18
Friday, May 9, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Bath Design Center
Forecast...
Hand Spray Shower
Easily attaches to your present stationary
shower system
CLOSE-UP
1-696 Freeway
Continued from preceding page
Large Champagne Shower Head
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Extraordi .
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Aktiva Overhead Shower
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N
?RAMC
•_ BATH DESIGN CENTER
LIGHT . MM
(GREAT LACES/
?I
E AST HARRISON
division of Great Lakes Suppty
Showroom
Open Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sat. 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. or by appointment
Tri-Star Overhead Shower
Adjustable spray, unique, colorful styling
All
priced
under
$2900
L'S
LINCOLN (10',)
,,,o
the bath
design center
IR MILE
216 E. Harrison, Royal Oak
6 blocks North of 10 Mile —
1/4 block East of Main
Phone: 542-8404
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11
fine jewelry and gifts
MON.-SOT.
10:00-5:45
THURSDRYS
10:00-8:45
26400 West Twelve Mile Road
Northeast corner of 12 Mile & Northwestern Hwy.
terns. Halloway Construction Co.
has gone beyond the terms of his
contract to make an unpleasant
situation as acceptable as possi-
ble. Mark Wollenweber, city
manager for Huntington Woods,
says Halloway "has done an ex-
cellent job. We've had very few
problems. This isn't so in other
cities with different contractors
who've chopped down trees with-
out permission. We haven't had
this at all."
One couple who were forced out
of their home in Oak 'Park be-
cause it is now part of 1-696,
Robert and Bonnie Torgow, de-
cided not to stay in their old
neighborhood but moved to
Southfield near Young Israel of
Southfield.
Bonnie says, "It was a difficult
decision to move. My parents
were living there, my children
were there, and we were very
committed to our shul."
Her husband adds, "We felt the
expressway was going to destroy
the city of Oak Park, at least the
Orthodox community."
Storeowner Borenstein feels
the solution to halting a decline
in the area and a move of the
Jewish community from its pre-
sent location is for the Jewish
Welfare Federation to step in and
set up a program to encourage
young Jewish families to set up
house in these parts. (See Page
1).
"I personally suggested at a
Federation meeting, probably ten
years ago, some sort of capital
funds campaign which would
stabilize the neighborhood by
making loans available to young
couples to live in the neighbor-
hood. Because there's no question
that the replacement cost of all
the Jewish community buildings
in other neighborhoods — be it
synagogues, social things or
stores — The cost of replacing
runs into lots of money, it would
be a lot cheaper to keep this
neighborhood, which is as far as I
can remember more stable than
any other one. I understand the
Federation is planning such a
project. If it is done in a proper
manner it would be a big factor in
keeping this a Jewish neighbor-
hood.
"It probably wouldn't take
more than a hundred homes — if
you can find a hundred — homes
and young families, couples who
want to live in them. It's enough
to stabilize any neighborhood. If
Federation is farsighted enough,
they'll save themselves lots of
money by not having to move the
community elsewhere."
This opinion is echoed by many
in the community. Torgow claims
that "to stop the trend of Detroit's
Jewish community moving every
so 'often, the Federation has to
take some of its money out of the
coffers and stabilize the commu-
nity by buying homes for young
Jewish newlyweds, create a
community, support the commu-
nity and keep it going. Same
thing as they did in Cleveland: It
sure worked there . . . how else
can you stabilize an area?
"Oak Park could be stabilized
and could actually be rejuvenated
because the support services are
there — the kosher butchers are
there, the bakeries, the markets.
There's still time. The Federation
could even still buy up one of
these restaurants that keep clos-
ing and help keep it going. The
Federation is the key and always
has been, though it's taken them
a while to see it."
1Vlandelbaum feels the area is
potentially a good one for young
families to move into but
suggests, "There has to be a
commitment for several families
to move here close to each other
— at least those with young chil-
dren so they'll have others to play
with. That will bring in other
families to establish themselves.
After they come, property values
will go up. All the facilities are
here." This, he says, is what hap-
pened in Oak Park Park when he
and his wife moved into their
home in 1954.
Kaplan, the Jewish community
highway ombudsman, adds, "The
public relations value of the Fed-
eration's new campaign is it
shows a commitment to the
neighborhoods, and that's defi-
nitely a benefit."
Meanwhile, the financial as-
pects of building a freeway
through already-established
communities cannot be over-
looked. Huntington Woods' Wol-
lenweber explains, "We lost 60 to
70 properties, and several mil-
lions of dollars in valuation.
There's no way we can make that
up. The highway took property
we can never replace. They paid
the people off, but not the city.
Luckily, it happened over many
years so we've been able to absorb
it over time."
Does having a highway at your
back door lead to a drop in prop-
erty values? Shirley Cash, a local
realtor, feels that property values
will triple in value because of the
highway going through. "Every-
body wants to move near it. They
all want to be one block north or
south of Ten Mile, for example,
for the shopping, the transporta-
tion.
"Any appraiser will give you a
higher appraisal if your property
is on top of transportation, shop-
ping, and so on. As soon as houses
go on the market around here
they get sold."
A more cautious attitude is
voiced by Dworkin: "The property
values are somewhat depressed
at present; particularly those
closest to the freeway . . .
whether this situation will cor-
rect itself I don't know, but
maybe it takes lower housing
costs to induce people to live near
freeways."
But most agree that homes in
areas close to the freeway are
selling readily, particularly with
lower mortgage rates and the im-
proved economic climate in the
metropolitan Detroit area.
Rabbi Freedman says the situ-
ation is healthy right now.
"When a house goes on the mar-
ket, 80 to 90 percent of the time it
goes through a network —
through recommendations of its
neighbors. Every house I know of
in this area has little trouble
being sold."
This should make the Federa-
tion's plan simpler to put into ac-
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