Dearborn for the non-Arabic... (Detroit, Warren: car insurance, crime, houses)

[Tiger Beer]

Personally, I think Dearborn has some beautiful architectural houses, nice brick and tudors, everything.

The neighborhood seems very healthy, lively, safe, interesting, and interesting ethnic restaurants - predominately arabic, lebanese, etc. A few excellent diners as well.

Are many non-Arabic moving into Dearborn? The city seems to be completely off the radar for possibilities...people generally swayed towards further away suburbs or Detroit's downtown.

Any particular reason Dearborn doesn't seem to be a recommended or interested about area? For those who aren't Arabic, but made Dearborn home, or considering, or have in the past...what's your take on Dearborn for the non-Arabic?

[ForStarters]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Personally, I think Dearborn has some beautiful architectural houses, nice brick and tudors, everything.

The neighborhood seems very healthy, lively, safe, interesting, and interesting ethnic restaurants - predominately arabic, lebanese, etc. A few excellent diners as well.

Are many non-Arabic moving into Dearborn? The city seems to be completely off the radar for possibilities...people generally swayed towards further away suburbs or Detroit's downtown.

Any particular reason Dearborn doesn't seem to be a recommended or interested about area? For those who aren't Arabic, but made Dearborn home, or considering, or have in the past...what's your take on Dearborn for the non-Arabic?

I have a past in Dearborn, and still have family living in East Dearborn. From my experience, the Middle Eastern population began immigrating to South Dearborn 40-50 years ago, and eventually expanded into East Dearborn as many of the white residents moved further out to western suburbs like Livonia, Canton, and Plymouth. West Dearbon (West of Telegraph) is still predominately non-Middle Eastern whites. I spent a lot of time growing up at my grandma's house in East Dearborn off Warren and Schaefer. I hung out with a lot of Middle Eastern kids and really had a good time spending summers there.

Arabic food is very good. I still head to Dearborn to get fresh baked goods from New Yasmine Bakery. Some people in my family always complained about how the neighborhood was being "taken over", but I never felt that way. Dearborn is still a very nice place. The city is well-maintained as well as the neighborhoods. There are lots of small businesses and grocers. Because it is an old suburb, the houses have that very "tight-knit-community" feel. You can basically walk anywhere in East Dearborn. I used to always go up to the store to get pestachios and Faygo. I remember riding my bike up to Hemlock Park to hang out on Saturday afternoons.

West Dearbon is also very nice and has some awesome houses off Military Street and Outer Drive. I used to go swimming with friends at Levagood Park. My family still hosts a lot of family dinners at an Italian restaurant over on Ford Rd.

Recently, Sharon Angle, who is running against Harry Reid for Nevada's senate seat said that Dearborn was operating under sharia law or something crazy. It really ticked me off. I don't know if she's ever been to Dearborn, but I can tell you that it is not under Sharia law.

[Tiger Beer]

ForStarters, thanks for the great response.

Originally Posted by ForStarters

Recently, Sharon Angle, who is running against Harry Reid for Nevada's senate seat said that Dearborn was operating under sharia law or something crazy. It really ticked me off. I don't know if she's ever been to Dearborn, but I can tell you that it is not under Sharia law.

That ticked me off as well. Actually there are a few threads about that on the Political Forum. I tried to 'set it straight' as a MI person, that that was never my observation of Dearborn.

But, oddly, some 'Dearborn residents' who NEVER post on the MI/DTW forums came out of nowhere to me reassure the scared masses how scary it is in Dearborn under Sharia law.

Nontheless, thanks for the thorough post. Many of those characteristics are what I seek in a city - the walkable everywhere, mom-and-pop shops, and the housing styles in Dearborn are fantastic.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

But, oddly, some 'Dearborn residents' who NEVER post on the MI/DTW forums came out of nowhere to me reassure the scared masses how scary it is in Dearborn under Sharia law.

Well it may not be true, but it was probably fun for them to pretend to be Dearborn residents and stir things up.


Wht don't non-Arabic people move to Dearborn:

1. Schools are not so great.

2. People do not feel comfortable where they are a minority.

3. Local governement will likely always be controlled with people whose intersts and priorities do nto parallel your own.

4. There are better options nearby (nicer communities with better schools, lower crime, better housing stock)

5. Prejudice. ("Don't wanna live by all them there Arabs").

6. Who wants to live under Sharia law?

[CincyExpert]

Having roots in the Detroit Metro, I've also recently become interested in Dearborn. To what level do Arabics and Non-Arabics interact on a daily basis? Do they hang out at the same bars, parks, and other places of leisure? How common is dating between Arabics (I'm assuming non-Muslim) and Non-Arabics?

[Luzon65]

Dearborn has a lot of 1st and 2nd generation immigrants, mostly Lebanese but more and more from Yemen, Iraq and other places. I think that's why so many tend to stay in Dearborn and not move away. Many 2nd and later generation are moving away, many because of the schools. The local school system is burdened by the typical issues with this type of community.

What hurts the city in this regard also benefits it. If it wasn't for the desire of so many people to remain close to family and the culture, Dearborn would be in bigger trouble than it is now. It's an old, industrial, inner-ring suburb of Detroit. That pretty much explains it all.

I don't think there are many Arabs or non-Arabs moving into Dearborn. There are certainly many moving out. The property taxes are very high considering how close to Detroit it is. Car insurance is also high. Dearborn used to be a very paternalistic place, thanks to Ford Motor Company. That's not the case much anymore as Ford and Rouge Steel appealed various property assessments and were successful in significantly lowering the taxes they pay.

I don't know of many problems with Arabs and non-Arabs mingling. You won't see a ton of Arabs in the local bars considering the large percentage of the population that is Arab. Most Dearborn Arabs are Muslim and most Muslims don't drink in front of other Muslims.....There are plenty of hookah bars though.

I would guess Dearborn's Arab population is probably around 40%. Maybe a little less or more. Personally, I think there are better places to live. The housing stock is all pretty much the same except for a few areas. I think the city will get worse before it gets better. The east, mostly Arab end is surrounded by Detroit and even the Warrendale neighborhood of Detroit is going down the tubes fast. The west end is OK in most places, but there are other places I'd rather live, mostly outside Wayne County. Maybe far western Wayne County like Plymouth, but it's still Wayne County.

[Northsider 248]

Originally Posted by Luzon65

I would guess Dearborn's Arab population is probably around 40%. Maybe a little less or more.

Pretty good guess:

"33.4% [of Dearborn citizens] were of Arab ancestry"

Personally, I believe that the fear of Arab population is slowly destroying Dearborn. People are naturally xenophobic and it takes educated sense to not be. I would consider living in Dearborn myself. Crime is a little higher than average but that has nothing to do with the Arabic population. Not to mention that Dearborn's Arabic neighborhoods are heavily concentrated in between white neighborhoods as well.

As for Sharia law, who came up with that bull? Dearborn has historically and currently had a white government. Who's there to enforce it then? A decent amount of "Arabs" in Dearborn are actually Chaldeans as well - Christians/Catholics from the middle east, as opposed to being Muslim.

Also, realize that the Arab population in Dearborn has hit it's peak. It's decreasing steadily, while the German population is increasing significantly. The Arab population will probably remain a majority ethnic group for a while, but it's guaranteed to become smaller and many portions of the population replaced by whites. This change is obviously going to take a long time though, because, like I've said, alot of xenophobia is involved in the reputation of Dearborn. Unfortunately, the state of Detroit as it is right now is that whites want to live in white neighborhoods, blacks want to live in white neighborhoods, and there really aren't any other neighborhoods people want to live in anymore. What a shame.

[Utahooligan]

Dearborn & Dearborn Heights are relatively nice places -- some large, expensive homes, some small, relatively inexpensive homes, but as far as I know, no real ghetto. Unlike many other 'minorities,' Dearborn Arabs don't really form gangs or commit a lot of crimes.

The communities have big city services & amenities, but small city communities. Most of the major crimes are caused by opportunistic Detroiters crossing into Dearborn because they think they'll have an easier time robbing/stealing. The local PDs are pretty good at catching them, and in response, Detroit calls Dearborn racist.

[alamosakid]

I spent some time in Dearborn. Went to Dearborn High, too.

Ok, I'll be blunt. If you're affluent, you'll obviously want to stick to west Dearborn. There are arabs over there, too, but in my experience their presence isn't as domineering as it is in east Dearborn (granted, east Dearborn is simply GHETTO). In west Dearborn, I never felt an overbearing presence of arabic influence. Of course, there's plenty--arabic food, occasional arabic typeface on signs, a few arabic speakers. In west Dearborn, however, you can count on people being expected to know ENGLISH, from your pizza delivery man to your kid's teacher to your clerk at the local party store.

West Dearborn is your best bet. No doubt about it. But you're getting what you pay for, so you'll have to pay up big time to live in WD. I haven't lived there since the early 00s, but back when I did, you couldn't get a 2 bedroom house for less than $800.

[alamosakid]

Originally Posted by Utahooligan

Dearborn & Dearborn Heights are relatively nice places -- some large, expensive homes, some small, relatively inexpensive homes, but as far as I know, no real ghetto. Unlike many other 'minorities,' Dearborn Arabs don't really form gangs or commit a lot of crimes.

The communities have big city services & amenities, but small city communities. Most of the major crimes are caused by opportunistic Detroiters crossing into Dearborn because they think they'll have an easier time robbing/stealing. The local PDs are pretty good at catching them, and in response, Detroit calls Dearborn racist.

Dearborn Heights is going down the crapper, and FAST. The place is practically Taylor 2.0 now. It's nothing like the clean, middle class Dearborn Heights that my grandparents picked to start a family in back in the '60s.