Middle-aged white people want to leave it all behind and move to the D. (Detroit: crime rates, house)

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by FriendOfWaffles

O maybe a pumpkin patch. That sort of thing.

The soil, the stealing, the watering......not going to be a problem as we intend to do indoor aquaculture [/url]

I thought you intended to grow you own food.

What will you do with Pumpkins?

We had a neighbor plant 30 acres of them. He ended up with thousands of pumpkins and no use for them. He put them in his barn and fed them to his horses over the winter. In the spring, he paid me to haul the rotting pumpkins back into the woods and dump them. It took me two days.

We never understood what he intended to do with them. He sold a few along the roadside at Halloween, but what do you do with thousands of pumpkins?

You are going to grow pumpkins inside? That will prove interesting. Have you ever grown pumpkins before?

When I was a kid, I grew a giant pumpkin, it was bigger than me. You could try one of those, but it will get stolen unless you have a huge fence.

[OyCrumbler]

Maybe grow a variety of crops then rather than straight pumpkins. Try growing some pawpaws.

[Geo-Aggie]

I lived in a densely populated suburb of Salt Lake - roughly 140,000 people and probably 5,000 people per square mile, that allowed for backyard chickens and goats. There were really no issues with it. Now if someone were trying to commercially farm an acre of onions or keep a herd of cows, that's one thing, but chickens and goats really aren't bad neighbors. I imagine there are city ordinances against it where I live, but I could probably keep 4 or 5 chickens and if I had a privacy fence you wouldn't even notice. You'd notice goats, but they aren't bad neighbors either.

[FriendOfWaffles]

Originally Posted by lpranger467

Funny this is the exact area I was speaking of

Originally Posted by nv529

I would recommend my childhood stomping grounds; Southwest Detroit: zipcodes 48208, 48209 and 48216. The area is predominantly Hispanic today. But it used to be Irish/Polish until about the 70-80's. Many older white families still live in the area. I don't think OP would have an issue blending in with the neighborhood.

Thanks, both of you. We'll be sure to check these areas out.

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

Yeah....but that it really not the solution to food deserts. I think eventually, as a city, you want that land to be developed. I mean.....if the city wants to rezone a particular area of the city to farming, that is one thing, but seeing livestock in the yards of homes, the smell and the like.....you can miss Detroit with that one.

I understand your apprehension, but food is absolutely a huge part of the solution for food deserts. I'm not talking about large-scale farming though, just home-grown self-sufficiency. The latest draft of the city livestock ordinance (that I can locate) proposes a maximum of eight hens (no roosters) and four goats. Less noisy than dogs and not really enough to stink up the place as long as you have a little bit of land and keep it clean.

Originally Posted by VM1138

Not to mention people in these areas might be resentful of gentrification. OP could become a target. But with their income there's no need for them to move to a poorer neighborhood. They could live comfortably and safely and still save money.

Resentful? Some, yes. Most, no. The job that brings a lot of our income is in Connecticut. We'd becoming to Detroit as unemployed freelancers and esellers. We do not want the burden of a mortgage. Any mortgage.

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

Exactly! The climate of the country is also changing. It seems like intolerance is on the rise.....and you don't want to be where some fool is going seek some "get back" on the innocent. I can also foresee resentment as blacks in the city still suffer in poverty while Downtown and surroundings looks increasingly white an prosperous. I mean.....even though people try not to talk about it......the optics of race is still huge in the area, being one of the most segregated metro areas in the country. I mean, Detroit is not Jacksonville.

No. It's not. But Jacksonville IS the murder capital of Florida, geographically very large, with government cronyism aplenty, a wacky real estate market, white hipsters living next to poor urban blacks, and even a terrible NFL football team, so.....not completely different.

Originally Posted by mgkeith

Wait, wait...you want to raise tilapia in your house, too?! Might take a wee bit of extra investment there, don't you think?

You balk, but yes, I do think. Absolutely a wee bit. Some tanks, trays, pumps, tubing, lights. A lot of it you can do on the cheap. For instance, there are people who repurpose old fiberglass bathtubs to use as fish tanks. I'm sure there's no shortage of things like that in Detroit. There's one company that estimates you can produces 1,100 vegetables and 400 pounds of fish annually in a 10′ x 20′ area. After the initial set-up, there's little additional expense. How much do you think you'd have to spend every year to buy 1,1000 pounds of fresh organic vegetables and 400 pounds of fish?

[FriendOfWaffles]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

I thought you intended to grow you own food.

Yes.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

What will you do with Pumpkins?

You eat them!!

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

We had a neighbor plant 30 acres of them. He ended up with thousands of pumpkins and no use for them. He put them in his barn and fed them to his horses over the winter. In the spring, he paid me to haul the rotting pumpkins back into the woods and dump them. It took me two days.

30 acres is a bit excessive with no kind of distribution set up.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

We never understood what he intended to do with them. He sold a few along the roadside at Halloween, but what do you do with thousands of pumpkins?

You would need a plan for sure.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

You are going to grow pumpkins inside? That will prove interesting

No, not inside. Pumpkins need plenty of room for the vines to ramble and should be planted in hills. Same with most squashes and melons. Indoors are for herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cruciferous vegetables.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Have you ever grown pumpkins before?

Yes.

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Maybe grow a variety of crops then rather than straight pumpkins. Try growing some pawpaws.

Yes. Pumpkins were only an example of what you could grow with a little bit of land. Pawpaws might be good.

Originally Posted by Geo-Aggie

I lived in a densely populated suburb of Salt Lake - roughly 140,000 people and probably 5,000 people per square mile, that allowed for backyard chickens and goats. There were really no issues with it. Now if someone were trying to commercially farm an acre of onions or keep a herd of cows, that's one thing, but chickens and goats really aren't bad neighbors. I imagine there are city ordinances against it where I live, but I could probably keep 4 or 5 chickens and if I had a privacy fence you wouldn't even notice. You'd notice goats, but they aren't bad neighbors either.

Exactly. Growing up, my family always had chickens and goats around and they were never a nuisance, and the gardens benefited mightily from their leavings. I hope Detroit will decide to allow residents to have the option.

[Meemur]

OP, I strongly suggest that you read this thread carefully. I so wish the OP would come back and update! This saga would make a great movie:

Go East... and become homeless

[usroute10]

-This can be done. Like others suggested, in the Southwest Detroit/Mexicantown area, you would fit right in. Very diverse, with confluence of white, black, Mexican, and Arabs. You could find a house with a vacant lot adjacent to it. I have never heard of people stealing fences like ColdJensens suggested.

-Another diverse neighborhood, without the heavy Mexican influence, would be Warrendale, I would look into the rectangle bounded by Greenfield and Southfield, and Tireman and Ford Road.

-ColdJensen's suggestion of Old Redford is a great idea. His Google Maps suggestion of the Brightmoor neighborhood - maybe not so much, the neighborhood is very blighted and abandoned.

-The "Go East and...and become homeless" guy moved into the most violent, crime ridden neighborhood on the east side. The house he bought cost like $2,000 and was not in livable condition. We are not suggesting moving to one of the most dangerous zip codes in the country.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Maybe grow a variety of crops then rather than straight pumpkins. Try growing some pawpaws.

I plan to try growing PAwPAws but I want to taste one first.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by usroute10

- I have never heard of people stealing fences like ColdJensens suggested.


-ColdJensen's suggestion of Old Redford is a great idea. His Google Maps suggestion of the Brightmoor neighborhood - maybe not so much, the neighborhood is very blighted and abandoned.

-

I do not know whether they still steal fences, but a few years ago it was somewhat common. Either cut pieces out or just hook up a chain and tear out big chunks and take it to eh recycling center. When the Chinese demand ran scrap prices up really high, everything was a target.

The house i saw in old Redford was perfect. I wish I could find it again. IT was on an awesome street and there was a huge plot of empty just behind it. It was the only house on that side of the street. It was a 1920s craftsman style house the inside was nicely kept up with lots of hardwood and stained glass.

I heard the mayor on the radio last night. If you own a house with a city owned vacant lot next door, you get to buy that lot for $100. So, if you could find a house with city lots on either side, for $200, you could have plenty of room for your minifarm. If you have 4-6 chickens you will be giving away eggs. Or you could get some pullets. We never did that, I do not want to kill them.

[FriendOfWaffles]

Originally Posted by Meemur

OP, I strongly suggest that you read this thread carefully. I so wish the OP would come back and update! This saga would make a great movie:

Go East... and become homeless

This guy. Let's talk about him. Not to generalize, but I'm totally going to generalize. He came from Portland. I know this type. Portland is full of young idealists like this. They still believe that government will solve all of society's problems. They are idealists, but for many of them, that idealism only lasts as long as it's convenient. They don't truly understand the struggle. They rebel in completely conformist ways, all the while propping up the very system that they decry. You call them hipsters. They are Romantics.

I am a Realist.

But this poor guy, with so much idealism, was completely lacking in any real research or preparation. I suspect it was even worse than he let on. Buying a Land Bank house (or ultra-cheap real estate in general and especially SIGHT UNSEEN) is not the great bonanza everyone thinks it is most of the time. You need pockets deep enough to be able to afford to take some losses. So you buy a cheap house, but then you have only six months to get the occupancy cert, so you have to hire people at top rates rather than being able to take more time and do much of the work yourself. A 30k house that needs 5k in work is a much better deal than a 2k house that needs 60. Not to mention all the hassle you save yourself. These uber cheap prices are often false economy. When he talked about installing his own electric panel......how could he expect to get the city to sign-off on his un-licensed un-permitted electrical work?

But also when buying a house, you're not only buying the house, but also a piece of LAND. A lot of people don't think about little things like drainage, which way the sun hits it, or flood plains. That stuff is pretty important, which he found out when he lost his truck to flooding. Planning is a very good thing.

Then the neighborhood - it is a bad bad bad bad BAD idea to buy real estate without actually GOING THERE first. A little due diligence would have made all the difference in the world.

I was a Realtor specializing in historic homes for a few years, so I know a little bit about what I'm saying here, so trust me when I tell you I would NEVER do what he did.

He's lucky that he only lost $5000.