Blacks in Livonia (Detroit, Novi, Adrian: relocate, budget, home)

[reconmark]

I've posted here on a number of ocassions and I need an honest answer from the board.
I'm looking to relocate, and I've considered Berkley and southfield, I'm also considering Livonia.
Now I recently heard of a white man intimidating one white home owner for contemplating the possibility of selling his home to a black family and this same indivisual recently received jail time for sending threatening letters to a black family currently living in livonia.
Coming from Detroit I know how people can take the minority of something bad and claim everyone is that way.
Will Livonia be a good city to live in if I want peace and quiet and a good school system for my children?
Please be painfully honest.
Thanks.

[and the]

If you want to find a bunch of European-Americans who left Detroit and resent a black guy from Detroit moving into their neighborhood, I'm sure you'll be able to find them. If you want to find a bunch of European-Americans who left Detroit and don't mind living next to a black guy who left Detroit for the same reasons they did, I'm sure you can find them too.

I think most people in any traditionally "white" suburb would rather have a black guy who keeps his lawn manicured and his kids in line for a neighbor than a Norweigan who doesn't. But as far as the "painfully honest" part: Hopefully you won't automatically see a racist in the first neighbor who complains to you that your garbage cans were out too early, too late, that your kids were being too loud, your dog pooped on their side of the "lawn border", it took you too long to pull the dandelion or that they don't like you watering their side of the lawn because it makes it green unevenly, but that's up to you.

Personally, I wouldn't leave Detroit for another city in Wayne County whether the city was Livonia or Highland Park. I'd look outside Wayne County.

[DestinationSeattle]

Here's painfully honest for you. Livonia has tended to look with suspicion at nonwhites. It's not unusual for the police to pull over people in Livonia for DWB (you know, driving while black).

This is according to my wife and mother-in-law. My wife grew up in Livonia, and my MIL has lived there for about 35 years.

The city itself is very nice, from the time I've spent there, but unfortunately, its residents don't seem to be the friendliest toward peoople who don't look like them.

People have jokingly called Livonia the "Whitest City in America." For good reason, it seems ...

[Coldjensens]

Yo Adrian:

How can you generalize about all of the people in an entire city in three sentences? Do you think that all of those people are the same? Do you think that all of the various neighborhoods in Livonia are the same? It seems a bit absurd to attempt to paint all people as racst just becuase the have a particular address.

the reputation that Livona got arose due to the comments of two or three idiots at a council meeting involving a proposed Wall Mart. Please show me a city that does not have idiots who occasionally show up and say stupid things at a council meeting. three idiots do not speak for the entire population, nor can a rational person brand everyone in a certain city with a label based on the outspoken opinions of a few residents. Just because the media tries to manipulate you into believing that labels and generalizations are justified, does not mean that you should start making absurd assumptions. You need to think for yourself.


If you want to know what Livonia is like - sorry there is no answer. If you want to know what a specific area of Livonia is like - go to that area and find out.

[and the]

Just for the sake of objectivity, I wonder if the reporters who were trying to make Livonia look like a haven for racists over the Walmart thing ever thought about looking at the numbers of crimes committed at the new Walmart and comparing them to the number of crimes at a Walmart in Northwest Livonia or Novi.....Maybe even taking a look at the residency of those arrested. Then we would know for sure if they were a bunch of racists, or if Walmart really DOES attract crime from Detroit.

Interestingly, everybody seems to have missed the REAL race-driven (in my opinion) manipulation that took place in Livonia a year or two ago......I'll give you a hint....it had to do with schools and school boundaries and which schools were to be closed under the guise of meeting the budget.

[ranman469]

if i was you i would move next to the racist jerk and kill him with kindness.

[DestinationSeattle]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Yo Adrian:

How can you generalize about all of the people in an entire city in three sentences? Do you think that all of those people are the same? Do you think that all of the various neighborhoods in Livonia are the same? It seems a bit absurd to attempt to paint all people as racst just becuase the have a particular address.

I'm reporting on what a 35-year resident of Livonia sees on a regular basis -- and on what another person who grew up there saw. I'm sure there are people in Livonia who aren't so hung up on race, but they seem to be the exception, not the rule.

Go back and read my post again. This has nothing to do with some Wal-Mart proposal that people didn't like. This is about day-to-day life in Livonia, from someone who lives there. The OP asked for brutal honesty, and that's what I gave. If I were thinking about moving somewhere, I'd much prefer to hear the unvarnished reality over something that's been sugar-coated to sound better than it is. The reality is that Livonia is the whitest large city in the United States, and its existence owes a great deal to white flight. Clearly, the residents have not forgotten that. It seems like a nice enough city to me, but then I'm a white guy.

The cost of segregation: Part III - Where we're headed
The Big Green > Letters > Hello, I'm From the Whitest City in America
DWB STORIES (read entry 3c)

[reconmark]

Thanks to everyone that have provided information, I do truely appreciate it.
I was not basing my opinion on the Wal Mart incident, as a matter of fact that incident had slipped my mind.
I have heard some other things concearning Livonia that made me uneasy but these things could be now past.
I don't want people to start argueing because that gets away from my question.
I just want someplace that is clean and quiet and has a decent school system for my children.
It dosen't bother me if some people won't like me due to my race, my biggest apprehension would be if someone said something to my children that would harm them, I have three girls all under seven years old.

[DestinationSeattle]

Originally Posted by reconmark

Thanks to everyone that have provided information, I do truely appreciate it.
I was not basing my opinion on the Wal Mart incident, as a matter of fact that incident had slipped my mind.
I have heard some other things concearning Livonia that made me uneasy but these things could be now past.
I don't want people to start argueing because that gets away from my question.
I just want someplace that is clean and quiet and has a decent school system for my children.
It dosen't bother me if some people won't like me due to my race, my biggest apprehension would be if someone said something to my children that would harm them, I have three girls all under seven years old.

That's cool. Clean, quiet, and good schools are all things you're likely to get there. I don't know how your girls would be treated. From what I've heard and read about the city, I think they might have an unpleasant experience, but I don't mind being proved wrong. No offense was intended, only a fair warning based on the observations of two longtime residents (neither of whom has a racist bone in her body, as far as I'm concerned). Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

[reconmark]

No Offense taken, I appreciate your input.