Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Series: Food Map of Detroit-1970 What replaced the favorites as of 2018

Food Map of Detroit 1970's - what replaced the favorites as of 2018
 is a result of looking at a reddit-type site called Detroit Yes!

Someone started a thread about restaurants they had gone to- mostly ones that were around in the 60s and 70s.  I recall having a senior year lunch with my graduating high school class at Chin Tiki. Some of us were legal and got bombed. I was only 16 at the time,and I had access to a station wagon so I drove down the Lodge , got off near Wayne State University and sang I Am Woman with my classmates.   (By the time we had this event we were all sick of the song) Even though I attended WSU I never could afford to eat away from home. Chin Tiki was definitely out of my price range.  Apparently Muhammad Ali, Joe Dimaggio  and Streisand hung out there.                                             
Here is what Wikipedia states about Chin Tiki

" It was a tiki-themed supper club, nightclub and banquet hall established in 1967 in DetroitMichigan and closed in 1980, later demolished in 2009.The restaurant was famous for being a film location for Eminem's 8 Mile."   


http://www.menstattooideas.net/tiki-tattoos-for-men/


The 2018 equivalent is not trying to do a faux polynesian feast. 


Hawaiian pizza and black ink
does not count...Polynesia is not Asian,really-so there is no equivalent...



   But if you are serious about Asian Food -head out to Madison Heights 
https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/offal-ly-good-chinese-barbecue/Content?oid=7629330 

thanks to  Detroit Metrotimes December 6 2017 -this excerpted profile by Tom Perkins
"At Liang's Oriental Barbeque — located in one of Madison Heights' many strip malls that contain a variety of Asian eateries — that tradition is on display in the glossy whole hogs, ducks, and chickens hanging from hooks above the counter, and the chewy beef belly, intestines, and other offal simmering in gravy steam pans.
One of the great bummers of eating in Detroit is that we lack much in the way of diversity and — debatably — authenticity when it comes to Chinese food and the cuisine of most other Asian countries. There's a lot more to Chinese cuisine than Sichuan or Cantonese, and Liang's is a rare departure from the Midwestern American-Chinese to which we're accustomed."  
Well! I can not wait to go here!  It reminds me of my old neighborhood on 8th avenue in Sunset Park Brooklyn I am so missing crispy ducks hacked and put with some dumplings for breakfast for under $5. Tea was free... Cuisine tended to be Northern Chinese - Congee, Dumplings stuffed with turnips and bits of pork, spicy omelettes...
picture courtesy of Vice Magazine contributor
Barclay Bram amazing article on crispy here 
                                                                                                                                                      near Old Redford Theatre

  

Back in the 60's  and 70's Cantonese ruled  The equivalent in 2018 is other parts of China.Like Sichuan 

Again quoting Detroit Metro Times food writer Tom Perkins  there is Sichuan - that other province on the coast

"The term "Chinese food" covers a lot of turf, but perhaps the most familiar wing of the country's cuisine is that from the Sichuan province. An Americanized take on Sichuan (then called "Szechuan") spread around the country in the 1970s before restaurants on the coasts started serving more authentic and traditional dishes in the 1990s. Unfortunately for Detroiters, little of our Sichuan cuisine evolved. So when we eat the province's food here, it's often only a hint of the real thing."  

I admit I am spoiled having spent  time in China (real chinese food is not like American chinese food )
 I am so tempted to catch the flight at DTW direct to Beijing. In the meantime I am heading to the suburbs of Detroit to get my fix. Hope  Mongolian Dumplings (Borts)


.Sichuan is  near Hong Kong (purple)

Trizest -Sichuan    

33170 Dequindre Rd   


In  2017, Jeff Li, Zhanying Hu, along with Paul Gaines founded Detroit Chinatown LLC. The company is working with Detroit government, Chinese government and investors to construct a new Chinatown in the city limit of Detroit. The cost estimation of the project is 350 million USD. The new Chinatown is planned to complete by 2022.



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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Series: Food Map of Detroit –the non gentrified version part 1 of a series


Food Map of Detroit –the non gentrified version ???What does that mean  the non- gentrified version? Well lets explore all the food venues that hung in there after the factory closed, a la Detropia  Like that bar that still makes soul food and has Live  Jazz 
 next to the Jefferson plant, (The Raven Lounge and Bar  ) this is a salute to food you can take home because its economical and tastes even better the next day.
take-your-favorite-church-lady
SOme of these places are using locally sourced gardens now. Some of this is organic, but all of it requires that you walk some / ride the Dequindre cut – to burn some calories. What is so bad about that?

Motor City Soul Food is in the hood where I grew up.  NorthWest Side, not far from the old Jewish Community Center.  This place reminds me of New Years Day at my Aunts- Hopping John ,(Beans and Rice) ,  Chitterlings , mac and cheese, Collard Greens, fried chicken, potato salad, cornbread, pies, yams … like a church picnic
Motor City Soul Food16832310_1481589655184931_5949270916876107809_n(1)
66528_502071246470115_1118675196_n
(313) 863-7685
I grew up near here  from 1965 -1985  but this
joint was not here…It was fun coming back  to the hood  –  I knew the old Karps Drugstore was gone and Tom’s Tavern was still serving suds … if you like dives do stop by  …7 mile near Wyoming

Home Depot  is on the main corner across from Motor City Soul Food MAP
Do not be  surprised by the plexiglass, you get your food and take it home of course. Why ?   It is enough to spend $$$ on the rent/mortgage and the supplies and the food – which is why the place has not changed to satisfy those who need furniture … You should be cool, be hip and buy the product, then take your butt home.

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Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Diana Ross home for Sale. Aretha may be on List ...

https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2018/01/10/you-can-buy-diana-ross-childhood-home?   this link has the current picture of the house- it looks spiffy... but is it worth the $$$ when there are still empty homes needing love in the same block???
For Example 624 Belmont is  @ in the same block  
on Detroit Land Bank List 
back taxes too

Also in the  630  's  on  Belmont / also on the Detroit Land Bank List  in the same block    Next Door   to the childhood home of Diana Ross - see below 



Childhood home of Diana Ross   as it looked in 2016  
for sale  633 Belmont  the childhood home of Diana Ross before the Brewster Projects 
Address633 BELMONT  Diana Ross  former home
 for Sale January 2018 as it looks Now...

Parcel ID03002744.
OwnerJASH MICHIGAN 2 ,LLC COMPANY
Zoning CodeR3
ZoningLow Density Residential District
Taxable StatusCITY LAND BANK
State Equalized Value0.0
Land Value529.0
Taxable Value0.0
Tax StatusOK
Last Sale Price0.0
Year Built1913
Total Acres0.086
Frontage30.0
Depth125.0
Sq. Ft3746.0
District5
Zip48202
Ward03
SubdivisionMOORE, HODGES & WARRENS S
Legal DescriptionN BELMONT E 10 FT 91 W 20 FT 93 MOORE HODGES & WARRENS L14 P13 PLATS, W C R 3/119 30 X 125
To verify this information, please look up official details with the City of Detroit.

So what???
I wonder  how to live next to something that needs to be restored or torn down....   I would prefer more tiny house projects  developed for the formerly homeless  and more avant garde approaches to using space once land is cleared. Detroit is not ranked high in healthy walkable  neighborhoods. I do not know if its the design /crime/or car culture that makes this place diabetes central.But one thing I do know- Detroit could be the Number One  21st century city of the future. Not suburban, not urban, not inner, not outer  but something for all . I call it NeoUrban. A new living arrangement of  people , living in  connected neighborhoods. Connected walkable, safe with light rail for distances over 2 miles. See this fantasy transportation map
https://detroitography.com/2014/01/31/updated-detroit-metro-transit-fantasy-map/
Disclosure: I write a blog called diabeticslifeline.com  I know that diabetes is managed by walking...
Also
My  blogging is affected by the following --- I can dream of better things.
I was a  kid growing up in a  faux Cape Cod  with a covered porch  / Fixer Upper in Conant Gardens ...I used to look out my window over the city and imagine what it would look like with less houses, and winding lanes and  lamps twinkling through the zillion trees. I saw the ravages of Dutch Elm disease, and left before the center fell @ 1985  for NYC. I am now back in  Detroit  with a unique perspective  ...Isn't strange that I could see this city laid out differently years  before it actually ended up with less houses?  

So put in the twinkling lanes and zillion trees but add houses people can afford till death if need be...A thought :  Once the  mortgage is paid WHY can't we keep the taxes down? According to what I have been seeing since I left the very expensive East Coast and gentrified precincts of greater NYC , 
Detroiters  pay way more than their houses are worth. I live in Oakland county and its also crazy here-  we in Oakland are often paying more taxes than owners in Brooklyn Heights  mansion owners who are blocks from the Riverfront with that crazy quintillion dollar view...

WHY  SO MUCH $$$$ for Less in Mitten Land???????????
If the house is tiny /the taxes should be tiny -until your time is up! 
if only they would Chant this in the streets.... 
-regenerate cities- go tiny /rise up Detroit/time to be shiny/lets go people/lets be lively

Disclosure: I have seen the marches in Buenos Aires circa 2003 - 

3 points 
This is what will it take to deliver  some fairness to the  99%- 
  • Try to sell so that Tiny  houses  paid in full (no mortgages )  and at the same time , homeowners of tiny houses billed yearly for   taxes held to a rule of 15 % of the occupants  future earnings(social security, etc) No Increases!! 
  •  Use the 15% taxed of all homeowners  of green/tiny houses for only 1 thing -the  $$$  pays for school ... other taxes levied from other possible sources go to other structural needs of a city , and are subject to legislation 
  • Social Contract of  the Neo-urban city: All house taxes Must support the Year Around school for anyone who wants to learn (Mandatory 1-12 grades) . Learning as facilitated by Free Internet will be made available for  all   future generations  to be  educated  to a BS or BA level Just make it non negotiable and not something voters wrangle over : Millages are stupid.

The third coast is the trendsetter for the rest of the country, and Detroit is the neo-urban leader...
Why should Detroit go tiny  since  NYC is not going tiny ?  East Coast Cities like NY are  going up (not tiny...) NY is building above existing buildings  like Bladerunner - using the air space . (Maybe has to do with the rising ocean...)

See the picture below??.
I lived right around the corner from this house in Brooklyn . The other boros:  Staten Island, Queens, The Bronx& Brooklyn are  not as overbuilt as Manhattan .The possibility of space sans demolition  makes these areas open to experimental container green housing.

   Puerto Rico take note ... Cheaper and Hurricane Proof  Housing is available  using your imagination and    going tiny with railroad containers -  cheaper  than traditional materials (and can be installed  quickly...before the next hurricane season......


 see the video below in Williamsburg Brooklyn 
(I lived near here in 2011, and passed by it often...)




Tiny is the new black -See the video below:

  Detroit does  Tiny https://youtu.be/q2sLP0ZBbis


The Detroit tiny homes project for homeless women re inventing themselves is here thanks to PBS.org


If tiny is the new black then  Square feet is the new bitcoin - unpredictable income equals instability for fboth the 1% and the 99 %.

 Why spotlight  Diana and Aretha ?

Entertainers make $$$ until they do not -which is when the entertainment is no longer hot, and enters a nostalgic phase. That is when  the downsizing should occur - 2  homes and  a lot can be a bit much- no? 
Aretha Franklin has this problem. Having a home in the NW section of Detroit in the 80s- (I delivered her Free Press - somebody still owes me $! @ 19346 Sorrento! ) was sensible .

 Having a lot in Palmer Woods off the Golf course is also sensible. 

Having a home in Bloomfield Hills is also sensible.

 But not being able to maintain all three at the level of no worries would be the goal, especially as one gets older and works less. Something has to give. Guess what is teetering/ hovering above the swirling edge of the default drain? Guess where the property  of the stars is  that requires a Small  infusion of liquid money in order to keep it off the Taxman/Auction list??  18281 Hamilton Avenue- 1 house from 7 mile is just a cute lot Only  .58 of an acre - the right size to put a tiny home cluster of 2 or 3 homes
and give some formerly homeless a chance to start anew ...not too far from the University District and the 8 mile border- Relatively safe- near the 12th precinct police station also. One less thing to worry about, and  an opportunity to do good...


  
Aretha's Lot 
Parcel ID:02002730.
Zoning:Single-Family Residential District
Owner:FRANKLIN, ARETHA
Last Sale Price:0
Frontage:0
SEV:3800
SqFeet:25106.000
Acreage:0.576
Ward:02
Subdivision:DETROIT GOLF CLUB (PG 99
Legal Description:W HAMILTON RD 11 DET GOLF CLUB SUB L30 P99-100 PLATS, W C R 2/135 100 IRREG
To verify this information, please look up official details with the City of Detroit.


Aretha's Lot...... Could look like this Project called True North Near Wayne State University

in any case, the lot is around the corner from the 
Frank Lloyd Wright home on 7 mile:

The Dorothy H. Turkel House is a private residence located at 2760 West 7 Mile Road in north-central Detroit, Michigan, within the Palmer Woods neighborhood. - wikipedia






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Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Art - The Breakfast Club meets at 5 pm !

 Art -The Breakfast Club meets at 5 pm  - this is the spot to support and connect with other artists !!!
5 pm Mondays 
details here :



Child  Artist With
 Maurice Johnson  Recent Show
 in Dec 2017  

Photo -  FBook


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