Proof That Things Can Always Get Better - A Ten Year Span
I am reporting on S.E. Michigan as I create new business from town to town. I own a few businesses and do a lot of online promotion. My focus is to find new and upcoming areas and neighborhoods. I write about restaurants and bars that cater to young people. Occasionally I assist these businesses to become even better. That is how I find myself in these depressed neighborhoods.
Birmingham was always old but not nearly as trendy as it is today. It is a welcomed sigh of relief. The town itself was never junky until recently. As the city begins to attract the affluent we are met with several challenges. Old Woodward Avenue has had classic clothing stores, jewerly stores and has kept its charm. The smaller streets behind the main street near 15 mile has sprung up with new exciting upscale bars and eateries. This is all happening right in front of the police station. Everything usually quiets down around midnight for some reason. The bar patrons do not hang around too much longer after that and thats maybe because of the police station.
The businesses that are left are a 24 hour coney island which attracts a lot of the rougher crowd. There is also a dance club which barely qualifies as a dance club because the dance floor is so tiny -- it can maybe hold 8 people if they all hold their breath. This is the bottle service crowd and you know what that means... thug life. The mood in that bar is ugly and I took a quick visit and I immediately left as I did not feel safe.
SOUTH: A BACKSTORY
This is why I am bringing this up. A few weeks ago the popular nightclub South, (and you can look this up on Yelp) had a terrible shooting where three patrons were literally blown away with gun fire. The club shut down. This is an unwelcomed vibe in the community. The whole scene moved up the street to this ratty night club. This place is only opened four days a week but it brings in this crime element.
Needless to say that South sits on Old Woodward avenue and needs to be gutted out. There is furniture and equipment that NEEDS TO GO. It sets off a tone to the rest of the community that, "We Don't Care". It has become an eyesore. This is a case of serious junk removal.
IT GETS WORSE.....
There is only one ATM in Birmingham if you are on the street and that is the Chase bank on Old Woodward which sits right next to the old South nightclub. Today it is a hang out for thug wannabee's. They sit there three at a time waiting for some poor sucker to walk into Chase and pull out cash. I saw that set up and the zero presence of police and passed it up completely going straight to my car to go home.
This is an ugly element that property owners, business owners and community people need to be aware of.
Why do affluent neighborhoods and towns attract street thugs like this? I have a theory that it goes back to wealth consciousness and the lack there of. These people do not know how to relate to affluence so they bring guns to every event and scare the locals. I for one do not like these people and do not want them in Birmingham, Michigan. Worse, the clientele does not mix well with the locals and toe to toe they are not the same kind of people.
By the way the drinks in this dance club were terrible. They were strong pours and not made well. They were made with cheap booze and the only focus was to get people drunk. The vibration was off here.
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There will be problems in this bar too. THis crowd has a history.
The best we can do is clean up after them and hopefully push them out.
*** Cantu works in Metro Detroit doing bars and restaurant promotion, PR, and online real estate coaching.
He also works with Burly Guys Junk Removal out of Royal Oak, Michigan.
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