Saturday, June 16, 2012

Looking south down Main Street of Pontiac, Michigan, I see twenty two years of concerted economic development has brought mixed results.

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On the good side, an all you could eat pancake breakfast started on the south end of a huge parking ramp I saw full only during Arts, Beats and Eats. I decided to take breakfast at Lucas Coney Island, which serves quick omelettes in a clean and peppy diner., The roof is a concert hall called the Phoenix Center. Once a guy struggling to pull off a concert begged me to run his sound board. It was raining. Once, the two sides of the street hosted art galleries, including that Chihuly dealer, Habitat Galleries. Now, Jeff Bourgeau and his museum of keeps making use of the storefronts for his Museum of New Art. This is my favorite decade long study in raw space and urban redevelopment. The tattoo stores have attracted a following. Nothing knocks out Bo's Brewery, whom I met before he retired from the Budd-Detroit Stamping Plant. JD's Key Club started playing dueling pianos when the concept emerged, ans the key club still rolls. The Crofoot Concert halls are still a key place to see an indie show, including Nekko Case and the New Pornographers. Crystal Method sold out some shows at the retired church called Clutch Cargo for years, but that was years ago. Speaking about rolling, it's almost time to roll on over to the train station.

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