University District? Please help.

[animatedmartian]

I actually have relatives who live in the neighborhood so I've spent quite lot of time there. I actually took a few pictures last November.













Quite honesty, I think this area deserves to be rightly affluent. Not quite as expensive as Palmer Woods or even some suburbs, but definitely worth some money.

[usroute10]

Thank you so much for those photos! University District is my favorite neighborhood in Detroit.

[Coldjensens]

Note: No bars on any windows or doors. No trash on the street (except trash cans) no collapsing garages. Not even any houses in need of paint in those photos. Lawns cut and watered, hedges mostly trimmed, sidewalks swept, someone is taking good care of the neighborhood. Don't even see any securty company signs in the yards. Either they are not allowed, or people do not feel security service is necessary.

Also no signs of el cheapo house repairs, no vinyl windows, no duct tape, no new unpainted plywood. People are obviously interested in maintaining the class and charm of their homes.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by detroitlove

the only con about the university district is the taxes, unless you're like the idiot who finds it scary because of black people

yes some of the homes need some work, duh they are old. You take your chances with old homes anywhere you live. in despair? I beg to differ

and who even mentioned new center?

You take as much or more chances with new homes. Lots and lots of problems with new homes. Construction defect litigation is a major part of my work and you do not litigate over old homes.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Note: No bars on any windows or doors. No trash on the street (except trash cans) no collapsing garages. Not even any houses in need of paint in those photos. Lawns cut and watered, hedges mostly trimmed, sidewalks swept, someone is taking good care of the neighborhood. Don't even see any securty company signs in the yards. Either they are not allowed, or people do not feel security service is necessary.

Also no signs of el cheapo house repairs, no vinyl windows, no duct tape, no new unpainted plywood. People are obviously interested in maintaining the class and charm of their homes.

Well...not quite. There were a few homes that needed some TLC but nothing like what you'd mostly see in Detroit.

These two houses you could tell were empty but no for sale signs (there's also a small security sign). This neighborhood was not immune to the foreclosing crisis of 2008 but it fared better than most.





And actually regarding security, my relatives who live in this neighborhood do use their alarm system. Residents in Detroit (specifically this neighborhood) aren't ones to leave their doors unlocked no matter what (something I commonly hear affluent suburbanites do), even if there's a private security patrol. But everything else is pretty accurate. *Everyone knows everyone and keeps an eye out for each other.

*There's like 1200 homes in this neighborhood so you might not know everyone, but at least the people on your block.

[PosterExtraordinaire]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

And actually regarding security, my relatives who live in this neighborhood do use their alarm system. Residents in Detroit (specifically this neighborhood) aren't ones to leave their doors unlocked no matter what (something I commonly hear affluent suburbanites do), even if there's a private security patrol. But everything else is pretty accurate. *Everyone knows everyone and keeps an eye out for each other.

i live in detroit, in a neighborhood with security doors, bars on windows, glass-block windows for all basement and ground floor windows, no security patrol, housing values avg 30gs and I and many of our neighbors will leave our doors not just unlocked but OPEN when we're home. If I'm sleeping I may lock them (sometimes I forget). Whenever I leave my house I do lock all doors though. security is a state of mind and many suburbanites have the security bug greater than us detroiters. As to all the security features on the homes-I didn't put them there (came with the house) and I wouldn't bother paying for them if given the choice.

to give you another example, i lived in a section of liverpool (england) where the residents were scared of ****less of crime. Now I doubt the area was particularly high crime for american standards but the home i rented not only had all the above, but the brick fence wall had barb wire and some sort of sticky paint coating the walls that'd cover anyone who'd tried to cover them. Not to mention the security doors were a real pain in the ass to open (you had to twist the knob in a sort of code to get it to work and use 2 keys). but again, it was perception more than reality. so many sensationalist news stories about detroit and that section of liverpool get people to pay for those features. somewhere security people are smiling.