Hayward

Very interesting. Some of those aerials of Toledo were really amazing though.

A year and a half ago, I went to Los Angeles to visit my sister, and we and her friends decided to take a trip down to San Diego. I was tripod-less when I took these so there might be a bit of blur to some of the images since I don't have a very steady hand. Also, I hope you don't mind me posting them big :mrgreen: It's a bit easier to see the action in them. I have a ton more, but being that my hard drive is so disorganized, I only have the ones I've posted on my flickr. When I find them I'll post. Enjoy!

Those are awesome. I enlarged them by opening them in quicktime and changing the size.

Nice! I have friend in college from here. Kind of reminds me of the city I grew up in.

Excellent shots, you really captured the life of these places well. It's crazy to see all the "noise" you get in these types of views with the advertisments, pedestrian activity, etc.

Beautiful buildings! I'm glad great efforts have been taken to preserve them.

I didn't take any pictures of the churches on Washtenaw because they are kind of out of the district. Those will end up in another tour :-) BTW, did you hear about the Melrose Place Apts being demoed for a 10 story building this summer? Kind of sad as it's a good example of courtyard apartment buildings.

Were you running away from Saginaw?

Cute towns in a county with the power to bring down a great city. Excellent photos though!

^ Believe me, those exist. But there aren't a whole lot of them in my neighborhood. About 4 at most, including the long one pictured above. The student neighborhoods south of the university have quite a collection though. mleroy, the area where I live is nearly all student with a few exceptions. If you go further west then you get into the neighborhoods with families. Except the houses over there are mansions and home to some of Ann Arbor's most affluent individuals. I chose this particular neighborhood because it had the least number of break-ins in comparison to neighborhoods South of hill street where nearly every single home had a home invasion or break in within the past 5 years. Surprisingly, a lot of people find the South U district to be less charming or "nice" as the Liberty/State and downtown which have a lot more upscale eateries, retail, and much nicer housing/

I figured it was time to take pictures of my neighborhood in Ann Arbor. It was in between classes on an ugly day so it might be kind of depressing, but I through in a shot from early this fall to add a bit of color. The tour begins from my doorstep to the "gateway" to South U from the university. Hope you enjoy. Home sweet home.....ughhhhh...... I don't what's going on with the bottom apartment window. Random student housing Some nicer ones hmmmm The only permanent residents on our block The end of the South U district meets with fraternity row on Washtenaw Ave. The first major house is Phi Delta Theta. It was designed by Albert Kahn the architect who revolutionized factory construction in North America and designed many beautiful skyscrapers in Detroit. I always thought this subdivided house could look nice if renovated. Trotter Multicultural house. (back of it) Angell Elementary Here are some of the better examples of home ownership: The hallways in this building are effed up. 2 cheap replacements for a house that burned down. I like this apartment building. Kind of a German-Alpine feel to it. Cemetery gateway. U of M School of Kineseology annex's anex. Continuing to take over and tear down the surrounding neighborhoods. Just keep building on top of that porch University Towers stands amongst a scattered collection of houses. BR I-94 ROW carved a pretty large chunk out of the neighborhood Where Hayward gets his groceries. Nothing is more classy than a store with a spirited rat as its logo. To close, here's a shot looking over the South U district towards the University Hope you enjoyed! Next time I'll post the neighborhood I grew up in Saginaw, MI

Excellent shots ColDayMan. Man there's nothing better than cruising up and down the PCH.

I was talking about the larger cities. Lilke Saginaw, Flint, and Detroit. Picture abandoned buildings and crackheads

Damn. I've been trying to find out that location for awhile. Guess I'll have to measure the angle of the perspective and draw lines on a map. Seriously, that is one great view of the city.

I feel Michigan cities are all ghetto with the exception of Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, but that's pretty much because our state is broke.

David, I've seen a picture of Chicago from that exact same location before, but at night. I recognize all the buildings in the immediate foreground. Where was that taken?

That was kind of fun while it lasted. Maybe it can appear on certain days. Kind of like a reward.

These photos are a great find. Whoever took them did great. This one in particular is interesting: It looks like the shadow of a person

Niagara falls (the city) looks frantic. I live just over 4 hours from Toronto. I really need to get there soon. I think the last time I was there was about 6 or 7 years ago.

I think the new camera is working pretty well. Nice!

^ That's good ice. Everything up here in Ann Arbor is covered in bad ice. It's a freakin skating rink. The weight of it is pulling powerlines down Some pics outside my apartment this morning:

Glad to see something good is happening with the hardware building. Hope they don't mind I took one of the yellow letters that was on the front of the building. I'd be happy to return their "R" if they want it. lol

Actually, it was even worse 2 years ago. Pontiac has made a lot of improvements.

I searched through the thread a bit but I couldn't find any recent updates on the hardware building (the triangle) I'm kind of interested since I incorporated it into my architecture project last semester.

I disagree. Detroit is a good testing ground for people with no experience whatsoever in historic preservation. The city can be such a pushover in unloading condemned property that nobody really cares about. But lets first get something straight. Zach, I'm wondering if the term historical preservation is a bit too formal. I thought you simply wanted to renovate or fix up abandoned properties. In the case of preservation, you'd be applying for grants and tax credits to finance your project, but I'm not sure if that's what you are going for. So..... As you know Zach, redevelopment in Detroit occurs in random spots throughout the city. For example, a good place to purchase an abandoned house for under $1000 would be the far East side, which has essentially been wiped clean by the closure of factories, high crime, and lack of investment. However, little do people realize that a developer plans on buildings thousands of new homes in the area. If you get in there and secure the property ahead of time, you'll find yourself in the middle of a major redevelopment project, thus making your property worth something, whether you intend to sell it or rent. In the case of Detroit properties, you can only lose as much as you put into the renovation of the building. But I see losing difficult, because there are a lot of people in the city looking for a new place to rent that is at least half decent, no matter what part of the city. As an architecture major, I'll tell you it doesn't help a whole lot if you are renovating/restoring smaller properties. On a larger scale yes, but I know you don't intend on fixing up some large apartment building. Take some construction classes, and get a contractors license. You also need to put in some years at a construction job. I don't think Zach is going to need to go before a comission for fixing up some vacant corner store, rowhouse, or detached home. In the case of Detroit, he will secure the property through the city, and his credentials will be as a licensed contractor. Finish up your degree in Criminal Justice, while at the same time taking classes in construction offered by your university. I plan on doing the same thing as you, but I took the long and difficult road by getting my bachelors and masters in architecture, and I'm not sure how much they will be put to use for what I intend to do.