I went to Detriot for the weekend and left my upload cable at home, leaving me with two memory cards to fill. Thus, you don't get much Dearborn, even fewer Ypsilanti, and no Ann Arbor.

 

DEARBORN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This isn't Ohio

 

WTF?

 

 

 

 

YPSILANTI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yay my school, nice photos.  I love Ypsi

Great pics, have lived in both places for a short period of time.

Interesting, I've been to Detroit countless times but haven't ever bothered looking at dearborn

Dearborn has this weird strip mall Arabic area with same damn good kabobs.

 

Ypsi, eh.

Ristorante Ciao- YUMMY!

 

Dearborn has this weird strip mall Arabic area with same damn good kabobs.

Yeah, it's called Warren Avenue.    I particularly like the New Yazmen Bakery. 

 

Ypsi, eh.

Ypsi is no Ann Arbor not does it pretend to be.  But it does have a charm to it.  I spent four years getting tipsy in Ypsi.  And a college degree as well.  And while I wouldn't move there at at the moment (some of the highest property taxes in the state; city facing receivership; crime issues; overly liberal political climate), it definitely is still a cool community.  From Wikipedia: Ypsilanti has the second largest contiguous historic district in the state of Michigan, behind only the much larger city of Grand Rapids. The historic district includes both downtown Ypsilanti, along Michigan Avenue, and the Depot Town area adjacent to Frog Island Park and Riverside Park, which features many specialty shops, bars and grills, and a farmers' market.

 

They also have many historic residential neighborhoods scattered throughout town.  In fact, within the city limits (there is also Ypsilanti Township), the is very little post 1970 single family residential.  And little land left to build new units as well. 

 

Now granted, the university isn't the most appealing from an architectural.

 

But moving on to Dearborn, I've worked in Dearborn for nearly 11 years.  It's a unique community since it has two distinct downtown districts that are several miles from one another.  Westborn, or West Dearborn, has seen it's share of infill development.  Some of it crap.  Some of it is much improved over what was there.  For example, the last two pictures in the Dearborn section are infill.  One development replaced an old empty Jacobson's department store from the 1960s.  The development where Panera replaced another eyesore along the strip.  It's not as if Dearborn is tearing down historic structures to build new infill.  Most of what they have build (minus the strip mall with the Jimmy Johns) have made the district feel like more of a downtown area.  What I don't like about West Dearborn is the fact that most of the businesses use their back entrances as their main entrance and any outdoor dining is also in the back so it doesn't create a lot of foot traffic along Michigan Avenue. 

 

The old school in the Dearborn thread used to be headquarters to automotive supplier Plastech.  They have seen gone bankrupt and closed up shop.  I've been in the building several times.  It is pretty cool, they adapted it well from an office standpoint (including an atrium in the lobby).

Ypsi is a nice balance to the yuppified nature of Ann Arbor's downtowns/business districts.  Nothing wrong with what Ann Arbor has become since it's successful.  But I do like the independent restaurants and retail found in Ypsi.

 

Speaking of Jacobson's you mentioned.  It's really a shame when those stores up and left, we got stuck with a lot of big empty buildings and parking structures.  I know Ann Arbor recovered easily when it become a Borders, but many other communities struggled to fill these spaces.  I know it took Saginaw almost 6 years to find new tenants to fill out the space.  Being that they were located in downtowns, it was even more difficult to find a large retailer.

 

Ypsilanti .. in which Staate ??

Ypsilanti .. in which Staate ??

 

Michigan

Question to all y'all Ypsilantians...is it pronouced "yipsil" or "ipsil"

Question to all y'all Ypsilantians...is it pronouced "yipsil" or "ipsil"

I've heard it both ways.  And I've said it both ways as well, although I lean more to the "ipsilanti" assuming you mean it to sound "ehpsilanti"

Ooh, I've never heard "ehpsilanti."  Thanks a lot, it's been noted.

Speaking of Jacobson's you mentioned. It's really a shame when those stores up and left, we got stuck with a lot of big empty buildings and parking structures. I know Ann Arbor recovered easily when it become a Borders, but many other communities struggled to fill these spaces. I know it took Saginaw almost 6 years to find new tenants to fill out the space. Being that they were located in downtowns, it was even more difficult to find a large retailer.

The two local ones in malls (Briarwood in Ann Arbor where it replaced Lord and Taylor and Laurel Park Place) have been replaced with Von Maurs. 

 

I know the old Jacobson's stores in Birmingham and Grosse Pointe have been successfully redeveloped.  Birmingham is now home to a large advertising agency and the GP redevelopment has a Trader Joes and a couple of other upscale outlets.

Ooh, I've never heard "ehpsilanti." Thanks a lot, it's been noted.

How do you pronounced "ipsilanti"?  What does the "i" sound like LOL.

The "i" sounds like whip, rip, or dip.

Yeah, think of it as "ripsilanti" minus the r, of course.

 

 

Hey, it looks like Buddy's Pizza!  I remember my parents taking me there back in 1992, and I had such fond memories that I went back last year.  I even picked up a shirt from the restaurant!

 

You can find Buddy's on the Web at http://www.buddyspizza.com/ .  They've got about ten restaurants in the Detroit area.

I don't understand metro Detroit's lover affair with Buddy's Pizza.  It's "ok" pizza.  But I'd take a Casanno's, Marions or LaRosa's any day.

I agree.

very thoughtful of the building in the last pic to protect itself from std's.

 

 

Ristorante Ciao- YUMMY!

 

Dearborn has this weird strip mall Arabic area with same damn good kabobs.

Yeah, it's called Warren Avenue.    I particularly like the New Yazmen Bakery. 

 

 

la shish is a poor man's version of the cle aladdin's eatery chain. not that i didn't like it anyway.

 

LaShish was to Arabic/Lebanese food what Fazoli’s is to Italian food. 

 

There are much better places to go in Dearborn.  And now that LaShish is closed, hopefully people are discovering them.

 

fazolis? i dont know that.

 

there was more than one la shish, do you know have they all closed or just dearborn?

^ i know the one in troy closed. 

 

i went there once, and had an overpriced falafel, service was shitty.  yes, there are much better options for middle eastern food.

Because some were franchises, there are a few locations that are still open, but under new names because of the reputation of the founder of La Shish (Isalmic extremist connections).  These owners felt the La Shish brand was tarnished because of news reports and opted to operate under a new name.  I know the Ann Arbor location is still open under a new name.