Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The "wealthier people" can't just go out and hire private security. This is no Mexico. When the government is incapable of maintaining peace in any one area, and the mayor is himself a militant black racist who is more interested in gutting the police department than restoring law and order, most people would leave that area. And many of the "people who were left" behind were also the very people who committed all these crimes and murders.
As I said in another post where you tried to put the blame on people for leaving the crime infested neighborhoods, you're full of condescending, arrogant, ignorant self-righteousness.
Go live in the heart of a ghetto for a year, and fight crime. Then and only then would you have a moral right to preach.
There is a long transition period from when a neighborhood goes from healthy or pristine to war zone. When a neighborhood starts to slip, long before it becomes crime-ridden, the proud neighbors and homeowners of that neighborhood can try to work with each other, the city, the police, and the local school, to try prevent the neighborhood from slipping further.
In the case of Ms. Lee's neighborhood and your parent's friend, it seems like the neighborhoods were too far gone by the time they finally fleed, but there is a time of transition.
Right now it appears that inner ring suburbs like Eastpointe and Harper Woods and Redford are in that transition period similar to what the city neighborhoods went through, and many white folks are fleeing. Are these cities/townships "war-zones" currently? No, certainly the schools have slipped, some property is not kept up as well as it used to, crime has ticked up. They are not too far gone, though.
If people just keep fleeing and don't stick around to preserve their neighborhoods, in 10-15 years these cities might become the war zones that Mrs. Lee's endured.
Concerning living in the ghetto, this is 2 blocks from me, it's not pretty:
A closed DPS school building that has been stripped and now boarded up, vacant lots, vacant houses, trash that people have dumped. My block is not anything like that though.
In 11 years, my house has been broken into 2 times when I wasn't home, and there have been 2 other attempted break-ins that my alarm system has foiled. Other than that nothing bad has happened to me.
There is a long transition period from when a neighborhood goes from healthy or pristine to war zone. When a neighborhood starts to slip, long before it becomes crime-ridden, the proud neighbors and homeowners of that neighborhood can try to work with each other, the city, the police, and the local school, to try prevent the neighborhood from slipping further.
In the case of Ms. Lee's neighborhood and your parent's friend, it seems like the neighborhoods were too far gone by the time they finally fleed, but there is a time of transition.
Right now it appears that inner ring suburbs like Eastpointe and Harper Woods and Redford are in that transition period similar to what the city neighborhoods went through, and many white folks are fleeing. Are these cities/townships "war-zones" currently? No, certainly the schools have slipped, some property is not kept up as well as it used to, crime has ticked up. They are not too far gone, though.
If people just keep fleeing and don't stick around to preserve their neighborhoods, in 10-15 years these cities might become the war zones that Mrs. Lee's endured.
Concerning living in the ghetto, this is 2 blocks from me, it's not pretty:
A closed DPS school building that has been stripped and now boarded up, vacant lots, vacant houses, trash that people have dumped. My block is not anything like that though.
In 11 years, my house has been broken into 2 times when I wasn't home, and there have been 2 other attempted break-ins that my alarm system has foiled. Other than that nothing bad has happened to me.
Four break-ins in 10 years?
Do you know how far outside the realm of normal US experience that is?
I would have bars on every window and door, alarms, loaded guns all over the house, and two German Shepards.
Do you know how far outside the realm of normal US experience that is?
I would have bars on every window and door, alarms, loaded guns all over the house, and two German Shepards.
That's f**ked up.
The vast majority of people don't experience a single break-in in their lifetime. One is the source for a major concern. Two is the reason to move. Four in just ten years is crazy.
While living in the South, I picked up a habit of keeping a loaded gun in a fingerprint-activated safe in my night stand. But I have absolutely no reason to believe that I would ever have to use it, and if I did, I'd move as long as I could afford to. Most of Metro Detroit is actually boringly safe. That guy's experience is absolutely not the norm and works the opposite way to what he's trying to prove.
Last edited by Ummagumma; 09-16-2016 at 07:00 PM..
Do you know how far outside the realm of normal US experience that is?
I would have bars on every window and door, alarms, loaded guns all over the house, and two German Shepards.
That's f**ked up.
For the burbs (most of America) yea it's terrifying. For the hood, every 2 in a half years an ATTEMPTED break in? that ain't sh*t, most people who live in bad neighborhoods in America wouldn't even bat an eye at that figure. That's no worse than the bad neighborhoods in any other city. About half of Kalamazoo is considered safe yet their burglary rate isn't too far from Detroit's. I had a cousin who lived right outside of Atlanta and had their home broken into that many times in one week some years back.
Deterrents are key. I don't care if you live in Bloomfield Hills everyone should have an alarm and watch who you let in your house. Also keep your doors locked, first floor windows closed when your not home, and have either a gun or a dog (pit bulls) in the home. It's smart to get to know your neighbors as well.
For the burbs (most of America) yea it's terrifying. For the hood, every 2 in a half years an ATTEMPTED break in? that ain't sh*t, most people who live in bad neighborhoods in America wouldn't even bat an eye at that figure. That's no worse than the bad neighborhoods in any other city. About half of Kalamazoo is considered safe yet their burglary rate isn't too far from Detroit's. I had a cousin who lived right outside of Atlanta and had their home broken into that many times in one week some years back.
Deterrents are key. I don't care if you live in Bloomfield Hills everyone should have an alarm and watch who you let in your house. Also keep your doors locked, first floor windows closed when your not home, and have either a gun or a dog (pit bulls) in the home. It's smart to get to know your neighbors as well.
No. Location is the key. Everything else is making the best of a bad situation.
The vast majority of people don't experience a single break-in in their lifetime. One is the source for a major concern. Two is the reason to move. Four in just ten years is crazy.
While living in the South, I picked up a habit of keeping a loaded gun in a fingerprint-activated safe in my night stand. But I have absolutely no reason to believe that I would ever have to use it, and if I did, I'd move as long as I could afford to. Most of Metro Detroit is actually boringly safe. That guy's experience is absolutely not the norm and works the opposite way to what he's trying to prove.
The anecdote of my life experience should not overshadow the facts - that violent crime dropped in the city in 2014 & 2015. My house has not been broken into since May 2009, and the 1 time since that an attempt was made, the alarm scared the person away.
If the 2 year decline is the beginning of a long term trend, i don't know, I surely hope so.
I was just driving home the point that I do live in the 'hood something you challenged me to live in.
And you totally didn't address my main point about decline of communities, and I hope you would respond to my post # 63 on page 7 of the "Detroit comeback story" thread
Last edited by usroute10; 09-17-2016 at 05:38 PM..
The anecdote of my life experience should not overshadow the facts - that violent crime dropped in the city in 2014 & 2015. My house has not been broken into since May 2009, and the 1 time since that an attempt was made, the alarm scared the person away.
If the 2 year decline is the beginning of a long term trend, i don't know, I surely hope so.
I was just driving home the point that I do live in the 'hood something you challenged me to live in.
And you totally didn't address my main point about decline of communities, and I hope you would respond to my post # 63 on page 7 of the "Detroit comeback story" thread
No. Location is the key. Everything else is making the best of a bad situation.
Of course. But you can't let your guard down just because you feel like you live in a safer neighborhood either unless you live in a gated community. Just ask the people on the westside of Kalamazoo (the safest part of town) that get their doors kicked in and robbed or even held hostage or some of the people who got their homes broken into in the suburbia USA. Many (I dare say most) homes in the suburbs still have a security system in place. Homes in the burbs still have locks on all their doors and windows for a reason. Why is that? for a deterrent. You can't make yourself an easy target, burglars are opportunistic. And unfortunately, many burglars have been in the home before or know the home owner or know someone who has been in the home before.
Of course. But you can't let your guard down just because you feel like you live in a safer neighborhood either unless you live in a gated community. Just ask the people on the westside of Kalamazoo (the safest part of town) that get their doors kicked in and robbed or even held hostage or some of the people who got their homes broken into in the suburbia USA. Many (I dare say most) homes in the suburbs still have a security system in place. Homes in the burbs still have locks on all their doors and windows for a reason. Why is that? for a deterrent. You can't make yourself an easy target, burglars are opportunistic. And unfortunately, many burglars have been in the home before or know the home owner or know someone who has been in the home before.
As I said before, I keep a loaded gun in a fingerprint-enabled safe in my bedroom ever since I've been living in the South. And I do have an alarm system. I am not leaving my doors wide open when I go to bed. But I don't expect to have to actually have to use any of these safeties in a foreseeable future, and if I did, I'd relocate.
Most people want to live where it's safe. I don't want to go to sleep thinking "Ok, the alarm is on, the gun is loaded, I have a chance to survive the night".
The revival of downtown started with jamming it choke full of police. To the point where I now see young ex-suburban women taking bike rides by themselves.
If you want to revive more of Detroit, you should make more of it safe. Nobody needs a train to a place they can get robbed or shot.
The revival of downtown started with jamming it choke full of police. To the point where I now see young ex-suburban women taking bike rides by themselves.
I contend that the revival of downtown started with the opening of Comerica Park and Ford Field, the construction of the Compuware Building & Campus Martius, and the opening of the 2 casinos. No police presence would be needed if there was nothing to do downtown.
Concerning the road problem, Jackmichigan in the "Why didn't Grand Rapids decline" thread made a good point.
The Detroit metro area has not increased in population since 1970. There are actually less people in Metro Detroit in 1970 (4.5 million) than today (4.3 million)
However, TODAY, the slightly smaller metro population is much, much, much more spread out over a much larger land area. In 1970, a lot of today's popular suburbs like Novi and Northville and Macomb Township, and Lyon Township etc were mostly farmland with gravel 2-lane roads. Today, we have the same amount of people as in 1970 - paying for perhaps, 20%-40% more road infrastructure than what was needed to be maintained in 1970.
This is what results when you have a no-growth, "the city is bombed-out, but the suburbs are GREAT!!!" metro area that people in this area have been content with.
Let's look at Philadelphia, which in 1970 had a city population of 1.9 million (Detroit, 1.5 million) and a metro of 4.8 million (D-metro, 4.5 million). If Detroit metro had grown at the same pace as Greater Philly (6 million today) and the city of Detroit declined to the same extent as Philly (30% decline), then the Detroit metro would have 1 million more people today - 600,000 more in the city, 400,00 more in the suburbs - to pay for just about the same road infrastructure we have now because the city and declining inner suburbs, like Warren and Harper Woods, would have a lot more people.
We wouldn't need an additional tax levy.
Last edited by usroute10; 09-19-2016 at 10:58 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
