Is Chene the worst commercial district in the city?

[EastsideAl]

I was looking at an old map not too long ago here. Chene ran at a NW angle and ended, I believe at St. Aubin?. MikeM?

North of Harper [[and later I-94) it turned to the northeast for several blocks and ended at E. Grand Blvd. where it ran in to Joseph Campau. So you could drive directly from the Polish commercial district in Detroit on Chene to the Polish commercial district in Hamtramck on Joseph Campau.

The old Baker street car, and later the Chene bus, used to take this route up into Hamtramck. The Chene bus still goes there today, but now it has to take the long route around the GM plant.

[DetroitPlanner]

I was driving down Chene from Gratiot to I-94 and it looked like it was once a lively area but now only a few churches, a post office, barber shop and maybe two party stores.
I suspect that in it's hey day Chene had a lot going on.
Any comments?

Strong, I am disappointed in you. This is not a rah rah thread at all!

[rutlev]

On the west side, Fort Street around Junction used to be a great retail area.
It just died, once the 5 & 10 stores packed it in, then Winkleman's, Sanders, Shoe Fair, and some small millinary shops went. Thank goodness Vernor is still pretty vibrant, although not with the kind of retail there was in the past.

[313WX]

On the west side, Fort Street around Junction used to be a great retail area.
It just died, once the 5 & 10 stores packed it in, then Winkleman's, Sanders, Shoe Fair, and some small millinary shops went. Thank goodness Vernor is still pretty vibrant, although not with the kind of retail there was in the past.

I think the Gardner-White store down that way closed in the late 1970s, after they had that big fire.

[Honky Tonk]

On the west side, Fort Street around Junction used to be a great retail area.
It just died, once the 5 & 10 stores packed it in, then Winkleman's, Sanders, Shoe Fair, and some small millinary shops went. Thank goodness Vernor is still pretty vibrant, although not with the kind of retail there was in the past.

Don't forget Jupiter's and Western Auto! Bim's Loans is still there. What was the name of the electronics/appliance store on Fort & Livernois? Was it Lafayette Electronics? They did so well they had an addition on Lafayette & Livernois. I think the malls and chain stores killed that kind of retail. Then when the neighborhood started to deteriorate, it was the final nail in the coffin.

[MidTownMs]

Ok........Detroit lost half of it's population and all of it's decent retail. Unless you call wig shops, crappy party stores and gas stations decent retail. Try finding a jewlery store to get a battery for your watch or something like that. You would think that the half the population that's left could support something better then what's left.

There are plenty of jewelry stores in Detroit. They're called Pawn Shops.

[GUSHI]

And I'm sure the carry batteries for your watch

[Honky Tonk]

"There are plenty of jewelry stores in Detroit. They're called Pawn Shops."

Nice!

[GUSHI]

Take a drive to hamtramck, they have jewelry stores,

[Honky Tonk]

Take a drive to hamtramck, they have jewelry stores,

I don't think "Ca$h For Gold" constitutes a jewelry store.

[Hornwrecker]

Some photos of Chene buried in this thread:

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/80673.html

[Zacha341]

Well that's the truth... but I have purchased some jewelry at Zeidmans! Not diamonds though.

There are plenty of jewelry stores in Detroit. They're called Pawn Shops.

[marshamusic]

It might be hard to imagine how dense retail was on ALL of the major streets of Detroit [[unless, of course it was a street that had industrial plants). I forget, sometimes, that the younger generation knows no Detroit but the present one. My own sons grew up in the time of suburban malls, and remember little of Detroit back in the day, especially downtown.

There are NO streets that today approximate the look or feel of the most concentrated retail blocks in the city. Only Eastern Market on a crowded day maintains the pedestrian density of old retail Detroit. Jos Campau in Hamtramck still has retail, and I'm always glad about that, but it is a limited example of how retail was. One could not visit all the stores in the handful of blocks downtown in a one-day shopping trip. There were stores not only on main retail streets, but stores in the neighborhoods too - not just liquor stores either, but shops, grocers.

I was in San Francisco visiting my son and his fiancé for the first time a couple of years ago; we walked to the downtown from his house. As we turned the corner onto Market street, I was absolutely, completely, astonished at the commercial blocks that loomed before me. They were eerily like Woodward Ave., back in the day. I felt that I had walked into a time machine, or the Twilight Zone - where the Hudson's block, et al, had been preserved, and where all the mall stores were on the outside, on the streets.

That retail district of SFO is, to me, significantly, uncannily more like old Detroit than many other downtowns in the US that I have visited. Perhaps it is the age of the buildings, a similar street grid and building stock. What with all of my study and writing on Detroit, it was still unsettling and very distressing to see a version of Detroit that once was.

At one point, I was so stricken by it all, I literally burst into tears. I was overwhelmed at the sight of the tiny old Asian women - probably in their 80's - cavalierly boarding and exiting the buses and streetcars, shopping bags in hand. When I tried to explain my blathering to my son, I was thinking of my own mother who had passed two years before - it occurred to me, at that moment, that she might still be alive had she had the freedom to continue her beloved city shopping, that had ended many years before. Even though we moved her to a suburban one-story, she was never the same. For sure, I cried for my mother, but for my city as well.

[I noted, during that SFO trip, the street cars - some of which, I understand - were literally delivered to SFO from Detroit, once we abandoned that form of public transportation.]

I went this weekend to the Somerset CityLoft block, where there were only a few actual stores open, but surprisingly many lights, a Christmas ambiance, and a few folks walking around [[other than panhandlers). There were even carolers, bless their hearts. Even so, it was a shadow of what was, yet a sign of possibilities to come; there is a sign posted in the windows, "Detroit Never Gives Up".

[poobert]

What about the farmers market on Chene? It's still standing and I see some guys hanging out near the building.

I've wondered about this myself. I go by there pretty regularly, but with eyes forward. There seems to always be a crowd at the old market there, but they certainly aren't farmers, at least not of the produce variety. It is a strange mix of people - including middle-aged white guys with F-150s and other sorts of folks that make you think "one of these things is not like the others". I'm guessing its an open-air drug market.

It's a shame. With Eastern Market and greater downtown being what it is today, "south" Poletown would be absolutely bustling today had anything survived long enough. There is, of course, Farnsworth street, which seems to be evidence of that.

[JVB]

I'm guessing its an open-air drug market.

Bingo.....

[Strong]

Strong, I am disappointed in you. This is not a rah rah thread at all!

Sorry, for I still love The Great Detroit

[slick]

I lived in the area until 1965, graduated from St Stanislaus 1967.
Thats the church and school at Chene and Medbury.

Chene street from Forest to Hamtramck was truly bustling.
Satuday and Wednesday at Chene Ferry market equaled Eastern Market, [[a wee bit smaller) today.

Around the market were live Chicken markets, even a Kroger. slews of bakeries, butchers, Martins restaurant, grocers, etc.

We also went to Butzel Branch Library, Grand Blvd and I-94.

The "Glory Days" as Bruce Spingsteen sings it and we lament abouty it.

[Islandman]

Take a drive to hamtramck, they have jewelry stores,

A lot of those jewelry store in Hamtramck have that seedy vibe to them, as in "you can bring uncut conflict diamonds in here and we'll give you a good price".

[softailrider]

Take a drive to hamtramck, they have jewelry stores,

I know there's jewelry stores in Hamtramck. Every city I can think of other then Detroit can support a Jewelry store.

[canuck]

It might be hard to imagine how dense retail was on ALL of the major streets of Detroit [[unless, of course it was a street that had industrial plants). I forget, sometimes, that the younger generation knows no Detroit but the present one. My own sons grew up in the time of suburban malls, and remember little of Detroit back in the day, especially downtown.

There are NO streets that today approximate the look or feel of the most concentrated retail blocks in the city. Only Eastern Market on a crowded day maintains the pedestrian density of old retail Detroit. Jos Campau in Hamtramck still has retail, and I'm always glad about that, but it is a limited example of how retail was. One could not visit all the stores in the handful of blocks downtown in a one-day shopping trip. There were stores not only on main retail streets, but stores in the neighborhoods too - not just liquor stores either, but shops, grocers.

I was in San Francisco visiting my son and his fiancé for the first time a couple of years ago; we walked to the downtown from his house. As we turned the corner onto Market street, I was absolutely, completely, astonished at the commercial blocks that loomed before me. They were eerily like Woodward Ave., back in the day. I felt that I had walked into a time machine, or the Twilight Zone - where the Hudson's block, et al, had been preserved, and where all the mall stores were on the outside, on the streets.

That retail district of SFO is, to me, significantly, uncannily more like old Detroit than many other downtowns in the US that I have visited. Perhaps it is the age of the buildings, a similar street grid and building stock. What with all of my study and writing on Detroit, it was still unsettling and very distressing to see a version of Detroit that once was.

At one point, I was so stricken by it all, I literally burst into tears. I was overwhelmed at the sight of the tiny old Asian women - probably in their 80's - cavalierly boarding and exiting the buses and streetcars, shopping bags in hand. When I tried to explain my blathering to my son, I was thinking of my own mother who had passed two years before - it occurred to me, at that moment, that she might still be alive had she had the freedom to continue her beloved city shopping, that had ended many years before. Even though we moved her to a suburban one-story, she was never the same. For sure, I cried for my mother, but for my city as well.

[I noted, during that SFO trip, the street cars - some of which, I understand - were literally delivered to SFO from Detroit, once we abandoned that form of public transportation.]

I went this weekend to the Somerset CityLoft block, where there were only a few actual stores open, but surprisingly many lights, a Christmas ambiance, and a few folks walking around [[other than panhandlers). There were even carolers, bless their hearts. Even so, it was a shadow of what was, yet a sign of possibilities to come; there is a sign posted in the windows, "Detroit Never Gives Up".

I hear you.

[ddaydetroit]

Lets not forget downtown Delray

[ddaydetroit]

Im doing the google street view of where delray cafe was at 8032 W Jefferson Ave Detroit, MI 48209 it Looks like a war zone. My grandparents lived in Delay I loved hearing the old stories

[DetroitPlanner]

Don't forget Jupiter's and Western Auto! Bim's Loans is still there. What was the name of the electronics/appliance store on Fort & Livernois? Was it Lafayette Electronics? They did so well they had an addition on Lafayette & Livernois. I think the malls and chain stores killed that kind of retail. Then when the neighborhood started to deteriorate, it was the final nail in the coffin.

I am fairly sure it was called Lafayette Sales though it has been a long time since I've been there! I can remember thinking it was one of the coolest stores I was ever in, granted I was just a kid when dad would take me there.

Jupiter was killed off by Kmart's sale of Kressge to McCrory.

There are a lot of bad commercial areas in the City. Fenkell in Brightmoor comes to mind.

[marshamusic]

I hear you.

Thanks for listening.

I wonder if there is/was a particular reason for the similarity of downtown SFO and the old Downtown Detroit, other than just the era. There was even a huge clock on Market street, like the Kern Clock. I was amazed.

[townonenorth]

I'm sure that most of you know what Chene street looks like now. Here's a look at the way it was up to the 70's, for the most part. This view is from the 1940's. Trolley tracks and all.