Potenial of the Avenue of Fashion

[Artistic]

Back in the day this was one area with a vibrant retail district. Livernois at 7 Mile Rd. Considering the immediate area's neighborhood's of Sherwood Forest, Palmer Woods, Green Acres and the University District is it possible that this area could be ripe for an influx of entreprenuer's with fashion, food and design businesses?

[Hypestyles]

hopefully this will happen, sooner than later.. I'd love for Livernois to have a rail line, if not for those pesky medians that were built..

[Genesyxx]

Back in the day this was one area with a vibrant retail district. Livernois at 7 Mile Rd. Considering the immediate area's neighborhood's of Sherwood Forest, Palmer Woods, Green Acres and the University District is it possible that this area could be ripe for an influx of entreprenuer's with fashion, food and design businesses?

You would think so. The occupancy rate for this stretch has been pretty good, and there are a lot of loyal customers, but it's been losing a few stores as of late.

[royce]

I'm glad somebody brought this up. There are many reasons why shopping doesn't work in the Avenue of Fashion [[A of F). For one, Livernois is an oddity, along with Wyoming, when it comes to the residential/retail mix of this city, especially the westside. If you know the layout of Detroit, then you know that beginning with Meyers, all north-south streets are residential and the commercial/retail goes along the east-west streets. The people living in the neighborhoods along the side streets have an easy walk to get to businesses along the east-west streets.

With the exception of Livernois south of Michigan Avenue, the rest of Livernois is commercial, yet near the Avenue of Fashion, most of the neighborhood/side streets enter and exit at the mile or half-mile roads. I contend that because of this layout it makes it harder for people to access the A of F without a car, especially those living in Sherwood Forest and Palmer Woods, with all of those winding streets. Therefore, you don't get the foot traffic that you would normally get on streets like Puritan, Fenkell, McNichols, or Seven Mile [[west of Wyoming). As a result, people get into their cars and drive, which ties into another reason shopping at the A of F doesn't work: parking.

Now, if you are forced to drive because walking is not easily accessible, you then need a place to park your car. Parking along the Avenue of Fashion is limited to metered street parking. This is a hassle for most people here in Michigan, but more so along the A of F because of the next reason shopping at the A of F doesn't work: quality of stores.

In its heyday when it was a popular destination, the Avenue of Fashion had nationally recognized chain stores. Now, it is mostly made up of independent boutique stores. Now, one might argue that Birmingham is full of boutique stores and its stores appear to do well. However, the well-to-do residents near the A of F would rather go to thoses stores in Birmingham or the chain stores at the malls. They would rather impress their friends and family by telling them "where" they got a particular item than buying something from the A of F. It's a class issue which is not easy to explain, but it exists.

Now, given everything that I've said above, returning the Avenue of Fashion to an important shopping district won't happen. However, what I think would benefit the A of F greatly would be to build some townhouses or apartments along that stretch of Livernois and then bring in stores that would appeal to the residents along that stretch. That means more restaurants, bars, and sundries shops. Also, some of the westside buildings need to be torn down to make room for parking. There is a nice restaurant there called the 1917 Bistro. There needs to be more to make the Avernue of Fashion a vibrant area.

[softailrider]

That stretch of retail has been a joke for the last couple of decades. I can remember when it actually was a destination area for shopping. Now it seems to be a plethora of nail salons, hair salons and the like. There's a lot of vacant stores and the area is run down and pretty much looks like shit.

[p69rrh51]

That stretch of retail has been a joke for the last couple of decades. I can remember when it actually was a destination area for shopping. Now it seems to be a plethora of nail salons, hair salons and the like. There's a lot of vacant stores and the area is run down and pretty much looks like shit.

You are absolutely right it does look like shit! Although at one time probably before you were born the AofF was Birmingham and Somerset rolled up into one. I still run across boxes from shops along the avenue in Grosse Pointe decades after the shops closed or moved to the suburbs. Too add to the Royce's comments yes parking is always a problem especially for employees, but the bigger problem is the city income tax and high property taxes. Until the city learns to compete with the suburbs areas like the Aof F will never be more than a dumpy has-beens!