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Old 10-20-2009, 06:26 PM
 
Location: Just Outside of Chicagoland
77 posts, read 274,731 times
Reputation: 56

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I recently read that back in the 80's kids from Detroit participated in Devil's Night. But it wasnt just TPing or egging houses. It said people were setting up to 800 houses on fire every Oct. 30th . It then said people got fed up with it around the mid 90's, and started patroling the streets. I just wanted to see if any of this is true. Any imput would be great. Thanks.
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Old 10-20-2009, 09:33 PM
 
205 posts, read 653,534 times
Reputation: 89
I can't vouch for the number of 800 houses every Oct. 30th but, yes, its true. Not to defend anyone's actions but just to clarify: the houses being burnt were vacant house in various states of blight (many crack houses). These were not houses that were occupied by tenants. Some of the people burning houses were community members who were fed up that the city was allowing these buildings to remain standing and ruin their neighborhoods. Some where kids coming from the suburbs looking for a thrill. I haven't heard much about it being kids from within the City of Detroit itself. Others got fed up with the reputation of the motor city burnin' every devil's night and felt threatened so they did (in conjuction with local authorities) organize "angel's night" patrols where citizens were be out in full force to reduce the number of arsons.
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Old 10-21-2009, 03:35 PM
 
36 posts, read 117,410 times
Reputation: 36
Yep. It happened. I don't know exact numbers, but having all the patrolling and rebranding it to "Angel's Night" seemed to help quite a bit.
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Old 10-21-2009, 06:35 PM
 
Location: N LV
122 posts, read 359,254 times
Reputation: 69
Let it Burn then maybe there will be no more Abonament homes around so kid will stop getting Rape or Drug homes.
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Old 10-21-2009, 08:01 PM
 
11,155 posts, read 15,700,997 times
Reputation: 4209
It's funny how the media was there every Oct. 30 to broadcast Detroit burning to the world, but the minute communities, police, and gangs (yes, gangs) collaborated to shut it down, not a peep from the national media.

Possibly one of the most impressive reclamation efforts by a city banding together, and nothing. It didn't fit the national mythology. Sad.

On a side note - I remember they used to broadcast porn for free on cable to keep people in their houses that night. Haha - brilliant.
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Old 10-22-2009, 07:59 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,708 posts, read 79,764,742 times
Reputation: 39453
I thought that it was funny, all of the news crews moved in hoping to get some good "Detroit is awful" footage just after the Angels night started. THe night arrived, and virtually nothing happened. There were more news crews wandering saround than anything. One building did catch fire and they all flocked to it. I suspected that it woudl trun out to have been started by a news crew who wanted someting to do, but it was actaully a guy smoking in bed.

It is pretty well dead on Devils night nowadays. Even the old playful stuff (soaping windows) is pretty much gone.
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Old 10-23-2009, 07:53 PM
 
Location: Kentucky
41 posts, read 140,801 times
Reputation: 31
I was living in SW Detroit (McGraw/Lonyo/Michigan area) in the very early 90's and we had block patrols and curfews that worked quite well. Actually, my area was pretty safe as long as you didn't go up on Michigan Avenue after dark. I used to walk up to Michigan a couple of times a week to go shopping at all the stores and never had any trouble at all.
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Old 10-26-2009, 10:45 AM
 
7,357 posts, read 11,753,298 times
Reputation: 8944
Yeah, Devil's Night is no longer what it used to be.

*reaches for devil costume and blowtorch*
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Old 12-09-2010, 03:51 AM
 
6 posts, read 14,444 times
Reputation: 10
There were kids in the city that burned down houses on devils night 2. Devil's night in the 80's took the wind out of the renaissance of detroit 80's feeling around 85-86 when jobs came back after the recession,the tigers world series victory, and a feeling that the city was starting to make a comeback.
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Old 12-10-2010, 05:19 AM
 
Location: Macao
16,257 posts, read 43,168,834 times
Reputation: 10257
It stopped? I grew up in Michigan....and thought that was just NORMAL everywhere throughout the US. It wasn't until 1992 when I moved to Arizona....was looking for storage for my car on Devil's Night, that I realized that wasn't a national thing.

To this day, I assumed all of MI still had Devil's Night. It's news to me that it has stopped. I haven't lived in MI since I left in 1992.

Some things change after all, I guess.
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