I found my old house in Detroit today... (Wayne, St. Clair: neighborhood, earthquakes)

[MaryleeII]

Originally Posted by SCBaker

Westender, I agree totally. There are only 2 posters on this thread who lived on the East Side and experienced the total devastation of the neighborhoods. There are thousands more like us out there. Where are they? Many have died from old age, while others have buried the memories and really don't care to talk about it. It is too painful.

When I hear a comment that the reasons for the devastation has been well documented, I think , really? By whom and when? Did they interview current and former residents? Or were they just speculating? Oh, yes I know "white flight". White flight did not happen over night. I don't think thousands of people gathered together and decided they were going to flee the neighborhood the next day. It was a slow process. Could it have been stopped? Who knows. It did happen and no one can change history. But, we can learn from it if we listen and make a real effort to gain the true facts. Doing so, may save other neighborhoods in decline.

I wonder if the East Side will become open farm land. Is there enough of a population to fill new homes? What do you think?

Yep, I guess my family was one of those "whites' who fled, leaving behind their "responsibility" to keep the neighborhood. especially my mother. she was borne and raised there, spent her whole life there, married and raised a family, then, she was forced out like a thief in the night.

The neighborhood turned into a crack alley. We could hear gunshorts at night. she wa living alone, and mugged 3x in one month. Once she sat in terror and watched while some people (oh, I think they were black, can I say that?), tried to break the front porch windows in. She called the police and they wouldn't come because it 'wasn't a life threatening emergency." Soemhow they got scared off. Some friends helped her pack a few belongings and flee that very night to an apt in Warren, they happened to had placed a lease on. They were hoping to move in a more orderly fashion, but she ended up fleeing like a war zone refugee.

She lived in her apt with a few folding chairs, an air mattress, some TV tables and some assorted items. At the age of 62, she was living like that! She went back to claim her posessions and found the house vandalized and burned. That was her legacy. Also, that's part of my personal history, and part of Detroit's history. For those who choose to call it a "sob story" no more a "sob story" than the civil rights movement---how does it differ? One group oppressing another is what it boils down to, but somehow one group is allowed to tell their story over and over, but the other group is supposed to keep silent or they're racist! So, my mother was a racist because she fled for her life

[SCBaker]

It is 1968. Flash forward to the 21st century...You underprivledged people, come one come all, we have loans for you. No need to have personal responsiblity or income, everyone qualifies for a loan. After all, it is all Americans right to own a home. We the bankers will earn a hefty fee for writing the loans, and you will finally have your own home. No need to worry about default, you or I will never be held responsible. It is the American way.

It is 2008, 40 years later. Cleveland neighborhoods destroyed. Homes in foreclosure, vacated and vandalized. People fleeing crime ridden neighborhoods. Cleveland officials attempting to sue the banks for the destruction. Good luck! with that one .

Sound familiar? I guess history does repeat itself.

[usroute10]

Concerning your comparison of discrimination of black folks with what folks encountered in Detroit neighborhoods:

Madam, the criminals didn't discriminate, they robbed colored folks as well!

Sure, white kids got picked on when the neighborhoods became more and more black, but that doesn't compare to the systematic exclusion and discrimination that blacks have faced since the 1600s.

Like a previous poster said, blacks folks came up north for better economic opportunity, to get jobs in the auto factories. I don't understand why too many of us have descended into crime, drugs, broken familiies, and low achievement, but we didn't come up north to rob and kill people. I really do feel bad for what your mother went through.

To SCBaker:

Those east side neighborhoods are not coming back any time soon, unless there is some kind of innovative, out-of-the-box land give-a-way program and lower tax program. After Detroit seemed to be stabilizing in the '90s, the economy, lack of progress in crime, and lack of progress in public schools, has fueled a great exodus in the 2000's.

The current mayor and many influential organizations in Detroit are talking about completely abandoning parts of the city that are sparsely populated. The plan is for consolidating the population so that city services can be provided more cost efficiently in this cash-strapped city. Move the few remaining people out of the sparsely populated neighborhoods, tearing everything down in those neighborhoods, and move people unto the denser, more stable neighborhoods.

Concerning farmland, there are examples of residents turning vacant lots into gardens. One great success story is Georgia Street Community Garden on the east side:

Georgia Street Community Garden - Detroit, MI

Urban farming puts down roots - Detroit News and Information - Crain's Detroit Business

[scolls]

My old house is on the far right. Moved out in 1999. Was a great neighborhood then. There was a nice family in the boarded up house. Not sure what happened to them. The pic is old because I drove by there and the border up house is completely gutted now. They stole the aluminum siding and gutted the inside.


detroit mi - Google Maps

[MaryleeII]

Well, all I can say is---when we had the neighborhood, it was decent---or at least good enough for us.

When certain "other" groups wormed their way in, it went down to the point even they couldn't hack it. Who made it that way? Hmmm........perhaps, me, my parents, my grandparents? Help me figure out what we did to hand "others" a crap hole.

Or, perhaps they $hit in their own nest?

[MaryleeII]

Originally Posted by usroute10

Concerning your comparison of discrimination of black folks with what folks encountered in Detroit neighborhoods:

Madam, the criminals didn't discriminate, they robbed colored folks as well!

Sure, white kids got picked on when the neighborhoods became more and more black, but that doesn't compare to the systematic exclusion and discrimination that blacks have faced since the 1600s.

Like a previous poster said, blacks folks came up north for better economic opportunity, to get jobs in the auto factories. I don't understand why too many of us have descended into crime, drugs, broken familiies, and low achievement, but we didn't come up north to rob and kill people. I really do feel bad for what your mother went through.

To SCBaker:

Those east side neighborhoods are not coming back any time soon, unless there is some kind of innovative, out-of-the-box land give-a-way program and lower tax program. After Detroit seemed to be stabilizing in the '90s, the economy, lack of progress in crime, and lack of progress in public schools, has fueled a great exodus in the 2000's.

The current mayor and many influential organizations in Detroit are talking about completely abandoning parts of the city that are sparsely populated. The plan is for consolidating the population so that city services can be provided more cost efficiently in this cash-strapped city. Move the few remaining people out of the sparsely populated neighborhoods, tearing everything down in those neighborhoods, and move people unto the denser, more stable neighborhoods.

Concerning farmland, there are examples of residents turning vacant lots into gardens. One great success story is Georgia Street Community Garden on the east side:

Georgia Street Community Garden - Detroit, MI

Urban farming puts down roots - Detroit News and Information - Crain's

Detroit Business

Frankly this is a good idea and I hope it catches on. I was reading some articles about how decent, fresh food is not available in poorer areas, although liquor stores abound. The elderly, disabled and urban poor simply don't have the means to get to the nice stores in suburbs where they can buy fresh produce, milk, dairy, etc. oftentimes all they have available is junk food, soda and liquor.

I was reading an article about a business called "Peaches and Green" trucks that bring fresh produce for sale into inner city neighboorhoods. A very good idea.

It reminds me of Frank's fruit and vegetable truck. Does anyone else remember him? He was an Italian immigrant, started peddling fruits and vegetables from a pushcart, then got a pickup truck, then got a beautiful, large red truck you could walk inside and shop. he sold fruits, vegetables, sometimes homemade breads, etc. He was an icon in Detroit's East Side. I can still remember his megaphone pitching his wares "peaches, apples, strawberries, tomaaaaaaatos" He always ended his pitch with "tomaaaaaaatos". What a character! And what a service, bringing needed grocery items to people with limited transportation, he saw a business opportunity and went with it.

Does anyone know what happended to Frank?

[scolls]

The two best neighborhoods I have ever lived in were Detroit and Harper Woods. the two worst were Roscommon and Gaylord. The best neighborhoods were about 50% black and the worst ones were 95% white.

[Remisc]

Originally Posted by scolls

My old house is on the far right. Moved out in 1999. Was a great neighborhood then. There was a nice family in the boarded up house. Not sure what happened to them. The pic is old because I drove by there and the border up house is completely gutted now. They stole the aluminum siding and gutted the inside.


detroit mi - Google Maps

That looks like my old house in Briggs, where I lived before I moved to the house that this thread is about.

[scolls]

Originally Posted by Remisc

That looks like my old house in Briggs, where I lived before I moved to the house that this thread is about.

From what we were able to find out, it was originally built in 1950 but burned in the 70's and they rebuilt it with the goofy upstairs addition. It also had a large addition on the back. It was a nice house. The new people don't seem to be taking the greatest care of it. They really let the landscaping go.

[Remisc]

Originally Posted by scolls

From what we were able to find out, it was originally built in 1950 but burned in the 70's and they rebuilt it with the goofy upstairs addition. It also had a large addition on the back. It was a nice house. The new people don't seem to be taking the greatest care of it. They really let the landscaping go.

It doesn't even look like anyone's living there. But, that style of home was popular in the 50's. Inexpensive housing for the increasing population. Houses like that are everywhere in areas like Clinton Township and Port Huron, too.