 
Detroit313
Member
Username: Detroit313
Post Number: 466
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 8:24 pm: |    |
I want to bring a new topic to the table.
DETROIT'S Missed Opportunities!
Not intended to badger my beloved city(I have more pride for Detroit than most)but I can't help but wonder why some obvious this are not being gobbled-up by the Motorcity.
1. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (what the hell is it doing in Cleveland)
remedy: Build a R&B Hall of Fame or A MOTOWN HALL OF FAME. (The musical roots of this city are unmatched!)
2. Ikea. (Why build it in Caton when the Hudson Block was on the boards for redevelopment)
The city could have used that $100,000,000.00 from the casino's to build a nice retail block with Ikea as the lead tenant.
remedy: H&M has an eye on Metro Detroit now, and Macy's isn't afraid of the Motorcity. Issue bonds for a new retail center in the heart of the city and build it already.
3. Transit center. What is up with this Rosa Parks Transit Center? Another BIG BUS STOP! Detroit needs order in the transit department: Organize DARTA between the two bus systems under the moniker and combine them.
remedy: Lobby, Lobby, Lobby. Go to D.C. and Lobby for a New Detroit Rail System.
D.C. still remembers us.
Devise a system (if it isn't already done) that will blow Detroit away, better bus service, cleaner/safer buses, ect. Make Detroiters feel better about riding mass transit first. Then build a rapid rail system.
And house DARTA in the MCS, renaming it The Rosa Parks Transit center.
Building an new Greyhound Bus Terminal?
You have your first tenant.
4. Convention Center. You know Detroit could've had a bidding war from the casino's. (maybe just the MGM & Motor City.) Detroit could've had the casino's bid on controlling a new 2,000,000sq convention center. Just think if MGM won they could've built a 1,000 room attached hotel mega-hotel!
remedy: Don Barden still wants to build a hotel in the city, just maybe!
Please fill in you opinions!!! <313> |
Danny
Member
Username: Danny
Post Number: 6446
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 8:42 pm: | |
Here are some more Detroit's missed opportunities.
1. Sears Tower
2. Motion Picture Companies
3. Jack in the Box restaurants
4. Bigger museums |
Thejesus
Member
Username: Thejesus
Post Number: 1994
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 8:45 pm: | |
313:
The term "Rock and Roll" was invented in Cleveland. This wasn't the only factor taken into account when deciding to locate it there, but it played heavily into it...
And I don't know if Detroit tried to get Ikea or not, but I doub't Ikea would have taken them seriously if they did...there are simply no yuppies around the Hudson block...there are a ton in Canton, and the store is flourishing there.. |
Rjk
Member
Username: Rjk
Post Number: 831
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 8:53 pm: | |
Cleveland loses today and the Tigers blow a 7 run lead in the 5th inning. Talk about your missed opportunities. |
Iheartthed
Member
Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 1527
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 8:56 pm: | |
I don't think Ikea builds in urban areas. The one supposedly opening in Brooklyn (sooner or later) is the only one I know of planned for an inner-city area. I'm pretty sure they definitely don't want to go into a CBD. The one in Elizabeth, NJ runs a free shuttle bus from Manhattan instead of having an actual store in Manhattan... |
Oakmangirl
Member
Username: Oakmangirl
Post Number: 252
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 9:10 pm: | |
Ikea actually has a location in Philadelphia proper near the Delaware. I think, since we're so sprawling, Canton is fairly accessible to the tri-county area. Of course, Lansing may have been better access wise via the most freeways? |
Dannyv
Member
Username: Dannyv
Post Number: 5
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 9:37 pm: | |
Using Tiger Stadium as the site for baseball tournaments (college, State high school, sandlot, softball etc.), baseball fantasy camps and possibly football games would make it a tourist destination where enthusiasts would flock to Detroit to play on the same field of dreams that Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Henry Aaron and countless legends of baseball and football played. |
Sstashmoo
Member
Username: Sstashmoo
Post Number: 348
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 12:26 am: | |
The term "Rock and Roll" as I heard it and it sounds logical was invented by blacks in the early southern states. It first showed up in hymns (mother rocking baby in arms?)and then it was later adapted to mean having sex. Then it was adapted to mean a type of music. |
Charlottepaul
Member
Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 1587
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 12:34 am: | |
3. Detroit missed its opportunity for starting a decent transit system (inc. rail) back in the 80s. Missed the boat, and the boat has moved on to other cities that can actually organize and figure out how they want to begin to address rail: L.A., Orlando, Charlotte... |
Danindc
Member
Username: Danindc
Post Number: 3159
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 12:52 am: | |
"Missed Opportunities"???
Sounds like a pretty negative connotation to me. You can't expect the city to move forward if you're thinking in the past. |
Parkguy
Member
Username: Parkguy
Post Number: 112
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 9:06 am: | |
Ikea stores draw from multistate areas, so locations on interstate highways is important to them. |
Danny
Member
Username: Danny
Post Number: 6450
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 9:45 am: | |
We miss the subway transit system becuase Ford, Chrysler and GM want people in Metro-Detroit are MUST have a car the drive it anywhere they want. |
Charlottepaul
Member
Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 1599
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 1:38 pm: | |
"You can't expect the city to move forward if you're thinking in the past."
Seems pretty fair to me to discuss mistakes in the past in an effort to try to move forward, no? |
Patrick
Member
Username: Patrick
Post Number: 4882
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 1:46 pm: | |
What's with the emo fascination with Ikea? Damn, most of there products are complete crap. Hell, in many cases you can get the same stuff at Target. An Ikea would fail in Detroit. |
Charlottepaul
Member
Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 1601
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 2:09 pm: | |
Yeah, but there isn't a Target in Detroit either... |
Hpgrmln
Member
Username: Hpgrmln
Post Number: 134
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 5:20 pm: | |
The story I read indicated that "Rock around The Clock (from Highland Park native Bill haley)got its name because a dj described one of Haleys previous singles as "Rock and roll", so the song and term were born. |
Danindc
Member
Username: Danindc
Post Number: 3162
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 5:26 pm: | |
^That would be Cleveland DJ Alan Freed. Freed hosted the Moondog Coronation Ball at the old Cleveland Arena on March 21, 1952. This event is widely regarded as the first rock concert. |
Detroit313
Member
Username: Detroit313
Post Number: 467
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 6:54 pm: | |
Danny- WTH!
Has Detroit ever had a Sears hq? No.
Has any major motion picture companies ever start in Detroit? No.
Jack in The Box? Start your own if you want one so bad, or move closer to one.
Bigger Musuems......donate! Besides the DIA is the 5th largest in the country.
I intended for this thread to be optimistic about what Detroit has missed and what we as citizen should expect from our leaders.
As far as the Ikea idea, It was a topic of Ikea, any big name tenant would suffice, but think about it, if Hudsons left, Sears won't bother and Marshall Fields doesn't even return phone calls, then obviously they have a bad dealings with the city.
Try something "new". As far as Ikea being close to freeways. Detroit(Hudsons site) has more than enough freeways in a five mile radius to serve the car-lazed-mid-west!
<313> |
Vetalalumni
Member
Username: Vetalalumni
Post Number: 681
Registered: 05-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 7:13 pm: | |
Jack in The Box in Detroit (again) - great idea! I'll dine there in a heartbeat. Good luck getting a franchise in Michigan though.
(Message edited by vetalalumni on September 03, 2007) |
River_rat
Member
Username: River_rat
Post Number: 291
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 7:20 pm: | |
The last 40 years. |
Sstashmoo
Member
Username: Sstashmoo
Post Number: 350
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 7:24 pm: | |
We had Jack in the box back in the 70's. They were all over the city here. They didnt do very well and all of them closed up. I dated a girl back then that practically lived on those nasty tacos they sold. Grease bombs. It's strange, I hear they do pretty well on the West Coast. |
Ed_golick
Member
Username: Ed_golick
Post Number: 800
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 7:35 pm: | |
"Has any major motion picture companies ever start in Detroit? No."
Jam Handy Studios, at one time the biggest industrial film producer in the world, was cranking out more footage than any major Hollywood studio. |
Detroit313
Member
Username: Detroit313
Post Number: 472
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2007 - 11:45 pm: | |
^^^Yeah but that's was just a shift in the industry, to California.
Not really a miss for Detroit. But thankx for the knowledge!
<313> |
Lefty2
Member
Username: Lefty2
Post Number: 76
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 04, 2007 - 1:27 am: | |
Detroit doesn't care about lost opportunities.
Just keeping the status quotas. |
Danny
Member
Username: Danny
Post Number: 6455
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 04, 2007 - 4:12 am: | |
Detroit has missed the opportunities for
1. Having Microsoft to build its WHQ's in Downtown Detroit.
2. Having Boeing build their jet planes here in Detroit.
3. Having the bigger financial markets and Mercantile exchange in Downtown Detroit. |