Embalming History: Necessary or Arrogant?

There are several freeway expansion projects panned for Metro Detroit in the coming years. One improvement would slice through Detroit's Midtown/Wayne State University districts. Preliminary reconstruction of Interstate 94 would add fourth lanes between Conner on the east side of Detroit and I-96 on the west, and would include continuous service drives along the same stretch.

But there are issues. One is that the improvements would result in the loss of a chunk of the Wayne State neighborhood, in that 100 properties there would be purchased for the roadway expansion. The other is that the United Sound Systems studio would be lost as well. Many Motown stars recorded songs there, up to modern rapper Eminem. Many people hate to see the studio lost because of that. As a result, they want to see plans altered so that both the studio and the neighborhood would be preserved.

Two things come to mind. One lies within the sphere of the general versus the special interest, and the real point there is clear. I-94 has been an early morning/late afternoon parking lot for years; it needs to be expanded for the sake of better traffic flow at peak times. This is a general societal interest issue. The special interest of either a neighborhood or abandoned recording studio should not be allowed to interfere with that.

The second point is about preserving history. Why ought the United Sound Systems building be saved? Merely because many prominent musicians and singers recorded there? Merely because it represents Detroit's contribution to the nation's or the world's music scene?

These simply aren't reasons enough. To begin with, don't we have the music recorded there already preserved, well, through the recordings? Why ought the building be spared then? Secondly, everything of historical note cannot be preserved. Eventually we would not be able to move, because everything (arguably) has historic or neighborhood value. Every physical piece of the past cannot be saved; it's a practical impossibility. Further, we have the special interest angle to again consider: in this case, the special interest of music fans against the general interest of folks trying to get to and from places conveniently. The general interest should win.

To be sure, if the plans could be changed without too much hassle, or especially if a private group could come up with the cash or the wherewithal to save the studio or the neighborhood, there would be little reason to not do that much. Short of that, I-94 ought to be improved via the best potential route. Even if that means losing an old recording studio.

We Americans think we know history. We think that whatever we've done, even such relatively unimportant things as making popular tunes (which are really only recent things not truly subject to the judgment of history as of yet) ought to last forever. Yet we forget an important point: the future will be the real judge of Motown's contribution to music history rather than our obviously prejudiced feelings of the moment. And yet another thing: when we attempt to embalm history, are we really preserving history, or simply being arrogant about ourselves and our contributions to it?

We're just asking. But we are fascinated about the potential answers.

Link Detroit: Wasteful Spending

There are certain things which people either fail to understand or simply ignore when it comes to government spending. The most pressing point is that it isn't really the big tickets items which do the most harm but, rather, the nickle and dime projects which in fact lead to budget overruns. An easy example is the $10 million dollar federal grant Detroit has been given for bike paths and walkways.

The money will be part of a $25 million dollar project to link areas of Detroit and Hamtramck with bike and walking paths. The project is called Link Detroit, and is intended to help folks get around between Midtown and the Eastern Market, Hamtramck and the riverfront and things in between. The plan, says Congressman Hansen Clarke, is "a crucial step toward a more sustainable and livable community."

In other words, if you build it, they will come. It does not strike us as rational government policy. It makes us think more of the huge empty cities in China, built solely to make work and glorify Beijing.

How many walkers and bikers are there on Detroit streets right now? A very few really. Most people get around by car or public transport, and most in fact by car. Shouldn't government spending policy, so far as it is the business of government to direct traffic, come in response to a need rather than in attempting to manufacture a need? Why are we building biking and hiking paths when there is no actual demand for them?

For the sake of make work projects, and the appearance of caring about Detroit. Remember too that this comes after the whole idea of nickles and dimes. How many $10 million dollar grants have been handed out to how many other groups nationwide for much the same reasons: as appeals to the local communities about how much Washington can help them?

This why Washington is so deeply in debt, more so than the defense budget. Too much money is going to too many small projects simply to influence the voting public to keep voting for a government which will see to their needs. Even if the needs are imaginary rather than real.

Whole Foods in Detroit's Midtown

Whole Foods, a national chain of organic grocery stores, is soon to announce that it will open a store in the Midtown area of Detroit. It seems that Midtown is hip and trendy enough to warrant a store. This is a good thing.

Midtown Detroit is basically the area on Woodward Avenue between downtown Detroit and the New Center area, which is where the Fisher Building sit. Midtown contains the Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University, the museum district and the main Detroit Library. It is a pleasant part of Detroit which will only be strengthened with the addition of Whole Foods.

Some residents are concerned, however. Though they welcome the idea of a major chain locating a store in Midtown, they do fear that the attention might attract other large stores and chase out the smaller, local businesses which have helped the area thrive. A large scale invasion of national chains might also hurt residents by ratcheting up property values, thus driving them out.

How do we respond to such fears? If you want a growing, stable community, then you have to grow, and that growth and stability is going to attract investors. To be sure, we don't want to belittle the issues which come with growth. But we are better off with growing pains than stagnation, or, worse, decay. Yes, some local businesses and residents may well be pained. But remember the old saw that no one misses whale oil salesmen. Things change, and so long as the change is for the better it needs community support.

Besides, the large chains are already in Midtown. There are Rite Aid and CVS drug stores, a Radio Shack, and a Starbucks; a Biggby's Coffee too, if that counts. These are just off the top of our heads this morning. A walk down Woodward would likely show us more. At this point, one more large company surely doesn't matter. We're beyond concerns about what growth will do. It's doing it.

Detroit's Midtown is a bright spot in the urban wasteland which covers so much of the city. It is better to celebrate that, than worry over things which have already happened. Welcome, Whole Foods.