIGN MADE GOODS AND SHIPPING AWAY DOMESTIC JOBS WITHOUT GOING BROKE. This is what makes it different from the Great Depression and any other recession before or after. We have less and less to fall back on, since we sell less and less, buy more and more, and our biggest domestic industry is printing IOU's (a.k.a. "the dollars") and the healthcare that only survives by robbing the rest of the country blind. And the politicians and the media keep us focused on "liberal ideas" or "conservative values" instead of things that really matter - as in why we allow the international corporations to build goods overseas with near-slave labor, bring them here tax free, and enjoy all kinds of political support they can buy, while they are destroying the very foundation of our country. The end may be much nearer than anyone thinks, as the dollar hasn't collapsed yet just because nobody wants it to happen - it's on life support, and the default isn't that far away. And since most Americans appear so unwilling to think independently and so brainwashed - just watch the current healthcare debates and all these folks arguing over "death panels" - nothing will change. So the glass isn't half empty or half full, it's broken.