Originally Posted by
Mackinaw
It is a defense mechanism to blame criticism for poor choices on over-sensitive outsiders who are out to get GPP. I, being from GP, know full well about people who overdramatize race issues and really treat GP unfairly and lose sight of the fact that it is not a bunch of rich, hateful people, but really a more open-minded suburb for metro Detroit. But this is different. This is targeted, I say warranted, criticism on multiple fronts. And you need to come to terms with the fact that it is from within, too, for a bunch of good reasons set forth ad nauseum on this thread.
It's where my family is from, it's where I used to be from and would like to return, and it makes all of us cringe. You know what all this is, if nothing else-- needless. A needless "urban revitalization" measure-- which doesn't accomplish much-- and a needless source of controversy which should have been seen from a mile away by anyone with a brain. It's on a border which for right and wrong has been the source of undue attention. This wasn't gonna slip under the radar; moreover, I think it disrupts resident's daily routine. There is so little good, and quite a bit bad, and a TON of pointlessness behind this fiasco. At the end of the day, it shows that the leaders are some combination of out-of-touch, out of their league [[when it comes to urban planning), and perhaps a bit antogonistics [[look at Heenan's quotes in the Freep). That is no way to govern.
GPwrangler, the someone who supported it was likely the elected officials and a handful of merchants who were promised that this would be good for business and probably thought it would be executed with more grace [[and less controversy, they surely hoped). It wasn't some grassroots effort. It was passed, surely, at a meeting with little attendance. People are naturally reactionary. As a native, I totally understand what's happening now. People sat on their hands, but now they are taking account of how disruptive it is. It's a genteel town that doesn't want the spotlight. And it's a town that hopes for better things for Detroit. A "notable" amount of people will now express one of several reasons to be opposed to this, and eventually, it will be removed.