Article about Highland Park (Detroit, Hamtramck: middle-class, squatters, houses)

[matth78]

If anyone lives in Highland Park--or used to live there--and would like to talk about the area for an article I'm writing, please contact me. I'm especially interested about the effects of a recession on an already struggling city.

Worth noting perhaps (in response to a scathing thread about the municipality): I was there for the first time a few days ago, and although it is certainly economically blighted, as a white out-of-towner, I did not feel unsafe.

[Dexterguy]

My great aunt lived in Highland Park almost all her life until moving to Florida in the late 1980's. She remembered when the city was thriving with jobs from Ford and Chrysler making the city the place to be.

It's really sad to see what has happened to Highland Park since the late 1960's when it started to go downhill at a quick pace. Highland Park's downtown was mostly on Woodward Ave, where they had dozens and dozens of stores. Back then in the 1940's and 1950's my aunt told me that there was a store on Woodward for practically anything you wanted. There were televison stores, shoe stores, hat stores, hardware stores, the old Sears store on Woodward was big for clothes. But sadly that all gone today. All the building are either abandoned, demolished, or just burned out.

As you probably all ready know, Highland Park fell victim to extreme "white flight" in the 1960's through the 1980's when many of the middle-class whites moved up Woodward to the northern suburbs.

Reflecting on Highland Park is just hard to do. The leaders of Highland Park have turned their back on the city for so long. Even being a small city with about 12,000 people there has been extreme corruption. Highland Park's former financial manager is now under investigation on stealing thousands of dollars from the city.

[matth78]

Thank you. Very helpful. Do you know anything about the enclave of still standing mansions off of Woodward?

[Dexterguy]

Originally Posted by matth78

Thank you. Very helpful. Do you know anything about the enclave of still standing mansions off of Woodward?

They really can't be considered mansions. They are really just beautiful craftsman style homes. Some of them are actually pretty small compared to the size of todays modern homes.

Most of them still seem to be maintained pretty well. There are a few on that block that are absolutely stunning. They are built with field stone and the craftsmanship wood is something like you could never build today, it would probably cost way to much these days. At one time, all of Highland Park's neighborhoods were beautiful, that's literally where the money was. Back in the 1930's and 40's it was one of the most sought after suburbs in the metro area. At that time there really was no "metro area" actually, just Detroit, Highland Park, Hamtramck, and the Grosse Pointes were just starting to be developed.

Have you researched the McGregor Library? It's an absolutely stunning library, that was closed in 2002 when Highland Park fell into bankruptcy and the city was designated under a fiscal emergency by the State of Michigan. I believe a group is trying to raise the funds to restore it, but it may take many years to do so.

[Dexterguy]

Here is a good article on Highland Park:
US: The social and historical roots of the Highland Park fire tragedy

Highland Park McGregor Library:
At McGregor Library for the Highland Park movie announcement on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/peopleforcherry/4049282377/ - broken link)

Here's some pics of those houses I was mentioning:
//pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles27902.jpg
http://modeldmedia.com/galleries/Def...arkhomes03.jpg

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Nice Red propaganda there. So in other words, squatters moved into an abandoned home and burned it down by trying to cook on a wood fire.

[m. foster]

my father and grand father grew up in Highland Park circa 1920's...family story has it that my grandfather was a cop in highland park.... problem is : I have no idea of how to verify this. My grandfather went to school in Highland Park until the age of 14 when the depression hit and he had to go to work. There is a possibility that my grandmother may have worked in the Ford Motor Co. either as a steno or in the factory itself. Am trying to link all the dots for a genealogy project. Have contacted the library which have been most helpful.. anyone got an ideas where else I can look for information? Thank you