By John F. Sase
Gerard Senick, editor
Julie Sase, Copy editor
William Gross, research
Introduction
Do cities develop around industries, or do industries give rise to cities? They may emerge mutually. In contrast, farms and ranches emerge in rural areas, while rural areas remain rural because of farms and ranches. Therefore, we rely heavily on the Economists at Michigan State University to ponder this complementary issue that we may refer to as Agricultural-Rural Economics.
As a city kid, I left the rising urban plight of the heroin traffic in exchange for undergrad studies at Michigan State University. I was in Justin Morrill Residential College with some exceptionally gifted students nationwide. There, I began to appreciate the purpose, need, and complexity of what we may consider Interdisciplinary Studies along the banks of the Red Cedar River. However, for the moment, let us focus on the subject at hand.
Urban Origin in Detroit
Urban communities have developed where settlers can interact with many folk who feed upon the ideas gained through cooperation with others of various backgrounds, interests, and talents, like farmers and ranchers across the more expansive countryside. Very often, in urbanized places, farmers plant seeds in the ground destined to grow in urban areas. For example, the region known today as the Grosse Pointes is significant because of its location, very fertile soil, and proximity to Lake Huron’s waterway to Lake Erie. Beyond this fertile crescent west of the “points,” existed the swampy home of the Werewolf of Grosse Pointe, a mythical creature infamous for devouring human flesh. Naturally, this creature may have been responsible for discouraging others attracted to the expansive waterway.
However, for successful farming at the time, settlers travelled across the plains and woodlands that became known as the City of the Straits. The farmlands of Grosse Pointe and adjacent habitable areas existed along the river, really a strait (troit, in French) that connects the two larger bodies known today as Lakes Huron and Erie.
Overland routes remained necessary for settlers choosing to put down roots further inland. What we have learned in recent years points to pathways that neatly begin at and near the location marked today as the foot of Woodward Avenue (named by Judge Augustus Woodward because it ran northward to the woods, duh?) Actually, the ancient paths beneath ran from the foot of Woodward Avenue in Detroit through Traverse Bay to the point of the submerged stone circle with the apparent carving of a bison or mammoth on it. In addition, we know other significant paths today as Gratiot (a free path to take). Grand River (because it headed toward the Grand River valley in the Lansing, MI area) continues through Grand Rapids, past the ancient mound settlement, and onward to the shores of Lake Michigan in the Muskegon area. Alternately, the path of Michigan Avenue leads us across the lower palm of the lower peninsula to the southern tip of Lake Michigan near the edge of Greater Chicago. The other major route runs north along Mound Road through the site of an ancient burial mound and northward through the thumb area of Eastern Michigan to its tip.
Plato’s Development of Radial Paths
Next, let us consider the work of Plato that parallels the radial paths of Michigan and other areas of North and South America. We can easily trace the Platonic concept of developing radial lines, outward from a major central point. We can look back to the age in which Plato developed or built upon the concept of radial monocentric cities some 2,600 years ago and to the earlier visions of Pythagoras (Hint: It looks like twelve spokes protruding from a wheel hub). Regardless of how old this wheel concept may be, examples of a “radial monocentric concept” continue to surface around the world.
The Detailed Writings of Plato
Plato expanded the radial monocentric concept to the third dimension. Though builders at the time of Plato had limitations in respect to the height of structures, many thinkers and planners of that age understood the concepts of radial and vertical construction. Over the past two and a half millennia, these architectural, structural, and urban development concepts have continued to develop worldwide. The sharing of these ideas among various cultures has benefited all countries For two animated models, watch these titles: Urban Economics City of Atlantis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avyijSizbj0, and Plato’s Atlantis (decoded by J.F. Sase & Animated by T.J. Sase, 2020 C.E.), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LNcSFYdGo0.
Larger organized businesses with developing markets tend to lead in the construction of new buildings because they need adequate and economically viable facilities in order to produce and distribute their goods and services. As private sector firms and government agencies develop further, they generate a spillover demand for employee housing and smaller buildings within their community. Businesses that provide finished goods to ordinary consumers, buyers of intermediate goods and services, and larger producers of more complex goods for a very wide market, as well as structures and tools for a diversity of independent businesses that provide goods and services directly to households and firms in the supply chains that serve the dominant businesses that provide work and income to a large percentage of local residential households.
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Dr. John F. Sase teaches Economics at Wayne State University and has practiced Forensic and Investigative Economics for twenty years. He earned a combined M.A. in Economics and an MBA at the University of Detroit, followed by a Ph.D. in Economics from Wayne State University. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School (www.saseassociates.com).
Gerard J. Senick is a freelance writer, editor, and musician. He earned his degree in English at the University of Detroit and was a supervisory editor at Gale Research Company (now Cengage) for over twenty years. Currently, he edits books for publication (www.senick-editing.com).
Julie G. Sase is a copyeditor, parent coach, and empath. She earned her degree in English at Marygrove College and her graduate certificate in Parent Coaching from Seattle Pacific University. Ms. Sase coaches clients, writes articles, and edits copy (royaloakparentcoaching.com).
Gerard Senick, editor
Julie Sase, Copy editor
William Gross, research
Introduction
Do cities develop around industries, or do industries give rise to cities? They may emerge mutually. In contrast, farms and ranches emerge in rural areas, while rural areas remain rural because of farms and ranches. Therefore, we rely heavily on the Economists at Michigan State University to ponder this complementary issue that we may refer to as Agricultural-Rural Economics.
As a city kid, I left the rising urban plight of the heroin traffic in exchange for undergrad studies at Michigan State University. I was in Justin Morrill Residential College with some exceptionally gifted students nationwide. There, I began to appreciate the purpose, need, and complexity of what we may consider Interdisciplinary Studies along the banks of the Red Cedar River. However, for the moment, let us focus on the subject at hand.
Urban Origin in Detroit
Urban communities have developed where settlers can interact with many folk who feed upon the ideas gained through cooperation with others of various backgrounds, interests, and talents, like farmers and ranchers across the more expansive countryside. Very often, in urbanized places, farmers plant seeds in the ground destined to grow in urban areas. For example, the region known today as the Grosse Pointes is significant because of its location, very fertile soil, and proximity to Lake Huron’s waterway to Lake Erie. Beyond this fertile crescent west of the “points,” existed the swampy home of the Werewolf of Grosse Pointe, a mythical creature infamous for devouring human flesh. Naturally, this creature may have been responsible for discouraging others attracted to the expansive waterway.
However, for successful farming at the time, settlers travelled across the plains and woodlands that became known as the City of the Straits. The farmlands of Grosse Pointe and adjacent habitable areas existed along the river, really a strait (troit, in French) that connects the two larger bodies known today as Lakes Huron and Erie.
Overland routes remained necessary for settlers choosing to put down roots further inland. What we have learned in recent years points to pathways that neatly begin at and near the location marked today as the foot of Woodward Avenue (named by Judge Augustus Woodward because it ran northward to the woods, duh?) Actually, the ancient paths beneath ran from the foot of Woodward Avenue in Detroit through Traverse Bay to the point of the submerged stone circle with the apparent carving of a bison or mammoth on it. In addition, we know other significant paths today as Gratiot (a free path to take). Grand River (because it headed toward the Grand River valley in the Lansing, MI area) continues through Grand Rapids, past the ancient mound settlement, and onward to the shores of Lake Michigan in the Muskegon area. Alternately, the path of Michigan Avenue leads us across the lower palm of the lower peninsula to the southern tip of Lake Michigan near the edge of Greater Chicago. The other major route runs north along Mound Road through the site of an ancient burial mound and northward through the thumb area of Eastern Michigan to its tip.
Plato’s Development of Radial Paths
Next, let us consider the work of Plato that parallels the radial paths of Michigan and other areas of North and South America. We can easily trace the Platonic concept of developing radial lines, outward from a major central point. We can look back to the age in which Plato developed or built upon the concept of radial monocentric cities some 2,600 years ago and to the earlier visions of Pythagoras (Hint: It looks like twelve spokes protruding from a wheel hub). Regardless of how old this wheel concept may be, examples of a “radial monocentric concept” continue to surface around the world.
The Detailed Writings of Plato
Plato expanded the radial monocentric concept to the third dimension. Though builders at the time of Plato had limitations in respect to the height of structures, many thinkers and planners of that age understood the concepts of radial and vertical construction. Over the past two and a half millennia, these architectural, structural, and urban development concepts have continued to develop worldwide. The sharing of these ideas among various cultures has benefited all countries For two animated models, watch these titles: Urban Economics City of Atlantis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avyijSizbj0, and Plato’s Atlantis (decoded by J.F. Sase & Animated by T.J. Sase, 2020 C.E.), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LNcSFYdGo0.
Larger organized businesses with developing markets tend to lead in the construction of new buildings because they need adequate and economically viable facilities in order to produce and distribute their goods and services. As private sector firms and government agencies develop further, they generate a spillover demand for employee housing and smaller buildings within their community. Businesses that provide finished goods to ordinary consumers, buyers of intermediate goods and services, and larger producers of more complex goods for a very wide market, as well as structures and tools for a diversity of independent businesses that provide goods and services directly to households and firms in the supply chains that serve the dominant businesses that provide work and income to a large percentage of local residential households.
————————
Dr. John F. Sase teaches Economics at Wayne State University and has practiced Forensic and Investigative Economics for twenty years. He earned a combined M.A. in Economics and an MBA at the University of Detroit, followed by a Ph.D. in Economics from Wayne State University. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School (www.saseassociates.com).
Gerard J. Senick is a freelance writer, editor, and musician. He earned his degree in English at the University of Detroit and was a supervisory editor at Gale Research Company (now Cengage) for over twenty years. Currently, he edits books for publication (www.senick-editing.com).
Julie G. Sase is a copyeditor, parent coach, and empath. She earned her degree in English at Marygrove College and her graduate certificate in Parent Coaching from Seattle Pacific University. Ms. Sase coaches clients, writes articles, and edits copy (royaloakparentcoaching.com).
