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Bernard Glieberman: Resurgence of downtowns.
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THE,JEy ■ D ial. NWS
when I wanted to go for an ice
cream cone, I had to go to a
shopping center and sit in a
parking lot. Where now, I can go
into a downtown and buy an ice
cream cone, and I can walk to all
the shops.'
Plymouth,
"Northville,
Brighton, Mt. Clemens, Royal
Oak — look at all these edge
cities with downtowns that are
coming back now. Very few of
them aren't.
"But now if you live in West
Bloomfield, tell me your down-
town?" What is it going to be?
Are you going to say my down-
town is Orchard Lake and
Maple? If you live in Bloomfield
Hills, is it going to be Long Lake
and Woodward? If you live in
Novi, is your downtown Twelve
Oaks Mall?
"So you see, that's what hap-
pened to kids. They grow up and
they say, 'Well, where's my
downtown?'
"Cities that do not have down-
towns are not going to do as well
with urban lifestyles as the cities
that do. Because with urban
lifestyles, you've got to have a
downtown. People have to relate
to a downtown," Mr. Glieberman
said.
"Young people are saying, 'I
go to see my friends in Chicago,
I go to San Francisco, I go to
New York. Why the hell can'twe
have it here?' "
Mr. Glieberman praises De-
troit's mayor for his role in De-
troit's rebirth. "Without [Dennis]
Archer, this would never hap-
pen. I really believe that Mayor
Archer sacrificed an opportuni-
ty to go to Washington because
he felt he made a commitment
to the business people of this
community, so he gave it up and
stayed.
"That was a big fear of the
banks. The banks are pouring
billions of dollars into the city.
The mayor's made some major
commitments. That man de-
serves the credit for how far
we've gotten. Without Mayor
Archer, we wouldn't be where
we are today. And I think he can
lead us into a turnaround of De-
troit," said Mr. Glieberman.
"Sure, there'll be bumps along
the way. But I think it's going to
happen bigger in Detroit than
anywhere else. If they can do
something with these casinos,
and place them properly, and
have the right controls over
what they can do and can't do,
then the city can benefit from
the casinos.
"The advantages can be more
than the disadvantages if it is
cleverly thought out. And I think
he [Mayor Archer] has got a
good commission working on it,"
Mr. Glieberman said.
But not everyone thinks the
future is heading back to De-
troit.
Scott Jacobson, president of
S.R. Jacobson Development
Corp. in Bingham Farms, is this
year's president of the Building
Industry Association of South-
eastern Michigan (BIA). He
thinks it's hard to say where
we'll be living 20 years from
now.
"There are locations that a lot
of builders are looking at, like
U.S. 23 and M-59 in Livingston
County. That could be a real ex-
plosion, up and down the corri-
dor of U.S. 23. It's already
starting, and will get a lot more
active," said Mr. Jacobson.
'We're looking at possible fu-
ture development Downriver,
which is stronger, because the
infrastructure is already in
place. That's what builders look
for, sewers and water, although