Giant aquarium planned for Great Lakes Crossing Mall

[rb336]

Metro Detroit's fall from being the forth largest and thus equally important metro in the country is its own fault. We traded a world class city for the most banal, milquetoast suburban existence imaginable. .

I love this comment

[rb336]

it cracks me up that they call it a "giant" aquarium. modest-sized regional aquarium is far more accurate.

[noise]

Contrary to the popular belief of the exburbers, Great Lakes Crossing is not the center of the universe. I have never been to a Pistons game, and I have never been to Auburn Hills. Of course that makes me and other eastsiders the deserving subjects of derision, because how could anyone survive outside of that paradise? Poor benighted souls must live off hot cheetos at the liquor store. Where does one dine if not at the Rainforest Cafe? Oh la la!

300k houses? That's a foreclosure in the ghetto in Boston. Not impressive!

Metro Detroit's fall from being the forth largest and thus equally important metro in the country is its own fault. We traded a world class city for the most banal, milquetoast suburban existence imaginable.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that in 20 years GLC is going to be the next Eastland, Northland, you name one of the dozen trash malls we've paved farmland for, and the aquarium will be shuttered or a ValueCity furniture. But enjoy it while it lasts, I guess.

You've never been there, so it must be the middle of nowhere!

For what it's worth, growing up in Romeo, Detroit was always considered the "middle of nowhere".

Would you just quit crying about people having a different opinion than you do about Detroit and move already?

[poobert]

Would you just quit crying about people having a different opinion than you do about Detroit and move already?

That's a big negative. Quite the contrary: I'm not going to jump on your slap happy bandwagon and cheer every dumb thing they put in no man's land. You guys ironically talk shit about Detroit all day - often with very good reason - but look at how bent out of shape you all get when I trash talk your crappy McMansions and their crappy environs. I'm entitled to my opinion and to express it just as much as you are to get all geeked about Rainforest Cafe. If that's your cup of meat, that's great, it's a free country, but I think it sucks and I can say so if I like. At the very least it's jolted some life back into this thread so you're welcome.

[Johnnny5]

Contrary to the popular belief of the exburbers, Great Lakes Crossing is not the center of the universe. I have never been to a Pistons game, and I have never been to Auburn Hills. Of course that makes me and other eastsiders the deserving subjects of derision, because how could anyone survive outside of that paradise? Poor benighted souls must live off hot cheetos at the liquor store. Where does one dine if not at the Rainforest Cafe? Oh la la!

300k houses? That's a foreclosure in the ghetto in Boston. Not impressive!

Metro Detroit's fall from being the forth largest and thus equally important metro in the country is its own fault. We traded a world class city for the most banal, milquetoast suburban existence imaginable.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that in 20 years GLC is going to be the next Eastland, Northland, you name one of the dozen trash malls we've paved farmland for, and the aquarium will be shuttered or a ValueCity furniture. But enjoy it while it lasts, I guess.

It gets old really quick when some here constantly rag on Detroit, but at least those that do have actually been there to see it!

[Hermod]

it cracks me up that they call it a "giant" aquarium. modest-sized regional aquarium is far more accurate.

They are paying for it themselves and not asking the taxpayers to foot the bill. They can build whatever size they want. There is a nice little aquarium in Outdoor World at GLC as well.

[Patrick]

The "Mills" type mega-malls have been pretty successful around the country even though they are a bit of a drive from the population centers. The traditional malls [[anchored by Macy's, Dillard's, Sear's, and Penney's) do fairly well until overtaken by urban blight. Northland and Eastland will probably die, not because they are suburban malls, but because they have become undesirable or a newer, flashier Lakeside is opened within a short drive of them.

Maybe so, but come on man, Potomac Mills is a white trash mall.

[Honky Tonk]

it cracks me up that they call it a "giant" aquarium. modest-sized regional aquarium is far more accurate.

They wouldn't get much of a draw with:

"Modest-Sized Regional Aquarium Planned For Great Lakes Crossing"

[mikeg19]

it cracks me up that they call it a "giant" aquarium. modest-sized regional aquarium is far more accurate.

Considering the only aquarium we do have has about 500 gallons of water and a few Asian Carp swimming in them, I'd say that a new 35,000ft aquarium is quite large.

[DetroitPlanner]

Considering the only aquarium we do have has about 500 gallons of water and a few Asian Carp swimming in them, I'd say that a new 35,000ft aquarium is quite large.

How many Sq ft is the current aquarium building? My guess is that these two will be somewhat same in size. The Great Lakes Mall one will be more gimicky, but the Belle Isle one has tradition going for it. The current space that gameworks is in has multiple levels, I am assuming that when converted this will not work for holding water on the upper levels as the loads are quite different than eatery patrons.

[rb336]

Considering the only aquarium we do have has about 500 gallons of water and a few Asian Carp swimming in them, I'd say that a new 35,000ft aquarium is quite large.

Yes, it will be almost three times the size of the Belle Isle Aquarium, but saying it is giant is like calling a pebble a boulder because it is three times as big as another pebble.

Monterey Bay Aquarium is 10x the size. And that is about half the size of Shedd, Georgia and National

[mtburb]

so what's in the old GameWorks area now?

During my last trip to GLX back in September, the former Gameworks was a temporary Halloween store.

[Honky Tonk]

Considering the only aquarium we do have has about 500 gallons of water and a few Asian Carp swimming in them, I'd say that a new 35,000ft aquarium is quite large.

Well, If you add in a congested, contrived, mall with screaming kids, and compare that to a quiet island where you can peacefully walk to several museums, look @ the water, the freighters, etc., etc., I'll take Belle Isle any day of the week.

[Hermod]

Maybe so, but come on man, Potomac Mills is a white trash mall.

Ever been there especially around Christmas? It looks pretty diverse to me. Afghans, Asians, Blacks............. I used to live there in 1985-1994.

[Bham1982]

Ever been there especially around Christmas? It looks pretty diverse to me. Afghans, Asians, Blacks............. I used to live there in 1985-1994.

That area is more diverse than the region as a whole but doesn't matter; to the hard-core urbanists, anything sprawly is "white" and anything urban is "diverse", even though in Metro Detroit, this rarely holds true.

If you want to live in a neighborhood of broad ethnic diversity, does it make more sense in Novi, Royal Oak or Detroit? I think Novi is the obvious answer.

[compn]

I have never been to a Pistons game, and I have never been to Auburn Hills.

i havent been to see a game since i was a kid. i'll buy you a ticket to see a game. its a fun time. anyone want to join in? DYES pistons game?

[mikeg19]

Well, If you add in a congested, contrived, mall with screaming kids, and compare that to a quiet island where you can peacefully walk to several museums, look @ the water, the freighters, etc., etc., I'll take Belle Isle any day of the week.

Honky Tonk, I certainly hear ya in that respect. I haven't been to Belle Isle Aquarium since I was little, but my main interest is saltwater reef/tropical fish. I believe that the GLC aquarium will mostly center around that. Does Belle Isle have much in the way of a live saltwater reef right now?

[Honky Tonk]

Honky Tonk, I certainly hear ya in that respect. I haven't been to Belle Isle Aquarium since I was little, but my main interest is saltwater reef/tropical fish. I believe that the GLC aquarium will mostly center around that. Does Belle Isle have much in the way of a live saltwater reef right now?

I don't think they do. I know they had a small shark, [[about 24"-30" long) for a while, but I'm not sure now. The Belle Isle Aquarium is in it's infancy, IOM, since reopening. I used to have a 40 gallon salt tank, back in the day. After a while, I became more interested in "the weird stuff" then actual fish.

[I <3 DET]

I'm glad to hear this. Any kind of development in Metro-Detroit is good development, whether it's in Detroit, Auburn Hills, Novi, Sterling Heights etc.

While the city of Chicago has plenty of shopping and attractions downtown, their metro area boasts many places to shop and things to do for locals and visitors.

I believe that Detroit and it's surrounding suburbs can coexist and thrive.
I can't wait to experience this new aquarium, but that won't prevent me from going to Belle Isle and it's unique aquarium.

I don't limit my experiences to either the city or suburbs, I enjoy both. Going to Pistons games at the wonderful Palace, experiencing a Tigers game at the beautiful Comerica Park, shopping at several of the Metros malls, getting some nature at Stony Creek and Belle Isle, attending many of the exclusive Downtown Detroit events [[NAIAS, Jazz fest, New Years countdown, etc.)

All in all I love metro Detroit and I don't want to be anywhere else.

[poobert]

That area is more diverse than the region as a whole but doesn't matter; to the hard-core urbanists, anything sprawly is "white" and anything urban is "diverse", even though in Metro Detroit, this rarely holds true.

If you want to live in a neighborhood of broad ethnic diversity, does it make more sense in Novi, Royal Oak or Detroit? I think Novi is the obvious answer.

Your agenda is as predictable as it is uninteresting. And over two thousand posts...

[Honky Tonk]

That area is more diverse than the region as a whole but doesn't matter; to the hard-core urbanists, anything sprawly is "white" and anything urban is "diverse", even though in Metro Detroit, this rarely holds true.

If you want to live in a neighborhood of broad ethnic diversity, does it make more sense in Novi, Royal Oak or Detroit? I think Novi is the obvious answer.

Good post and absolutely correct. I have friends in the "evil 'burbs" and the ethnic mix in the neighborhoods is amazing. People from all countries of the planet live, work, shop, and party in these areas. They're there because not everyone wants to deal with daily existence struggles in Detroit. People who never leave their comfort zone, don't know any better, or just plain refuse to see, will post nonsense, "Frank Rizzo" crap once a month. The year is 2014 not 1950.

[Hermod]

Good post and absolutely correct. I have friends in the "evil 'burbs" and the ethnic mix in the neighborhoods is amazing. People from all countries of the planet live, work, shop, and party in these areas. They're there because not everyone wants to deal with daily existence struggles in Detroit. People who never leave their comfort zone, don't know any better, or just plain refuse to see, will post nonsense, "Frank Rizzo" crap once a month. The year is 2014 not 1950.

If you compare the 2010 census data for Detroit and Troy with the four census groups of non-Hispanic White, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic, Detroit and Troy are about equal if you look at the percentages for primary group, secondary group, tertitary group, and quartenary group. It is just that the primary group in Detroit is black and the secondary group is white. In Troy, the primary group is white and the secondary group is Asian. Mathematically, the two cities have "equal diversity". It is just that the PC crowd define diversity as "non-white".

[Cliffy]

That place up there is a gold mine. Its the major shopping hub for not only northern Oakland county but Lapeer and Genesse County residents too.

[GUSHI]

Great Lakes Crossing sucks, its in the middle of no were surronded by garbage dumps. Living in the east of Detroit is like living in the middle of no where and is surronded by litter and garbage. Alot of thing in common. So both place are undesirable to me.

[Detroit Stylin]

Northland and Eastland will die becuase the surrounding demographics changed, and the areas are generally undesirable and perceived as unsafe.

You mean became more Black?