Grosse Pointe Woods/Harper Woods (Detroit, Clinton: condos, crime, houses)

[jarohr]

Hi All,

I found a small house in Grosse pointe Woods, not too far from Harper Woods.

Is this a safe area to live? Is this a nice area to live?

The price seems like a bargain and it is a beautiful house. Do you think if I buy low now, the prices will rebound in the future?

How long would the commute be to Clinton Township (Hall and Garfield Road)? Would it be a lot of traffic or more of a reverse commute?

Thanks,

JR

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by jarohr

Hi All,

I found a small house in Grosse pointe Woods, not too far from Harper Woods.

Is this a safe area to live? Is this a nice area to live?

The price seems like a bargain and it is a beautiful house. Do you think if I buy low now, the prices will rebound in the future?

How long would the commute be to Clinton Township (Hall and Garfield Road)? Would it be a lot of traffic or more of a reverse commute?

Thanks,

JR

I don't know about your commute time.

Grosse Pointe is an excellent place to live and raise a family. I would say your investment should be fairly safe--when MI rebounds, GP will still be GP, an upper-middle class area with alot of old money. It should be fine.

[jarohr]

Thanks for replying.

I looked at some of the crime statistics and Harper Woods is much higher than the national average. While Grosse Pointe Woods is very low. But they are right next to each other. Is there some sort of magic line which keeps crime out? Any idea what accounts for the difference?

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by jarohr

Thanks for replying.

I looked at some of the crime statistics and Harper Woods is much higher than the national average. While Grosse Pointe Woods is very low. But they are right next to each other. Is there some sort of magic line which keeps crime out? Any idea what accounts for the difference?

You're very welcome!

I moved here 1 year ago from southern California. Something that shocked me about this area is how segregated it is. While many places, including GP, are seeing a change in this, the fact remains that many of the streets here are used as unofficial dividing lines. The most well-known of these is 8 Mile, made famous by Eminem in the movie of the same name.

There is indeed a magic line named Alter Rd! A few months ago my wife and I decided to visit downtown Detroit then took off driving north along Jefferson. We were amazed at the contrasts visable everywhere...upscale condos next door to burned down houses...the well-heeled driving Beemers past crackheads sitting in the gutter...

As we are driving along, we come to the intersection of Alter and Jefferson. We got the red and had to sit there. I was amazed! On one side of the road there is Detroit, with good and bad but definately a bit ghetto. Across the street lies a Norman Rockwell painting of Americana! Perfect tree-lined streets, people out walking and playing...

GP is kept very safe. There is alot of money there and the police are very aware of being adjacent to the D (and on it's east side no less, which is one of the worst areas) and are therefore vigilant. People in GP will tell you that it is one of the safest cities around, and they are right.

Trust me, GP is safe. You would be moving into one of, if not THE most exclusive communities in the metropolitan area, and truthfully, in America. I would highly recommend it!

Also, there are a couple of different threads here about Grosse Pointe. Go through and find them, there is alot of the info you are looking for there as well.

[MonaLisaVito]

Originally Posted by jarohr

Hi All,

I found a small house in Grosse pointe Woods, not too far from Harper Woods.

Is this a safe area to live? Is this a nice area to live?

The price seems like a bargain and it is a beautiful house. Do you think if I buy low now, the prices will rebound in the future?

How long would the commute be to Clinton Township (Hall and Garfield Road)? Would it be a lot of traffic or more of a reverse commute?

Thanks,

JR

what street is it on in GPW? I grewup in Harper Woods and things have changed there very much since i left.

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by mjb68-19

what street is it on in GPW? I grewup in Harper Woods and things have changed there very much since i left.

Harper Woods has come up alot from what I understand. Was it good or bad when you were growing up?

[MonaLisaVito]

Originally Posted by jeffncandace

Harper Woods has come up alot from what I understand. Was it good or bad when you were growing up?

It was a great place to grow up - safe, small town - everyone knew each other - there is alot of crime there now and everyone has or is moving out.

[BurtsBees]

It used to be a prodominantly white city, but now Harper Woods has seen an increasing black population and also an increase in crime. The police do a damn good job but most of their crime stats are due to the Eastland mall, which sees a big of riff-raff.

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by mjb68-19

It was a great place to grow up - safe, small town - everyone knew each other - there is alot of crime there now and everyone has or is moving out.

Well a buddy of mine here at work has a daughter who lives there and they like it fine...

[BurtsBees]

Originally Posted by jeffncandace

Well a buddy of mine here at work has a daughter who lives there and they like it fine...

Jeff.

Please understand something....

You see a much different perspective of everything here because you JUST moved here. You havent seen the history of what the area HAS been and what it is now. Dont take it the wrong way but it cracks me up when people move here and think they know everything about the area.

Harper Woods sits on a Detroit border so yes you will have some crime run off but all in all it is a safe city. Stay north of Kingsville and east of Beaconsfield