More Sawyer Flights?, Cliffs-Dow's Future, Dog Park Prospects, Fast Food Inflation, Marquette Is Growing, and Our Disturbing Generation Gap
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
IF YOU WERE hoping that Delta Airlines might soon be reinstating some of its flights into Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport, you’ll likely be disappointed…“I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” says Airport Manager Duane Duray…Delta used to operate three flights a day—two to Detroit and one to Minneapolis—but no more. Just one roundtrip daily. A reported shortage of pilots after the Covid pandemic is at least part of the problem…
On the other hand, American Airlines added an additional roundtrip to Chicago this Spring—that makes two daily—and maybe…maybe, that will continue. “With Delta cutting back,” Duray says, “American is testing the waters to see if this could work year-round. We’re hopeful.”…More positive news: Sawyer is applying for a $750,000 air development grant from the state, and if that comes through, it will make Sawyer a more attractive airport for the airlines…Fingers crossed.
SO WHAT’S NEXT for the valuable but possibly environmentally tainted property at the Cliffs-Dow site on Lakeshore Boulevard? You know, the one that was almost certainly going to be the site of the next Veterans Home until, at the last minute, the state said No. It couldn’t reach agreement with the city…City Manager Karen Kovacs says the door is not entirely shut on that deal…“We’re waiting to see what the state decides,” she explains, “and if they decide to go in another direction, then we’ll talk to the City Commission about what to do next, and see how it fits with the city’s Master Plan.”
The Veridea Group had been considering a private development on the city-owned property, but those plans were put on pause while the city worked on its deal with Michigan Veteran Homes. Is Veridea now back in the mix? Stay tuned.
SOME RESIDENTS HAVE suggested locating a much-needed, year-round dog park at Cliffs-Dow…“I don’t think we would be recommending that,” Kovacs says. Why? Well, there are already some environmental concerns about the soil at the site, and dogs are known to be fond of digging holes, and then tracking that dirt back home…But the idea for a new dog park somewhere in town is not dead by any means. “We’ve been hearing from the community about that, and we’re listening,” Kovacs says. “We don’t necessarily have any city property for it, but we’re looking at other properties that might be available.” Nothing specific, not yet.
A HOUSING SHORTAGE remains the city’s number one problem in the eyes of many residents. Affordable housing. A year ago, officials were estimating that 500 new housing units were scheduled for construction in the Marquette metro area over the next five years. Promising, but then some of those plans stalled. They’re now getting back on track, and Kovacs is especially encouraged that Marquette and its neighboring communities are now talking to each other about the problem, and collaborating in search of a solution to the shortage…
The question remains: Will the new housing, whenever it’s built, be affordable? You know, like, condos under $300,000? And apartments under $1000 a month?
FAST FOOD INFLATION? Yeah, it’s real…A much re-posted Facebook site recently compared prices from the end of 2019 to mid-2024 for McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Chick-fil-A…Examples: McDonald’s medium fries were $1.79 in 2019, and $4.19 today…Taco Bell’s Beef 5-Layer Burrito was $1.69 in 2019, compared to $3.69 today…And Chick-fil-A’s Deluxe Chicken Sandwich rose from $3.65 in 2019 to $6.55 today…
A Big Mac and fries will cost you about 12 bucks. Add a drink and you’re around $14. Heck, you could go to Vango’s, or even Applebees, and pay about the same. In a nice, cozy, relaxing atmosphere with friendly servers…
Oh, by the way, McDonald’s net profit worldwide in 2023 was $8.47 billion—that’s an increase of 37% over 2022.
“IT’S BEEN CRAZY. We’ve been absolutely swamped.” The words of Ross Mulder, one of the three partners in Sandos, the little takeout sandwich shop downtown that opened about seven weeks ago…The Philly cheesesteak has been the most popular by far…Sandos is open until 2 am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday—making it unique in the city.
DONATIONS NEEDED…Most of us take the Fourth of July fireworks show for granted. It just happens and we all enjoy it, right? Not really. “The only reason we have the fireworks is because of the residents, businesses, and organizations in the community,” says Chris Durley, the Chairman of the Fourth of July Celebration Committee. “Their donations make it happen. We get no city or state money.” The committee is still looking for donations—any amount—at a crowd-funding site…It costs over $20,000 in donations from all of us to put on the spectacular 17-18 minute show that lights up the skies of Marquette.
A LIGHT AT the end of the tunnel? Maybe. Hopefully. Bernie Glieberman, an executive at HRS, the developer of the beleaguered Gaines Rock townhome complex, says HRS is hoping to settle its financial and legal problems within two months. But to be honest, we’ve heard that before…Contractors have placed numerous liens against the property, and the lenders have seized control of it, at least for now…“Our problem,” Glieberman explains, “is we didn’t hire the right general contractor. He was from downstate. We should have hired someone in the U.P.”…Yeah, that sounds like it would have been a good idea. Glieberman emphasizes that HRS is not abandoning Gaines Rock.
NOT EVERYONE WILL celebrate this news, but we’re growing. The Census Bureau estimates that Marquette picked up 330 residents last year—that’s an increase of 1.6%…The other local cities and townships gained just a handful of residents—Ishpeming up 6, Negaunee up 3, Marquette Township up 9, Chocolay up 22…And Detroit, for the first time in years, actually gained population—up almost 2000 residents over 2022.
A STARK GENERATION gap as revealed by recent polls:
Is Patriotism very important? 76% of Baby Boomers (ages 59-77) say Yes. Only 32% of Generation Z (18-26) agree.
Is America the best place to live? 66% of Baby Boomers say Yes. Only 33% of Gen Z agrees.
And who’s happier? Americans over age 60 rate 10th in the world according to the World Happiness Chart—that’s pretty good…while Americans under 30 rate only 62nd in the world, just below the Dominican Republic and Brazil, and far below Mexico.
Something is amiss in our troubled nation.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
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So the cliff doe property is not good for dogs but it's okay to put veterans there? And how come nobody's mentioning houses in Marquette? What's this crap about condominiums and apartments? Where is the housing for families? They're not trying to attract families with children. This town is really got its priorities all screwed up in the Wonder things are a mess here. All they want to do is build more hotels and condos so there's strangers in town instead of a community where people know each other.
Marquette (MQT) needs reliable, affordable air service to grow as a center of innovation and commerce. According to the online travel service Expedia, I can fly from San Francisco (SFO) to Sydney, Australia, cheaper than I can fly from SFO to MQT. Unless it wants to remain in splendid isolation, the Queen City of the North needs more daily flights.