I was down at a city commission meeting, it had nothing to do with any of our political abnormalities of late but there were plenty down there who hadn't let that thought escape them. As they stood before the podium during the times allotted for public commenting they couldn't help but stop momentarily to bask in the jubilee of their victory of a red trickle while waiting anxiously for a nod of approval, a half smirk or smile from their overlords before going on to rip them to shreds over all their perceived failures. Comedy Central couldn't have written a better script.
It's not that I am lacking compassion for the plight of many right now. I've had to take in family after a fire displaced them and affordable housing just isn't out there. I could write a book on what that transition has been like after eight blissful years of living alone. I had one neighbor of thirty years die after having been put out into the street over a new development around the corner from me. Seen the shear hopelessness of another of well over thirty years of where he was going to go after a major fire took out the back section of his apartment building. Right now losing where you live at can literally strike fear in people's hearts. Still you can't fail to miss the irony of whom a great deal of these people vote for who are systemically, deliberately misplacing them in the process of gentrification.
Its been just two years ago many voted in this blue administration who had them flush in food stamps, no eviction moratoriums, no utility shut offs, monthly child tax credit checks and an endless stream of unemployment checks for those who were laid off during the shut down now claiming they were homeless, near homeless, near starving, or starving, not to mention angry, very, very angry but feeling emboldened because they managed to do it again. They wanted full equity, equality and inclusion. The developments slanted for their neighborhoods weren't enough to address their plights, they want apartments not child development centers. They not only wanted more housing development but they wanted black ownership, a higher percentage of black contractors working on those developments, rent controls, free trash removal and on the free dumpster days the city offers they wanted more than just free dumpsters to dump their stuff they demanded the city find a way to get their stuff to the dumpster. It's not like you can put a mattress in a shopping cart and haul it to the dumpster they demanded. While they were at it they want a grocery store, an affordable grocery store, with lots of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Not no Meijer store either, (former Representative Peter Meijer), they be ripping people off, they don't have ten for ten get one free anymore, it's seven for seven and you have to buy the seven and you don't get one free. Outside of demanding something be done about Betsy DeVos political influence that caused one of the commissioners their seat they made it clear they got them the house, senate and the governorship you'd better be on the phone to Gretch getting us rent controls and our share of the rich people's coffers.
I was the second to the last person to speak, I wasn't about to go stand in that mess of hot people, and they were hot. So hot I wouldn't even get near the podium they spieled all that anger upon and onto the microphone. I just want to shake my head at times because the people helping them the most are the people they hate the most. We had a minister who was mayor for years, during his tenure he worked closely with groups on the south side of downtown to get rid of the blight, increase the housing needs for low income residents, over seen the rehabilitation of a lot of the old buildings that housed the homeless and despite all of that they still couldn't get many developers interested in gentrification of that area. The area involved isn't called Heartside for nothing, a lot of heart has gone into that area, it's the main area frequented by the homeless population. They sat up a medical facility there, mental healthy clinic, coffee shop where they can hang out during the day to get out of the cold and do their laundry while doing so. They opened what they called Heartside Park, a small patch of land that runs alongside the highway where they can hang out and even sleep there as long as they don't put up tents or other structures to sleep under. They have a splash pad for kids, a pavilion where the homeless often sleep underneath it all night to be wrestled up by the city work crews in the morning who clean up after them. In recent years the city has gone to installing permanent outside bathrooms with special lighting to keep drug addicts out and a bus that goes around the neighborhood they can hop on to take a shower. No one goes hungry in this city either unless they aren't making an attempt to visit any number of food pantries or what's know as God's Kitchen that serves up hot meals to the homeless everyday. Outside of the permanent bathrooms and the shower bus this whole system was built by Christian organizations, centered and responded to in the area of greatest need among the homeless. All the homeless shelters themselves are run by Christian organizations so it behooves me how so many individuals can be so angry at these entities by voting for entities who have done the least for them. One would think they'd finally get a clue they sound like a broken record to those who they spiel their anger towards. It is those individuals who are systemically removing them from the landscape coming back to reclaim that which their parents and grandparent fled generations ago. I often term it the "Friends" generation, those who grew up watching Friends and now want to play Friends themselves.
So it doesn't surprise me at all that not even two weeks after the election they announce a huge development plan for the south end of downtown. Just think of the heat that'd occurred if that announcement was made prior to the election. They'd probably had to have arrested a few individuals the night I was at the commission meeting. I am not so sure they didn't arrest the last speaker that night, he was literally screaming so loud I could hear him all the way to the elevator as I left. In the announced presentation it was made perfectly clear the development that would go in would in no way be advantageous to low income individuals or the homeless.
Kevin Bassett, the CEO of Spectrum Industries, said he’s selling the industrial buildings on the site to Parks and Morgan, the developers of the apartment building, because they’re building market-rate housing there. He said he would not have sold the properties to anyone building subsidized housing.
“I believe a market rate type development is going to continue to improve the overall neighborhood there and the surrounding areas,” he said.
“With the Heartside area and the homelessness that happens in that area, it’s very hard to attract tenants south of Wealthy Street without having nice amenities, and that’s what’s being proposed here.”
The city has a goal of ten thousand people living downtown. After the last decade of finding every available inch to put in housing they've simply ran out of room. They are land strapped per an agreement not to build beyond a certain point on the west side of the river, the east side of downtown is a neighborhood of historical homes they can't touch, and the north sector they've gone as far north as they possibly can without it being considered living outside of downtown. The only thing left for their grand gentrification plans is to move south.
Yes there will be a grocery store in the developments plans but it will be a high end grocery store. The exemption given for parking will leave people walking blocks to get to their cars in an area that isn't really desirable to be out walking in so they are going to build in the amenities needed to serve the market rate crowd that will be living there.
In a letter to the city, the association said it met with a representative of the developer but that board members have concerns. Concerns include the lack of parking, and the fact that the food hall will be a “mirror image of the existing Downtown Market a few blocks away.”
“The community needs an accessible and affordable grocery store or food market not another high-end market,” the association said.
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The city’s zoning code stipulates that buildings in that area can be a maximum of five stories. However, the planning department was able to give the developer the OK to go as high as 10-stories by using what’s called the “Optional Plan Review.”
That process is used to address “new development concepts, innovative design, special issues, public and private ventures, and other unique proposals or circumstances without changing the existing Zone District,” according to the city.
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Normally, the city would require 565 vehicle parking spaces and 243 bicycle parking spaces. However, the commission agreed to reduce that to 100 vehicle parking spaces and 112 bicycle parking spaces.
Don't you just love the unique wording that mask words such as being robbed, beaten, shot at, shot, or just plain catching cooties by building a concept of innovative design in an area filled with special issues. You couldn't get me to rent in an area I'd have to walk blocks late at night to get to my car to go out to grab some cough medicine so they'll just critique it to address the "unique" issues the area faces. I am sure the low income and homeless population down there doesn't even realize they were that "special" or "unique", hardly words they'd consider known to describe themselves.
The message is pretty clear. We'll bend over backwards if that's what it takes to get rid of you. Four hundred and thirty two various size apartments in this massive project and the only thing we want to "control" is the systemic removal of low income individuals like you. You do not pass Go, you do not collect two hundred dollars, you don't get to fill out an application either, not to mention we won't be picking up your mattress on dumpster day. Please do though keep voting for us on election day.