Should I come to Detroit (Jackson, Ferndale: to rent, townhouses, job market)

[Daniel_T]

Glad to see everyone's still on my topic. I have read all 19 pages of this and still want to come to Detroit. I am planning on coming in February or March for 1 week. I am going to check out the city and the suburbs. get a feel of the place myself. I can't shake the feeling that I want to visit. I will have to see for myself.

Thanks for all the feedback. One more question. Anyone heard of the Milner hotel? It's near Ford Field in downtown Detroit. It's gotten okay reviews. It's a cheap motel. 50 bucks a night. Please don't give your opinion about it being sleaze hotel just by looking at the price. I want to hear what it's like from people that have stayed there, or know someone who has stayed there. Or maybe even driven past it. Don't comment unless you know what your'e talking about.

Daniel (oh and I'm 18 now just to let everyone know)

[LOUIS XIV]

Originally Posted by Daniel_T

Glad to see everyone's still on my topic. I have read all 19 pages of this and still want to come to Detroit. I am planning on coming in February or March for 1 week. I am going to check out the city and the suburbs. get a feel of the place myself. I can't shake the feeling that I want to visit. I will have to see for myself.

Thanks for all the feedback. One more question. Anyone heard of the Milner hotel? It's near Ford Field in downtown Detroit. It's gotten okay reviews. It's a cheap motel. 50 bucks a night. Please don't give your opinion about it being sleaze hotel just by looking at the price. I want to hear what it's like from people that have stayed there, or know someone who has stayed there. Or maybe even driven past it. Don't comment unless you know what your'e talking about.

Daniel (oh and I'm 18 now just to let everyone know)

I think I will also come to live over there. I don't feel that Detroit is particularly worse than other big cities. I hope I am not wrong. Anyway, I will be in suburbs because I hate live in any Metro, even Paris.

[ayoungrich81]

everybody has an opionion but i was born and raised on the westside of detroit, aswell as my parents and grandparents and detroit has been nothing but a blessing to me and my family. now i know detroit has a bad reputation and i've lost some friends, some to the grave some to the jail but for the most part that was from personal decision that they made. Now im not going to lie and say that you can just walk down Linwood ave. at 2:00am or anytime for that matter and everything works out for the best, but what do you expect when you drain all the the local jobs and resources and leave 17-26 year old kids in a city thats already filled with poverty. Now im 25 years old I made it out threw the grace of god but none of my piers had the oppurtunity that i had its not that we're dangerous but its easy to have a "out to get mine" mentality when you feel like they just put us here to exist and die with no hope in between.

[and the]

but what do you expect when you drain all the the local jobs and resources and leave 17-26 year old kids in a city thats already filled with poverty.

17-26 year old people are not kids, they're adults. Secondly, I know people who are old enough to remember what life was like during the 30's. They didn't have any problem walking down Linwood at 2:00am, and the poverty was a lot more pronounced then. What's the difference between then and now?

everybody has an opionion but i was born and raised on the westside of detroit, aswell as my parents and grandparents and detroit has been nothing but a blessing to me and my family.

How did the Detroit Public School system do by you? Blessing?

but its easy to have a "out to get mine" mentality when you feel like they just put us here to exist and die with no hope in between.

Ah, so it's "THEIR" fault!!! Now we're getting somewhere. But first, who is "they"? I think it's more germane, not to mention tito or marlon, to look at who ISN'T "they". "They" is never "me" is it? It's always someone else. I think we just found out what the difference is between 1930's Detroit and the Detroit of the early 21st century. Who had a wider social safety net? The jobless Detroiter of the 30's Depression or the jobless Detroiter of today? And who could walk down Linwood at 2:00am and why? 30's Detroiter or today's?

[pwright1]

Someone mentioned great museums. Where are they? Are they downtown? Also does Detroit have a symphony and a ballet co.?

I also remember a couple of years ago we went to a party in Palmer Woods. That neighborhood is beautiful. Also Sherwood Forest with the cool gas lamps.(if i'm correct)

I also could not imagine living in the suburbs and never venturing to the city. That must be awful.

[Cato the Elder]

In the city, the museums are in Midtown/Cultural Center/Wayne State campus. It's just north of downtown and generally as safe as any big city during the daytime with plenty of foot traffic. I've yet to get harassed in the area and I work in the area every weekday. I've felt more threatened in NYC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore during the day than in Midtown. Here's a nice website with a brief description of the area and pictures. Midtown Detroit

[cknoch32]

People, I have been a Michigander my whole life, . I've never been shot at, never been offered a drug, never been raped or pilaged. I went to Wayne State University and graduated pretty high on the marker. We have 2 top 10 Universities in our state of Michigan alone. So many successful and loving people come out of this area- I can't even begin to tell you. They are my friends and family and I consider them the BEST anywhere.The problem is that when the auto industry is doing bad, people get WORRIED, STRESSED. LOSE HOPE< GET SICK,DRINK,DIE. Because in some households -that is all they know. We were completely raised on Automobiles, Lakes, Rock n Roll and Family--That's pretty much IT!!!!!If you are from Denver area you are raised on MOuntains, COuntry, Telecommunications industry etc. WE are just DIFFERNET THAN YOU! It doesn't mean we are bad or wierd.We get the badass rep because there are a lot of POOR, UNeducated, blacks and whites in the 10-20 mile radius of Detroit ONLY( who have fought with each other for generations in the same area because of racial tension and poverty)the Actual city of Detroit has been run by some pretty shady people in the last 20 some years. But yet good things have come out of even them like the girl was saying WSU, Comerica Park, the casinos. This IS an improvement from when I was growing up there.Here I sit writing to you all! well about 15 min from detroit in Southgate, and now I moved to Denver,Co , rather 15 min from Denver,CO.If you go to ANY major city you are going to find your crime. grime and slime if you go to the places in harbors. Spend sometime right in the heart of Denver for a while you will know what I'm talking about. There is so much pverty and, crime and drugs as there is in Detroit Yet, Denver is one of the richiest places in the country right now.Industry always determines states. HELP BUY AMERICAN AUTOS HELP FORG< GM and CHrysler. SOme people in Denver didn't even know who the Big 3 were... That is a start!!!

Originally Posted by Poetic

Moderator cut: personal I disagree with you.

By the way, the downtown area & the Wayne State University area consists of a completely different atmosphere than what most here are talking about. Most of the Wayne State students have either lived in Detroit their entire lives or live in the suburbs and commute. I go to Wayne State, the Art Museum, Comerica Park, and the Hockeytown Cafe all the time - it doesn't mean i'd freely travel into the other 90% of Detroit on a walk one day. You can lie if you want - but that's not going to help Detroit. People realize it's crime rates are dangerously high and what you have to say about your downtown home being located in the safest part of Detroit isn't going to change people's opinions.

And in case you missed it, c1schnei, I did say this: &quot;If you want to move into Detroit, though, then good for you! I hope more people do move there... &quot; at least I was encouraging him to, one day, move to Detroit. That's more than most would do.

[ErikU19]

Detroit is a city rittled with crime, poverty, and destrcution. 60 years ago Detroit would be the place to live...today it is NOT.

Why do so many people try and make it into something it is not? A city doesnt lose half it's population, and continue to do so to this very day, without cause.

[SuziSu]

Well either way I love that city. I tried to read as much as I could from this thread but its gets sorta depressing. Although some of them are right, I love the city. I grew up most of my life in a suburb of Detroit (Rochester Hills) and would venture to the city to visit most of my friends and work there and hang out there. I love the city. It's an amazing, beautiful city with great culture, and YES there are very bad parts of Detroit that you should never find yourself in, but the good parts are still there. I loved walking around the coney's and the new condos and Comerica ans State Theater (fillmore East, I guess) and stopping in at the Town Pump or The Tap Room, and staying clear of Hockeytown because it was way overpriced. That city is amazing. The music scene, the culture. Great Place. It really does depend on why you are moving there. If for school, then do it! Just be aware that you are taking a risk of safety by living there. I've been living in Tampa now for a year and this town doesn't know the first thing about history in a city. I miss the D. Just not the weather.

[Daniel_T]

thank you all. I appreciate all this feedback. I am trying out detroit. I am kinda nervous but not in a bad way. I don't really know what to expect. Anyone know of any tours that go around detroit? I'd like to get a feel for the city and the suburbs. I don't want to have to take a bus to do that or spend tons of money on cabs going from to Detroit to Birmingham and from Birmingham to harper woods and so forth. Thanks,

Daniel_T