Why Not Move To Detroit? The Hype Isn't True. (Waterford: housing, jobs)

[Brother WilliamX]

Detroit is like any other urban United States city, but my advice is don't come if you don't want to live next to a minority person, and stay where you are if you're a racist or like to discriminate. Outside of the things I just mentioned Detroit is just another US city. Metro Detroit has the most heavy mixed race population then any other United States city. The bad media publicity is always told to make race a issue. One can get robbed,beatup, and shot in New York,Beverly Hills,West Bloomfield, just as quicker then one can in Detroit. If coming or returning to Southeastern Michigan remember that life is how you make it, and in order to get respect one must also give respect.

[Blue Grass Fever]

Reasons not to move to Detroit:

1-Insurance:high-rate insurance on your house and automobile and quite possibly life-insurance. I'm sure this can be offset by housing prices and by really being knowledgable about what areas to move as there are safer-than-norm pockets inside the city.

2-Factories: High concentration of factories within the city limits whether in operation or abandoned. The ones mostly in operation (southwest) pump out some huge amounts of pollution. Take a sunday drive over the Rouge Bridge down I-75 with your emergency gas-mask.

3-Transportation: It is lacking severely. What is the sense of moving to a city if transportation is not utilized in an upmost manner?! That dang People-Mover should of been connected to the suburbs. (since i've been to Boston...my perception changed on what a "city" should be)

(those are a few reasons i can think of now..)

[RedWingsFan]

Brother William - you have lost your mind brother. :-)

Detroit Metro area is the most segregated metropolitan area in the country! You can certainly move to the metro area if you want to not live next to a minority, just don't move in the city of Detroit. The city of Detroit is like 80 percent black, while the suburbs are 80 percent white, with some being 90 or more percent white. So you can certainly find places to move where you won't live next to a minority.

But there are many reasons to not move to the Detroit area. It's not like all other cities. It's financially struggling something awful right now. Jobs are down, way down, people being layed off, losing their jobs, losing their homes to foreclosure, etc. The economic conditions of the Detroit metro area right now are really poor, that's reason enough to not move there.

[The Icy River Vagabond]

brother william - you flat out lie!

[Brother WilliamX]

Ummm But I can understand why many of you left Detroit, But RedWingFan don't you come into Detroit (Joe Louis Arena) to see the Red Wings play?, and lets not talk about segregation and de-segregation.

I have been here in the inner-city 95% of my life, and I watched many of you take flight across 8 mile or Telegraph. Oh by the way I am a Black member of society, and I also remember that when you all took flight so did businesses.
The 1967 Riot was the official escape plan to run across 8 mile for most of you who can't admit you left for racist reasons.

However if Detroit is so bad why are some of you are returning back to the inner-city? Like I said Detroit is safer the most white suburbs. Sure we have our share of crime, but nobody is burning crosses on Black families lawns like they are in West Bloomfield Hills,Waterford,Clawson, and Howell is the new home of the now generation of Klans.

Many of you know it like I know it.. that during the Fireworks,a Tiger/Lions game,the Thankskilling parade you flock down here to the inner-city. So Detroit must be a safe town,due to the fact that it wasn't none of you would come into Detroit, and I can say Detroit is safe enough that you can leave your guns at home.

[RedWingsFan]

Originally Posted by Brother WilliamX

Ummm But I can understand why many of you left Detroit, But RedWingFan don't you come into Detroit (Joe Louis Arena) to see the Red Wings play?, and lets not talk about segregation and de-segregation.:

Um, actually no - I don't live in Michigan anymore. I was born in Detroit and raised in the suburbs. I moved away years ago. I do still watch the Red Wings and I go see them play at arenas in the the western states. I've been to Wings games downtown and believe me, we white people get off the exit, make sure not make a wrong turn down a road, go to the game and get our white butts back across 8 mile because we fear the people down there robbing, raping or killing us.

Originally Posted by Brother WilliamX

I have been here in the inner-city 95% of my life, and I watched many of you take flight across 8 mile or Telegraph. Oh by the way I am a Black member of society, and I also remember that when you all took flight so did businesses.
The 1967 Riot was the official escape plan to run across 8 mile for most of you who can't admit you left for racist reasons..:

Yes, businesses left because white's left and when white's left the majority of the money left! Why would businesses stay in an area where the people don't have money to keep them open? Or where they will get robbed night after night? Furthermore, who says that white people can't admit that they left Detroit for reasons of race? Everyone in my family will admit that! As I've mentioned before, my grandmother was born and raised there and other relatives. They'd be the first to say "not on my block" as they all left as blacks started moving in. They don't hide that and nor would I. It's not because of a race it's because what that race brings with them most of the time (yes, there are exceptions but I'm talking most of the time). They bring crime, welfare, uneducated kids, ignorance, racism, etc. Blacks are the most racist people I've ever met in my life. The walk around with a chip on their shoulder and are always the first people to pull the race cards, but they can't admit that.

Originally Posted by Brother WilliamX

However if Detroit is so bad why are some of you are returning back to the inner-city? Like I said Detroit is safer the most white suburbs. Sure we have our share of crime, but nobody is burning crosses on Black families lawns like they are in West Bloomfield Hills,Waterford,Clawson, and Howell is the new home of the now generation of Klans. ..:

If you think Detroit is safer than the white suburbs you have lost your mind. Do the research. There's not a chance in heck that is accurate! Futhermore, the only reason whites go to Detroit is for entertainment venues and they still go scared and many won't go at all! Why all the entertainment venues down there? Because the land was worthless and investors could snatch it up cheaper and get tax breaks for building the things in the city.

Originally Posted by Brother WilliamX

Many of you know it like I know it.. that during the Fireworks,a Tiger/Lions game,the Thankskilling parade you flock down here to the inner-city. So Detroit must be a safe town,due to the fact that it wasn't none of you would come into Detroit, and I can say Detroit is safe enough that you can leave your guns at home.

Again you ignore the facts. Detroit is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. People still take their kids down there for fireworks and games because of tradition and they don't have a choice if they want to go see a game! Detroit is far from safe, it hasn't been in decades and likely never again will be. Wake up and smell the gasoline that your brothers and neighbors are using to burn the city down with!

[Blue Grass Fever]

I have to admit growing up in the south and in Detroit during the mid 80's, as a kid i noticed blacks in general were more hostile in Detroit than the blacks in the south.You know how kids can pick up vibes quite well off of people.

I don't know if its a "southern thing" or what not. I've always been perplexed about this.

Could anyone explain this for me?

[soyezheureux]

This whole conversation seems to be on the verge of taking a turn from bad to worse. I guess the one questions I have for the original poster is, what do you mean by "the hype isn't true"? Your post seemed to focus on two points. 1. That Detroit has a very diverse population, and so does every other major city. and 2. That Detroit is just about as safe as any other city.

Well, as far as the "most heavy mixed race population", it's just not true. We happen to be on a forum connected a site called "city-data.com" According to this site, here is a breakdown of Detroit's racial makeup, compared to a major city in the East, West, South, and MidWest:

Detroit: Black-81.6%, White-10.5%, Hispanic-5.0%, 2 or more races-2.3%, Other-2.5%

NYC: White-35%, Hispanic-27%, Black-26.6%, Chinese-4.5%, Asian Indian-2.1%, 2 or more races-4.9%, Other-13.4%

Los Angeles: Hispanic-46.5%, White-29.7%, Black-11.2%, Filipino-2.7%, Korean-2.5%, 2 or more races-5.2%, Other-25.7%

Houston: Hispanic-37.4%, White-30.8%, Black-25.3%, 2 or more races-3.1%, Other-16.5%

Chicago: Black-36.8%, White-31.3%, Hispanic-26%, 2 or more races-2.9%, Other-13.6%

To say that Detroit is racially diverse, is simply not true. You can reproduce this chart that I did for pretty much large city in the country and get similar results. Try it.

But on to the second point, the one about crime. That one is even MORE untrue. Again, using the same website, and the same 5 cities, I looked up murders per year, murders per 100,000 people (to make the numbers easier to compare to each other), and city-data.com's "crime index" which states that the higher the number, the more unsafe the city is, with the U.S. average being a crime index of 325.2 The information was during the year of 2005. Here is what I found:

Detroit: 354 murders (37.2 per 100,000), Crime Index=925.1
NYC: 539 murders (6.7 per 100,000), Crime Index=275.2
Los Angeles: 489 murders (13.2 per 100,000) Crime Index=402.3
Houston: 334 murders (17.1 per 100,000) Crime Index=655.8
Chicago: 446 murders (15.4 per 100,000) Crime Index=565.2

and even though I assume you were joking about two of the cities on your list...
Beverly Hills, CA: 1 murder (3 per 100,000) Crime Index=261.7
And West Bloomfield doesnt even have a "crime chart" on its page, which means that it's crime data isn't significant enough to warrant one.

Go to city-data.com, and search for any city you want, big cities, white metro Detroit suburbs, anything. I don't think you'll find a less safe city in the U.S. (unless perhaps St. Louis?).

Diversity and crime are not "hype" about Detroit. They are undeniably true. Before I read this thread, I thought the "hype" was going to be about the lack of jobs, the failing economy, the bleak future outlook, or other reasons that are making Michigan the #1 state in the country as far as people moving out. But those things are true also. It's not just Detroit that is a terrible place to try to make a living a raise a family. It has nothing to do with race or crime. Even the lily-white, relatively safe suburbs are a bad place to be. It's because of the economy, and the fact that in the next decade it won't be any better (and could very possibly be worse.) It is going to be a VERY slow process to get back on track, and we haven't even BEGUN to even think of a way to start.

[RedWingsFan]

soyezheureux - excellent post. You make some great statements. Thanks for posting the facts.

[Brother WilliamX]

Originally Posted by Blue Grass Fever

I have to admit growing up in the south and in Detroit during the mid 80's, as a kid i noticed blacks in general were more hostile in Detroit than the blacks in the south.You know how kids can pick up vibes quite well off of people.

I don't know if its a "southern thing" or what not. I've always been perplexed about this.

Could anyone explain this for me?

Blue Grass, I can understand why you been perplexed, but the truth of the matter is its not a against you personally, and this racist crap is given from both Blacks and Whites. Not ALL Whites are bad, and neither is ALL Blacks.
Hate is hate no matter how you look at it, but remember American history when it mentioned hanging,burning, and firebombing Churches in the South.

Thereforth its natural for Blacks to resent or hate after what happened. There is many Blacks in the South who is affaid of Jim Crow or should I be more blunt? Whereas here in the North its a whole new game. We have learned how to express our anger or resentment. Regardless to if its being hostle or having pure hate, if it don't apply then let it fly.

Let me translate what I just stated...in other words if you did nothing wrong then why worrie about how another person acts. I don't believe that the hostle vibes was directed at you, but you are part of a group that started this racist and discriminating movement, and maybe you are just feeling guilty because of what you are seeing. In closing No its not because you are from the South.