Lost Landscapes of Detroit

**Paintnprint** · February-23-10, 07:39 PM

http://www.archive.org/details/LostL...sOfDetroit2010

Koko

**Kathleen** · February-23-10, 07:47 PM

Thanks for posting this link. Rick must have posted it this afternoon as I looked for it this morning. I'll add it to the original event posting as a follow up.

**One Shot** · February-23-10, 08:40 PM

That video is AWESOME!
The old color video of the neighborhoods from the 40's 50's is amazing.
THANKS for sharing!

**Chub** · February-23-10, 10:35 PM

Best collection of older footage I've seen so far!

**rjlj** · February-23-10, 11:28 PM

What are all those street cars, trains and people doing in Detroit? This must be a fake film.
I love the part about double parking, would it work today?
Awesome film footage.

**Patrick** · February-24-10, 08:07 PM

Jesus, you can't really understand what Detroit once was without seeing a moving visual aid. All the hustle and bustle and people...yes, people actually out and about. Trees too.

**Paintnprint** · February-26-10, 06:01 AM

Promoting Detroit is what more people should do.
Koko

**Detroitus** · January-13-11, 03:15 PM

Just saw the show out here in S.F. last night at Counter Pulse http://counterpulse.org/

It was the largest show at the space except for Rick Prelinger's "Lost Landscapes of San Francisco. They had to turn away over 80 people at the door. At least half of the folks where members of the Detroit Diaspora. Excellent open discussion through out the film by D.D. and non-D.D. alike.

FYI, Rick and his wife maintain a self-supported video archive here in S.F. and are always looking for additional material.

**SaintMe** · January-13-11, 05:49 PM

I only know Detroit through pictures of the past and what I see with my own eyes today . . . it's so bizarre to see this city living . . .

**Ocean2026** · January-14-11, 09:01 AM

I like that Voice of Safety - Where the police car with the big boom box nails a lady for jaywalking and a car for double parking. Of course if Detroit tried that today- someone with an automatic weapon would nail those police within the first hour.

**laphoque** · January-14-11, 10:57 PM

Apparently you've never stepped on the yellow area at the edge of the people mover platform for any period of time, nor have you jumped the turnstile. Also I assume you've never climbed on the platform under Joe Louis's fist or on Detroit's iconic spirit. In all of these places you might encounter that voice today. And it feels just as dytopically modern today as I bet it did then.

Not that it's always staffed or that they're always watching. But commonly enough, they are.

Buy American · January-15-11, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by laphoque

Apparently you've never stepped on the yellow area at the edge of the people mover platform for any period of time, nor have you jumped the turnstile. Also I assume you've never climbed on the platform under Joe Louis's fist or on Detroit's iconic spirit. In all of these places you might encounter that voice today. And it feels just as dytopically modern today as I bet it did then.

Not that it's always staffed or that they're always watching. But commonly enough, they are.

Not quite sure what "dytopically" means.

Personally, I've never stepped on the yellow area at the edge of the people mover, nor have I jumped a turnstile or climbed the platform. None of that sounds very exciting to me.

I have been downtown in the 50's when downtown was packed with people. I have been on a streetcar down Jefferson Avenue, taken a bus all the way from Hudsons down Vernor to home and never had a problem. Belle Isle was wonderful and I've canoed the lagoon many times. Horseback riding from Knapps Stables on Belle Isle was a favorite pastime. Visiting the conservatory or the aquarium on Belle Isle was very special for my family.
Yesterday in Detroit was a lifetime ago. Detroit, as shown in the video, was alive and moving forward. Today, it is stagnant and seems to be going nowhere, and that's so unfortunate.

**scbaker** · January-15-11, 09:22 PM

Originally Posted by Buy American

Not quite sure what "dytopically" means.

Personally, I've never stepped on the yellow area at the edge of the people mover, nor have I jumped a turnstile or climbed the platform. None of that sounds very exciting to me.

I have been downtown in the 50's when downtown was packed with people. I have been on a streetcar down Jefferson Avenue, taken a bus all the way from Hudsons down Vernor to home and never had a problem. Belle Isle was wonderful and I've canoed the lagoon many times. Horseback riding from Knapps Stables on Belle Isle was a favorite pastime. Visiting the conservatory or the aquarium on Belle Isle was very special for my family.
Yesterday in Detroit was a lifetime ago. Detroit, as shown in the video, was alive and moving forward. Today, it is stagnant and seems to be going nowhere, and that's so unfortunate.

Like you, I wish the video had show more of the Eastside. I think there might have been a shot of the corner of Mack & Chalmers at 31:47. The bank bldg & houses to the right look very familiar. Maybe, it's only wishful thinking. There are very few images, if any, available of that area of Detroit.

I grew up in the area of Mack & Chalmers. I lived on Eastlawn St. between Mack & Charlevoix. As you know, nothing remains there anymore. It was one of the hardest hit areas for crime & decay.

I too have the same wonderful memories. As a young teenager I spent many hours on Belle Isle with my friends going canoeing, riding horses and of course enjoying the beach. After a day at the beach, we would stop at the penny arcade at Jefferson & E. Grand Blvd. spending whatever money we had, saving only enough for bus fare home.

I worked in the Griswold Bldg. in downtown from 1961-1964. I remember standing in Campus Martius watching the first wrecking ball hit the old city hall bldg. Very sad. After work, I would take the bus that ran down Vernor all of the way home. The buses were always so crowed that I never got a seat until I had almost reached my stop.

It's nice to meet someone from the Eastside. Too few of us on the Detroit forums.
Where did you live on the Eastside? What schools did you attend?

**laphoque** · January-16-11, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by Buy American

Not quite sure what "dytopically" means.

Personally, I've never stepped on the yellow area at the edge of the people mover, nor have I jumped a turnstile or climbed the platform. None of that sounds very exciting to me.

I have been downtown in the 50's when downtown was packed with people. I have been on a streetcar down Jefferson Avenue, taken a bus all the way from Hudsons down Vernor to home and never had a problem. Belle Isle was wonderful and I've canoed the lagoon many times. Horseback riding from Knapps Stables on Belle Isle was a favorite pastime. Visiting the conservatory or the aquarium on Belle Isle was very special for my family.
Yesterday in Detroit was a lifetime ago. Detroit, as shown in the video, was alive and moving forward. Today, it is stagnant and seems to be going nowhere, and that's so unfortunate.

Sorry, forgot the 's' in dystopically, which refers to the strange or terrible reality of an envisioned utopia. It feels strange to have a disembodied voice telling you to step back from the yellow line when you have half of your foot on it. I wasn't implying you should try it, I was just remarking that the same technology—in conjunction with CCTV—is in use today. When I saw the video, it also reminded me of the makeshift traffic stops police in the city will sometimes do when they witness a traffic violation while they're on their way to a higher priority call: they'll pull abreast and say something like, "red means stop," or whatever the case may require, and then speed away.

I wouldn't say Detroit's stagnant, it's just been in the withdrawal phase of a boom town—like so many in the rust belt. With green belts and smart planning, we just might start building worthwhile architecture and infrastructure again while maintaining the old. Ah, dreams.

Although one thing I'd like to do once I get more capital is get the canoes going again. It seems to me that there should be a rental place on the island with canoes, kayaks, and the like. I'm going to go search for the reason that stopped.

Buy American · January-14-11, 10:51 AM

The video was one of the best I've seen. I remember downtown Detroit when people were five deep walking up and down Woodward. Those were the days when Detroit was at it's greatest!
The tree lined streets and what looked like brand new subdivisions were good to see.
I only wish there were more pictures of the Eastside that I would recognize more. Belle Isle and canoeing on the lagoon was sure a great memory as well.

**gazhekwe** · January-15-11, 10:15 PM

I just watched that all the way through. I was struck by the Detroit Police film Tuebor about how the police are deployed so that every street is patrolled. Those were the days. Why can't we do that now, again? My heart was wrung by the film narrated by Jerome Cavanaugh, Detroit, a city on the threshold of a bright future, showing how all this planning and expertise was going to launch us into the new city of the future. Little did he know how close we were to the long slide down.

A lot of the places and people looked familiar. The Memorial Day war protest was like old home week to this peacenik. I wasn't there, but attended similar rallies. The downtown pix with all the traffic and the shops and hotels and lights, aaah, that's the way it looked, exciting and dynamic. Something to look at every step. Driving down Grand River by the Riviera Theater was familiar. Many a day I waited for the W. Chicago bus a block down from there.

**English** · January-16-11, 11:33 AM

Thanks for the link... I didn't see it when it was posted last year. To me, a daughter of postmodern Detroit, it's not odd to see footage of a bustling Motor City. I grew up amid these fabulous ruins; the more splendid the ruins, the greater the fall those ruins indicate.

As always, I feel very ambivalent about this kind of nostalgia. Ultimately, I agree with this reviewer:

" These films unwittingly offer hints of why Detroit would fall so far so fast. The scenes of the auto plants cannot help but call to mind the decline of American industrial manufacturing, of course. But that is not the whole story. Detroit, in its heyday, was among the most rigidly segregated cities in the country. The only black faces you will see here [[apart from an occasional pedestrian) are shown at a neighborhood celebration for an arriving [[or departing--it's hard to tell) church pastor."

When this footage was taken, my family [[grandfather's side) had been in the city of Detroit for nearly a half century. Hate to rain on folks' parade, but the city beautiful of yesterday had a flaw perhaps other cities that didn't fall as far didn't have... a flaw that few mourning its demise would notice. How could they? One doesn't notice invisible men, women, and children.

Still, this is an important documentary recounting an essential part of our city's history. As someone interested in preservation, I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it.

**Mikeg** · January-16-11, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by English

Hate to rain on folks' parade, but the city beautiful of yesterday had a flaw perhaps other cities that didn't fall as far didn't have... a flaw that few mourning its demise would notice. How could they? One doesn't notice invisible men, women, and children.

"Art Exhibit at Broadstreet [[Russell Woods) Park, Detroit, June 21, 1959"

DetroitDad · January-17-11, 09:16 PM

English, I appreciate your viewpoint, it is one which is not brought up enough.

Originally Posted by English

Thanks for the link... I didn't see it when it was posted last year. To me, a daughter of postmodern Detroit, it's not odd to see footage of a bustling Motor City. I grew up amid these fabulous ruins; the more splendid the ruins, the greater the fall those ruins indicate.

As always, I feel very ambivalent about this kind of nostalgia. Ultimately, I agree with this reviewer:

" These films unwittingly offer hints of why Detroit would fall so far so fast. The scenes of the auto plants cannot help but call to mind the decline of American industrial manufacturing, of course. But that is not the whole story. Detroit, in its heyday, was among the most rigidly segregated cities in the country. The only black faces you will see here [[apart from an occasional pedestrian) are shown at a neighborhood celebration for an arriving [[or departing--it's hard to tell) church pastor."

When this footage was taken, my family [[grandfather's side) had been in the city of Detroit for nearly a half century. Hate to rain on folks' parade, but the city beautiful of yesterday had a flaw perhaps other cities that didn't fall as far didn't have... a flaw that few mourning its demise would notice. How could they? One doesn't notice invisible men, women, and children.

Still, this is an important documentary recounting an essential part of our city's history. As someone interested in preservation, I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it.