Much of our current blight seems to be from developers who like to close or tear down the old then abandon the site without building the new. The City likes to do this too, for example at the Washington garage or the Y lot.

I’ve grabbed realtime NEXRAD images with total estimations off the web, when we have large rain falls (events), for the last 5-7 years from around Northern OH and Southern MI just to have something of record. NexRad seems to be fairly accurate with relation to our home rain gauge. You can buy this same historical info. from some web sites.

So far we have only found that basic data is available but not in the detail we would like to have, without cost.

If one wants to see real examples of blight, just take a walk down NORTH Main and look at the abandoned building that once housed the Greek congregation, or further north to see the row of boarded up and burned out houses that ironically have been sitting empty for years waiting for a low-income housing project to be built. While there, look across the street to the City of Ann Arbor’s contribution to blight on North Main–the decrepit old Fleet Services facility, that if only cleaned up, would make a significant link in the Allen Creek Greenway.

Last night we met a couple from Brighton who were in town for the Folk Festival and we were talking about living in Ann Arbor. The first thing they wanted to know was what was going on with North Main Street and why did it look like a decaying neighborhood in Detroit. We had no good answer.

Sad that in the name of “progress,” Ann Arbor has allowed established retail to be chased away from South University, Broadway, Glen and Ann, and now, South Main. Strange that people think these projects will attract more retail, when 411 Lofts took years to find tenants for its commercial space (still partly vacant) and The Varsity and this new project on Main are not including any retail space at all.

I wouldn’t hold my breath expecting these three existing South Main businesses to return to this area anytime soon, whether this project actually gets built or not. Best of luck to them in their new locations.

100 year storms are very common now in Southern MI. Climate predictions for MI are for more intense rains than we have has historically – this from UM Pellston Labs, Union of Concerned Scientists and USEPA, and others.

Ann Arbor just had the wettest year on record in 2011 dating back to 1880, 2006 was the 2nd wettest.

I don’t think Ann Arbor has a record of a 8″ rain. The huge 1968 flood was about a 4″ rain.

Without a real understanding of this floodplain (no recent real data to guide planning) I hope we are not again putting more unknowing people in harms way during a large rain event.

With little data and Global Warming causing more intense rains predictions are that the old floodplain maps will not be very good guidance.

People died in Northern Ohio in recent years trying to get cars out of a lower parking deck in a major rain event when they were trapped by floodwater.

1,300 parked cars were flooded and 13 bridges were washed out in West Michigan recently due to a 500 year rain event. 8″ rains and larger are now common in SEM when about a 4″ rain is considered a 100 year rain for Ann Arbor.

Wishing for it to be different will not do much good when the floodwaters are rising.