Is Detroit honestly SO terrible? (Burt: school districts, living, safe)

[LIS123]

There are metrics (murder and crime rate, poverty rate, unemployment rate, median home value, etc) by which Detroit does rank well below other big cities. I'm not sure if it's the worst city but, if you took an average or median of these major metrics, it would compare poorly versus cities like: NY, Chicago, LA, Houston, Philly, etc

Off the top of my head, it's hard to think of another US city that is near 1 M people or higher that's at the level of Detroit. Baltimore and New Orleans come to mind, but NO (post Katrina) is much smaller than Detroit and Baltimore is (in general) considered below average, but still much better than Detroit.

[Angelatc]

Other posters are correct in that Detroit invested in a very lovely facade to entertain the people, but they do absolutely nothing to attract business and jobs. Their schools spend an outrageous amount of money per student, yet produce paltry education results.

Giving people a lovely place to spend their money, or gamble it away, is never the solution to long term economic recovery. You can't spend your way back to prosperity. The city needs leaders who aren't afraid to slash tax rates and bring back jobs.

Detroit is a port city. With the dollar valued so low, it should be thrving with import-related enterprise. And there are a myriad of reasons that it isn't, including but not limited to the dead weights that are union demands.

[soulflower10]

Yes, moving there for school I was too optimistic for the city's future. After spending 4 years there, several car burglaries, robbery of my boyfriend by some little thug kids at gunpoint outside of our apartment, and a random attack and rape at knife point by a stranger on Wayne State's campus in the middle of the day, I believe this is really one of the worst cities to live in.

Not saying that these sort of crimes don't happen elsewhere, but the frequency that they happen in Detroit seems to be higher than most cities. Most of my friends from college in Detroit have been victims of at least one crime while living there, you're considered lucky if you only had a car window bashed out or cell phone stolen.

[ccrotzer]

Can anyone tell me about the street/neighborhood around
Pierson Street in Detroit? Is it a safe area , good for a family with a young child? Thanks for reading.

[usroute10]

Pierson is a neighborhood street that runs about 7 miles north-south from Warren Avenue to 8 Mile. At its southern end (at Warren Avenue), it is fronted by River Rouge Park, and the surrounding neighborhood, called Warrendale, is a pretty, decent neighborhood although this neighborhood has been hit by the foreclosure crisis - there are many vacant foreclosed houses, and the neighborhood is undergoing a very close decline. The address numbers for this section of Pierson are 7000 to 7800.


The only other part of Pierson street that's nice is in the vicinity of Grand River Avenue northward to 8 Mile. The stretch of Pierson from north of Fenkell (5 Mile) to McNichols (6 Mile) is in a stately neighborhood called Minock Park. North of McNichols to 8 Mile the neighborhoods are pretty nice as well. The Address numbers in this section are 15400 to about 20000. Otherwise, avoid that street.

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by soulflower10

Yes, moving there for school I was too optimistic for the city's future. After spending 4 years there, several car burglaries, robbery of my boyfriend by some little thug kids at gunpoint outside of our apartment, and a random attack and rape at knife point by a stranger on Wayne State's campus in the middle of the day, I believe this is really one of the worst cities to live in.

Not saying that these sort of crimes don't happen elsewhere, but the frequency that they happen in Detroit seems to be higher than most cities. Most of my friends from college in Detroit have been victims of at least one crime while living there, you're considered lucky if you only had a car window bashed out or cell phone stolen.

The city's FUTURE could be excellent; we won't know until we get there, and no pressure Mr. Obama but WE NEED A HAND, RIGHT NOW.

But I stray from my point. It's the city's PRESENT that sux rox. BTW, I lived on the East Side for 22 years and was not the victim of a crime until I moved to Ann Arbor.

[turtle7]

People not from Detroit tend to think that the D is real like dangerous, like if you walk in the city limits you gonna get robbed or shot.
but honestly it aint even like that.
as long as your minding your business then ok.
now Detroit economy aint to well, but most of that is to blame on Kwame.

i'm from the D.
and dont get me wrong.
if you from here you got street smarts.
but not er body just ruthless like most people and polls think.

[StAcKhOuSe]

geez, from all the posts about detroit, i am compelled to check it out and see if its really as bad as everyone says it is

[SchnauzerMom]

I was born in Detroit in 1953...and escaped in 1991. I miss the Detroit of my young years. It was a great place to grow up. Why did I leave? Here are a couple of reasons. First, I was jumped and attacked on my way home from school in broad daylight...I was 13. Thankfully a lady came out on her porch and yelled that she had called police before I was raped. I watched the tanks roll up and down my street during the riots. Saw my cousin murdered (he was a cop) when he went out on a burglary call. The home I grew up in is presently listed on Realtor.com for only $3,000. It was beautiful when I lived in it...leaded glass windows, built in cedar closet in the basement...hardwood floors. Now it is a trashed hulk. When I was 18 a girl I grew up with went to the downtown fireworks with her new husband. A gang attacked them and after ripping out her jawbone and repeatedly raping her they murdered her husband and left her for dead. She never regained her right mind...so I believe they were both murdered...just in a different way. The last straw was when I went in a drugstore early on Saturday morning and came out to find an elderly lady stabbed to death in the car next to mine. I don't care how Detroit changes, I will not go back.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by StAcKhOuSe

geez, from all the posts about detroit, i am compelled to check it out and see if its really as bad as everyone says it is

Let us know ahead of time. We can take you into the REAL DETROIT, not the one UNC and NCAA fans seen during the Final 4. Bring your video 'cause no one will ever believe the stories you will have.