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The Rest of the Press Release - 2005-01-06 19:45:52 Ypsidixit notes the list of improvements that will render this apartment complex...you know,...habitable. With the fitness center, business center, movie theater, clubhouse, and event space with caterer...why, those gated-community people will never have to venture into (shudder) Ypsilanti.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura again - 2005-01-06 20:09:51Ypsidixit can just hear it now. SETTING: Cocktail party in so-tastefully decorated Ann Arbor home with "for sale" sign in front yard. Megan: "Do have some more Beaujolais. We simply couldn't wait till they started the November shipments from France. We ordered this from a private vintner in Lavage-du-Porc." Mitsy: "It's divine. So how are your plans for moving going?" Megan: "Oh, we've found a wonderful little hideaway--I like to call it my "snuggery"--in Ypsilanti. [Hastily corrects self] "Oh, it's not in Ypsilanti�[chuckles indulgently, shoots Mitsy a significant look]--it's south of Ypsilanti, in a gated community. We have a wonderful view of the ninth hole. It's perfectly lovely."* * * * * * * * * * * * Phil - 2005-01-06 20:22:23 Best news in years for me. That place is dear to me. I use to live and hated seeing the last owner destroy the place. It is a great complex that use to have so many offerings. I hope they revitalize the golf course.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-06 21:45:06 Hm. Well, Phil, I can't say I'm a friend of golf courses. I see them as vast tracts of land given over to a dopey sport that pours gallons upon gallons of posticides/weedicides into water tables each year. I frankly can't imagine a less desirable home location than one overlooking a silly golf course.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-01-06 22:21:52 I think the article begs for correction to the "suburb of Ann Arbor label" in an excoriating letter to the editor. Any takers? I would also like to diplomatically point out that not all Ann Arbor residents are cut from this wine-swilling cloth of pomposity. Many of us detest both the local version of these snobs, as well as the recent imports. In fact, this vignette plays just as well with the regional haute monde talking about the "darling little place" they grabbed in "quaint Ann Arbor" now that Birmingham has become too expensive... Just to, you know, to counter any sort or sweeping generalizations that might, um, be aimed at all Ann Arborites, or something...(tilts one last time at the windmill, puts away high horse)* * * * * * * * * * * * Jane - 2005-01-06 23:43:30I second that, Dan Arbor. And to be honest, I find the "us vs them" dichotomy between Ann Arbor and Ypsi a bit disconcerting. Yes, both places have their good parts and bad parts, and yes, we should all be allowed to have pride in the individualities of our separate communities -- but I think going out of one's way to demonize differences between neighbors (in any kind of situation, be it racial, financial, gender or orientation) makes the common ground harder to find. Snobbishness takes many forms, and is never fun for anyone on the receiving end. And yes, I will wholeheartedly agree that I find the nouveau-riche who have flooded Ann Arbor in the last ten years to be grating in the extreme. Anyone who would kick out Wooden Spoon Books to attract more businesses like "Dogma and Catman, too" deserves to have their shins kicked black and blue. The fact that we lost a thirty-year-old, thornily-leftist bookstore and got a store that sells doggie jackets makes my blood boil. But honestly, playing the superiority game never got anyone anywhere -- look at how you feel about the gated community, and rightly so. Happiness is the best revenge, after all, so keep shopping at stores like Sheridan's, keep eating at Blimpyburger and Bev's Carribbean and La Fiesta and Dalat. Keep rewarding the people who make your community the place you want it to be. And most of all -- don't let the bastards get you down; don't stoop to their level and let hate take over a good heart. Jane "Can't we all just get along?" Irwin* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-01-07 00:05:51 Preach it, Sister! * * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 08:49:14 Lake in the Woods will always be a dump no matter how much money is spent on it. I guess the owners are from out of town, and don't read the papers. You ever smell that whole area in the hot summer? ANo oxygen in the lake anymore. More dead carp than you can shake a stick at lying around.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 08:59:20 And if carp can't live in a lake, it's really freakin bad.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 09:07:20 They should consider a name change because many won't live there knowing it's reputation. Lake By the Freeway. Lake next to the empty factories. Dead Carp Apartments. Dirty GoldfishBowl In the Woods. Stagnant Lake in the Former Woods. Almost Ann Arbor Apartments. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:14:58 yd: I especially like those last two name suggestions--I had to laugh.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:17:09 Dan Arbor: you are certainly right. Of course there are many perfectly nice people in AA, as anywhere else. I know plenty. By the same token there are snobs in Ypsi, too. I was just taking an extremely narrow and rather stereotypical not to mention snide focus.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:20:20 Jane: you are right on the money as usual, and I appreciate your good and articulate message. You're right. I'm with you on the loss of the Wooden Spoon. It's still empty and an eyesore at this moment. And I wouldn't dream of buying a tail mitten or whatever in that silly pet shop.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:22:14 yd: regarding carp not being able to live in Ford Lake-------!!! That's pretty bad, indeed. Heaven knows what's in there. Seems it's served as a sort of pollution sink since it was created back in the...late 30s I guess.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dave D. - 2005-01-07 09:23:09 YD, don't forget "Lake in the Hood" nad "Lake in the Woods". And for the record, I think there's a hell of a lot more diversity, in many facets, in Ypsi than Ann Arbor will ever come to know. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:24:03 I agree with that Dave D.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dave D. - 2005-01-07 09:24:28 err...I meant "Lake in the Weeds" * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:25:20 I never knew people had so many nicknames for the apartments...these are pretty darn funny. :)* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 09:34:17 Think of how many shade-tree mechanics there are in Ypsi. Especially in the lower income giant-box apartment complexes. All the storm drains go right to the river. Besides all the toxins splashed on the parking lots, the crappy cars leaking brake fluids, coolants, and oils you have the people that just change there oil by dumping it whereever. Check out the hillside next to the apartments by the Leforge dam. Refrigerators, microwaves, mattresses, bikes, grocery carts. All that shit settles in Ford Lake. Ain't no real estate mogul gonna change that.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:37:25 I didn't realize it was so bad, actually. That sounds fairly icky. You make a good observation about shade-tree mechanics and parking lot runoff--sure enough, that's a lot of toxins funneled into one place.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 09:42:03 Existing homes, newly constructed ones and all the a-hole speedboaters, waverunners on the lakes upstream in Livingston County are doing there best to destroy the Huron too. Gotta have the greenest grass on the lake. Who gives a shit about fish. I got the new Yamaha 5000.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:44:03 Jet skis are particularly bad because they leak a lot of fuels and liquids and don't have emissions controls to my knowledge. I've always disliked them, to say the least. Noise pollution, too. Why people can't be happy with just a rowboat or raft is beyond me. [/fogey]* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 09:45:12 Remember the commercial in the 70's with the crying Indian looking at some trash? He'd break down and die if he stood on the banks of the Huron.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 09:46:29 Dumb shits gotta spend their money faster than they make it. Invest in Budweiser and retire early.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:48:43 I do remember that very moving commercial--I think a whole generation does, in fact, due to its power. They have periodic riverside cleanups in Gallup Park, when they drag out the tires & shopping carts, &c. Seems to be a success. They do free boat rental, I think, to encourage people to participate. That part of Ford Lake is in the twp., not the city, I think. Maybe the rec. dept. has/can plan a cleanup day, just to get that eyesore stuff out of there.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 09:52:39 Cleanup day makes people feel good but I doubt has any effect other than making people feel good about themselves. I think it would be fun to drain superior pond and look for bodies where Bennet lived.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-01-07 09:52:52 YD nailed it. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 09:54:41 He did indeed, as usual. There's some value in people feeling good, of course. And meeting neighbors and all that. Plus anyone who pulls a tire out of a river bank is less likely to throw a cigarette butt on the ground the next day.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-07 10:21:06 Believe it or not, Ford lake has a thriving fish population and there are far less consumption restrictions than Saginaw Bay, a body of water that one may assume to be cleaner. Other than that, YD is right. * * * * * * * * * * * * King of Carp - 2005-01-07 10:22:37 Mr. Foufas says the images mark the transformation of war propaganda to an art form. But the real-estate investor doesn't confine his collecting to the Great War. On shelves behind his desk, the founder displays military hats from the Civil War to World War II. And on festive occasions, he has been known to don the British pith helmet or Russian Cossack hat for bit of office pageantry.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 10:24:57 LF: you are right, Ford Lake used to host an annual Crappie Fest for kid and adult fishers. They quit doing it a couple years ago, for unknown reasons.* * * * * * * * * * * * Lunk Monkey - 2005-01-07 10:28:41 There ain't hardly any left, no one was catching anything.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-01-07 10:32:52 "And for the record, I think there's a hell of a lot more diversity, in many Listen to the wisdom in Jane's words: "...playing the superiority game never got anyone anywhere..."* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 10:32:56 Hm, perhaps LF was referring to another type of fish as thriving, such as bluegill, maybe perch....?* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 10:33:10 Le Flanuer can't fish worth a damn.* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-01-07 10:34:56 Oops! My above comment should read: "And for the record, I think there's a hell of a lot more diversity, in many many facets, in Ypsi than Ann Arbor will ever come to know. Listen to Jane: "...playing the superiority game never got anyone anywhere..."* * * * * * * * * * * * Jane - 2005-01-07 10:35:51I had a science prof at EMU that if he fell out of a boat in Ford Lake and swallowed a bellyful of the water, he'd let himself drown rather than live with all the toxins. Whatever they built in the nearby Ford plant was apparrently highly toxic. And I second the opinion that LitW is a dump. I visited friends in there not long after it was built and it reeked of cheap construction and faux-rich-entitlement. Ten years on, I'll wager that the shoddy worksmanship is coming apart at the seams.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 10:39:38 Jane: Really!--wow! Good heavens. You have to wonder what's in there...PCBs perhaps. Wasn't the nearby Willow Run drainoff pond a Superfund site? Wonder if it connects to Ford Lake somehow. Yes, if LitW was built cheaply (hmm, when was it originally constructed?) time will tell all.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 10:52:35 Memminger had been sought since Tuesday night when his ex-wife was shot twice - including at least once in the head - outside Lake in the Woods Apartments, police said. He spoke to Washtenaw County detectives Wednesday and surrendered at the 12th Precinct station in Detroit by late morning. �Championship golf course � � hmmm � It�s been a beautiful spring and summer thus far with many bright and sunny days perfect for golfing. I think it speaks volumes, then, that despite this pleasant weather and the convenient location of the Lake In The Woods Apartments golf course (which is, by the way, open to the public), I have not seen a single, living soul golfing on the Lake In The Woods course all season. Undoubtedly, that is because no golfer would be caught dead anywhere near this place. Or, maybe, that�s exactly what they�re afraid of. From a traumatized and disgusted soon-to-be former resident�s point of view, stay far, far away from Lake In The Woods Apartments. January 1 - 11, 2003... "Suburban Office Building Sells for $72 Per SF" - By Robert Carr, GlobeSt.com, Jan 7, 2003. "Lake in the Woods apartments face foreclosure; Once-posh Ypsilanti ... I think I have found my new residence. Lake in the Woods Apartments (that is the longest link in history) We are going for the "Barrington" It's a good deal and a few months are free so.... Although, this is the model that I really want. The "Hampshire". It's really cool. Has a fireplace and washer/dryer. I just can't justify paying that price a month though. Maybe it will go on special after the 15th of this month. If it does, which it probably won't, I'm going to switch. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 10:58:15 yd, is the Memminger info a story from this week? Also, does "Championship golf course" signal the start of what looks like a quote by a gentleman named Robert Carr? Also, you refer to a link but I must be overlooking it. There's lots of good info in your post--sorry to quiz you, I just want to understand what you are saying. Thanks yd.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 11:02:50 Lake in the Woods homepage. The names of the various models [scroll down a bit] are a tad hifalutin if you ask me. Seems like "The Executive" might be a tad pricier than $550.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 11:45:07 The message before was just a sampling of what you find when you search Lake in the Woods. Not much good news there. The place changes owners more than some people change their underwear.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 11:46:49 Oh, I see what you mean; thanks yd. * * * * * * * * * * * * Jane - 2005-01-07 11:57:48 Dunno who owns it now, but on their website they're listed as being one of the McKinley properties -- the company that brought you such fine properties as Glencoe Hills and Roundtree.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 12:00:13 (briefly remembers working as a painter for a construction guy and painting interiors at Glencoe Hills, ah, memories)* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 12:04:29 McKinley is taking over management from someone that couldn't handle it.. A la Kircher. I don't believe McKinley owns it. And if they did and were selling it, that would say a lot. Cause Jane is correct, they don't manage Ritz Careltons.* * * * * * * * * * * * Al Pugno - 2005-01-07 12:08:15 And Le Flanuer still can't fish worth a damn.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 12:09:06 Hmm...how many layers of ownership/management are there, exactly? The PR says JER Partners and Plato Foufas bought the property...are they (guessing) a company that owns McKinley? Or is McKinley selling it to them? If the latter, what would that mean (as far as yd commenting that that would "say a lot" [please forgive my denseness as always])?* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-01-07 12:18:59 There was a guy about ten years ago, canoeing with his son by Dexter. Fell in, gulped a bunch of water, and died of intestinal parasites.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 12:30:26 Ugh. I know various flukes are common in tropical countries but I didn't dream there would be such organisms in fair Ford Lake.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-07 12:38:33 Maybe they'll bring back the power boat races to Ford Lake. And the fireworks. Tha image on television a while back seemed like a modern sentiment, but it was cribbed from a vignette of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing 1876 Centennial print. I had a reissue in the 80s which was destroyed when lightning hit our house. However, I did get a subsequent issue from BoP&E of the vignette. We may have more parasites and different chemicals than the good ol' days, but them was dirty industries "pissing in the river" (to quote Patti Smith). And some of the muck remains in the flats by Water Street.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 12:41:55 That's an astounding and beautiful picture, Raymond--thank you for linking to it! I never knew the commercial was from that image. It's a veritable cultural meme.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-01-07 12:43:57 I know a biologist, a fanatic fisherman who teaches at a local state university, who this past summer ate catfish etc. that he caught in Ford Lake. Although the texture and taste of catfish are repugnant, the DNR fish advisory as well as said biologist say they're okay to eat. * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-07 12:49:45 I wonder why the city and the developers don't build condos on the former city dump and Ford dump properties north of 94 between the river and Huron Street. What a tell-tale foundation of industry and commerce lies buried there, waiting to get into living bodies and morph their cells.* * * * * * * * * * * * Phil - 2005-01-07 12:50:11 SO many people with nothing better to do than bash and complain about any news on this board. It is no wonder I don't post here much. I thought this was a cool place but no matter what news breaks in Ypsi it seems we find a way to post bitter responses or go off topic and rant about something else. It is sad and no wonder Ypsi gets a bad name because the poeple here are unhappy and it shows. I thought this was good news for the community and the current and new residents. * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-01-07 12:55:47 We'd be much poorer off if we swallowed every fish that floated belly up down the Huron.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 12:57:36 The DNR stopped publishing its fish advisory in booklet form this year due to budget cuts, but it's a pdf here. "Exposure to PCBs can be reduced by properly trimming and cooking fish. Since PCBs are stored in the fat, trimming fatty areas before cooking and cooking in a manner that allows fat to drip away can eliminate over 50 percent of the PCBs. Recommended cooking methods include broiling, grilling, roasting or steaming. Mercury is stored in muscle and therefore cannot be eliminated by cooking or trimming methods." More fish-eatin' info. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 13:01:37 Phil, I am sorry you feel that way. But people's opinions differ, and it's fun to talk about that, don't you think? I'd be glad to hear more about why you see this as a good move for Ypsi, by all means. Also--it's just a blog; perhaps it's not necessary to take it terribly seriously. But by all means, Phil, if you disagree please chime in and join the conversation. The more points of view the better.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura again - 2005-01-07 13:07:40 You're also welcome to change the topic if you like. I remember the time you told us about new stuff happening at Ford. I thought that was interesting. At any rate.* * * * * * * * * * * * Al Pugno - 2005-01-07 13:32:39 Main Entry: ip�se dix�it Pronunciation: 'ip-sE-'dik-s&t Function: noun Etymology: Latin, he himself said it : an assertion made but not proved * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 13:35:49 Yes indeed, Al Pugno; that's it. :)* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-01-07 14:16:45 Mlive LitW story.* * * * * * * * * * * * Josh - 2005-02-10 14:03:25 Plato Foufas has no connection with Mckinley. They now own and manage the property.* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |
