Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Luxury of the Seventies?


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David Harris of The Flint Journal reports:
"What was once a luxury apartment complex in the 1970s that turned into an eyesore in recent years is being torn down today.

"Two apartment buildings at 1710 W. Pierson Road were demolished by the City of Flint through a Community Development Block Grant fund."


5 comments:

  1. This was one of the first places I looked to live in 1971 while in HS as I left home early. Luxury? NOt in a million days then. It was okay. I also looked at that complex across from Northwestern and THAT was a firetrap! So I settled on a smaller complex. My idea of luxury of course is different than most. I just didn't want anyone shooting at me like the neighborhood I grew up in.

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  2. Rumor has it that several Powers teachers used to live in the complex across from Northwestern back in the early seventies. Several McClaren Hospital employees who worked with my mom in the admitting office also lived in that neighborhood. I got beat up once when we visited one of them in about 1976 by about five kids roaming the streets.

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  3. Senor Gordo,
    Are you sure that was'nt just four kids and perhaps you're embellishing?

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  4. NarlinsNow, I should have added than any one of them could have kicked my ass all by themselves. I've never been much of a fighter.

    By the way, I just finished a book about New Orleans called "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers. It's an amazing story of Katrina told through one guy's experience. Worth checking out.

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  5. I was surprised to see the Pierson Rd. complex described as what was supposed to be a "luxury" complex back in the 70's. We lived in the area then (mom still does)and would never have classified it as such - not then, and certainly not later. I believe that's the complex in which the son of then-interim police chief David Dicks was murdered.

    As for the complex across from Northwestern - at least one teacher from Donovan North also lived there at least until the late 70's, possibly later. Another Powers teacher had lived over on Avenue A in the early 70's and later moved to a complex off of Clio Rd. near the Farm. There were robberies and shootings in that complex even then.

    Kinda makes you wonder about teacher salaries then (and now) - both teachers in question already had a number of years of service behind them at the time...

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.