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Thoughts about the old subdivision
40 years later.
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A26 February 7 * 2008
JIN
W
hen was it that neighbor-
had sidewalks; those closer to Bell Road
hoods became subdivi-
had none. But, most important, every-
sions?
one wound up at the same school. So
It isn't entirely a suburban thing,
maybe that was the essential element.
because Oak Park certainly is a com-
There was the same kind of neigh-
munity of
borhood feel in Beacon Square, ri
neighborhoods. across Lahser from Twyckingham.
So are the older That's where we bought our first
towns along the home. There was a constant flow of
Woodward cor- sidewalk life. You didn't have to walk
ridor.
across someone's front lawn to talk to
It may have
your neighbor and everyone went to
something to
Leonhard Elementary.
do with side-
It feels kind of odd, writing as some-
walks, although one who grew up in the city, to get all
many newer
wiggly and nostalgic about Beacon
suburbs have
Square. But it was a good place in our
embraced that
lives and many of the friendships we
concept by installing walking paths
made there survive.
along major roads. They're not quite the
Ed Krass was the gym teacher at
same thing, but (forgive me) it's a step
Leonhard, which was right at the center
in the right direction.
of the sub. He is putting together a 40-
This rumination was stirred by
year reunion of all the kids who used to
an article about the major players
play floor hockey there. Ed says it will
in the investment group led by Dan
take place over Thanksgiving weekend,
Gilbert and the Quicken Loans people.
with food, entertainment, lots of stories
It seems they all grew up as friends
about the Leonhard Leopards and, of
in Southfield's
course, floor hockey.
There was a constant
Twyckingham sub
One of his former
in the early '80s
students,
Andy Krafsur,
flow of sidewalk life.
and went to the
now lives in El Paso and
adjacent Stevenson You didn't have to
is CEO of Spira Shoes.
Elementary School. walk across someone's He'll bring in shirts
It caught my
and shoes for the par-
front lawn to talk to
attention because
ticipants. If you want
I always regarded
get on the mailing list,
your neighbor.
"old gang" friend-
write krasseh@south-
ships like these
field.k12.mi.us .
as an attribute of neighborhoods, not
My parents built a house right across
subdivisions. This sort of childhood
from Leonhard in 1967. Two of the four
closeness that endured across the years
places I lived with my parents in the
once flourished. But it is hard to nur-
city are gone, razed to the ground; and
ture in many areas today, especially in
the other two don't look so hot, either.
places where school district boundaries
But it genuinely shocked me when I
can run right down the middle of a
drove past the place in Beacon Square
subdivision.
and saw that it had been foreclosed,
When you go to Bloomfield Hills
sitting empty with the shutters from
schools, for example, and the kids down the upstairs windows hanging aslant.
the block or around the corner are in
My parents were so proud of that house
West Bloomfield, it makes a big dif-
and lived in it happily for more than 28
ference. These boundaries follow the
years.
property lines of long-vanished farms
Once again, a phenomenon I always
and were laid out in the 1920s. No one
associated with the city has reached
made adjustments 40 years later for a
into a suburban place. But neighbor-
subdivision that overlapped the lines.
hoods and foreclosures seem to know
Twyckingham was right at the geo-
no boundaries anymore.
graphic edge of these changes. The area
is located west of Lahser and south of
George Cantor's e-mail address is
12 Mile Road. Streets closer to Lahser
gcantor614@aol.com.