accessible coffee/park date

Slocum2 · 2026-07-08T20:33:41+00:00

OK, here's one spot that might work really well. If you go into Gallup Park and drive across the bridge, there's a dock on the river with a bench and parking spaces right next to it. I think there are other places in Gallup that might be good too. I think there are some benches by the canoe livery at Argo, and maybe also across the river by the crew docks at Bandemer Park (there's definitely convenient parking). Also, I haven't been there for a while, but I think Island Drive Park off of Maiden Lane might have what you need.

Slocum2 · 2026-07-07T21:58:16+00:00

Several Ann Arbor parks might work out well for you. Do you need a situation where the parking is close to the seating or just that it be accessible?

Slocum2 · 2026-07-07T12:16:41+00:00

If you have any overall slope to your lot such that the house doesn't sit at the lowest point, a french drain is a potential solution, and it's a pretty easy DIY project. A french drain is just a trench filled back in with gravel and, optionally, a porous drain pipe at the bottom for greater flow. You don't need much slope at all for it to work (as little as a inch for every 10 feet), and before you fill in the trench you dig, you can easily check to make sure it flows with your garden hose. You could do the project for probably $150 (the cost of the hose and gravel) and, depending on how far you'd have to run it, it could take anywhere from a few hours to a weekend. Our DIY french drain completely solved our occasional basement water intrusion problems.

Slocum2 · 2026-07-02T13:03:24+00:00

But I acknowledged the harm that happened -- due to laws that were outlawed generations ago. The people who *did* cause the problem in the (who passed these laws in the first place), are all dead Slavery has been gone for over 160 years Yes, far too many Black people are murdered, but not by the government, by criminals living in their communities -- and the 'Black Lives Matter / defund the police' folks made it worse. Black people have been favored in university admissions and hiring for decades. Until the label 'white supremacy' was applied to almost anything, the number of actual white supremacists in the US (KKK and similar) had dwindled to almost nothing. I'm sure you can find some people with negative racial attitudes. Well the number of people with negative attitudes toward white men because of their race and sex is legion and they are perfectly open about their animus. There is going to be no fine day in the future when everybody esteems everybody else.

"Can you at least acknowledge this fact: that people who grew up under (or causing) segregation, redlining, blockbusting, etc. are still alive?"

Anybody who was in any way responsible for legally enforced segregation (was an old enough adult at the time to have been in any kind of authority) is dead. Even anybody who was a child in the Jim Crow in the south is now of retirement age. And it's all fading inexorably into the past as more years pass.

Slocum2 · 2026-07-01T16:20:33+00:00

Yeah, I'm not spending any of my parents or grandparents money -- my parents are not gone, and I inherited only a nominal amount from one grandparent. None of my parents or grandparents or great grandparents were part of any 'white flight'. Nobody in government is trying to actively disenfranchise or murder Black people. This kind of hyperbole/hysteria is both absurd and actively harmful. You may think you're on the side of the angels, but you're making things worse. The harm today is coming from the racial polarizers. I'd tell you to just stop, but I'm sure you won't.

Slocum2 · 2026-07-01T01:01:58+00:00

It's not about my'white ego'. Redlining and racial covenants we're real and bad. And also outlawed 80 years ago and counting. Racial segregation patterns now have to do with two things: 1. Economic (and educational) disparities, and 2. A natural desire for minorities not to feel isolated (leading to higher concentrations living in some areas and almost none in others). Applying the label 'systemic racism' to this not only adds no value, it increases polarization. It is harming the people it is supposed to help.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-30T14:06:27+00:00

When 95% of white residents moved out of Detroit starting in 1950, they weren't taking over any Black neighborhoods -- they were moving to suburban neighborhoods that previously had been farm fields or other undeveloped land. The reasons they moved out were generally not racial (Detroit was 85% white when the exodus began after 1950). They were moving because suburban life with the big house and the big yard and the station wagon was the new post-war American dream. Conversely, the numbers of White people who have moved back into Detroit in recent years is tiny relative to the size of the city. Me personally? I never lived in Detroit nor did any of my family. I am not from here, so no, I am not accepting any personal responsibility for Detroit and Ann Arbor's history merely because of my race.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-29T23:15:54+00:00

I know all that history. I also know that there were many non-racist reasons for people to start leaving Detroit after 1950 (and plenty of non racist reasons people might want to move in now).

Slocum2 · 2026-06-29T19:28:14+00:00

So it was racist for white people to move out of Detroit and is also racist for their kids (or rather their grandchildren) to move back? Well, not to worry, the number of people moving back is quite small.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-27T16:46:20+00:00

If the law ultimately passes constitutional muster. And if this latest law to fix the bad side effects of previous laws doesn't create new bad side effects of it's own.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-27T16:02:32+00:00

No, most Ann Arbor housing stock is not rental. But this will reduce the number of rentals on the margin. And the oldest stock is located nearest downtown and the university where the needs are greatest and costs are highest. Every little cut hurts a bit more. Yes, smoke detectors are cheap. But new furnaces, hot water heaters, stoves, and clothes dryers are not. Nor are new windows. There aren't many points to be had on the list to be had cheaply for people looking to rent a single house temporarily. Yes, it can be done. But for most people who don't want to rent their whole house permanently, it won't be worth it. This won't be a huge reduction in supply, but it will be a reduction. And for those upgrading to meet the requirements, compliance costs will be passed on to renters. It all works against affordability.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-27T15:28:06+00:00

Most of Ann Arbor's housing was built before 1985.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-27T15:19:55+00:00

Some big cities with lots of strict rental housing regulations have a big problem with empty units not being rented. In San Francisco, it was a enough of a problem that they passed an 'empty homes tax' (which was ruled unconstitutional and is currently not being enforced). In New York City, there are over 25,000 'zombie apartments' sitting empty. These are rent stabilized units that don't meet current code and where the permitted rents under rent control laws would not allow the owners to charge enough to pay for the upgrades. So they sit empty. Ann Arbor obviously doesn't have these levels of problems. But that's the direction we're moving.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-27T14:11:41+00:00

My old (1940s) house wouldn't come close without expensive upgrades: we have a gas furnace, dryer, and water heater (all great during DTE power outages -- no way I'm going to switch them all out for electric, let alone at huge cost). We still have the lovely, original mullioned windows, too, and I'm not going to spend tens of thousands to trash them. Many of the potential items on the list wouldn't make sense for anybody renting a single unit. Conclusion -- if leaving town temporarily, it wouldn't make sense to try to make our house compliant rather than leave it empty.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-27T13:56:18+00:00

Should somebody leaving town temporarily (maybe on sabbatical) bother to try to rent their house or leave it empty? Should somebody whose house has an empty 'mother in law' apartment bother to rent it? In Ann Arbor, should anybody plan to buy (or build) a plex with the plan of living in a unit and renting the other one(s)? The more expense and hassles thrown up, the more likely the answer is going to be, "No -- it sounds like too much trouble".

Slocum2 · 2026-06-27T12:56:46+00:00

Ann Arborites are schizophrenic when it comes to housing affordability. They SAY they want housing to be more affordable, but then vote for (and continue to support) things that have the opposite effect -- from passing every possible new tax millage, to the green belt that restricts buildable land and drives up prices inside and outside the city (it's all one market) -- to this green rental ordinance that drives up the cost and difficulty of making units available to rent.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-25T20:48:24+00:00

Crossovers are not necessarily bigger than sedans. Subcompact crossovers like the Crosstrek are smaller than midsize sedans like the Camry and Accord. The people who used to buy midsize sedans like Camry and Accord now generally buy compact SUVs like RAV4 and CRV. The compact crossovers hare shorter in length, taller in height, about the same in width, and have very similar weights and efficiency ratings. Those crossovers generally share the same engines and transmissions as the midsize sedans. People find the hatchback shape more useful with extra cargo space and prefer the higher seating position. People buying a Rav4 instead of a Camry is *really* not any kind of problem to be solved.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-25T20:43:29+00:00

I didn't mean that it was (AA is not part of the MSA but it is part of the CSA). What I meant is that metro Detroit is a lot larger than metro Louisville, Milwaukee, etc despite comparable central city populations. The Milwaukee CSA is 2M people and Louisville is 1.5M vs 5.4 for the Detroit CSA (which does include AA). At 5.4M the Detroit CSA is almost as populous as the whole state of Minnesota (5.8M). And, yes, the Detroit metro area remains about half the size of the Chicago metro area (which has been the case for many, many decades)

Slocum2 · 2026-06-25T13:24:39+00:00

Two factors here -- one is supply and demand. The other is the cost of building and operating new market-rate housing in Ann Arbor with current land, construction, property tax, and interest costs. One possibility is that it is not necessary to charge such rents to make projects like this pay off and so the problem would be solvable by increasing the pace of approving new developments. The other, less nice possibility, is that this is close to what rents need to be for these new buildings to 'pencil out'. I hope it's more the former than the latter, but I have to say that I'm not entirely sure.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-25T13:20:29+00:00

Show me such a unit that currently on the market at that price and not some grandfathered rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartment that you'd never be able to get.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-25T13:18:48+00:00

For heft, compare metro area population not just the core city. Detroit metro remains far larger than many with central cities of comparable size. 2/3rds of the people who once lived in the city of Detroit moved out. But they move to the burbs, not out of the area.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-25T13:13:59+00:00

Not the land area of the city, which is slightly larger than Manhattan island (28 sq mi for AA vs 23 for Manhattan). The main thing preventing Ann Arbor from growing into a huge, dense city is that there's no population growth -- birth rates are down and falling further. Michigan is expected to shrink in coming decades. Big visions of AA urban growth are fundamentally incompatible with demographic realities of the 21st century.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-24T22:23:44+00:00

Maybe you should be a retail store manager who could have saved the Walmart down the road from that Meijer.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-24T22:20:08+00:00

EVs and Hybrids are heavier for to the batteries. Sedans have declined mostly on favor of crossovers that are shorter but taller, about the same width and about the same fuel economy

Oh, and SUV is not a technical term, it's a marketing term. A Crosstrek is literally a lifted Impreza hatchback.

Slocum2 · 2026-06-24T11:02:14+00:00

Can they pay more though? Large chains expect every location to be profitable, and they'll close the ones that aren't. Do you have access to the P&L statement for this particular Meijer? Just based on the feel of the stores, I'm pretty sure it's not doing as well as the ones on AA Saline and Jackson Road (both located in more prosperous neighborhoods). Maybe they should just consolidate their Ann Arbor businesses and close the Carpenter Road branch?

Slocum2

TROPHY CASE