Curbed Detroit is quite neutral on the whole Occupy Detroit effort going on downtown. In case you missed it, protesters are dedicated to sleeping in tents in Campus Martius Grand Circus Park until.... ! Well, not being all that political we're not sure what comes next but more power to them if they're willing to sleep outdoors. We just jacked the heat up two more degrees thinking about it.
However, residents of the Kales apartment building, which faces the park now full of tents, are a bit unsure about the new residents. One Kales dweller, who agreed to comment anonymously, says the park takeover is making it harder to be a downtown dog owner.
"Many dog owners in the building are feeling a little squeezed out....one of the occupiers suggested that we start taking our dogs across the street (on the other side of woodward) because they want to put a "women's village" (not really sure what that is...) in the space right in front of our building. It's not really feasible to let dogs off leash in our park anymore with so many people/garbage/cops."
Disappointed, park-less pups is not ideal, but things might be ok if that was then end of it. According to our tipster, the worst part is not the meetings that block the path through the park, the threat of accidentally getting caught in mass arrest, or the drum circles/chanting/live bands. It's an unlikely alliance that opens an old wound from the summer. Our tipster continues:
I think the biggest concern I've heard is that LAX is embracing the occupiers-- I think we don't want to see an illusion of community support (when it's actually just occupier support) for LAX, but things seem to be going that way.
LAX is the nightclub that became the Kales building's most hated noise nuisance last summer. Tension came to a head with the neighborhood after it became the scene of a shooting. But it had seemed the noise wars had mellowed out for a bit after a police crack-down and the end of a boycott directed at the LAX landlords. No doubt, some downtown residents would take delight in LAX's closing. So by supporting the influx of new tented neighbors, is LAX trying to make nice with some underdogs? Or make some noise? · Downtown Neighbors Experience Nightclub Frustrations, Punish BBQ [Curbed Detroit]
· Occupy Detroit cold and wet, but upbeat [Free Press]
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