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Comments:
raymond - 2005-02-24 21:53:35 I did notice in the article that it was Kircher who was evicting tenants. There wasn't any mention of B&B doing so. Seems like they're just in charge of fixing it up. "Ann Arbor rents, here we come" reminded me of the $1,400 lofts going in downtown on Michigan Ave. There was a commentor on Ann Arbor is Overrated who said that New Yorkers knew a neighborhood was no longer hip when lofts appeared in it. Which means Ypsi will have to take down all those nifty new banners redundantly emblazoned with "Hip Hipsilanti."* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2005-02-25 00:15:32 Beware when your town becomes hip and popular. It ruined Ann Arbor. They've added a big addition on to the old Schlenker Hardware building and installed "lofts." If Ypsi is going for $1400, you can imagine what these will bring in downtown Ann Arbor. I've also heard the old Eaton factory is slated next. I miss the Ann Arbor I grew up in. As the trendoid zeitgeist moves east, the current AA Hipsters will become 'Ypsters,' and Ypsi housing values will shoot through the roof. You can sell, make a huge profit, and start all over again in another non-hip satellite town... Consume, move on...* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-25 08:17:40 Some of us in the township get a reverse effect. Our properties are too small to subdivide, have no sewer access, and are surrounded by hordes of SUV-driving subdividians in vinyl clad monstrosities for houses. Anyone who would want a few acres doesn't want them here with all the blaring radios, screaming tots, and rushing traffic. Our island of squalor plummets in marketability while our assessments soar. Maybe the township officials will send Barnes & Barnes to the rescue and put us in the poorhouse. P.S. Apartments must be vacated in order to refurbish them completely. Renovation always leads to higher rents. Where will the evictees (or is that "evictims") go next? Please, not in tents in my swampy backyard.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 08:52:42 Eastern Highlands should be torn down but probably won't be. The sewers have been clogged and snaked so many times they have probably bored hundreds of labyrinth holes right to the Huron. Kircher is from another time. Seeing him drive around in his crappy van knowing he could leave this place with millions is weird. He probably has millions stuffed in shoeboxes and cans buried around his yard. But he is too stubborn to let anyone tell him what to do.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 08:58:30 Dan: Ypsi housing prices are already way up there, and took a big jump a couple years ago. It's grossly inflated if you ask me. Raymond: I am just wondering when what must have originally been a peaceful "island of squalor" became surrounded by wretched excess. YD: He is quite the character, in more ways than one, it seems.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:04:54 One does wonder about the enigmatic Kircher. Who is he? Where's he from? How and when and why did he amass a sprawling empire of (often run-down) properties all over town? What's his story? Why does he strike me as Ypsi's version of the protagonist of "Citizen Kane" (except if all the windows in the castle in the opening shot were boarded up with warped plywood)?* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:21:00 I have heard he is an ex-auto worker who started buying up pieces of crap and slowly amassed all the stuff. Who knows. I heard he got the highlands for a song.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:24:59 You can take Kircher out of Ypsi, but I don't think you'll ever get the Ypsi out of Kircher.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:27:50 I think that's well said. When did he begin buying all his properties? How could an ex-auto worker afford to buy dozens of real estate properties? And why? Why wants the hassle? I have the impression that he's doing it alone--no real estate company with a staff to handle all the rent checks, &c. Why would anyone do that? What's in it for him?* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-25 09:28:32 Hey! The New York/Lofts comment was me :)* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:28:54 No wonder it sounded so erudite. :)* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:29:54 Are you kidding. Think how much auto workers make/made in the 70's with overtime or without. You could buy houses for a couple grand then, maybe less.* * * * * * * * * * * * Ingrid - 2005-02-25 09:30:34 The house that David Kircher lives in is in no better shape than the ones he rents out. Four or five years ago, there was a myth that he was invincible in court, but that's no longer the case. Didn't he run for City Council?* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:31:51 A couple grand? Wow. But at second glance, that sounds right, yd--I guess that job would be much more lucrative than I first thought.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:32:31 Get thousands in rent. Don't spend a penny fixing them up. And keep stuffing pee stained mattresses with bills to help you sleep.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:33:46 Ingrid: the city gives every indication of having finally (finally!) run out of patience with him. They threw him in jail last December over the Highlands-sewage flap. Does he live in Ypsi proper?* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:34:13 I think studying the psychological habits of misers would help one understand his mind.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:36:49 I know a real estate mogul in AA who followed the same pattern. Buy AA properties, but fix them up and rent them. Started doing it in the 70's. Now owns three downtown hotels, apartment, office buildings and property all over the country. But he does not drive a rusty can. Quite the opposite. * * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:37:19 van* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:37:47 YD: That's an interesting and perceptive comment I think...that sounds right. Seems like he's hoarded and hoarded and hoarded all these semi-junky properties for no clear reason or purpose. I don't have anything against the man, mind you (except that he let the Thompson Bldg. rot into decrepitude)--I'm just wondering.* * * * * * * * * * * * Ingrid - 2005-02-25 09:46:20 Laura-Yes, he lives in Ypsi proper on Summit Street. I don't like him because he's endangered tenants with faulty electrical systems, holes in floors and ceilings etc. But, he obviously fills a niche with his low rents.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:48:49 Indeed, Ingrid...that seems to be the two sides of it (decrepit--cheap). Though faulty wiring would be scary to live with, not to mention holes in the floor for Pete's sake.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:51:55 Some renters demand the Ritz-Carelton on a bottlebum budget. People do need to be realistic. This has nothing to do with Kircher though. Just my experience with tenants. Just because you never scrub your bathtub doesn't mean you can sue me for black mold.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:53:13 YD, I do hope no one sued you for black (or any other color) mold. A scrubbie and some vinegar solution will get that off in 2 seconds.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:54:57 Tell that to Jabba the hut woman who hasn't climbed a stair in years. Cat poop for miles. Underarm stains that will make you puke. People sue whenever they fart. Must be somebodys fault that my life sucks.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 09:57:36 Ugh. Sounds revolting. But it has nothing to do with you for Heavens' sake--there's no reason I can see for her to give you grief.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 09:58:35 Thats what I get paid for. Grief. But I am thinking career change.* * * * * * * * * * * * Lima bean - 2005-02-25 09:59:21 Not to fisherman, I'll wager.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:01:50 Really, YD? Can't say I'm not curious. Or rather nosy. Change to what, may I please ask?* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:04:59 Renters are no angels either. Rent a two bedroom apartment and then have all your screwed up relatives move in with you. Knock holes in the walls everywhere. Don't take care of your animals. Drop weights on the floor all night to antagonize your elderly neighbor. Steal his mail. Slice his tires. Drain your car oil in the parking lot. Throw your charcoal in the lawn. Leave kids unattended to throw rocks at security lighting all day. * * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:05:08 Renters are no angels either. Rent a two bedroom apartment and then have all your screwed up relatives move in with you. Knock holes in the walls everywhere. Don't take care of your animals. Drop weights on the floor all night to antagonize your elderly neighbor. Steal his mail. Slice his tires. Drain your car oil in the parking lot. Throw your charcoal in the lawn. Leave kids unattended to throw rocks at security lighting all day. * * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:06:31 Then sue because the lights are out and you feel unsafe.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:07:53 And no lawn care companies will bid because they pucture their ridermower tires in the glass filled grass. Or they charge double a normal complex. The poor stay poor.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:08:49 Sounds like a lousy situation to have to deal with. Holes in the walls? Why, for Heaven's sake? And why can't they respect the elderly man? I really doubt he did some terrible thing to antagonize them. Sounds like a mess.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:10:11 Use the parking lot as your personal auto salvage yard. Throw old appliances/mattresses whereever. Dump tampons, diapers, condoms, rags. gi joes down the toilets. The sue that the basement backs up.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:11:06 I got cancer, its the furnaces fault.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:11:54 I am writing all this down.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:13:49 Good. Because, not that anyone asked my opinion, I think you have a lot of writing skill, and clearly you have access to stories that most people like me have no idea about. If a book comes out I'll buy it.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-25 10:14:25 Kirched started buying properties after the riots of the late 60s and into the 70s. Rental properties had been getting run-down since the bomber plant overcrowding days. Given the gunfire around town, including on campus, dead bodies in the streets, people getting knocked in the head during a walk in the crappy parks, repeated burlaries, residential dumps went for a song. Kircher was among the few willing to sing. The Thompson Building, like most everything else he bought, was a wreck when he got it. His henchmen slapped a little tar on the roof. Pigeons inhabited the upper floors along with unknown treasures of the past. If Kircher had run over the building inspector there when he tried to, he'd be living in Jackson or Marquette now. The State of Michigan in its wisdom to top the situation off closed the mental hospitals, gave inmates about $900 per month, and settled them in Ypsi. That helped the rental market decline. Now Barnes & Barnes, city annointed and court appointed receiver, wants everybody else's million $ so they can fix stuff up and make a hefty profit. I get nervous when government confiscates real estate and redistributes it. Or worse yet buys property for megamillions and hands it off to the lowest bidder at a huge loss. Of course, the answer is to demolish the paper mill and build more claptrap on the wrong side of the tracks. Drive around town now and count the For Rent signs in apartments. Hundreds. Oh, that's right: young couples with children will buy the vacant rental houses for $250,000 (and up) and spend that much again restoring the working class splendor while chasing out the roaches. Say hello to your neighbor, folks, former patient at Ypsi State Hosp.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:16:41 Ex-boyfreind breaks the doorjam again foe the 12th time. Another broken window at the same apartment for the fifth day in a row. No idea why anyone would do it, yea right. Your giant bling bling "chronic" belt buckle and neighbors complaining of line of visitors all night/day tells me you know why the windows are getting broken.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:24:36 Raymond, that is a good explanation and helps me get a bigger picture. That makes sense that properties in town, on the slide since the wane of the Willow Run bomber plant, would be for sale for next to nothing. You are right about gunfire in town. When I was reading 1978 editions of the Ypsi Press in Halle Library, looking up the Hardesty story, I saw lots and lots of stories about shootings and gunfire. It seems to have been very prevalent, for unknown reasons.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:26:46 YD: Sounds pretty grim to me.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:27:38 I would like to find a new career as a beer taste-tester, fishing lure tryer- outer, or as a sleep subject. But I haven't seen any ads for these positions lately.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:33:33 The funniest is people that call because of furnace problems when there are no "furnace" problems. Some people have been raised to heat their living space with oven, space heaters, other things. And many expect the furnace to blow non-stop. Tenants will call with no heat and you'll check it out--the apartment is 80 degrees (as high as the thermostat will go) but the air stops blowing when it reaches temperature. Furnace must be out, gotta call. Turn on the oven. Oven makes the apartment 95 degrees so furnace won't come on as it should. So again, furnace must be out. Then call cause the gas bills are 300 this month. Something must be wrong with the furnace.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:36:36 YD: It's good that you have some career options picked out. :) 80 degrees is sweltering. 95 and you start to feel a bit woozy. So I guess I'm not sure why those tenants would not realize that's it's plenty warm already.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:37:09 Dealing with tenants has taught me what a valuable thing education is. And what a lack of it can do to generations to come. * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-25 10:37:28 are these the same people I see at the party store buying 5 bucks worth or pork rinds, cola drinks, and lottery tickets for their kids' breakfasts?* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:38:40 That is certainly an intriguing comment ("education") yd. You already know I will be compelled to ask you what you mean by that.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:41:54 I go into apartments (for requested repairs) and there is no one home all day. And the heat is on 85. Storm door closers/handles are broke (again) storm windows open, mattresses covering ducts or vent missing and kids fill the ducts with stuffed animals. Some like to sweep the floor into the cold air return. Then they wonder why I have to change the blower motor ever christmas eve when I should be home. Kids love to smash thermostats with basketballs and then play with thecool silvery beads on the floor. Jeez-us christ lady.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:43:58 No education, no accountability. "Born to sue" taTOOED ON MY ASS. yES, rAYMOND, IT IS THE SAME PEOPLe. I have to pull the rind bags out with the toilet auger twice a week.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:44:42 YD: I didn't realize there was mercury in old thermostats, but, now that you mention it, there is mercury in mine, in a little glass vial that rides on the spring. * * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:47:13 Only ther new digital programmable ones don't have it. Most regular ones you buy still have it. Breakfast of Champions.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:48:42 PS: Garbage disposal does not mean you put all your garbage down it. Not that you care what I say.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 10:52:19 If there's such a hue and cry about safely disposing of old thermometers with one micrograin of mercury in them, you have to wonder why there's a good half-cc or so of the stuff in an easily-breakable thermostat right there on the wall. But...anyways.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 10:57:04 I loved to play with the silvery beads when I was a kid. I guess that explains a lot.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 12:20:46 yd: OK, I have to ask: what happened with the garbage disposal?--you made me curious.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-25 12:43:02 I remember the first time I broke a thermomter by accident as a kid. I thought the mercury was the most insanely beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Surprised I didn't try to eat it.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 12:49:13 I also very dimly remember the pretty silver rolly-beads on a floor somewhere. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 12:57:39 yd: did you have a special procedure to clean up and dispose of the mercury the kids spilled with the basketball? Like a hazmat kit or something? Just wondering.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-25 14:34:58 Drove thru Eastern Highlands. Glad I wasn't high. I woulda freeked. It's rubble. Haul it away. Looks like MadMaxVilla.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 14:37:24 I wonder if some of the rubble is from B&B's work there, maybe. Still, sounds like a mess. * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-25 15:00:25 There's no sign of any work there. The dumpsters are filled with crap from apartments, furniture and plastic toys. Too bad I haven't a digital camera. My pics won't be out until next week. Buildings are half-ass boarded up, broken windows and doorwalls, curtains fluttering in the breezy flurries, suspicious people peeking out of raggedy blinds. B&B progress on this mess will rival the progress on the Thompson Building.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 15:05:45 Sounds awful. Broken windows and doorwalls? Why, for Heaven's sake? Hope B&B gets that tidied up pronto.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 15:27:38 The complex does have a bad rep, but for the record I know there are plenty of decent, hard-working people living there and I feel bad that they're being given such a shoddy, messy environment.* * * * * * * * * * * * LF - 2005-02-25 16:05:56 Hey YD, can you help me get my GI Joe outta my toilet? * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 16:08:18 It never hurts to ask.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 17:42:19 I can extract a GI Joe from a toilet but usually it involves the dismemberment of Joe. Therefore, it will cost 25 dollars and an arm or leg will be missing. Contact the WWTP if you wish to persue its reattachment.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-25 17:50:31 We did a holiday show for an EMU welfare mothers group in December. Our marionettes inspired a boy to dig a GI Joe out of the pile of used ValueWorld-quality giveaway stuff they had heaps of ("Merry Xmas. Here's some used underpants.") and try to string it up. When he didn't know what to use for cords we suggested snatching some shoelaces. He took our advice and liberated a pair of laces from someone's shoes. I wonder if the Bil Baird wannabe fished his Joe down someone's rent-subsidized commode?* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 17:55:39 Yea, a lot of tenants have bags and bags of free crap people give them to make themselves feel better. Then when the sewage backs up in the basement, they call maintenance to haul 50 wet, stinky ass contractor bags out. And of course the bage are all filled with grandmas precious heirlooms. Lawsuit time.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2005-02-25 17:57:58 That should be the new name when the renovation is done. Raymond, you are a genius. You could sue somebody for using your idea. "Mad Max Villa"* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-25 18:00:02 Well, at E. Highland they pump the sewage out of the basement into the parking lot. Don't bother to put bags of ruined crap in the Dumpsters. They're overflowing with the leftovers of evictions and deserters. * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-25 18:26:20 I must admit that at E. Highlands I saw the complex snow plow: An old black 4wheel drive Ford. Although it was covered with several inches of snow, the parking lots had been scraped somewhat. I guess you'd have to have a plow for the sewage. Anyway, I like that truck. It would look good parked next to our rusty International with the hood up in the summer to discourage wasp nests.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 19:07:22 Raymond, please trademark "Mad Max Villa"...quick!* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 19:09:14 I think it's cool that you inspired the boy to try and make his own puppet with the materials at hand.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-25 19:14:05 YD: I think "free crap people give them to make themselves feel better" is right on the money. Nobody I know wants used underpants. Gross. That's not charity--it's fairly patronizing, if you ask me "this is good enough for them." Like a package of new underwear costs a million bucks. * * * * * * * * * * * * Highlands Resident - 2005-03-21 22:39:09 This is basically directed at "raymond." I am writing to you because I was reading your posts regarding Eastern Highlands in Ypsilanti. I am currently a second-year law student, and I live at Eastern Highlands. I am consistently amazed that people who appear to be well-off and educated are so enamored with discussing "the highlands" and its residents. I was especially surprised by your post stating that you had recently "driven through" the highlands. Why? I am assuming that you have no reason to be there. Second, I was aghast by your post regarding (I'm paraphrasing here) "the residents who buy pork rinds and lotto tickets..." Gee, that sounds like you are talking about black people. Well, most of the people here are black, and frankly, I don't know too many who can afford $5 worth of pork rinds. If you don't live here, and it would appear that you are not in danger of becoming impoverished and coming here, what do you get out of trashing the place and its residents? I truly don't understand. I have noticed that this sort of thing is pretty widespread, and you are definitely not the only ones. Even at law school, many other upper-middle-class white students have commented on the "horrible" living conditions that "those people" in Detroit have. They don't have to live there, so I wonder why they care? I find that I am in an unusual situation. I am an educated white woman, from Detroit, now living in the highlands. Most people assume that I am at least middle-class. Unfortunately, to date, I have never had that honor. I hear these types of comments all the time. I guess it is OK to say it at law school, because what are the odds that "these types" will be around to hear it? What are the odds that any of the "pork rind eaters" at Eastern Highlands have internet access and will ever read these posts? Since you "drove through" here for god knows what reason, why didn't you stop and share your comments with the residents? My personal credo is that I wouldn't say anything behind someone's back that I wouldn't say to their face. If you don't care to share your feelings with "these people", then why say anything at all? I don't know if anyone here cares at all about what I am saying, but consider this: I live in your world, AND "theirs." I don't like being impoverished, living at Eastern Highlands. That is why I have worked so hard to attain an education. But I do not mock those who will likely never be any better off. I feel bad for them and I pray for them. No matter how "unseemly" they are, life is giving them their punishment every day. When I am better off, I will be grateful for it. I will not be discussing "those people" so that I can feel superior. I will tell you this: as sorry as I feel for the people at Eastern Highlands, I feel much more pity for people like you. Be glad for what you have! If you have not been in this situation, who are you to judge? This is my rant, and in closing, I would like to extend two offers to my fellow educated folk: 1. If anyone would care to explain to me the fascination with judging others who are worse off or explain how the "pork rinds" comment wasn't racist, please email me at [email protected] I realize that I'll never change the attitudes of others, but for the life of me I would like to know why this superior attitude exists. 2. If any of you can truly defend your posts as non-offensive, I cordially invite you to come down to the Highlands Hood so that you may read these posts aloud to the residents, or perhaps just tell the residents how you feel about them. By all means, you should get this off your chest in a more appropriate forum. If I can possibly scrape up enough money, I will send my black husband to the store to purchase pork rinds, lotto tickets, and maybe even kool-aid for your visit. I will then be happy to escort you from apartment to apartment while you "meet and greet" with the residents. If any of you cannot take me up on offer number two, I suggest you seriously re-consider how it is you can consider yourselves any better than the "savages" who live here.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-03-22 09:18:11 Speaking for myself, I am concerned about Highlands from the landlord-neglect angle. No one should be forced to live in a complex that is in disrepair. From all accounts Highlands' owner has not performed timely repairs, thus letting the property decline and putting other residents in danger. I suggested to Ypsi Courier resident Charlie Kondek that the Courier do a story on the recent tenant rent strike. The Courier apparently isn't interested, however, unsurprisingly. * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-03-22 17:53:04 George H.W. Bush's favorite snack is said to be pork rinds. Bill Clinton is said to like them (pre heart surgery). But those guys don't have to go to a party store to get them. They have flunkies. No matter. That stuff is crap. People do buy it for their children. Those children will buy it for children to come.* * * * * * * * * * * * [email protected] - 2005-03-22 22:32:02 Of course no one should have to live in these conditions. But where do you think these people will end up? Somewhere nicer? My "Read Your Posts Aloud" offer still stands. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-03-23 09:36:07 So A. Thomas, may I ask you what is an update on the tenant's rent strike? I looked for a tenant association website some time ago to find more info, but didn't find one--is there one I'm overlooking? What happened during the rent strike? Did it work? * * * * * * * * * * * * A.Thomas - 2005-04-02 18:24:31 While you are here sharing all of your comments regarding the poor nutrition of pork rinds and the rest, feel free to ask the tenants about the rent strike. We are quite hospitable.* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |