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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 GREAT GIFT IDEAS any time of the year 110411b Rs KEY RINGS A larg ction of unique and distinguished gifts FREE GIFT WRAP CASH/ REFUNDS ORDER BY PHONE 357-5578 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- Continued on Page 20 -- 0 2