What parts of Detroit city are gentrified? (Hamtramck, Wayne: foreclosures, insurance)

[Redrum237]

Just to clarify things so I have a more accurate picture of everything, what areas of the city of Detroit are considered gentrified, to some degree? Hamtramck could count too, if it is.

Indian Village, Boston Edison, Harper Woods, Corktown, and some of the area around Wayne State University are all I can think of myself, right now.

And obviously, Detroit standards of gentrification are different than standards for, say, New York City. I basically mean anything that's not blighted, and where there are a sizeable number of people who aren't dirt poor.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by Redrum237

Just to clarify things so I have a more accurate picture of everything, what areas of the city of Detroit are considered gentrified, to some degree? Hamtramck could count too, if it is.

Indian Village, Boston Edison, Harper Woods, Corktown, and some of the area around Wayne State University are all I can think of myself, right now.

And obviously, Detroit standards of gentrification are different than standards for, say, New York City. I basically mean anything that's not blighted, and where there are a sizeable number of people who aren't dirt poor.

You are talking Detroit right? Unless billion dollar sports stadiums count as gentrification...

Even Palmer Woods is struggling to maintain its image of wealth.

[Redrum237]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

You are talking Detroit right? Unless billion dollar sports stadiums count as gentrification...

Even Palmer Woods is struggling to maintain its image of wealth.

How is Palmer Woods struggling? It looks pretty obviously wealthy to me, plus it's right on the fringes of the city.

[geos]

When property values get low enough the arts crowd moves in. Sometimes. With beautiful brick mansions going for $25k I can't believe there isn't a spark of revitalization somewhere in Detroit.

[rid0617]

Originally Posted by geos

When property values get low enough the arts crowd moves in. Sometimes. With beautiful brick mansions going for $25k I can't believe there isn't a spark of revitalization somewhere in Detroit.

The problem is the property tax that goes with those $25,000 mansions. Otherwise we would have been there a year ago. In our case it's hard to consider leaving property tax of approximately $700 per year and moving to $4,000+ per year.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by rid0617

The problem is the property tax that goes with those $25,000 mansions. Otherwise we would have been there a year ago. In our case it's hard to consider leaving property tax of approximately $700 per year and moving to $4,000+ per year.

but how much is the mortgage for the home with only $700 of property tax?

[Briolat21]

Originally Posted by Redrum237

Just to clarify things so I have a more accurate picture of everything, what areas of the city of Detroit are considered gentrified, to some degree? Hamtramck could count too, if it is.

Indian Village, Boston Edison, Harper Woods, Corktown, and some of the area around Wayne State University are all I can think of myself, right now.

And obviously, Detroit standards of gentrification are different than standards for, say, New York City. I basically mean anything that's not blighted, and where there are a sizeable number of people who aren't dirt poor.

You know that Harper Woods is a totally different city (its a suburb of Detroit) - right?

Indian Village was "gentrified" in the '70's , '80's. Palmer Woods has been hanging on. Boston Edison was hanging on but seems to have been hit hard by the down turn.

However "gentrified" implies that the area fell on hard times and then was revitalized - usually by arty/yuppies moving in and displacing poorer residents. Indian Village fits that. Boston Edison and Palmer Woods don't fit that model - they maintained their status as nice neighborhoods all the way through.

Higland Park was having a resurgence before the economic crash - I know a lot of suburbanites (Urban Pioneers) were buying up the "cheap" houses there with character and fixing them up. But I assume that the recession has killed that and probably led to a lot of foreclosures.

Same with Hamtrammack (Hamtrammack is still a separate city from Detroit, correct?).


Re: taxes. If you buy a property at a significantly lower value than its city tax-appraised value - can't you ask for a reassessment and make the case why the property is over valued??

[Callo]

Honestly, from what I've seen of Detroit, gentrification would be impossible. The city has decayed to such an extreme extent that nothing short of kicking out everyone there and airlifting in a million white suburbanites would change Detroit's future. I mean, look at this place:

1823 Burns St, Detroit, MI 48214 - Zillow

This place was nice, but if you go a little further east onto Fischer Street...ugh, forget about it. Crime, blight, and poverty abound. Would anyone want to live next to that?

Full-blown urban revitalization is needed, or else nothing will happen.

[Dexterguy]

Originally Posted by Callo

Honestly, from what I've seen of Detroit, gentrification would be impossible. The city has decayed to such an extreme extent that nothing short of kicking out everyone there and airlifting in a million white suburbanites would change Detroit's future. I mean, look at this place:

1823 Burns St, Detroit, MI 48214 - Zillow

This place was nice, but if you go a little further east onto Fischer Street...ugh, forget about it. Crime, blight, and poverty abound. Would anyone want to live next to that?

Full-blown urban revitalization is needed, or else nothing will happen.

In many sections of Detroit this statement is true. Many of the houses are rotted and burned out beyond belief and the only future for those properties is demolition and to completely start over.

It's kind of surprising that no one mentioned Brush Park. Yes, many blocks of Brush Park still look terrible, but some areas look okay. Especially the 19th Century mansions that were brought back to life with years of decay. The only reason those mansions stood for so many years though without falling down was because they were 100% brick, except for the roofs which were totally replaced anyway when the renovations were going on.

Sadly, it looks like the revival of Brush Park has come to a completely stopped. Especially since the national economic crisis began last year.

I suppose that you could consider some houses and blocks in Brush Park to be gentrified?

[rid0617]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

but how much is the mortgage for the home with only $700 of property tax?

We have a 2100 square foot modular home on 1 acre, dead end of a cul de sac. We paid average price $84,000. We financed $79,500. 6% interest and the payment is $478.44, escrow for insurance and taxes is $107.91. Total payment is $586.35 a month every month.

We were going to buy a BE home and pay cash and refurbish. First surprise was auto insurance for one car would be as high as we pay for two. Next surprise was property tax and homeowners. Unfortunately to our dismay we found what we would save by not having a house payment would be pretty much ate up with taxes and insurance. Now we sit down here on hold wishing we could get to Detroit.