is Southfield that bad? (Detroit, Warren: high crime, loan, home)

[Bhaalspawn]

I think it gets worse the closer you are to the Detroit border. It gets better as you move north and west.

[Trump]

Originally Posted by us66

The housing market has collapsed in Southfield. Those lovely 60s customs sell for pocket change, comparatively speaking, now in many cases. A lot of them are run down compared to comps in other areas and need serious work, though. Homeowner's insurance and property taxes are high, location convenient to nearly all the metro area. The vast majority of it doesn't have the ghetto vibe of Detroit, most of Oak Park, or Inkster, unless you look a bit closer. The main vibe I get driving through the city is, "This was the place to be forty years ago."

Truly sad to hear about the decline of Southfield. It was a terrific place to be raised 40 plus years ago. It was very rural at that time with most of the roads including Telegraph unpaved. There were plenty of open fields and rivers to explore. Not long after the area became incorporated new housing developments emerged. The community seemed quintessential modern middle class suburbia characterized by rapid growth and without a downtown. I think the turning point for the community came after the '67 riots. I remember as if it were yesterday the curfew imposed on the fringe communities while Detroit was seen burning in the distance. Families that never spoke of firearms for defense now slept with them close by. Not long after and while I was in high school I recall social study classes that focused on the riots and its effect on our society. I think this is where the community lost its innocence and charm.

[indigonation]

Its not that great but its not that bad either I used to live there for a year there are really nice areas and a lot of the people are friendly just from my observation a little impersonal and it takes awhile to get to know people here and the economy is not that great, but if you are planning on moving there (which I couldn't tell from your post) stay away from these areas:

12 Mile and northwestern Hwy (and about the half mile square around it)
This is a very strange area I am a guy and walked around here several times and other guys would just walk up to me and sexually harass me quite often and there are some really strange people in this area trust me I lived about a quarter of a mile away from here and couldn't wait to get out this is the only place I have ever seen anywhere where guys in their fifties will walk around and look for younger people to lets say do stuff too. I have nothing against gay people but I didn't feel comfortable or safe at all there and I was even sexually assaulted once in broad daylight in this area and it took me awhile to recover from that.

The area near 8 mile all the way along the south boarder.
A lot of crime and robberies and even shootings.

Other than those two areas southfield is a wonderful place to live and if you can find a job you might like it there the parks are very nice there is a nice park around 12 mile just before you get to evergreen and down near 9 mile and evergreen where I used to go to school. I hung out at those two places a lot Overall a nice place.

On a last note you indicated you like Madison you would be a lot happier in Ann Arbor cause that place is a lot safer and more liberal/open minded and is often compared to Madison. You will love it there the people there are very friendly and you can fit in no matter who you are or what you are into.

[Chicagoland60426]

I been to Southfield because I have a few cousins there. It reminded me of a much bigger Matteson, IL when I was there....middle class and over 50% black. It didn't seem like a bad area at all, but last time I was there was 6 years ago. Based off the 2008 crime stats C-D have for the city, crime index put it slightly above national average.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

I been to Southfield because I have a few cousins there. It reminded me of a much bigger Matteson, IL when I was there....middle class and over 50% black. It didn't seem like a bad area at all, but last time I was there was 6 years ago. Based off the 2008 crime stats C-D have for the city, crime index put it slightly above national average.

I'm pretty sure Matteson is slightly above the national average too.

[Cheeto]

No, Southfield isn't bad at all and niether is neighboring Oak Park. I worked in Southfield a lot in the 90's and early 2000's. It is a solidly black middle class community with well kept up homes and many shopping oppurtunities. The slightly higher crime rate is attributed to robberies and thefts spilling over from Detroit on the southern end of the city. Unfortunately this is a trend in most inner ring suburbs that border 8 mile, but comparably southfield hasn't deteriorated to the degree of other inner ring suburbs like Warren or Eastpointe. Don't know about the schools, though I do know that a lot of inner ring schools have been suffering now that they are open to Detroit students. Not that kids from the city are inheritantly bad, they just come into these schools with less education than their suburban counterparts and it brings down the overall rating of the schools when based on test scores.

[benigndmd]

Originally Posted by Cheeto

No, Southfield isn't bad at all and niether is neighboring Oak Park. I worked in Southfield a lot in the 90's and early 2000's. It is a solidly black middle class community with well kept up homes and many shopping oppurtunities. The slightly higher crime rate is attributed to robberies and thefts spilling over from Detroit on the southern end of the city. Unfortunately this is a trend in most inner ring suburbs that border 8 mile, but comparably southfield hasn't deteriorated to the degree of other inner ring suburbs like Warren or Eastpointe. Don't know about the schools, though I do know that a lot of inner ring schools have been suffering now that they are open to Detroit students. Not that kids from the city are inheritantly bad, they just come into these schools with less education than their suburban counterparts and it brings down the overall rating of the schools when based on test scores.

I totally agree with this post. I live in Oak Park on 10 mile and am a young professional. The area is awesome. I am a mile from downtown Ferndale and Royal Oak, close to all the freeways, and to Detroit ---- there are so many great spots to eat just south of 8 mile in Detroit.

True, I would not want to live south of 9 mile (more like 8 1/2 mile), but anything north of there is great. My neighborhood is very well kept, my neighbor's are quiet, and there has not been anything resembling a crime in the 2 years I have been here. According to my neighbor's, there hasn't been a break-in for the last 10 years (when my townhome complex was built).

And yes, my neighborhood is predominantly Black. (I am not)

As a last tidbit - check out Ernie's Market for a killer sandwich. He is just south of 9 mile on the east border of Oak Park. http://www.yelp.com/biz/ernies-market-oak-park

[Northsider 248]

Originally Posted by trudawg

So if I listen to rap music, and my pants sag then I'm trash? LoL, never ceases to amaze me.

Read. the. whole. sentence.

"I associate du-rags, sagging pants, banging car stereos, and rap music with trash"

but comparably southfield hasn't deteriorated to the degree of other inner ring suburbs like Warren or Eastpointe.

Hah. I can't dignify a response for that.

[delayed]

Wow, I must have a completely different idea of what "middle class" means. Southfield is a ghetto, think about these apartments off 11 mile & greenfield for instance. Basically anywhere with a smart bus route is ghetto. Birmingham being the obvious exception, only because it has the misfortune of being nestled between pontiac and detroit along woodward.

[us66]

Much of it has a ghetto vibe, albeit a suburban ghetto. It's not truly dangerous like Detroit. I don't know how dangerous the neighborhoods are, but a lot of the apartments and condos are gated, uncommon in SE MI. I'd live there (I have a high tolerance for blight and would put up security doors even if I lived in Birmingham) but I wouldn't make my wife live there.