Sat, 19 Sep 2009
Puffer Red's Facade
This evening I was meandering about Ypsilanti, and walking through downtown I noticed that the facade above Puffer Reds has been removed — looks like it's going to be repaired or something like that. I snapped a few photos of what's below, since I'd never seen it before and have no idea how long it's been since this has been exposed.
My favorite photo is this one. Looks like the west half of Reds at least used to be an old Hallmark Cards store. I absolutely love the stained glass window sign. I wish more places had stuff like this. See the rest of the photos I snapped here.
Posted at: 20:45 | category: /ypsi/2009 | Link
Fri, 10 Apr 2009
Federal Funds for the Ypsilanti Freighthouse Restoration
10 April 2009: The restoration of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse, a landmark in Depot Town, got a major boost today with the delivery of $500,000 in Federal stimulus money. This compliments a $100,000 grant recieved through Hamburger Helper (of all places) to do major work necessary to re-open the bulk of the Freighthouse, which had been used as a community center in the past. The news is particularly complimentary to the plans for the Ann Arbor - Detroit Communter Rail (see here for more details), as the Freighthouse can be used as a cafe and visitor center for the stop in Ypsilanti.
On hand were folks from the Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse, the Mayor of Ypsilanti, Governor Granholm, Representative Dingell, State Representative Wheeler-Smith and another State Representative whose name I've forgotten, along with various and sundry folks from the are. There was, I'm happy to say, a Large Check, which was duly handed over.
In other interesting news, the Governor mentioned the State's plan to work with Illinois and Wisconsin to develop a Midwest high-speed rail network, connecting Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis and Millwaukee. I've heard about this before, but don't have many details, but I'm looking forward to it.
Photos, as soon as they finish perculating through the toobes, will be here.
Posted at: 11:07 | category: /ypsi | Link
Wed, 18 Mar 2009
Ann Arbor - Detroit Regional Rail Project Meeting
The Ypsilanti City Planning commission held a meeting tonight where some presentations were made about the proposed Ann Arbor - Detroit Regional Commuter Rail, which has on it a stop in Ypsilanti. The following are my raw notes --- I may flesh them out more later, but I'm also a lazy bum and we know how that works.
Ann Arbor - Detroit Regional Rail Project Meeting Ypsilanti City Hall 18 March 2009 Part of the Plannng Commission meeting Next city council meeting re. Water Street next tues, 7pm, senior center? = Presentation = Carmine Columbo, trans and ops at SEMCOG working with MDOT to start service tracks using will be the ones pontiac to chicago high speed rail uses? stops in a2, ypsi, DTW, dearborn, detroit tracks owned by freight rr: Norfolk southern, conrail, CN have to coordinate with them going to add to amtrak service, not change it one of the conditions rr's have, whatever we do can not have neg impact on frieght operations on the other hand, want to use tracks for passenger when they aren't being used for freight asked rr's to identify costs and projects to do, for 4, 8 and 15 round trips a day we have info for NS info, close to CN (they are eastern part, East of Dearborn to Detroit) cn was only going to give us 2, we think we have 4 and maybe more, will know in coming weeks When they have info, will host meeting for all communities SEMCOG will have real cost info once CN finishes their part Gov has made it clear she wants the train, she wants to ride before term is over, target end of oct, begin of nov 2010 for begin operation of service likely start with 4 round trips a day during week, 3/day weekends want to structure agreements with RRs to tie future additional trains to additional investment in the corridor Looking down the road, it isn't just a single project, but there's already talk of future networks private stuff in Detroit doing some sort of light rail ending where this is probably going to end jackson wants it to extend to them places want it to go north to pontiac some reps want it to go to some other place north working with mdot and a group that wants to go from toledo so they have access to DTW Bumps along road: funding, but we think stimulus will provide some/or all of capital cost 8bill in stim is for high speed rail corridors, of which this is one Operating costs: entirely different issue, fed. dollars typically do not cover this, will need to be born by state and local communities that want it there are several businesses that when semcog can answer certain questions they want to participate Everyone semcog has mentioned it to hasn't backed away but it is not a done deal from that perspective as well but have every confidence the project will proceed and along timelime Gov has set Questions: * what would daily schedule look like? ** have to fit around freight schedule ** looks to be 55 trip end to end ** 7 or 8 am ** 3 or 4 pm ** would like to get later trip, there's a lot of opportunities for entertainment stuff that would draw later night train ** prolly 2 trains an hour apart in morning, same in evening *** two trainsets * Will we be using amtrak to operate at first, and will we outgrow it? ** Yes, and most likely ** when we started process, didn't have legislative auth or operator. mdot will be operator until we get legislative authority (to have a local authority) ** been talking a lot to grand rapids, they have some service, but they don't have authority, working with them to get state to work something out * Based on start date of oct 2010, when would physical work here in ypsi need * to start ** when have RR stuff, will know what we need to do ** prolly early in 2010 ** two things on critical path *** getting cars, we do have funds for cars *** negotiations with RRs to have operating agreements with them, started with NS, hope to start with other two soon ** SEMCOG will provide platform, ADA acceptable, 250ft long approx, have in writing from freight rrs that there is no additional cost from their perspective if the station were on one side of the other *** looking to city to make decision on where it should be *** there aren't any cost points on side that would influence decision * Is there anything in their planning for circulator vehicle ** have talked to AATA to give semcog best estimate on cost to provide additional service to each station ** this line needs to be fed, and needs to be fed with better service than what is there is now, will be working to make that happen, multimodal solutions for getting people to station ** some guy on mayor's 2020 commission, has research on some thinking on trolly (!!) service in city, gave that guy the info, they have proposed route *** they want it to start at depot, emu, hamilton to spring street, continue river street on to water street at ach plant so trolly could connect *** guy has opinions that platform should be where the depot is now (west side of tracks) *** also talked about some kiosks thingies * Have to work around freight schedule, how much line is single track ** some is, some isn't, will need crossovers, improve signal/safety systems, add sidings ** these are one-time capital costs will be borne out by that ** we will do certain improvements to get to 4 round trips, a certain number to get to next level, etc. will be contractural issue ** delays on amtrak due to freight issues... *** they are mostly east coming from Chicago *** commuter rail needs to run on time, contracts will have clauses to demand certain ontime rates *** also due to spare equipment, etc. this has a smaller area to have to have that stuff in. * Estimate for yearly operations costs at this point? ** Not one comfortable giving, 7 - 10 mill/yr is rough ** things negotiating with rrs could change it ** No estimate on capital costs until hear from rrs * If certain parts of the route are more heavily used, could there be more runs * for those ** Yes, will have to look at as it is operated ** May be able to tweak schedule, or add cars, or skip stops ** May be able to add trains as well as ridership demands that * Historically, what is the const. for freight schedules? ** Seems to be fairly consistent, RRs have built in some growth to capacity, no idea how much ** At end of day, we really want freight on one track and us on our own track ** this dance with RRs is to build another track in stages as we are building service, when you get to 8 trains a day we really want to be on our own tracks anyways ** we just have to do it in stages * Spoke about platform didn't say anything about stations or kiosks ** gameplan is to try to sell tickets online, at city hall, ticket machines at stations ** depending if there is conductor then may be able to sell on-train ** want to keep costs as low as they can * Estimate station costs 1/2mill each ** things like station, where admin boundries are, operation, contracts will have to be developed Staff Presentation * Staff has been talking to SEMCOG as they get details about what city needs to * do/figure out What SEMCOG really needs from city is piece of dirt for station * Depot Town is clearest choice ** clear, flat piece of track, publically controlled land both sides City things to consider independently * zoning and site plan requirements ped and bike circulation and safety ** from surrounding areas/neighborhood ** parking ** asked semcog to have at-grade rail crossing discussion with NS ** bike parking at station and neighborhood ** several comments about taking bikes on trains or leaving safely at platform * coordination with AATA for circulator service ** at least in intermediate area, need to consider a place for a bus to sit * parking ** make sure parking in depot town can handle longer term parking as well as space for depot town usage * traffic flow within bus. district, how much has to cross tracks themselves, * have to make sure not clogging streets longer term: spinoff investment * potential as for immediate issue of where semcog puts tracks, we do have * option to put on either side of tracks Public Comment Section * Statement from FOYF Ticket cost: $1.50 - $1.75 station to station, $6 through * whole thing, very very initial number
Posted at: 21:07 | category: /ypsi | Link
Mon, 08 Dec 2008
Winter 2008 Shadow Art Fair
One of my favorite events in Ypsilanti is the Shadow Art Fair. Since getting a digital camera for WaffleCon 2K6: CTP I've made a hobby of wandering around and taking photos, and about a year or year and a half ago something clicked in my head and I went from thinking my photos looked boring to thinking they looked kinda neat. So I decided as an experiment to try selling prints, as well as seeing how well the zines I made went.
Unfortunately, I never got around to thinking about signing up for the Summer 2008 SAF until after the deadline had passed, but some sort of miracle happened and I got stuff done in time to apply for the Winter Shadow Art Fair, and managed to get accepted. In addition to the photos and zines, I decided to try something out: Bespoke Haiku. You'd give me a subject, and I'd on-the-spot come up with a haiku, and if you liked it for a dollar I'd write it on a nice little card. The Thursday before SAF there was a shindig for the artists and volunteers, and based on some chatting with folks there I came up with the idea of doing Haiku Gift Certificates (perfect for this or any season). You could either give it to someone, who could send it to me to have them mail a haiku, or you could take it and send it to me indicating that it's a gift, and I'll send the recipient a haiku saying that it's a gift from so-and-so, and they wouldn't even be expecting it.
The weeks leading up to the fair went quickly, as I ran around getting stuff ready, and stapling (I think) somewhere around 300 zines. Setup went quickly. I was next to Josh Sanchez and Tom Quigley (and other folks) from Ann Arbor selling a wide range of zines, which was good placement. The place was pretty much consistently packed. To shove everyone in the space between rows of tables was really narrow, and there were no chairs (I didn't even think of providing one). After about seven hours of standing I wanted to sit more than anything in the world. Fortunately, the folks across the aisle (they sold decopage jewelry, and I've forgotten their names, which is annoying since I chatted with them Thursday night for at least an hour) had a spare chair when the guy ran off to do some errands, so I could sit for a bit. Then fellow Bike Ypsi-er Tom Lennon stopped back with a chair I could use the rest of the evening (I nominate him for sainthood, if the Pope is listening, or even if he isn't). I did find, however, that if I was actively talking to someone the urgent signals my feet were sending were ignorable, it's only when I was standing there just looking around, or saying hello to folks passing by, did I notice it, so I guess it wasn't all that bad. Still, it felt really really good to be able to sit down.
Some of the organizers had the idea of "Hugs and Gumbo" — for $5 you would get a bowl of gumbo (vegan even! so I could partake (I can hear the gumbo purists scowling as I type)), a sticker, a little zine (haven't had a chance to read it yet) and a hug. It was really good gumbo (and I'm not just saying that because it was the only food I ate that day, other than a PB&Jagel at the Ugly Mug), and the hug wasn't bad either.
My prints seemed to get a good amount of positive comments (and the folks at Adorama did an excellent job of printing them), although I didn't sell that many. I had a decent number of people asking if they were postcards, which I didn't even think of (I may try doing that next time). I think people were turned off by the price ($10 for a 5x7 print). They were high-quality prints on photo-quality paper, not something done on a cheap inkjet printer, and I think one would get at least $10 worth of enjoyment out of one during its lifetime. But I can also see not wanting to pay $10 for something that you could get for pretty cheap down at your local photo printer. It's that ever-present problem — I didn't think any of them were worth an excessive amount of money, but I also did spend a lot of time wandering around taking a lot of pictures and I do think some of them look really good. There's also the point of not making things too cheap; if something is really inexpensive, so people think it is worthless, etc. etc. I may adjust the price down next time, but I'm still thinking about that.
I sold a decent amount of Late Night Thinking and Haiku a day. I chatted with Linette Lao, who happens to teach a creative writing class on zines at EMU, and she wants me to stop by her class next semester and wants to use a couple issues of LNT in the class (hey, maybe I can break into that lucrative college textbook market....) I think a zine class is an awesome idea, and we also chatted a bit at the fair about the zine library the Ypsilanti District Library has (not that you can find it on their webpage at all, which I think is a huge problem).
The bespoke haiku, and the haiku gift certificates did pretty well, though. I did 26 haiku at the fair, as well as selling 15 gift certificates, which was awesome. I could tell that some people were really excited by the idea, especially the gift certificate when I told them they could send a haiku to someone that wouldn't be expecting it. As an added bonus, in making the gift certificate and making a price list for the table, I learned a little bit more about LaTeX — I like LaTeX, but making everything look like a dissertation is a bit boring. I figured out a little bit more about fonts and doing other weird stuff, which is useful.
About the only downside (other than standing for seven hours, which is certainly easy enough to fix next time) was not really being able to visit any of the other booths. My bank account is probably happier for it, but still, there's always some cool stuff there. It was busy enough pretty much all through the day that there was only a couple of times I was able to get away to get some gumbo, or get a glass of water (or, erm, to make some water). It did make the day go incredibly quickly, though.
Financially, well, I won't be giving up my job to live the life of an artist full time, but I sold enough to pay for the vendor fee and have a nice chunk of money left over. I wonder, though, if the teller at the UMCU Plymouth Road branch thinks I moonlight as a stripper or something; along with my dollar saving plan (I should write about that sometime) and taking in currency this morning I've stopped at the bank with a large stack of singles three times in two months. Oh, well. And in any case, I still have a bunch of prints left over, and after chatting a bit with folks at the shindig I think I may setup an Etsy account to sell some of the rest off. It's cheap enough, at least, and couldn't hurt.
In the end, it was an amazing amount of fun, and seriously one of the coolest things about Ypsilanti. I'm pretty sure I'm going to sign up for the next show. Photos I took of the event can be found here (at least they will be as soon as they stop burbling across the Intertoobes.
Posted at: 20:14 | category: /ypsi | Link
Sat, 15 Mar 2008
The Ides of March, 2008
Today was a glorious day, at least by the standards of the weather we've been having around here lately. Mid-40s and sunny, warm enough to wander about town wearing a long-sleeved shirt and vest. Which is exactly what I decided to do after noon after decided that the weather was to nice to stay inside and clean.
I started with my favorite fair-weather activity, wandering around Riverside Park and taking pictures. After an hour or so of doing that, I meandered over to Depot Town, and happened to take a fortuitus duck into one of the antique stores there because I saw some books. After wandering about a bit, I picked up a couple of books about Ypsilanti (the first volume of the book published by the Depot Town Association back in 1999, and a copy of the 1973 Ypsilanti city charter). The lady who ran the store was chatting with a friend of hers, and was joined buy the guy who runs the store next door. When she saw my books, she pointed me at two other books in a part of the store I had only glanced at, which had a 1920's history of Ypsilanti and some early photographs of town. This lead to a fifteen minute chat with the three of them, in which I picked up little historical tidbits and had the Ypsilanti Historical Society recommended to me.
Being a nice day outside still, and the Ypsilanti Historical Society being just around the corner up on South Huron, I wandered on up. I had always wanted to stop in but never did, and today was as good of day as any. Two nice ladies showed me, and a couple with a young child from Novi that showed up a few minutes after me, the lovely Dow House that the YHS is housed in. It's really a treasure trove, and I will certainly be back there. The highlight was the beautiful Tiffany stained glass window that was originally in the Starkweather Library just down the street. There's also down in the basement a wonderful archive which anyone can come down and ask for help in finding materials, which I certainly will be using in the future. Perhaps I can finally find out what is up with the apparent editing of the statue of Demtrius Ypsilanti that I talked about in issue 0 of Late Night Thinking.
After I wandered through I talked briefly to one of the ladies who was there, who suggested that I show up sometime to do docent training and volunteer as a docent. I think I'll take that up sometime, as it sounds like something fascinating.
Finally I made it to my traditional ending point, the Ugly Mug, for some coffee and wireless. Photos I took today will appear here as soon as they filter up through the toobes.
Posted at: 18:04 | category: /ypsi | Link
Mon, 10 Mar 2008
Ypsilanti Downtown Blueprint 2008
I went to the Riverside Arts Center to hear the presentation by Doyle Palma of HyettPalma of their study for downtown Ypsilanti. I took a bunch of notes, which I'll pretty much leave out of here because hopefully soon the actual report will be online.
I will say I'm filled with cautious but strong optimism. The presentation and the presenter seemed on the level — I'm normally very skeptical of things like this, so I dial up the BS detector's sensativity, but I didn't get much from this. With a limited history with the area I can't judge on much of the historical trends, but what was said made sense and seemed to fit in with what has been happening. I'm very much in love with Ypsilanti, I think it is an excellent community and there is an amazing amount of cool and interesting stuff going on here. I'll likely be moving soon to Ypsi proper, closer to downtown, probably in the Midtown neighborhood, and I'm really looking forward to it.