Sterling Heights (Dequindre and 16 mile)

[scolls]

You have got to be kidding me with the fear mongering going on here. There is nothing wrong with Sterling Heights. My relatives live at 15 Mile and Mound. The neighborhood is fine and has been since they moved there in 1982. There are no border up apartment buildings on Mound. Sterling Heights crime index was 160. That's half the national average. the city has over 120k people and is the 4th largest in Michigan. It's crime in 2008 was the lowest it had been in 10 years. It hadn't topped 188. It ranked as the 6th safest city in 2006 among cities with a population of 100k-499k.

Seriously are you people afraid of your own shadow? Do you live in gated communities with watch towers and armed guards? What's funny is neighboring Troy (other side of 16 and Dequindre) has a higher theft and murder rate than Sterling Heights.

[Jwo85]

I live 6 miles from that area and always passing around there to go shopping. While its not the apt building someone else was talking about but the whole stretch of 15 mile road between Van Dyke and Mound is 90% abandon buildings.

[us66]

That's because that part of 15 Mile is industrial. There are only a couple of houses along there. Even the street just north of there (Millett Avenue, I think) had nearly all its houses torn down for factories. My grandparents lived there for a while, but their house is a factory or a warehouse now. Anyways, high vacancies isn't the neigborhood's fault in this situation. Industrial areas around Macomb County have lots of vacancies, even the nicer ones in Shelby Township.

[us66]

P.S. As for the fearmongering, the old Meijer on Dequindre was a legitimately dangerous place...rapes, robberies, etc. The neighbourhood is quite safe for the most part...kinda like how Eastland has a lot of crime but the streets to the east within sight (Lochmoor, Country Club, et al) are still nearly idyllic.

[MIEng]

Originally Posted by scolls

You have got to be kidding me with the fear mongering going on here. There is nothing wrong with Sterling Heights. My relatives live at 15 Mile and Mound. The neighborhood is fine and has been since they moved there in 1982. There are no border up apartment buildings on Mound. Sterling Heights crime index was 160. That's half the national average. the city has over 120k people and is the 4th largest in Michigan. It's crime in 2008 was the lowest it had been in 10 years. It hadn't topped 188. It ranked as the 6th safest city in 2006 among cities with a population of 100k-499k.

Seriously are you people afraid of your own shadow? Do you live in gated communities with watch towers and armed guards? What's funny is neighboring Troy (other side of 16 and Dequindre) has a higher theft and murder rate than Sterling Heights.

I think a lot of people here are afraid of their own shadow or they just have no idea how it really feels like to live in a high crime area. I would never live near Van Dyke simply because its industrial and ugly. But I have been working in that area on the Warren side for over 6 years, sometimes leaving work at 11 PM walking by myself in the parking (I'm a female) and I have never felt unsafe. Actually I have seen people jogging at 5 AM with reflectors and all along Van Dyke, so it can't be that horrible. It is just very ugly just like many other ugly industrial areas in MI.

[joe48310]

To get to Pontiac, you would have two options:1) North on Dequindre (app 4miles) to M-59 west which will take you into Pontiac, or 2) west on 16 Mile ) app 4 miles) and than north on I-75.

Depends where in Detroit you want to go, I'm assuming downtown. A couple options, 1) same as #1 above but south on I -75 than merge to I-375 south, or #2) south on Dequindere to I-696 west to I-75 south - this route bypasses the Oakland Mall traffic on I-75.

You are definitely in the Warren Con district. Property tax rates are higher in Warren Con than in the Utica district and Utica is considered a better district. The west side of the city is a magnet for foreigners especially an influx of middle easterners. This does lead to ethnic tensions in the schools. It is truly a melting pot. Some people like this diversity, some don't.

Homes in the area are predominantly 1970's era ranches which are now running in the $100-$150K range. Sterling Heights has no downtown to speak of and parts of the city like the Mound Corridor definitely have an industrial feel. City services are good, fast police and fire response, good trash pickup and public works.