Palmer Woods....... (Detroit, Royal Oak, Ferndale: crime, house, landscaping)

[ckhthankgod]

Where is this section located in the city of Detroit? It looks like a nice neighborhood and has a good mix of people.

Welcome to Palmer Woods

[and the]

I was going to respond to this, but the location is right on the website link you posted.

You may also want to look at the Palmer Woods website.

Nice websites, both, but I couldn't find property tax info. on either...

[tabbcat]

The Palmer Woods Historic District is located directly west of Woodward Avenue and directly north of Palmer Park in Detroit, Michigan. The district is bounded by Woodward Avenue, Seven Mile Road, the southern edge of Evergreen Cemetery, Strathcona Drive and Argyle Crescent.

[Wingnatic]

I used to cut lawns in there when I did landscaping oh about a dozen years ago . Any of the side streets that run off of Woodward across from the Fair Grounds is Palmer Woods . It wasn't too long ago the residents wanted to make it a gated community . They have some nice homes/mansions in there . At one time former Piston John Salley lived there , the Archdiose of Detroit has a mansion in there , the Fisher Brothers of Fisher Body lived there and had twin mansions built there (one may have burned down ) Back when I cut lawns there , they had their own security complete with patrol cars 24/7

[and the]

the Archdiose of Detroit has a mansion in there , the Fisher Brothers of Fisher Body lived there and had twin mansions built there (one may have burned down ) Back when I cut lawns there , they had their own security complete with patrol cars 24/7

That's the one John Salley bought. Security is not 24/7. They're only there 12 hours a day. The Fisher Bros. built the mansion for the archdiocese and the Cardinal lived there at one time long before Salley bought it. I believe it's on Balmoral. I'm pretty sure this is it. Pretty sad when we pay our professional athletes and entertainers enough to buy a house like this to live in part time.....Not sure who owns it now.

[ocean2026]

Ok more specifically - how about the area along Balmoral close to Woodard? a few blocks west of Woodard?

How does Palmer Woods compare with Indian Village for safety?

The address in Palmer Woods seems to be Highland Park and you know the old saying "people in the suburbs are afraid of Detroit, people in Detroit are afraid of Highland Park.

opinions?

[ocean2026]

There's a nice looking house ACROSS Woodward on Golden Gate for $27k but the area looks worse - is it?

There's a house on Balmoral for $3500 and its 5095 sq ft "agent owner" but its a scam.

[and the]

Ok more specifically - how about the area along Balmoral close to Woodard? a few blocks west of Woodard?

How does Palmer Woods compare with Indian Village for safety?

The address in Palmer Woods seems to be Highland Park and you know the old saying "people in the suburbs are afraid of Detroit, people in Detroit are afraid of Highland Park.

opinions?

West of Woodward is fine. East of Woodward in that area sucks. I think Palmer Woods is better than Indan Village as far as safety. The 12th precinct is directly across 7 Mile to the south of the sub, as is the public golf course and Palmer Park, with the private Detroit Golf Club further west and south. West of the sub are a couple nice "buffer subs" before you get to Livernois. Also, there's only a few ways to actually get into the sub, and none of the streets are convenient to cut through traffic, so there is very little traffic in there. North is the cemetery and beyond that, 8 Mile and Oakland County. Woodward is a good barrier between PW and the nasty area to the east. A short bike ride up Woodward and you're into Ferndale with decent shopping and night life and only a litte farther to Royal Oak.

Here's the Catch-22. If you can afford the taxes, let alone the price of the house and upkeep to live in Palmer Woods, you'd have to be nuts to live there instead of in Oakland County somewhere up Woodward. Go get your "urban mansion" fix during the holiday house tours and make a wiser investment in Birmingham or Royal Oak after you check out the taxes, gas bill and general maintainance on one of those monsters with 4 or more chimneys and a slate roof......let alone if you have to make MAJOR repairs. I guess it's only money and some people like John Salley can afford it......If you have school-aged boys, you're probably going to have to send them to U of D, which is close, but not cheap, if they can get in. Girls will have to go farther than that. If you DON'T have kids, why the heck would you want a house that big? Talk about wasting resources....

[Cclass84]

I think Palmer woods is overrated. A lot of the homes are worn out and need major work. Property crime is higher than average. There is still minor gang activity right outside the neighborhood. Even though its one of the better neighborhoods in the city, you still feel uneasy driving there at night. Some of the residents look like higher level drug pushers. These are the reasons why you can buy a tudor mansion for under 500k.

[Shrewsbury Road]

Now thats a large sight of negativity considering it's my neigboring neigborhood. For the record, Palmer Woods is hoem to many young professionals and families and maybe once every blue moon a nasty scavenger will still valubles out of a perfectly fine unoccupied house, but you shouldn't exaggerate about it's issues.