Are there no good jobs in Detroit? (Troy: estate, cheap house)

[mrsteasdale]

What does a bachelors degree in business, with lots of experience in on Medicaid/health care get you in Detroit? Not to sound like a carpetbagger, but there are gorgous homes - some look like estates - being given away for next to nothing. I would consider moving if I could find a job. Are things on the upswing or moving further down? It doesn't sound like a bad city, but is the crime out of control with multiple daily homicides like Newark, NJ?

[Great Lake Boy]

Detroit has roughly 40-45 murders per 100,000. Which equates to roughly 360-405 murders per year base on a near estimate of 900,000.

I was looking at houses in the Big D and I found (no idea now what neighborhood) a very large 5 br 3 ba house for about 140,000 grand. The surrounding houses appeared to be in the same condition.

Right now due to family I couldn't swing a move to D Town but if I could those rates would not scare me (that much). ; )

[jaynarie]

There are a lot of super nice homes being sold for very little all over Michigan. And, the reason is that there are no jobs. People are getting laid off constantly and are fleeing the state for better opportunities.
I can't say really what the job market is like for someone with your qualifications. There is also the job security factor if you do find a job. As I mentioned before, jobs are being cut in 99% of the fields.
A couple days ago, my boss interviewed a man with an MBA for a minimum wage cashiering position at the Kroger store I work at. People with master's degrees are settling for minimum wage jobs!! We reffered him to some people helping with the hiring for the Farmer Jack stores Kroger just purchased. Although he'll have a commute, he'll probably be able to get a full time department manager position.
Personally, I have a teaching license, yet have to work customer service at Kroger.
So, houses are available, but jobs- not so much.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by jaynarie

There are a lot of super nice homes being sold for very little all over Michigan. And, the reason is that there are no jobs. People are getting laid off constantly and are fleeing the state for better opportunities.
I can't say really what the job market is like for someone with your qualifications. There is also the job security factor if you do find a job. As I mentioned before, jobs are being cut in 99% of the fields.
A couple days ago, my boss interviewed a man with an MBA for a minimum wage cashiering position at the Kroger store I work at. People with master's degrees are settling for minimum wage jobs!! We reffered him to some people helping with the hiring for the Farmer Jack stores Kroger just purchased. Although he'll have a commute, he'll probably be able to get a full time department manager position.
Personally, I have a teaching license, yet have to work customer service at Kroger.
So, houses are available, but jobs- not so much.

This post is a bit misleading by saying there are NO jobs. We came here from CA last summer for jobs (web producer and academic). We have a CA friend following this summer with a job at Kelly Services - couldn't resist the low cost of living after a change in perspective about metro Detroit after visiting . I have a physician friend who will probably move here to work at the new DO program MSU is starting up at the DMC.

If you want a manufacturing job or one whose prospects are based on a growing population (e.g. teaching), MI is not a good place, just like the rest of the rust belt from Philadelphia to Indianapolis that has been losing population for years to the sunbelt.

Medical is doing pretty well in MI, all things considered. MSU is expanding to GR and Detroit while Oakland U is starting a med school with Beaumont. Overall, the jobs I have seen listed are service-oriented so we can expect a population exchange in the upcoming years as teachers and blue-collar people move out and white-collar people move in. Multum, non multa.

[The Icy River Vagabond]

Deroit has a higher murder rate than newark. If that is the type of thing you worry about. Then look elsewhere. ALmost every city in America has a lower murder rate than Detroit.

[scottmi65]

I was hired by a company in Troy making low 70's(High School education and not a manufacturing job). Just moved here from WI. The housing is not exactly cheap around here though. Looking in East Washtenaw county, 250k does not buy much house. So all the postings about no jobs and cheap houses do not add up.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by scottmi65

I was hired by a company in Troy making low 70's(High School education and not a manufacturing job). Just moved here from WI. The housing is not exactly cheap around here though. Looking in East Washtenaw county, 250k does not by much house. So all the postings about no jobs and cheap houses do not add up.

The houses were dirt cheap to us moving from CA! When it comes to jobs, people see what they want to see. If they are in manufacturing and compare it to the past, I'm sure to their eyes they see "no jobs."

[mrsteasdale]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I was looking at the Boston-Edison area, which sounds too good to be true.

I'll keep my eyes open for jobs in the area. For the first time, I feel a little thankful that I have experience in public programs, because lately it seems you either are a recipient of one or work for one - or both.

Overall, Michigan does seem very nice, and hopefully Detroit's economic development work pays off.

Thanks again.

[and the]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I was looking at the Boston-Edison area, which sounds too good to be true.

That area of the city goes block by block. If you decide to live there, in my opinion, it would be like living at Ft. Apache. You may have a nice outpost, but you'll definately be surrounded. I was going to buy a house on Virginia Park, west of Woodward. It was a one-owner house, federal style, built in 1912. The guy next door was a millionaire who had been there for years, I mean since the 20's! The house on the other side was boarded up, the house behind it was a crack house. That was a couple years ago. I drove by recently and the house was boarded up and vacant.

Drive around there on a hot August night at about 10pm before you decide to buy. A frequent comment made by people who are looking at houses in any of Detroit's historic areas where the movers and shakers used to live is: "My God, that house would be worth a fortune if you could just move it a few miles down the road!"

[wanderer74]

Originally Posted by Cato the Elder

The houses were dirt cheap to us moving from CA! When it comes to jobs, people see what they want to see. If they are in manufacturing and compare it to the past, I'm sure to their eyes they see "no jobs."

Or if they aren't in manufacturing but have been unable to find a full-time job with benefits for more than a year and a half...