Hayward

Again, thanks all for the comments. I find them very valuable. Marado, you make some excellent points about our site needing to be accessible for user with disabilities. Macromedia is equipped to "scan" the page and communicate the page via braille keyboards. We don't have a lot of html text, so that's a downside, although I can bury descriptions within the flash. The chance of us encountering these users is low whereas government sites or major retailers should be more concerned. However, we know that numerous web users have vision problems that can make reading a site difficult. I cannot place alt tags in because it's flash, but I do permit a ZOOM feature. Most flash sites don't have this, but I kept it. If your right click you can zoom up the website. It's little pixeleated, but definitely more readable. Hootenany, I felt that was necessary as well. That will actually be my next project. I'll have a link on the sustainability page that will load a box with the links to those projects. On historic presv, it will take you directly to that page. jpop, I'll be honest and say I do not like the Awards page at all. I didn't design this. But I see no reason why we have to put all of the awards received. I also think the locations could be omitted. I guess this page is not really my decision though, so we'll just have to see. I think cluttered is an understatement. It's actually chaotic IMO The project pages are bit plain Jane. But I had to engineer them so someone at our firm without web design knowledge could update them. As a result they ended up being a bit generic. Plus we are bit concerned about loading time. We can accommodate Lightbox though as a link to "View Larger Images" It's a nice little surprise, and it's already coded into the site. Just needs the links http://dolem.com/lytebox/

I can see where they were going with this, but the choice in material should have been different. Stainless steel would have been impressive.

I'll definitely ask my boss about that. BTW, for the reference. I did not make the AWARDS or CONTACT US pages. Just to give credit where it's do, they were done by another employee.

Thanks Mayday! In response to your questions: 1. We will likely add the material you suggested to our sustainability projects only. Reason why is they are 60-140 page pdfs with lots material. So we will probably keep it limited to a few. We were also doing a "save the Carnegies" [libraries] type of program that would be worth featuring, but I'm not sure if that will go up. 2. I have not placed the email function up yet because we just got a new server and the addresses are all changing including the firms main email address.

Before I post the link, please read: So I'm almost done with completing a website for the firm I worked for this summer. This was a difficult project because everyone wants something different. But it's definitely an improvement from our old site. I am NOT a professional web designer. This is actually only the third website I've ever made. The other two were done for a school project. But our firm needed a new site badly, and I happened to have some html experience I don't know much flash either, yet this entire website is done in flash. We decided to do this since most of our competing firms do as well. We also decided to drop our 800x600 users for higher resolution. Only 1% of the hits to our existing website use this lower resolution. Anyways, I have just one week left and I go back to school in Ann Arbor so there isn't much more room for changes. You'll find some missing content since not everything uploaded. I'm posting this because I just want some confirmation that this site is acceptable (I hope). This was a four month project, however the first site was completely redone for this one. The site you see here was built in only 3 weeks. The official release is next friday: NEW WEBSITE (currently on my own server space) ----LINK REMOVED - UNDERGOING CONSTRUCTION - Check back in a day or two ------ If you have a mac, there may be an issue with the color in the blueishgray background. I will fix the color settings tomorrow. EXISTING SITE THAT WILL BE REPLACED: http://www.wtmarchitects.com Here's the only other "official" website I've designed http://www.tcaup.umich.edu/expandedhorizons/

^ Shady liquor stores use plastic bags?

But these people may be following their parent's wishes as well. Okay, I'll say what I got myself into on the other forum. How do we know what decisions are made. Clearly this article focuses on a handful of people. Have you ever heard someone say, "I want to be buried close to my children." Have you also heard someone say. "I want to be buried in the city I lived my whole life in." 1. So tell me, what is it anyone's business to decide what is right or wrong Sure....the church says there is nothing wrong with this, and cemeteries have been moved for years because of encroaching development. If I put my parents in the countryside, I'd would be pissed if freeways, walmarts, and parking lots popped up all around it. I'd move them to a more appropriate location. Because I'd prefer not to visit them in this type of place. Some people believe they can connect with gone family members in more peaceful settings. 2. Saying "let them rest in peace" is assuming their soul is still alive and well in that casket. Funny thing was I found the same people posting "they are dead, why does it matter. Don't move them" 3. Let's also put all the political b.s., city versus suburbs stuff asside. People wanted to bring that into the thread, but this issue is only about the families and the decisions they made prior to that person's death. If you fear the city, that's your own problem. No one else should tell YOU what to do. Understand that there are people who go to cemeteries and spend a lot of time there. They get nervous if they are alone there too long. There was a lot of people defending the safety of cemeteries, but the facts are that crimes have happened there. You will see signs all over the place warning people to either stay in their vehicles or be vigilant. Keep in mind you are incredibly vulnerable in these vast shaded places. Not a whole lot of people around to witness a crime. And what about the elderly? They have no fighting chance. But the fact of the matter is. Moving a dead person is only wrong if you are against having your own body moved, and that was against your wishes. As far as the people in this article, we do not know what prior arrangements were made.

I love those houses.

I plan on doing an extended photo thread, but I liked these particular 5 photos. All were taken in either 2006 or 2007. Can't remember. Enjoy!

yeah that's got to be it.

That's weird. It should. Works in IE too.

Meh, nvm

I got into kind of a debate on this topic over on a Detroit related website. Shall I say my opinion here?

"Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer has sold nearly 800,000 bags since introducing them in its 182 stores last October, says Frank J. Guglielmi, director of public relations." I really like the Meijer reusable bags. I actually see people walking around campus using them to carry other things. Businesses love this concept because it cuts down on their overhead. I can't wait until plastic bags are banned in every county everywhere. There's hardly any opposition unless you work for the oil companies.

If only this dispersion was true dispersion whereby poor people don't just all move to some suburb and lifestyle tanks. As someone said above, mixing in with people of middle and high income levels assures that even the poorest receive adequate city services (especially schools) where they can improve their lives.

Exactly what I was thinking

That shirt is a spin-off of another one that says "Welcome to Detroit - Sorry we missed you last time" with bullet holes in the t-shirt. This one looks better but they stole the idea. I actually like the RenCen for its shear massiveness. Although it was much worse when it was the hq for Ford Motor Co. Thank God GM moved in and overhauled the place and made it less of a fortress. Here's GM's original complex, all of it. Since GM moved downtown in the 90's, a bunch of very large tenants moved in, including the state of michigan. You can find those in any city with high violence. My friend gave this to me since I was from "Sagnasty"

A better section illustration can be found here:

I've been by that. It's still there but it's now boarded over. The candy shop toward the end, as well as neighboring buildings were leveled for a modern POS http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=r1zbv8827x13&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=5636156&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&ss=yp.Cortland~pg.1~sst.0&encType=1

Someone posted this on another forum. (DYES) It's a "safety patrol" video from 1937. Lots of old street scenes from back in Detroit's heyday. There's some funny moments throughout the video. LOLOL at 6:40

Oh, I have some excellent before and afters coming. I think I might have some of the building above, I'll dig. The library moved out of this building in '02 I think. They built a huge beautiful limestone building down the street, but while this structure was still up for sale, they kept it in great condition.

I'm going to post some work my company has done as well as the work of others as far preserving buildings throughout Michigan. All photos are taken by me unless otherwise noted. The first one will be the renovation of a former Carnegie Library into a Bank and Law offices Location: Bay City, MI I'll keep posting more as I take them

Another example of a mainstreet Michigan town that wanted those large carriage turnaround capabilities. Zach, you should check out Cass City. Great small town with some nice old buildings, but a bohemith five lanes running through with angled parking on each side. I swear you could run an interstate through that place. I also demand pictures of St. Louis, Michigan!

When I was working in Evanston, IL, I did drawings for a client that had something like that. The dude wanted all these built in cabinets. His study had a door built as a book case into the garage. There was also a typical doorway near the kitchen, but his study was his personal space, and he also had a nice car collection. The book-case door was really a conversation piece. There was also an elevator in the house accessed from a doorway which looked like the old-school phone closets. I think we are going to find elevators to be a common feature someday. Especially as families grow old, and the parents want to hold onto the house as long as possible. Typical cost for installing a residential elevator is about $16,000-$26,000, which is really not all that bad when you look at the cost of building a home nowadays. If you are in your 70's, have a two story home, and the laundry is in the basement, it seems worth sacrificing the small extra closet you don't use for a lift.

Depends on where you are. In the midwest, a huge garage door means you have at least two huge SUVs, or maybe one of those Escalade-styled pickup thingies and a big-ass boat to haul with it, and that raises your social standing almost as much as a pickup truck on cement blocks in the front yard and two dogs under the porch. Well, not so much here despite being in the middle of general motors land. Although it also depends on the builder. The large homebuilder companies up here in mid-michigan only do custom builts. The design is different for all houses, but in most situations, the client wants the garage to be less prominent. I actually think a big garage at the front cheapens the look of your home. But these builders are accommodating three car garages, from the front, you wouldn't even know they were there. Here's a saginaw county builder. Note that even on their model page....no garage visible http://www.bavarianbuilders.com/forsales.htm This is a nice model as well