Set aside whether you live in Sterling Heights or you work in Sterling Heights or if you give a damn about what’s happening in Macomb County, the industrial powerhouse of Michigan.
Consider this: A conservative commentator in the city has taken the position that expensive efforts to spruce up the main drag, Van Dyke Avenue, are well worth the cost. Blogger Geoff Gariepy writes that Sterling Heights, the fourth-largest community in Michigan, must present its best face if the municipality wants to maintain its dominant economic role.
17 Mile Road marker being installed
At issue is an ongoing project to erect new signage and “mile markers” from north to south along Van Dyke that feature attractive metal pillars. The cost is apparently several hundred thousand dollars. For those not familiar with the city/county, from top to bottom the geography is comprised of east/west mile roads – Eight Mile Road, 15 Mile Road, 19 Mile Road, etc.
To be clear, I am not adopting the liberal point of view here and cackling with glee about a conservative who wants the government to spend some extra bucks on something that looks “nice.” I’m not even sure if I agree with Gariepy, as I could probably come up with a list of 10 priorities that may rank higher than fancy mile markers.
But Gariepy’s point of view strikes a chord with me, as I have long argued that quality-of-life expenditures – family-friendly parks, recreation programs, attractive landscaping on main roads, hike/bike trails, boat launches, riverside picnic areas – pay huge dividends.
Gariepy, in a blog smartly titled, “The Stylish vs. The Austere,” makes the point that Van Dyke and the adjacent Mound Road comprise a corridor that is chock full of automotive and defense-related industrial sites. The author calls it “one of the sole remaining shining gems of a Great Lakes manufacturing region that has mostly fallen on hard times.” It’s an area that attracts white- and blue-collar workers from far and wide.
Here’s how Garieppy justified the expense of this beautification project:
Gariepy
Austerity, frugality, and penny pinching should be the general rule in public expenditures. Ever had a look inside the (Sterling Heights) Police Department? That is not a fancy building by any means. It’s more function than form, for sure. Similarly, City Hall, especially Council Chambers, is rather lacking in adornments and polish. The appointments behind the dias in that room are not executive suite material. Still, they do the job just fine, and there isn’t any need to put in the gold handled faucets.
I am reminded of the government-built barracks buildings on the site of Fort Grayling up north. You will hardly be able to find more austere accommodations than that. They work fine. A National Guardsman doesn’t need luxury accommodations, he needs a place to rest his head inside, out of the rain, while he’s performing his two weeks of service per year. Those wooden shacks with tile floors do the job.
But when you have the crown jewel of a county’s manufacturing infrastructure under your care, and you need to endlessly promote it to keep it viable, well, a few baubles and bits are in order. You want the place to be attractive. You want the companies that put their names on the signs that line the street to be able to take pictures of the place to use in their annual stockholder report brochures. You need BAE (pictured above) and General Dynamics to be able to show transferring employees that a reassignment to Detroit doesn’t necessarily come with boarded-p windows and burnt-out landscaping. You want to keep the factories humming, and the retail buildings full. These things are important. They pay the freight for the bulk of the city budget.
