Postby martykoessel » September 6th, 2012, 8:15 am
Little Dearborn might not be beautiful, but it's not a junkyard cluttered with rusting car parts either. The guy has been in business for years, which indicates that he's providing a valuable service and doing a good job managing his store. Besides, the shop adds some character to an area that's rapidly changing.
The Caspian Bistro has been around for a long time, too, which is a particularly great accomplishment for a restaurant. And those big, empty panels over the windows? The owner had purchased beautiful tiles from Iran to be inlaid in those spaces, then the sanctions hit, and they never made it through customs. That must have been quite a hit to his pocketbook.
In short, in talking about how things might be prettier, please take a moment to step into the shoes of the small businessmen who are giving it their all and could end up clobbered by the big developers.