Livernois Streetscape Enhancement Plan sparks interest on Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion

Prior to the 1970s, chances are that, if you were growing up in the city of Detroit, you knew about the “Avenue of Fashion”. Whether you were going with your dad to get a new hat from Louie the Hatter or waiting with your mom while she finished her hair appointment at the salon, the area on Livernois Road in Detroit, MI dedicated to the retail businesses in the city was always booming.  The area was a source of solid economic growth within the city, and attracted all celebrities from Gordie Howe to Marvin Gaye because of the products and convenience offered by the various boutiques.

Now, the Avenue of Fashion is home to several retail stores, restaurants, even a few shops that survived the years of financial hardship and rioting in the city, however it has not been comparable to what it once was in a long time.  The Livernois Streetscape Enhancement Plan has been designed by the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation with help from the University of Detroit Mercy’s Programs Manager to figure out the best way bring revenue back to the area, in hopes of restoring it to its glory.

Take a virtual tour of Fashion Ave.

Fashion

One difference contributing to the strips current condition, according to owners, is that in business communities like Royal Oak and Bloomfield Hills, the city plays a part in the operation of the strip in terms of lighting and maintenance; in Detroit, they do not.  This is an issue that is not directly addressed in the LSEP files.

“Overall, it isn’t inviting here anymore,” says Ronda Morrison of House of Morrison’s Shoe Repair, one of the more tenured businesses on the strip. “That is why I think it would take a strong hand from municipals to boost the morale among the operating business owners. At that point, we would be able to work individually as business owners, as well as a group.”

“More people need to come and start helping out…really, more people need to stay,” says 23-year-old Detroit native Jason Lang, who has lived in the neighboring University District neighborhood for nineteen years.  “The problem is the crime; it’s causing people to leave.”

As for the bringing of businesses back to the strip, there have been efforts in the past decade on behalf of people like Chef Don Studvent, the owner of 1917 American Bistro, and Ty Haygood of Flagship Boutique & District 81 Clothing that suggest the Avenue is headed in the right direction.

“So many people, when they choose to locate their business, they locate to places that already have a high traffic for what they’re doing,” says Haygood.  “We’re hoping to create this area, to be what they want to return it to be.”

Wordle of LSEP Q&A and Comments (March 30, 2012)

wordle

The plan itself is still in the works, due to the need for funding and communication between DEGC, the City of Detroit and the store owners on Livernois.  According to the University Commons’ website, the plan includes the planting of canopy trees along the controversial median that was constructed under former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, installing renovated lighting fixtures, and an increased area designated for parking.  The approach to the problem in this plan is vested in the physical appearance of the Ave, in order to attract foot traffic and students from the surrounding universities; although some feel that labors like these could be wiser spent.

“By us having a family business here, our attitude at Morrison’s Shoe Repair is bound to be a bit different than [businesses] that are not owner operated,” says Morrison.  “I don’t see what improvements any organization can make if the operators of the businesses are not in consensus with the arrangements.”

Physical changes being made in the area are definitely present with remodeling and other renovations being completed by some of the businesses even in the past year. In the end, the main point of this effort and the focus of all parties involved is to help this great city live up to its legacy of hard work and community support.

“I was born and raised in Detroit, so anything about Detroit coming back and taking over anything, fashion or whatever, I’m all for it,” says Lang.  “We’re so far down now that anything that looks up is a plus to me.”

Neil Armstrong’s ’67 Chevy (Video Review)

For my third blog post, I decided to review a video featured on the Detroit Free Press‘ website about a Florida resident named Joe Crosby restoring a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette that once belonged to the original moon-walker, Neil Armstrong. The story is told from the point of view of the person restoring the car through interview clips and through footage of the car itself; this gives the story a “strong, central character” to relate to and humanizes the entire experience.  The story is very short (about two minutes) and you immediately get the story from Crosby.

When the video begins, we can see and hear the car being lifted up into the air so that the people working on the Corvette can get a look under the automobile; this was a very effective way to begin the story.  The sound goes on just long enough for you to wonder what’s going to happen and, soon after, the story begins with an interview from the subject.

The story does have a clear narrative.  It starts off as any man-machine love story does; it was love at first sight. He saw the car at a horse stable in Atlanta, Georgia in 1979.  He wanted to buy the car then, but his priorities were already in line and he spent his money on another classic car he’d been eyeing.  Fortunately, Crosby kept in contact with the owner throughout the years even though he repeatedly stated his intention to keep the car for himself.  With a shocking twist, however, the owner of the ‘Vette called him this year in February and told him to come get the car.  He’s been working on it ever since.

The story could have been told without video, but no one would have cared.  Because the story is so geared towards appealing to lovers of classic cars, the visual of the actual work being done is the only thing that makes this video worth watching. It has a lot of action and powerful visuals of the car.

The b-roll is of Crosby and his crew looking at the car prior to the work they planned on doing that day. It was used to cover the footage of Crosby talking about his plans for the vehicle; it highlights the areas of the car that they will be working on.  There are a variety of shots of the car (even though no explicit sequences were used): closeups of the original paint job, full shots of the body, the whole nine.

The sounds of the story were the things that I liked best.  Natural sound is incorporated throughout the video and it provides a great sense of what is going on in the story. It flows with the verbal and the visual very smoothly. The pacing of the overall story was great as well. I enjoyed looking at the car and was able to keep up with the story effortlessly.

All of the people are identified using an onscreen lower third attribution, the timing and type of visual transitions are appropriate for the story, and there was really nothing “jarring” about the video.

I think that everything in this video worked well towards what it was trying to accomplish. It was pretty much saying “Hey, check this out! This is interesting.” Everything in the video was informational, but none of it was necessary.  If this were my video, I probably would have tried to get more info from the owner between Crosby and Neil Armstrong, if only for the first account of how he obtained the car.  They did a  very good job with this story; Spitta would be proud.

Slide-show: Mario the homeless Romanian

My JRN-340 professor asked the class to seek out a slide-show with audio components in preparation for our newest project.  I was in a rush, so I picked the first one I saw on The Guardian’s website; that one was about the presidential campaigning going on in Venezuela, but it didn’t have a narrative, so I picked another one.

The next story I came across was the story of Mario, a homeless man living out of a self-made wooden box with a mattress and a few items of clothing.  The story was narrated by photojournalist Kayte Brimacombe who discovered Mario while walking with her children around the neighborhood.  Using the photos as an outline, we get to travel with Mario on his way to financial independence.

The only source of audio in this one is the narrator. Throughout the entire slide-show, her words are directly related to what was going on in the pictures (Class notes 10/24/12: “Sound and pictures have a relationship: match audio and photos. Conscious editing”).  There are no captions.  There were no animated transitions in this slide-show, but the minimalist approach worked with the story and photo content.  The monologue was entertaining enough to make up for the lack of showmanship.

Throughout the story, there is a variety of photos, but the most striking thing about the photos is the clarity of the imagery.  The first shot is a still of Mario in a home-made shelter; it does a great job of introducing the story, because, at the time, the narrator is speaking about how she met Mario in his shelter and you get a clear shot of what she must have been seeing that day.  While we learn about Mario’s struggle with anti-Romanian prejudice in his society and adaptation to life outside of the box, the images paint a perfect picture for the viewer and create an intimacy with the subject because Mario’s activity is the focus of everyone.  Through the photography, we see that Mario finally gets a job and, later on, gets shot by a BB gun during a mugging.  In the end, Mario secures his own room at a hostile and a job as an electrician, what he was trained to be in Romania.

The last image of the show, alone, might do nothing for the story; it is simply a picture of Mario in the hostile on his new bed sleeping. However, in connection with the photo of Mario that was shown right before, the photo makes a quick contrast between how life was for Mario 15 months before meeting Kayte.

All of the parts work well together. The pacing was just right. I absorbed the information and observed each photo thoroughly without feeling rushed or bored.  Not that the organization didn’t work well, but the photographer/producer of the slide-show could have put more variation into the transitions or added music/natural sound to the story.  If this were my slide-show, I would’ve had Mario talk some about his life as a “rough-sleeper”.

This was a great slide-show overall.  There were only the photos and the narrator, but since the narrator was so invested in every aspect of the story, I felt it was fine as a naked piece of work.

Subject: Robin Chan

Sean Combs/Bad Boy. Lyor Cohen/Def Jam. Robin Chan/Moore Media?

That’s right, folks.  We might have modern music’s next, big head honcho right here in Michigan.  Hailing from Davison, MI, and a lover of all things pure and musical, Robin Chan, President of Moore Media Records, stopped by to talk to the good folks over here at #HSxS about what it takes to run a top-notch record label while keeping an eye open for fresh local talent.

Enjoy.

-TWAY

Logo & Music provided by Moore Media Records (Featured Tracks: Cherokee by Moses, You Cannot See Anything by Delightfuls)