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  #11  
Old 07-29-2009, 10:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GregGleason
Thank you for the invitation and I will tentatively accept. Typically I fly with Tripoli Houston, which uses the Hearne launch site. But I haven't been to a launch since April because of other commitments. I hope to make a launch as soon as my schedule settles down. I don't know when I will be able to get to Needville but I will plan to attend a launch before the end of the year. Are children welcome? I have a few .... and they have rockets!

Greg

Children are definitely welcome, especially with rockets!
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  #12  
Old 07-29-2009, 10:49 PM
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Originally Posted by luke strawwalker
Oh man, are you ever right! I was just in Detroit last month while vacationing at the MIL's and we took a little road trip up to Frankenmuth, Michigan, just east of Saginaw (in fact we spent the night in Saginaw), and saw the world's largest Christmas store (Bronner's) and ate at the Bavarian Inn (AWESOME German food, fried chicken, etc) and hit the cheese shops and candy shops, bakeries, and tourista shops the next day... GREAT little place to visit!

I thought parts of Houston were run down til I saw DETROIT... geez it makes even the dumpy parts of Houston look good! Parts of Detroit look like nothing's been done there since the 40's. We took a side trip to Detroit so I could go to Commonwealth Displays down in Southgate (SW Detroit). Everyone was really nice and I picked up a kit and some supplies and they graciously gave me an old store copy of the ROTW poster that was available awhile back. Even Detroit looks good compared to Flint, Michigan... MAN, that whole place looks ready for a D-6 Caterpillar...

It's a shame, really... but times change I guess... way things are going, the whole country may end up looking like that before it's over...

Later! OL JR

PS. Hey Greg, who do you fly with?? You aught to come out to Needville and fly with us here at Challenger 498 sometime... we'd love to meet ya! JR



Detroit has looked like that since the early 60's when my family moved out.

It got worse in the later 60's when the riots started and honestly has never and probably will never recover.

There are some beautiful old building that are just forgotten, run down, stripped and lived in by homeless.
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  #13  
Old 07-30-2009, 05:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GregGleason
Thank you for the invitation and I will tentatively accept. Typically I fly with Tripoli Houston, which uses the Hearne launch site. But I haven't been to a launch since April because of other commitments. I hope to make a launch as soon as my schedule settles down. I don't know when I will be able to get to Needville but I will plan to attend a launch before the end of the year. Are children welcome? I have a few .... and they have rockets!

Greg


Sure! We love kids! We fly on our farm here, 87 acres of short grass and surrounded by mostly open farm fields. It's a working cattle ranch, but crossfenced into roughly 20-ish acre blocks so the cows are fenced out into other pastures for the launches.

Other than the cracks in the ground from the drought it's all pretty much pool-table flat with no trees for at least 1/4 mile in any given direction.

Come on out when you get a chance, and bring the younguns with ya... My four and a half year old daughter Keira always likes to meet new kids, and we usually have a few others come out to launches with their folks too.

Later! OL JR
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  #14  
Old 07-30-2009, 05:41 PM
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Originally Posted by sandman
Detroit has looked like that since the early 60's when my family moved out.

It got worse in the later 60's when the riots started and honestly has never and probably will never recover.

There are some beautiful old building that are just forgotten, run down, stripped and lived in by homeless.


Yes, it IS sad... rather spooky in a way... never expected to see that sort of thing in AMERICA...

I mean, yeah, especially if you go down to the Valley and areas near Mexico, especially in the larger cities (though none are particularly "large" as cities go) there are SOME abandoned buildings and stuff, but most old buildings are put to SOME sort of use-- mechanic shops, antique or junk stores, whatever...) Just seeing a bunch of ABANDONED buildings rotting down INSIDE A CITY is just, weird. Seems like it'd be sold for the real estate location and whatever's there would be dozed and something new in it's place. That's what typically happens in TX, especially in the cities. Stuff just sitting there for DECADES though-- man... it's just weird.

So I guess the gov't owns all that abandoned stuff because whoever had it years ago went out of business and quit paying the taxes, or what?? So basically the gov't out there doesn't see any value in dozing it and selling the land and returning it to taxable property?? Heck, just dozing it so it's not an unsightly mess with the aura of a ghost town?? I mean, yeah, we have POOR areas here in TX, but usually stuff doesn't just sit around for decades ROTTING DOWN...

Like I said, it's just 'weird' from my perspective... OL JR
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  #15  
Old 07-30-2009, 07:03 PM
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Big chunks of New York City looked pretty bad in the 1970s, leading to all sorts of overheated "the cities will be abandoned" predictions.

What eventually happened was a continuation of the long cycle of decay and renewal. Bad neighborhoods get "resettled" by artists looking for cheap studio space, trendy boutique districts follow, hollow shells of buildings get turned into high-priced lofts, and voila! Former slum becomes a overpriced yuppie haven.

By coincidence Boing Boing posted this today:

James D. Griffioen's photos of Detroit, "the disappearing city"

Look at this house:

Some people will look at that and think of Mad Max or zombie movies. Others will think "Ooooh, that would make a great Bed and Breakfast!"
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  #16  
Old 07-30-2009, 08:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luke strawwalker
Yes, it IS sad... rather spooky in a way... never expected to see that sort of thing in AMERICA...

I mean, yeah, especially if you go down to the Valley and areas near Mexico, especially in the larger cities (though none are particularly "large" as cities go) there are SOME abandoned buildings and stuff, but most old buildings are put to SOME sort of use-- mechanic shops, antique or junk stores, whatever...) Just seeing a bunch of ABANDONED buildings rotting down INSIDE A CITY is just, weird. Seems like it'd be sold for the real estate location and whatever's there would be dozed and something new in it's place. That's what typically happens in TX, especially in the cities. Stuff just sitting there for DECADES though-- man... it's just weird.

So I guess the gov't owns all that abandoned stuff because whoever had it years ago went out of business and quit paying the taxes, or what?? So basically the gov't out there doesn't see any value in dozing it and selling the land and returning it to taxable property?? Heck, just dozing it so it's not an unsightly mess with the aura of a ghost town?? I mean, yeah, we have POOR areas here in TX, but usually stuff doesn't just sit around for decades ROTTING DOWN...

Like I said, it's just 'weird' from my perspective... OL JR


The city of Detroit doesn't have enough money to bulldoze all the abandoned homes. Bulldozers and bulldozer operators cost money the city doesn't have.

The city of Detroit can't keep up, they are being abandoned faster than they can be demolished.

The city has more important things to spend money on.
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  #17  
Old 07-30-2009, 09:03 PM
tfischer tfischer is offline
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(Disclaimer: I've never even been to Michigan, so I'm definitely not an expert...)

Detroit's population is something like half of what it was 50 years ago. When your population gets cut in half, you end up with a lot of surplos houses. And a lot of surplus businesses that used to support those people and those houses. And a lot less tax base to cover a fixed amount of infrastructure (streets, pipes, etc) that you can't get rid of because the remaining people and houses are scattered through the whole area. Much less surplus money to bulldoze all those houses...

Here's another site I've found fascinating in the past: http://www.detroityes.com/home.htm

Blame it on over-dependence on a single industry. Blame it on racism. Blame it on bad government. Blame it on whatever you want- it's pretty shocking. And I don't think there's another city like it anywhere in the country -- thank goodness... I suppose New Orleans might come close now but at least that one was caused by a natural disaster rather than horrid socio-economic factors...
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  #18  
Old 07-30-2009, 10:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tfischer
(Disclaimer: I've never even been to Michigan, so I'm definitely not an expert...)

Detroit's population is something like half of what it was 50 years ago. When your population gets cut in half, you end up with a lot of surplos houses. And a lot of surplus businesses that used to support those people and those houses. And a lot less tax base to cover a fixed amount of infrastructure (streets, pipes, etc) that you can't get rid of because the remaining people and houses are scattered through the whole area. Much less surplus money to bulldoze all those houses...

Here's another site I've found fascinating in the past: http://www.detroityes.com/home.htm

Blame it on over-dependence on a single industry. Blame it on racism. Blame it on bad government. Blame it on whatever you want- it's pretty shocking. And I don't think there's another city like it anywhere in the country -- thank goodness... I suppose New Orleans might come close now but at least that one was caused by a natural disaster rather than horrid socio-economic factors...



That sounds about right.

I grew up in Detroit in the 50's and it was a pretty nice place then...not any more.

They are doing a lot of work downtown but I think it's too little too late.
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  #19  
Old 07-31-2009, 10:17 AM
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Hey now !
That's enough of the Flint, Mi bashing !
I happen to live 15mi SSW of Flint in a beautiful small town.

I will admit though there are areas within the city limits of Flint that I would NEVER EVER go during anytime of the day or night (north of the Flint river, within the city limits is nothing but a literal war-zone of crack houses and gang activity and has been for at LEAST the past 20+ years)
As more of General Motors left Flint (there are only like 6 GM plants left there), the whole city degraded rapidly.
At one point in the late 70's/early 80's, General Motors employed more people at facilities/plants within the city of Flint than their entire headcount for all national and international operations has now.
Now THAT is really SAD.
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