The Monica Conyers Novi Exposition Center

[Fnemecek]

I doubt that Fnemecek was serious about the whole NoviMonCon quink-a-dink. I'm sure he just meant to poke a little fun at Finley...

Congrats, Gnome. Your sarcasm detector is fully operational.

If someone really was stealing something that only I could've created, I'd demand a lot more in compensation than just a cocktail or two. I think we can safely say that applies to most people.

[R8RBOB]

Strong points, R8RBOB. You are right on the money.

Building a 1 million square foot convention center in the suburban tundra of Pontiac or Novi would be a disaster.

I was in Philadelphia last week for a convention that drove home this point. The Pennsylvania Convention Center is a gem. The city restored and renovated the 19th century Reading Railroad terminal and attached it to a modern convention facility. The place isn't only functional and impressive, it is inspiring. There is simply nothing in metro Detroit that compares at the moment.

Philly's other edge is the location of its convention center: In the heart of Center City. My wife and I walked for blocks and blocks and found every street teeming with bars, galleries, restaurants and people everywhere. The city was alive with an electric vibe at all hours. We could walk from the convention center to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Society Hill, and Philly's hopping art and theatre districts. Or we could hop on the subway and ride the rails to the museums and stadiums. Metro Detroit stands a better chance of competing with that if the convention center is in the city--and we all know that even there we have some glaring weaknesses to overcome.

The competition is fierce and we are at a great disadvantage. We must find a way to make it work in Detroit. An Oakland County convention center does not stand much of a chance. Everyone knows it--even Brooks Patterson.

I will give Bishop a little credit for attempting to give Detroit a kick in the butt to make something happen. That said, Patterson created a doomsday scenario when he had run his mouth stating that they [[Oakland Co.) would attempt to move the Auto Show to Oakland County. Bishop, as a fellow Republican had to somewhat back Patterson but at the same time he was attempted to remove the stink off them and throw it back to Detroit.

It is people like Patterson that kept mass transit from being a reality in Metro Detroit. Of all the metro regions in the US [[Chicagoland, the Southland, San Diego, New York, etc...) Detroit has no other forms of transportation other than buses. Irvine hit it home when he described how he and his wife could go here and there and then jump on the subway and go somewhere else. Imagine a light-rail going from Downtown Detroit to DTW or Ann Arbor maybe to Pontiac or even Novi. It would be nice but the suburban communties wanted to build walls and the city and suburbs can't get a deal to expand the current convention center so now what?

[Irvine Laird]

Detroit has a better theatre district than Philadelphia, to be sure, but we saw quite a few art galleries and theatres along and around Broad Street. But that is beside the point.

By the way, I recently read on urbanophile that Cleveland has the biggest theatre district in the United States next to New York City. I thought that distinction belonged to us. Anyway...

The density of Philly's Center City impressed me. In the middle 20th century, Detroit removed its streetcar lines and widened roads to accommodate fast movement of traffic. Urban planners identify this as a recipe for gutting a central business district of its diversity and vitality.

Narrow roads and public transit equal slower traffic and more feet on the street. This creates a more secure environment for foot traffic. Foot traffic is good for business. Better businesses attract more foot traffic. The cycle repeats.

We didn't know this in 1950. We know it now, so we should do something about it.

Philly offers some ideas and inspiration that would improve the business climate in Detroit. That includes convention business. If Philly can do so well with its relatively small theatre district, then imagine what we could do here.

[Irvine Laird]

Brooks Patterson does not care much when people accuse him of aggravating territorial sensitivities nor does he mind saying things that would get most politicians in trouble.

Patterson knows better than to think that a convention center in Pontiac or Novi would compete in the national market. Bishop knows that. Cockrel knows that. Bing knows that. Granholm knows that. Ficano knows that. You and I know that.

So, who doesn't know that?

Patterson's choice to threaten expansion of Rock Financial Showplace may seem mean-spirited, but on the contrary it makes him out to be the only person actually ready, willing, and able to keep the auto show here. I bet most people regard him as a savior for that.

I wonder, however, if Patterson did not have those people in mind when he made his "threat." Detroiters are not stupid. They have reason to believe that Patterson has the resources and wherewithal to build a convention center in Oakland County and they know that it would hasten Cobo's [[and Detroit's) demise. The recent poll from WXYZ gave Patterson higher approval ratings among Detroiters than Monica Conyers. That tells me more Detroiters would trust management of a convention center to Brooks Patterson than to their own city council.

So, if Brooks is silent when Conyers kills the Cobo deal, it gives Conyers all the space she needs to villainize him. She gets the pulpit all to herself to spew accusations and invective. But there's one thing Patterson can do that Conyers can't do: He can supposedly build a convention center. He holds all the chips. If he frames his action as an attempt to save the auto show, then it leaves Conyers looking more and more like the villain--even if he plans to build in Oakland County. The fact that every other leader in the region expressed so much disgust that Conyers killed the Cobo deal only bolsters Patterson's position. Sure, he's not tasteful, but he appears to be the only person who can do anything to rectify the situation.

I wonder if the Cobo situation had anything to do with the outcome of the special election. John Conyers endorsed Cockrel. Bing accused Cockrel of bungling the Cobo deal.

If Cobo had anything to do with Detroit's choice of Dave Bing, then I say Detroiters "get it." Think about it: They elected a man who lived in Franklin up until a couple of months ago. Franklin!

There's more to Bing's win than Cobo, but could it be one factor? And could it be that Patterson's so-called "threat" influenced Detroiters' choice of Bing over Cockrel? A convention center in Chicago may be too far away for most voters to perceive it as a direct threat, but a convention center just across Eight Mile Road? That's another story.

Who do you think Patterson wanted to win?

[Locke09]

Irvine,

The poll by WXYZ did not mention Patterson. It asked if Detroiters trust suburban leaders to deal fairly with Detroit as equal partners. Only 47% said yes.

I wouldn't read into that at all that Detroiters trust Patterson to run Cobo.

Another question: "Thinking about the job Monica Conyers has done on issues where she's taken a public stand, such as the recent Cobo Center expansion, how would you rate her?"

That question is poorly worded - excuse me - it's carefully worded and designed to shape opinion. It's not even subtle, IMO. A properly worded survey would have separated the two issues: 1) How would you rate Monica Conyers' leadership?; and 2) How would you rate Monica Conyers' leadership where the Cobo Center expanision is concerned? Or something like that. Then the answers would have told you something about where Detroiters stand on Cobo as opposed to where they stand on Monica Conyers. You can't tell anything with a question that's general and specific at the same time.

This is almost as bad as the survey question that asked Detroiters if they would support an authority that enabled the City to save $15 million a year. Most people will say yes.

You really can't tust surveys done by the press in Detroit anymore because it seems that no one even attempts to avoid bias. They do everything they told you not to do in school. A teacher would give those questions an "F".

[Gistok]

By the way, I recently read on urbanophile that Cleveland has the biggest theatre district in the United States next to New York City. I thought that distinction belonged to us. Anyway...

LOL.... first we boasted that we've got the largest theatre district after NYC Broadway. Ours includes about 25,000 seats in a 3 mile long corridor [[near Woodward) from Grand Circus Park up to New Center.

Then Houston boasts that it has the largest theatre district in the country after NYC Broadway... in a 1 mile radius [[something like 15,000 seats IIRC).

And now Cleveland boasts that it has the largest theatre district in the country after NYC Broadway... within a 1 block radius [[Playhouse Square) with something like 13,000 seats.

LOL... it's like the number of Cathedrals in Europe that claim they are among the 6 largest in the world... numbers at least 20!

[MIRepublic]

I say the region build a convention center cantilevered over 8 Mile and call it the Coleman A.L. Brooks Patterson Young Center and call it a day.

[Irvine Laird]

Locke09, thank you for correcting my inaccuracies and for pointing out the deficiencies of the WXYZ poll. I think you're right.

[jjw]

Hmmmm.... I didn't know that Philadelphia had any significant theatre district?

Like Cincinnati and Baltimore... EVERY SINGLE ONE of Philly's historic downtown movie palaces [[the Mastbaum, the Stanley, the Fox, etc) were pounded to rubble decades ago....

Wrong for Baltimore: http://www.france-merrickpac.com/home.html

http://www.senator.com/ And the reuse, rehab Patterson Theater: http://www.creativealliance.org/