Unbelievable that this is lost. [Old Campus Martius]

**Whitehouse** · December-24-09, 06:43 PM

Take a moment to look at this.

Here's a more detailed view.

Take a look at the present day location.

This could have been Detroit's Picadilly Circus.....

Press picture for a detailed view...

Easy for us to say "shame..."

But the decay still goes on.

**EastsideQT** · December-24-09, 09:34 PM

I looked at that picture from 1917 and I didn't see anyone that looked liked me or anyone else in my family or for that matter most of my friends...could it be that the people making comments wish Detroit still looked like that picture....I wonder.

**Fury13** · December-24-09, 09:51 PM

What does ethnicity of the residents -- past or present -- have to do with lamenting the loss of that streetscape?

We could have had diversity of population AND architecture. But no...

smudge pot · December-24-09, 10:20 PM

The people are pretty tiny, but that cow has my bedroom eyes.

**eno** · December-24-09, 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by smudge pot

The people are pretty tiny, but that cow has my bedroom eyes.

Go for it smudge, you been good all year......until now.

**bailey** · December-25-09, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by EastsideQT

I looked at that picture from 1917 and I didn't see anyone that looked liked me or anyone else in my family or for that matter most of my friends...could it be that the people making comments wish Detroit still looked like that picture....I wonder.

Thanks Monica.

**rajdet** · December-25-09, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by EastsideQT

I looked at that picture from 1917 and I didn't see anyone that looked liked me or anyone else in my family or for that matter most of my friends...

I saw the photo and thought the same thing.

**Danny** · December-25-09, 10:17 AM

Campus Martius doesn't have to look like Picardilly Circus. We Detroiters and American design our cities to be free from European culture.

**downtown_racine** · December-25-09, 10:27 AM

This thread of full of win, Picadilly looks amazing and surely worth visiting.
Amazing how long some folks use and make things last in other parts of the world, nothing more rewarding than taking good care of something and making it last damn near forever. Like an old Ford or an Arts and Crafts Bungalow.

**Supersport** · December-25-09, 12:33 PM

Wow, look at the ignorance. I wonder, does the same ignorance believe that people that look like them are the reason the city has half the population, vacant houses/lots, and high crime? Using your line of thought, the two would go hand in hand.

They're just buildings, no different than the new buildings which replaced them. Remember, Michigan was part of the Union, not the Confederacy.

**DetroitZack** · December-25-09, 12:35 PM

I always stare at old views of what use to be where the Compuware Building is in amazement. I have an old postcard that I will have to scan and post here.

But I'm not sure what people "looking like you or your family or friends" has to do with this thread or anything for that matter.

**jtf1972** · December-25-09, 01:11 PM

I find it amazing that anyone can see the details of facial characteristics to determine that nobody in the photo looks like anybody they know.

It sucks that people give a damn about any of that. Ignorance is perpetual and knows no boundaries.

**iheartthed** · December-25-09, 03:11 PM

Picadilly Circus is able to be Picadilly Circus because of that subway that runs underneath it... Just sayin.

Bearinabox · December-25-09, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Picadilly Circus is able to be Picadilly Circus because of that subway that runs underneath it... Just sayin.

Well, at least someone gets it.

**DetroitPlanner** · December-25-09, 08:02 PM

Besides, look at whats NOT there in the old pic. Campus Martius as a public space is worlds better than it was at any time in previous memory. The only reason why there is no retail there now is the same reason why retail is hurting all over Michigan, we are broke! Stores are dying.

You just can't compare then to now without looking at all of the socio-economic factors. This pic was taken early in the auto industry when Detroit was jumping. Now with all the competition we only make a small fraction of the cars.

We are living in different times. Those vaudville theatres turned to nudie shows in that pic in the 1950's yet no one is lamating that they want those back downtown!

I do like the snazzy hats. I wish people still wore those, and those streetcars would be fun too.

**tahleel** · December-25-09, 08:10 PM

Most ignorant comment of the year goes to...

Originally Posted by EastsideQT

I looked at that picture from 1917 and I didn't see anyone that looked liked me or anyone else in my family or for that matter most of my friends...could it be that the people making comments wish Detroit still looked like that picture....I wonder.

I don't know how you can recognize any features besides they're upright walking, and have characteristics that appears to be in the primate order. Are you saying you, your family and any of your friends are not?

-Tahleel

**Whitehouse** · December-25-09, 08:11 PM

Cannot edit the first post. Seem the picture doesn't show. So here it is.

**DetroitPlanner** · December-25-09, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by tahleel

Most ignorant comment of the year goes to...

I don't know how you can recognize any features besides they're upright walking, and have characteristics that appears to be in the primate order. Are you saying you, your family and any of your friends are not?

-Tahleel

Any you're calling her ingorant?? That is easily one of the most offensive things I have ever read here.

**DetroitZack** · December-25-09, 09:29 PM

Seriously, detroitplanner? That didn't sound ignorant to you???

**English** · December-25-09, 10:18 PM

^ No.

EastsideQT, there were people who looked like me in 1917 Detroit. Some of them were my ancestors. Granted, they're not in this picture [[or many of the others posted on threads like these), but I always tell myself that they're just around the corner, or they stayed home that day. This way, I can enjoy photographs from the nadir period... and thank God that I wasn't born back then.

I definitely enjoy pictures like these for the architecture, the period dress, and even what they reveal about the state of photography at the time. It's interesting having a window into a bygone era. Thanks for sharing these.

Stosh · December-25-09, 11:20 PM

I don't see anyone that looks like me either. They are all too short.

smudge pot · December-25-09, 11:37 PM

It's like the first time you saw the original concept drawings for the Fisher Building. How many of you thought about race? Hands? Anybody?

**Huggybear** · December-26-09, 09:09 AM

This picture ought to tell you how little things have changed: poorly planned utilities [[wow, got enough overhead electrical lines at street level?), crappy retail [[those are all cut-rate clothing stores), lack of aesthetic zoning [[imagine how all that neon looked at night - next to the opera house), and jaywalking pedestrians.

The fact that there are hats and spats is the icing on the cake. We now know what decade Serman's, Hot Sam's and City Slickers stopped updating their lines. But we can bet that those fashions originated with the ancestors of the Macomb Township people who make fun of those fashions today.

And as someone pointed out, you can't really tell anything about the people in the picture - since most of their faces are in the shadows of their fedora hats. They could be anyone. It's probably a safe assumption that most of them are white,* since the city was pretty solidly majority so. But on the other hand, assuming that they all are white is probably unwarranted too.

*And that's using today's definition of "white." Back then, Turks, Poles, Greeks, Italians, and Irishmen weren't exactly given the white-glove treatment. Holy Family Church, for example, was built four blocks from SS Peter & Paul to draw the Italians away from the latter.

**menckensghost** · December-26-09, 11:52 AM

We can all dredge up fantasies from the past and imagine the Detroit each of us would most like to inhabit. I don't think I am going out on a limb when I say that none of us live in the city of our dreams. This forum is named "DetroitYES", not "DetroitImsobitter". The past is rife with injustice, and the present is dismal, but the future has yet to be written. Perhaps, one day, we will all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

My people, Germans, have been here since the 1840's, and yet, I don't identify with anyone in the 1917 photo. It is even possible that I am related to someone in that photo. SO WHAT???

This is our city. The future has not been written . . .

DC48080 · December-26-09, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideQT

I looked at that picture from 1917 and I didn't see anyone that looked liked me or anyone else in my family or for that matter most of my friends...could it be that the people making comments wish Detroit still looked like that picture....I wonder.

I suppose if one wants to see racism in everything [[whether it is actually there or not) one will see racism. How sad that some folks devote so much time to such a thing. Why not look at what is good about that picture?

I, for one, was unable to discern the race of most of the folks in the picture. Their faces were not clearly visible.