INTRO: On Monday and Tuesday, Bay City is hosting the Michigan Downtowns Conference. City managers and planners from across the state will be looking at how to make cities vibrant. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus reports.
Calumet is the biggest town in the Keweenaw Peninsula. It’s near the top of the UP. In 1890, it almost became the state capitol. Copper was making people rich. They came from around the world to build apartments, stores, bars and churches. The last copper mine closed in 1968. Now only one quarter of the people are left. But local realtor Tom Tikkanen has vowed to never use the wrecking ball.
“I’ve had some state officials tell me point blank: Tom you can’t save every building.”
Tikkanen will mothball a place for years before he can start fixing it up again.
“Well they’re wrong. We can and we are.”
Tikkanen will be at the Downtowns Conference in Bay City Monday and Tuesday. James Kuntzler is the keynote speaker. He’s the author of ‘Geography of Nowhere.’ The book blames suburban sprawl for destroying cities and the quality of American life.