Best Place to Live in Metro Detroit (Kalamazoo, Novi: violent crime, house)

[usroute10]

Originally Posted by ekman243

Just say you want to live in a homogeneous area{Grosse Ile} where ALL the people look like you, everyone else apparently scares you and your family unless you have to go there{Detroit} to make some money and have fun. And then have the nerves to come on here and act as though you are the official spokesperson for an area that is most unlike where you choose to lay your head. Incredible

To be fair, Mr. Jensens has stated on several occasions that if he didn't have children, he would seriously consider living in or near downtown Detroit. But sometimes his assessment of certain communities, like calling North Rosedale Park an oasis, and calling Southfield run-down and unsafe, is off. Like you and he have both said, you can't possibly pretend to know the ins-and-out of every community and neighborhood in the 5.6 million person Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint-Windsor area.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Originally Posted by usroute10

I am sorry you had a horrible experience when you went to get gas outside of the neighborhood. That would scare me as well. (South) Rosedale Park is bordered by BRIGHTMOOR to the south/southwest, so if that is where you were, then it is understandable.

But North Rosedale Park is not an oasis.

To the south is (South) Rosedale Park
Google Earth Streetview

To the southeast is Grandmont
Google Earth Streetview

To the south of (South) Rosedale Park is Grandmont #1 (houses are not as architecturally distinct)
Google Earth Streetview

All of these communities have predominantly larger, elegant houses that are well taken care of and residents have great community pride. Together these communities hold events such as the Grandmont-Rosedale Open House that takes places annually, the first weekend of May (You can tour houses that are for sale and take a bus tour of the different neighborhoods), as well as a neighborhood garage sale and a weekly farmer's market. I repeat, North Rosedale Park is not an oasis.

I drive through these neighborhoods every day on my commute. Yes, the neighborhoods and homes are nice, but it's still an extremely sketchy area. Every single business and restaurant has bulletproof glass shielding their counters.

[ekman243]

If the city of Detroit is good enough for Hill Harper to buy a coffee shop and relocate his family here it is good enough for some anonymous wantabees living a deferred dream life to live also.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by ekman243

If the city of Detroit is good enough for Hill Harper to buy a coffee shop and relocate his family here it is good enough for some anonymous wantabees living a deferred dream life to live also.

Will Harper's house is in Boston-Edison and his coffeeshop is in Downtown. AFAIK those are good areas. He also did this in May 15, so we can see how it goes Hill Harper Takes A Chance On Detroit, Buys Coffee Shop And House « CBS Detroit

[ekman243]

Originally Posted by Vicman

Will Harper's house is in Boston-Edison and his coffeeshop is in Downtown. AFAIK those are good areas. He also did this in May 15, so we can see how it goes Hill Harper Takes A Chance On Detroit, Buys Coffee Shop And House « CBS Detroit

There are good and bad areas in all large cities, what is your point. It is better than sitting around bashing areas where people live and love just because you are not happy in your "great area". How can someone be so happy where they live yet enjoy bashing where someone else lives, not possible

[Vicman]

It's about the proportion of good areas vs. bad. Detroit went bankrupt in 2013 partly because there weren't enough "good areas" to provide property taxes.

I attended a lecture by Mark Binelli, author of Detroit City Is the Place to Be, in which he compared and contrasted Detroit (a declining city) to Austin, Texas (a rising one). I went to college in Austin, and I know that the amount of "bad areas" in Austin is relatively small.

Originally Posted by ekman243

There are good and bad areas in all large cities, what is your point. It is better than sitting around bashing areas where people live and love just because you are not happy in your "great area". How can someone be so happy where they live yet enjoy bashing where someone else lives, not possible

[ekman243]

Originally Posted by Vicman

It's about the proportion of good areas vs. bad. Detroit went bankrupt in 2013 partly because there weren't enough "good areas" to provide property taxes.

I attended a lecture by Mark Binelli, author of Detroit City Is the Place to Be, in which he compared and contrasted Detroit (a declining city) to Austin, Texas (a rising one). I went to college in Austin, and I know that the amount of "bad areas" in Austin is relatively small.

So what are you going to do about it besides sitting in your moms dark basement yelping anonymous on your keyboard. Hill Harper is showing you the way if you truly care, he has a great organization, you should join it. Unless............

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by ekman243

Just say you want to live in a homogeneous area{Grosse Ile} where ALL the people look like you, everyone else apparently scares you and your family unless you have to go there{Detroit} to make some money and have fun. And then have the nerves to come on here and act as though you are the official spokesperson for an area that is most unlike where you choose to lay your head. Incredible

Why would I say that? That has nothing at all to do with not wanting to live in an inner city again. We did that by choice for 9 years. It was great in many ways once we were accepted into the culture of the area, but we did not want to continue living with no place for the kids to play. We moved here so they could get out and play in forests and water. So they could learn to wander about and be independent without a serious safety risk. Despite the amazing house in Boston Edison, Detroit did not offer those things.

This is a really absurd comment. Perhaps a twelve year old?

You just like to make up stuff about people out of nothing an attribute it to them?

I can tell people about different places because I study them, compare them, and because we have lived in very different types of areas. We spent years learning everything we could about hundreds of cities and towns in the Detroit area. I continue to study various places, go there and talk with people who live there. I am very interested in learning what life is like in different places because there are so many cool places to live.I collect a lot of information from a lot of different sources, some from the internet, some from residents, government officials, other people who know the area for whatever reason. Then I sort through the BS extremism (people who see any given palace as all perfect or all awful are not reliable sources of information). i sometimes just go hang out in bars or cafes if there are any and listen to people talk. If I am really interested in a place, I might attend a PTO meeting, or a council meeting or in rare instances even a neighborhood association meeting if there is one.

Why do I know a lot about North Rosedale Park? Primarily because my daughter was in several musicals there and I eventually considered trying to buy a house for her there. Since I tried to arrive on time, I always arrived a bit early. I had lots of time to talk with quite a number of current and former residents who are involved in the theater group there. I often had time to kill so I walked around and looked at houses, especially houses for sale. I talked with anyone who I saw who would talk to me. I also investigated statistics online, crime stats, school rankings, distances to decent shopping. I spent a couple of hours in small increments talking with the neighborhood security guy. He was very interesting and knew everything about the neighborhood. He had been there quite a long time.

No one scares me. However I am very protective of my children, and like all parents, want them to have the best childhood and learning opportunities I can provide.

Frankly, I do not care what the ethnic make up of a given area is. I have found it makes little difference. There are good and nasty people in all types of areas. I do care about physical attributes of an area, and safety. If you think the neighborhoods surrounding Boston Edison are perfectly safe for kids to go riding around on their own on bikes and lots of places they can play, or ahng out relatively safely, well all I can say is I hope you mature considerably before you consider having children.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by ekman243

So what are you going to do about it besides sitting in your moms dark basement yelping anonymous on your keyboard. Hill Harper is showing you the way if you truly care, he has a great organization, you should join it. Unless............

Perhaps I may move to Detroit sometime later in my life. Currently I have an employment contract (as an English teacher) in Asia to finish. Not everyone posting on here can up and just start helping Detroit lickety-split. Maybe some young people who gets jobs in the city can (I hear Downtown and Midtown have dramatically improved with Illitch's investments), but it's harder if someone has a family and needs reliable public schools.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Vicman

P have dramatically improved with Illitch's investments), but it's harder if someone has a family and needs reliable public schools.

Gilbert more than Illitch. However Illitch has done some things to help the City (and some to hurt it). What is really making a difference now are the Illitch and Gilbert copy cats. smaller scale development groups restoring all the little places. Big dramatic monuments are great, but they cannot stand alone.

There are school solutions if you want to work at it that hard. Waldorf schools at younger ages. Various private schools. Reconnaissance High, Cass Tech and Detroit School of the Arts are all good enough to give kids a good start on life. If you want top schools, you have to go tot he suburbs. I used to think top rated schools were important, now I am less certain of that. I tend to think a good school well suited for your particular kid's needs is a better choice. It is more about a good match, than having a few points better average test scores. If you are worried about your kid's test scores, just start teaching them how to test very early on.