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.
Go anywhere in this country, ANYWHERE, the moment you disclose that you live close to Detroit it is instant laughter and affirmation of crime statistics and murder rates. All is a joke when you talk to this stranger but the sad truth is, the people of the city need to care before anything is going to happen in a positive manner. Decades of corruption among police and government, squandering of money and resources, and a public body who could care less about anything but finding the next dollar to buy food. The stereotype will be there for decades more, or until the people of Detroit decide that they care more than just about themselves.
You live in Detroit? I really hope you aren't misleading the people if that's not the case. "I keed, I keed".
Personally I have not encountered this at all. Most think I'm telling a lie for some reason. I guess I don't fit the stereotype.
There's no denying this city has problems. I simply think it is not as bad as some people would have you believe.
I keep telling them it's not worth it. They have to live like THEY are in JAIL!!! For what? For working hard and taking care of their house?
Yes they do. I refused to live like that but after several burglaries, more dope houses springing up, more sideways looks from the people on the porch of dope house down the block, it became apparent that it was time to go and I agreed with my wife. What would have happened if I WOULD have had to use deadly force against a burglar or a hold-up man? Would I have been charged with murder by a Detroit prosecutor? Who would I have on my jury? Someone who thinks no one should have a gun whether they're carrying legally or not? No thanks. "The Beast" won, and I left. Now someone who wants to make a difference can occupy my former spot in Detroit and do their thing.
Quote:
My husband and I BOTH have a permit to carry and I certainly do so when I visit them. To think that just a few years ago the whole family would go to their house for backyard parties. Last summer, the druggies let their grass grow 3 ft high and it is so FULL of dog poo from their Pitt Bull and Rottweiler, you can't even sit out in back on warm days if you wanted to.
I had a Rottweiler (but I picked up his poo) and someone poisoned him. That night or the next, someone tried to break in, so it was pretty clear to me who tried to poison him. Thankfully he didn't die. I think that dog was the only thing that kept people from getting into my house. They tried a couple times but never got in, although they got my garage several times.
Quote:
The "mom" at the drug house is actually a very friendly woman. I chat with her, but she seems unable to control her children and their friends. I think she is simply "high" too much of the time to care. She admitted she knows they sell drugs out of there, but told me not to worry, that she'll "make sure her kids don't bother my auntie."
I'm not sure that makes me feel all that much better. It's really great to pull up in the drive and get out and say hello only to have 14 young adults sitting on their steps just stare back at you, like they don't understand English.
She might know how to handle them. I know of one case where a grandma shot her crackhead grandson in the butt with a .22 after he took the Thanksgiving turkey down the street to the dope house for a rock. There's a thousand stories in the naked city!! After one or more of her drug dealing kids gets homicided to death, she'll be the one on the 6 O'Clock news (if it even makes the news) saying: "He was such a good boy. He was just thinking about considering maybe looking into going to school to be a doctor because he wanted to help people. I wanted him to be an Astronaut, but the Air Force turned him down because he dropped out of grade school."
This thread is getting too serious. It needs a little levity. Sociologist's post reminded me of this true story. I saw it on Snopes:
Quote:
The Detroit Red Wings foreign scout flies to Baghdad to watch a young
Iraqi play hockey in the new American sponsored league and is suitably
impressed and arranges for him to come over to the US.
Ken Holland signs him to a one year contract and the kid joins the team
for the preseason.
Two weeks later the Wings are down 4-0 to the Blackhawks with only 10
minutes left. Mike Babcock gives the young Iraqi the nod and he goes
in.
The kid is a sensation - scores 5 goals in 10 minutes and wins the game
for Wings! The fans are delighted, the players and coaches are
delighted and the media love the new star.
When the player comes off the ice he phones his mom to tell her about
his first day of NHL hockey. "Hello mom, guess what?" he says in an
Iraqi accent.
"I played for 10 minutes today, we were 4-0 down, but I scored 5 goals
and we won. Everybody loves me, the fans, the media, they all love me."
Wonderful," says his mom, "Let me tell you about my day. Your father
got shot in the street and robbed, your sister and I were ambushed,
raped and beaten and your brother has joined a gang of looters, and all
while you were having such great time." The young Iraqi is very upset.
"What can I say mom, but I'm so sorry."
"Sorry? You're Sorry?" says his mom, "It's your fault we moved to
Detroit in the first place."
I feel really sorry for you to have stuck in the city so long yet still be driven away by rising crime and community apathy. I live in Warrendale and it is indeed on the decline, but its not that bad. However,there is a young man in the house next door who sells drugs. One time he even completed a transaction right in front of my house. I am thinking of accumulating a list of job opportunities, typing it on a sheet of paper and handing it to him the next time I see him.
This person's family are renters and they are not tidy. There backyard is FULL of trash. It is nasty. I am seriously thinking about asking the mother of the house to clean that mess up the next time I see her. She seems cordial when I see her, but sometimes I overhear her cussing at here children, so maybe she has a temper.
And somehow this family has obtained THREE of those city garbage containers, even though I thought each house could only have ONE.
And they left an SUV, which they jacked up, in the front of their driveway, while they tried to fix it...FOR TWO WEEKS.
And they don't shovel the sidewalk in front of their house. I guess you can say that they are the stereotypical renters, the kind of people that make you want to leave a neighborhood.
The particular house that they rent was built in 1950 and owned by the same (white) lady family until 2006. Her son and his family was living in it. When their teenage son was robbed in broad daylight on Evergreen Road, they got the hell out!! The same night that they finished removing all of their things from the house, their central A/C unit was stolen.
Which brings me to another point - (Greedy, uncaring) Landlords. The person who bought this house did so an investment (renting it out). They never replaced the A/C unit (which would have cost 1,500 to 2000 at the most), they didn't provide a lawnmower to the renters, they didn't trim the hedges in the front yard. If the landlord actually "laid down the law" and showed that he cared about the community enough to replace the A/C, provide a lawnmower, do some landscaping and spruce up the grounds, maybe the renters would care more about the property upon which they live. All these renters care about is making a profit, they care nothing about the community. So these renters are making the decline worse!!
Now to the crime issue, my house had been broken into once, but its my fault because I left both the garage door and a back window open, so I was asking for it. Other than that, I have put on new siding, gutters, driveway pavement, sod, awning, porch, railing, garage door, and not one time have I been robbed. But I am sure there are people looking to "lift" my A/C unit when they see the "U-HAUL" truck that will be pulling into my driveway the next couple of months. And no I am not moving out of Detroit, but to a neighborhood that has houses with character and architectural distinction - something Warrendale does not have.
And one last thing, to "Sunvixen" and "And The" if you're not going to help solve the problems of Detroit, then why keep talking about it! You people are not in Detroit, and you don't have to deal with the bad of Detroit. So be happy in suburbia, why keep harping on the bad of Detroit, when you aren't going to do anything about it!!!
I feel really sorry for you to have stuck in the city so long yet still be driven away by rising crime and community apathy. I live in Warrendale and it is indeed on the decline, but its not that bad. However,there is a young man in the house next door who sells drugs. One time he even completed a transaction right in front of my house. I am thinking of accumulating a list of job opportunities, typing it on a sheet of paper and handing it to him the next time I see him.
This person's family are renters and they are not tidy. There backyard is FULL of trash. It is nasty. I am seriously thinking about asking the mother of the house to clean that mess up the next time I see her. She seems cordial when I see her, but sometimes I overhear her cussing at here children, so maybe she has a temper.
And somehow this family has obtained THREE of those city garbage containers, even though I thought each house could only have ONE.
And they left an SUV, which they jacked up, in the front of their driveway, while they tried to fix it...FOR TWO WEEKS.
And they don't shovel the sidewalk in front of their house. I guess you can say that they are the stereotypical renters, the kind of people that make you want to leave a neighborhood.
The particular house that they rent was built in 1950 and owned by the same (white) lady family until 2006. Her son and his family was living in it. When their teenage son was robbed in broad daylight on Evergreen Road, they got the hell out!! The same night that they finished removing all of their things from the house, their central A/C unit was stolen.
Which brings me to another point - (Greedy, uncaring) Landlords. The person who bought this house did so an investment (renting it out). They never replaced the A/C unit (which would have cost 1,500 to 2000 at the most), they didn't provide a lawnmower to the renters, they didn't trim the hedges in the front yard. If the landlord actually "laid down the law" and showed that he cared about the community enough to replace the A/C, provide a lawnmower, do some landscaping and spruce up the grounds, maybe the renters would care more about the property upon which they live. All these renters care about is making a profit, they care nothing about the community. So these renters are making the decline worse!!
Now to the crime issue, my house had been broken into once, but its my fault because I left both the garage door and a back window open, so I was asking for it. Other than that, I have put on new siding, gutters, driveway pavement, sod, awning, porch, railing, garage door, and not one time have I been robbed. But I am sure there are people looking to "lift" my A/C unit when they see the "U-HAUL" truck that will be pulling into my driveway the next couple of months. And no I am not moving out of Detroit, but to a neighborhood that has houses with character and architectural distinction - something Warrendale does not have.
And one last thing, to "Sunvixen" and "And The" if you're not going to help solve the problems of Detroit, then why keep talking about it! You people are not in Detroit, and you don't have to deal with the bad of Detroit. So be happy in suburbia, why keep harping on the bad of Detroit, when you aren't going to do anything about it!!!
Dear Acu...oops...
Dear UsRoute10,
I ONLY moved out of Detroit last year. I work in Downtown Detroit 5 days a week and pay City taxes. I tried to help for over 40 years. I have to deal with the "bad of Detroit" as I work there and since Detroit directly affects ALL of S.E. MI. If that is not obvious to you, then may I suggest a subscription to Crains?
That is why.
P.S. Maybe you're right. Maybe our family should stop spending hundreds of $$$$$ dollars at restaurants in downtown Detroitevery Saturday. Yes, I think we will start spending that money at all the great places in the burbs. thanks for that idea!!
One time he even completed a transaction right in front of my house. I am thinking of accumulating a list of job opportunities, typing it on a sheet of paper and handing it to him the next time I see him.
Well bless your heart. Tell me, to whom are you going to sell your house? When you fill out your seller's disclosure, will you be letting any potential buyers know that there's a drug dealer living next door? You know it's the right thing to do. Will you wait until you find a decent person and sell by owner, or will you just give it away to a slumlord and rationalize by saying "Well, I HAVE to sell it to whoever comes up with the money!" I kinda don't think Junior is going to want an actual job that might jeopardize his mom's Section 8 Status. He's in a cash business now. Best of both worlds. He can make good money and STILL qualify for a grant when he applies to Engineering School! Or were you renting? I owned a house the entire time I lived in the city. Paid property tax AND income tax. Actually I owned two houses. Rented one out until I sold both.
Here's what I did for my neighborhood: I sold by owner and sold my houses to decent people. That was the last thing I did for the city of Detroit other than paying my taxes on time, refusing to surrender the night to the animals, keeping my property up, pulling my neighbor off of his wife while he was beating the crap out of her....I think I've done enough. Now it's someone else's turn. But alas, you're leaving Warrendale too!! One of the last neighborhoods in transition. Just one more house to be plucked clean of aluminum and copper by next fall.
Why would the landlord replace the A/C unit? I wouldn't pay for A/C either. The kid who sold the dope would just sell that one for scrap too. You don't need A/C to live in Warrendale. I never had it. Just open a window and duck and cover if it gets too bad.
Quote:
When their teenage son was robbed in broad daylight on Evergreen Road, they got the hell out!!
Ah, Evergreen Road...I have fond memories of almost being held up there too!! Back when the gas station on the southwest corner was also a donut shop that was open all night. Hey, what happened to the Outlaws M/C clubhouse that was on Warren near Chick's? I thought those guys were going to clean up the neighborhood. Your point about greedy and uncaring landlords is just another examle of people (the tennants) not taking personal responsibility. "It's the landlord's fault. If only he gave us a lawnmower, we would keep the grass cut." Are you kidding? The lawnmower would be gone quicker than the copper in the A/C unit. If there are drugs moving out of that house, the cause is lost. There is no reasonable hope for redemption.
Quote:
Now to the crime issue, my house had been broken into once, but its my fault because I left both the garage door and a back window open, so I was asking for it.
There's another difference between us: I am not an apologist for scumbags. IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT THAT YOUR HOUSE WAS BURGLARIZED!!!! I don't care if you left every door in the house propped open, left every light on and placed a freshly-baked apple pie on the open window sill to cool and left for the weekend....It was the fault of the scumbag that burglarized your house! Just like it's not the fault of the victim who refuses to give up his car and shoots a carjacker. But believe it or not, I was an optimist when I lived in Detroit. I was optimistic that I would be quicker on the trigger than the guy trying to hold me up while taking a walk at night. I was optimisitic that the druggies sponging off of their invalid mother across the street were more afraid of being caught than they were desirous of the stuff I had in my garage (I was wrong), I was optimisitic that I could stay in that house until my kids were in grade school (wrong again), I was optimistic that I could get a buyer for my houses (Thank God I sold years ago!). Yep, I was an optimist alright. I was optimistic that all my favorite places on Warren Ave would be there for at least 10 more years. Boy was I wrong on that one.
I feel really sorry for you to have stuck in the city so long yet still be driven away by rising crime and community apathy. I live in Warrendale and it is indeed on the decline, but its not that bad. However,there is a young man in the house next door who sells drugs. One time he even completed a transaction right in front of my house. I am thinking of accumulating a list of job opportunities, typing it on a sheet of paper and handing it to him the next time I see him.
This person's family are renters and they are not tidy. There backyard is FULL of trash. It is nasty. I am seriously thinking about asking the mother of the house to clean that mess up the next time I see her. She seems cordial when I see her, but sometimes I overhear her cussing at here children, so maybe she has a temper.
And somehow this family has obtained THREE of those city garbage containers, even though I thought each house could only have ONE.
And they left an SUV, which they jacked up, in the front of their driveway, while they tried to fix it...FOR TWO WEEKS.
And they don't shovel the sidewalk in front of their house. I guess you can say that they are the stereotypical renters, the kind of people that make you want to leave a neighborhood.
The particular house that they rent was built in 1950 and owned by the same (white) lady family until 2006. Her son and his family was living in it. When their teenage son was robbed in broad daylight on Evergreen Road, they got the hell out!! The same night that they finished removing all of their things from the house, their central A/C unit was stolen.
Which brings me to another point - (Greedy, uncaring) Landlords. The person who bought this house did so an investment (renting it out). They never replaced the A/C unit (which would have cost 1,500 to 2000 at the most), they didn't provide a lawnmower to the renters, they didn't trim the hedges in the front yard. If the landlord actually "laid down the law" and showed that he cared about the community enough to replace the A/C, provide a lawnmower, do some landscaping and spruce up the grounds, maybe the renters would care more about the property upon which they live. All these renters care about is making a profit, they care nothing about the community. So these renters are making the decline worse!!
Now to the crime issue, my house had been broken into once, but its my fault because I left both the garage door and a back window open, so I was asking for it. Other than that, I have put on new siding, gutters, driveway pavement, sod, awning, porch, railing, garage door, and not one time have I been robbed. But I am sure there are people looking to "lift" my A/C unit when they see the "U-HAUL" truck that will be pulling into my driveway the next couple of months. And no I am not moving out of Detroit, but to a neighborhood that has houses with character and architectural distinction - something Warrendale does not have.
And one last thing, to "Sunvixen" and "And The" if you're not going to help solve the problems of Detroit, then why keep talking about it! You people are not in Detroit, and you don't have to deal with the bad of Detroit. So be happy in suburbia, why keep harping on the bad of Detroit, when you aren't going to do anything about it!!!
What area are you moving to? I've been thinking about going to an area closer to downtown. I live in Warrendale, we have renters next door too, but we are blessed they are great and they take care of the house better than I do and this is my family house. We haven't had any crime, but I agree it can't be your fault someone broke in.
I'm committed to doing my part to help the city. It was lovely for me to post about a theatre group for children in Mexicantown that I thought suburbanites might like to take their kids too. I am taking my niece because I want to support the communities in my city in a positive way, it was lovely because I was told what a stupid wrong idea that was. Anyway, if you post positive or even truly constructive negative things there are a few of us here that would love to hear from you. We need to balance things out.
What area are you moving to? I've been thinking about going to an area closer to downtown.
So why don't you buy a house near the Theater and Ste. Anne's. The Bagley Housing Assn. is building brand new ones right there. You'll be right near downtown and can volunteer at the theater! This one has your name all over it and you can't beat the price: Just $116,000.00 for a brand new house within walking distance of stores, restaurants and churches: 2-Story Homes
What area are you moving to? I've been thinking about going to an area closer to downtown. I live in Warrendale, we have renters next door too, but we are blessed they are great and they take care of the house better than I do and this is my family house. We haven't had any crime, but I agree it can't be your fault someone broke in.
I'm committed to doing my part to help the city. It was lovely for me to post about a theatre group for children in Mexicantown that I thought suburbanites might like to take their kids too. I am taking my niece because I want to support the communities in my city in a positive way, it was lovely because I was told what a stupid wrong idea that was. Anyway, if you post positive or even truly constructive negative things there are a few of us here that would love to hear from you. We need to balance things out.
A "stupid wrong" idea? Who said that? Unless I missed something, that may just be YOUR interpretation of what was said by a few.
Last edited by Sunvixen; 02-25-2008 at 02:18 PM..
Reason: typo
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.
Oh my
