Squint Shot 042411

An old photograph and a current-day picture are shown below of the northeast quadrant, the block facing East Grand River Avenue.  When put together like this, it is interesting to me to see how the second floors of the buildings remaining looking close to the same, but, of course, the first floors all look totally different.

The first picture was probably taken in the late 1930s or early 1940s -- the paving of Grand River Avenue took place from 1922-24. 

I sometimes wonder what the downtown would look like if all of the storefronts reverted back to the early 1900s -- would it even be practical?