Comments:

Eric - 2004-08-17 01:07:39
Ypsilanti is forever screwed. People wish for things that already exist. Louis' Cafe fits the bill for being a sidewalk cafe and has been there for as long as I can remember, but it gets ignored. The Tap Room usually has sidewalk seating due, but it's been curbed by the road replacement this year.

I wish Ypsilanti had a trendy little boutique that sold unique clothing and gifts, a record store, and a hip thrift shop. And would it kill anyone to open a bar that played some loud rock and roll?
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raymond - 2004-08-17 07:54:25
It's always open season on pedestrians in Ypsi. You're lucky if the cars don't come onto the sidewalk to get you. Crosswalks? Ha! "No Turn on Red" dares you to amble into your right-of-way to have the Willies scared out of you by the swerving SUVs.

A few years ago we chatted with an out-of-town couple who were staying at the Parrish House B&B during some event. "We can't even go to Haab's safely," they complained. "This is the worst town for pedestrians we've ever seen. Too bad. It looks nice."

Angle parking on Huron and Hamilton reducing the roads to two lanes is the best. The jam would stretch to the Eagle Crest Playground on the south and the EMU Presidential Palais to the northwest.

On the subject of COOL, remember the Green Room. We'll know our local culture has struck it rich when we get a Starbucks instead.
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Laura - 2004-08-17 08:25:51
There is no sidewalk seating on Mich. Ave., Eric--I'm down there practically every weekend, and if there were a place to hang out outside and have a coffee, I'd be there.
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Laura - 2004-08-17 08:44:11
raymond: I liked the Green Room; a shame it's gone (and that HF is moving to AA).
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Leighton - 2004-08-17 09:01:41
The coffee shop is coming, but I wonder if they get a variance to have outdoor seating. I hope all the closings and relocations gives the city a bitch slap to ease up on regulations. The Green ROom was great, but it was always empty during most great events. Louis' and Haab's have only decent food. Outdoor seating and campy ambience can only take you so far. If Dalat had outdoor seating... I hear there is going to be a patio bar across from Pub13 (which creeps me out for some reason).
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Laura - 2004-08-17 09:10:17
If Ypsi is holding fast to regulations that end up limiting business development on downtown Michigan Ave., that seems short-sighted and harmful (where are all those pontoon bridge people going to walk to?)
The sidewalks are pretty wide on that bit of Michigan Ave. Maybe even wider than in Depot Town, which has three inviting, friendly outdoor eating areas.
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Laura again - 2004-08-17 09:14:24
(and I'd love to see trees up and down Mich Ave--that would make a huge difference in several good ways).
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DaveD - 2004-08-17 09:39:18
My hopes aren't high for Michigan Ave. I remember when the median was supposed to do all these great things-calm traffic and make conditions more ped-friendly. Instead, you have a large cement log which pisses people off because they can't turn left anywhere, and 18-wheelers still barrel through town like it's Telegraph Ave. Cross street, on the other hand, is a different story because I think there is potential to tie school and community together and create that kind of area that the city needs. There's other places in Ypsi where good things can happen.
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Laura - 2004-08-17 09:48:17
I like having medians--I don't like busy two-way streets without medians, and I don't mind going down to Huron to turn left since that's where I need to turn anyways to go home. But as others have noted it's not terribly walkable--too much traffic, someone always barreling around a turn, big, wide street to cross in a limited amt. of time, and not enough peds to create a critical mass so that drivers become more aware.
I love the description "large cement log"--that's apt (still would like trees down there).
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Leighton - 2004-08-17 10:01:01
If they still allowed left-hand turns with the new medians, then it'd actually slow down traffic. But this will never happen, as the Avenue is a thruway for semis sanctioned by interstate commerce. A small town's business district is no match for huge trucking interests. (Unfortunately, the 1st traffic-related death of a tipsy Club Divine patron hit by a sleep-deprived trucker would changes things...slowly)
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Laura - 2004-08-17 10:07:54
I agree--traffic is more efficient with just the one left-turn at the end, heading east.
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Larry Kestenbaum - 2004-08-17 10:31:39
I dissent: benches and seating are always in short supply in the urban outdoors. William H. Whyte (in "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces") documented that the amount of sittable space was the number one predictor of active street life. More benches, not less!
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Laura - 2004-08-17 10:40:32
...in Riverside Park, OK. On Mich. Ave.: no. They won't be used for sitting (perhaps napping), and it's an uninviting environment (sea of concrete perfumed by exhaust) in which to linger. Maybe a couple benches in the mini-plaza by the fountain--at least there's a linger-friendly bit of green there. Benches on Mich Ave won't lure walkers though. Just my 2 cents.
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Hillary - 2004-08-17 11:14:11
Angle parking on Hamilton and Huron would be a disaster. There is no reason for anyone to park on either of those streets. Having to back into busy traffic is dangerous and hundreds of semis spewing diesel dust isn't going to add to the ambience of town. Leighton's right about trucking... MDOT will never go along with a lane reduction. Sidewalks on Michigan Avenue large enough for sales, outdoor cafes and trees would have been a better use for the space than the medians. The city had to pay someone to plant flowers in the median planters because it's too dangerous to let volunteers work there. Larry: Benches are nice, but there are no bike racks on Michigan Avenue and bicycle is the primary mode of transport for hundreds of Ypsilantians. The city can't afford to trim trees in the parks and some areas of town lack basic amenities like curbs and gutters. They're cutting the fire department to levels below IFSTA recommendations and the police are being investigated by the FBI.
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Laura - 2004-08-17 11:22:15
I agree with Hillary on the angle-parking. I always find a spot in the mini lot behind Congdon's (if driving) and I was also wondering about the backing-out factor.
I hadn't known about the police situation, though; would you have some details, Hillary?--thank you.
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Dave D. - 2004-08-17 11:55:30
Yeah, I was interested in the FBI thing, too. And Leighton better stated my thoughts about Michigan Ave and the trucks/traffic. Outdoor cafes, benches, etc. sound nice, but I think it's doomed because the mindset is about "cars/trucks" first. I'll catch happy-hour at TC's every so often, and they have outdoor seating now. I can't sit out there for a few minutes without being deluged with noise and exhaust. The mindset that Semis and SUV essentially have right-of-way dooms Michigan Ave. Just my two cents..
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Laura - 2004-08-17 12:01:30
Oh, TC's has outdoor seating? I hadn't seen that--not much of a bar person. But yeah, after thinking about this whole prospect of outdoor seating, I imagine it'd be not such a good idea after all--unless it were 'round the corner along one of the (quiet, car free relatively) side streets, not Michigan proper.
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Laura again - 2004-08-17 12:19:25
Oh, come to think of it, I think Hillary was referring to the investigation of the Ypsi police for that illegal search when the gas main blew a few weeks ago.
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Leighton - 2004-08-17 14:32:58
Larry, didn't Whyte also suggest that urban plazas do better if they are raised above street level (for people watching)? Seating should be single unfortunately, because wide benches invite homeless parking. But benches with dividers (like in some airports) could work. The corners at Wash. and Mich need kiosks to at least give the il;lusion that something goes on at some time downtown!
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Laura - 2004-08-17 14:42:03
An isolated linger plaza does sound more inviting, and I like Leighton's ideas of divided benches and community-building kiosks.
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raymond - 2004-08-17 18:19:53
US-12 is the Old Chicago Road, Michigan Avenue, the Iron Brigade Highway, and a first nations trail before all-a-that. Heavy traffic is a given. Any attempt to thwart it is doomed. Leave the facades for the gawkers, provide parking with access off the main drag, make reasons to dawdle. This is what the median prevents.

And it's too late for Water Street. Most recently came the 1960s War on the Poor which brought us Arlens in place of the old brick and clapboard, now comes the purveyors of beige to replace the presently falling facades east of the river.

An "Exemplar" example of how QuickBuck Woe Revisits Ypsi. But hey! money changes hands. The gross national product remains gross.
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Laura - 2004-08-17 19:21:57
"reasons to dawdle" is well put I think. I would dawdle at a kiosk to read.
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raymond - 2004-08-18 07:25:18
Ypsi law prohibits kiosks.
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Laura - 2004-08-18 08:28:53
rats. but thanks for info raymond. still, seems the law could be changed.
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Leighton - 2004-08-18 10:23:11
The lack of plentiful bike racks in downtown Ypsi perplexes me.
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Laura - 2004-08-18 10:25:47
The only one that comes to mind offhand are a few on the side of the library. But it's usually no problem to lock up the bike on a lamppost or something--although that requires the cable lock & I'd prefer to use the U-lock (and potentially gets in someone's way).
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robert - 2004-08-18 16:59:37
i am moving to ypsi within the next 2 weeks (normal park area). how is it? normal park seems nice, it looked like the downtown had some potential... is it on the rise?
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