Is Detroit honestly SO terrible? (St. Louis: apartments, rentals, high crime)

[traveler445]

First off, let me say that I have never been to Detroit and never got a chance to experience things for myself. Everything I know comes from the internet and city-data forums.

I know Detroit has a high crime rate, low high-school graduation rate, and low median income, but:

Downtown Detroit is extremely safe according to statistics.

Detroit is VERY cheap for a big city.

The population density is not nearly as high as most other 'hoods'.

Bad neighborhoods seem to be a good distance from livable neighborhoods.

Considering all of this, is Detroit SUCH a disaster? So what if there are abandoned buildings, they are not bothering anyone except for contributing to the grittiness of the city. The houses there look BIG, can all these 'gangstas' and 'thugs' be sleeping in these mansions at night and want to seem 'ghetto' during the day? I am from Miami and the unfortunate here are crammed in tiny, dirty apartments. Many people in Miami come from other countries and arrive in America with NOTHING. SOME EVEN COME ON RAFTS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. And yet, they still manage to find jobs and not make their city the epitome of a ghetto (although Miami's average income is alarmingly low).

So can all you fellow city-data-ers please help me understand this magical place that is Detroit? Can you compare it to the city i know best (Miami) so I can have an idea of what Detroit is like? How does it compare to East Coast cities (Philly, Baltimore, DC, Newark...). Or is Detroit simply hopeless, a forgotten wasteland like East Saint Louis?

P.S. It is not my intention to put down Detroit or any other cities mentioned.


Thank-you in advance for all replies.

[nycjefftrain]

the best info is already on various threads on this board.

I love Detroit but in comparison to the cities you mentioned on your post..here is my personal rating system.

WAY BETTER THAN: East St. Louis and Newark

BETTER THAN: Baltimore

EQUAL TO: Philly

NOT UP TO PAR WITH: DC

and comparing Detroit to Miami is like comparing apples to oranges...or even bean sprouts

[illmatic774]

nah its not terrible here. the economy is, but there are alot of negative attitudes that are prevalent in this region. sort of like a "can't do" mentality. whenever visitors stop in town for a baseball game there will be vendors and storekeepers that will ask visitors what they are doing in a city like this; its just a horrible approach to have.

more potential visitors are scared away by others who urge them to stay away than the actual place itself. the only true way to find out about Detroit is to make a visit yourself.

[kimba01]

No, Detroit is not that bad. Perception is all.

Biggest difference I can think of (very limited knowledge of Miami)is snow/cold.

[One Thousand]

I know two women who were raped at knife point while walking to stores. (respectively.)

A family member owns rentals and has had the copper and aluminum stripped from a couple while they were vacant.

That kind of stuff hasn't happened around me outside of Detroit.

[and the]

Is Detroit honestly SO terrible?

I think I can answer that better in song.....


One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small,
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all.
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall.
And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall,
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call.
Call Alice
When she was just small.
When the men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low.
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know.
When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead,
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the dormouse said:
"Feed your head. Feed your head. Feed your head"

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by One Thousand

I know two women who were raped at knife point while walking to stores. (respectively.)

A family member owns rentals and has had the copper and aluminum stripped from a couple while they were vacant.

That kind of stuff hasn't happened around me outside of Detroit.

Yeah so we should base our whole experiences of a city by what happened to one person. I guess there isn't crime anywhere else why do you still live there anyway since its so horrible why don't u move instead of spending 90% of your life writing bashing posts all the time.

[usroute10]

The problem with the abandoned buildings is that
(1) the scrappers/thieves break into them and strip everything of value so that the buildings/houses become almost unsalvageable

(2) homeless people and drug addicts congregate in them. During the winter, the homeless set fires in them to keep warm. Often these fires get out control, and they end up burning down a perfectly good building/house.

(3) arsonists (sociopaths) burn a building down, so that they become so fire damaged that they pose a safety hazard to the surrounding streets and people walking/driving along them.

I live in Detroit proper, and I am dissatisfied with it.

* The public schools are not good at all and they don't seem to be getting any better. * The mayor is an arrogant, duplicitous fellow who has already been charged with 8 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice.
* But most importantly, is the crime. The gun violence. The breaking and entering. The carjacking. The stripping of historic and non-historic houses and buildings of not only their copper or aluminum, but of their antique door knobs, radiators, fireplace mantles, wall sconces, and anything else of value.
* The unresponsive police who take all to get to a crime scene, and sometimes don't show up at all.

* IT JUST SEEMS THAT ALL OF OUR ELECTED PUBLIC OFFICIALS ARE SO SELF-SERVING, INEPT, AND SOMETIMES UNNECESSARILY RACE-BAIT. None of the elected officials seem to be about serving the people of the city!

* People keep leaving the city, but now its the black folks. It's a shame. There is not enough community pride, there is not enough people who are proud to be Detroiters. I wish instead of fleeing the problems of the city, people would stay and solve them.

[FireKwame]

Yep, it's pretty crappy.

[illmatic774]

Originally Posted by One Thousand

I know two women who were raped at knife point while walking to stores. (respectively.)

A family member owns rentals and has had the copper and aluminum stripped from a couple while they were vacant.

That kind of stuff hasn't happened around me outside of Detroit.

FYI I can't open your PM for whatever reason, but these things happen everywhere; they just happen in Detroit at a much greater rate. You won't get anyone saying that the crime situation isn't beyond abysmal.

And copper gets stripped absolutely everywhere. Try getting around; i live in Henderson, NV right now and you'd have no idea how much copper gets stripped from the air conditioners on top of homes. just three weeks ago i was robbed at gunpoint by two teenagers for my iPod and wallet... in Henderson, Nevada, "where nothing bad happens."