Windsor blog International Metropolis and Detroit blog Detroit Funk have had an ongoing wager to see who will capture “the fall” of the historic Livingston House facade in Detroit — aka “Slumpy.” William Livingston was born nearby in Dundas, Ontario, in 1844 but later moved to Detroit, became a tycoon, and built this house in Brush Park, the Rosedale of Detroit. After a slow and painful decline, the facade recently fell. Click on both the above links and check out the extensive documentation of this majestic house on those two great blogs — and check these photos taken by Toronto architect Scott Weir in the early 1980s of the house in its original location and in better condition.
Occasional glimpses of stuff like this can help us appreciate Toronto a bit more, where nothing comes close to matching this kind of large scale urban rot and decay. Imagine Rosedale and Forest Hill (and Parkdale, the Annex, Riverdale and …) abandoned and falling apart, and you can start to get a sense of it. Much too heartbreaking for any schadenfreude, but for a few hours at least, it can feel like there’s nothing to complain about up here.
(Pictures from Detroit Funk).
7 comments
You have to skim through The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit. Fascinating, but so depressing. http://www.detroityes.com/home.htm
Looking at the pictures of Slumpy and those on the “Fabulous Ruins of Detroit” one can only say: Yikes! From a Torontonian’s perspective, I’m thinking all of these places would make awesome lofts!!
I really need to visit Detroit for a couple of days.
Where are these areas of urban decay in Detroit?
Makes you appreciate Toronto ‘a bit’ more??
I hope that’s a massive understatement, because if seeing Detroit gives you only a grudging appreciation for what we have in Toronto then you need to stop and smell the flowers more. 😉
Justin> Follow the link that Nigel posted. Without a map, sense of direction or compass, you can’t not find urban decay in Detroit.
Asher> Yes only a bit, no more. As you can probably tell from this blog, we only have a very weak and tenuous appreciation for Toronto in general. Most of us see it as just a stop before moving to Buffalo.
Buffalo has so much more to offer than Toronto – a winning hockey team, original food creations (they have both the chicken wing and Beef on Weck to call their own – what has Toronto given the culinary world?), cheaper airline flights, a NFL franchise, and Frank Lloyd Wright houses.
But anyhow, Brush Park is a very surreal place. It was one of the first neighbourhoods to hit bottom in Detroit, but its proximity to the reviving central core (yes, it is reviving, somewhat, despite some still vacant towers and empty lots) and the architecture has prompted some houses to be restored, surrounded by blight and vacant lots, while on the west edge, on Woodward, there’s brand new urban townhouses. Slumpy was one of the houses not lucky enough to be saved in time, but some of its ilk are once again standing proud.
I thought about this post when Toronto’s own “Slumpy” fell over the weekend. I hope it’s the last time that decay in Toronto brings Detroit to my mind.