Moving to SE side (Grand Rapids, Franklin: house, to live, most dangerous)

[westboundrambler]

I would consider Franklin & Division to Franklin and Fuller to be the worst stretch of road in Grand Rapids. If you asked me to name what I thought was the most dangerous corner in GR I'd immediately say Franklin and Easter. Franklin is a punch line when making jokes about bad parts of town. I personally would never live anywhere in GR other than than NE Grand Rapids anymore. I lived on Lafayette and pleasant for a while. just a few blocks from wealthy and division. It was the worst, the house had been broken into a few months before I moved in, and though I never had any personal problems the neighbors were loud and rough, and would often be loud and ridiculous through the early am hours, never again. Truth is GR has so many weird pockets, because like you mentioned just maybe 4-5 blocks from where I lived in lafayette was the center of heritage hill and the FLR house. EGR suddenly turns into eastown which if you go one block too far south is not particularly safe. The whole west side is pretty gnarly if you ask me. It seems all the best places in GR to live are "up hills" if that makes any sense. on diamond or fuller, etc once you pass Mich. ave. you go up a huge hill and it's suddenly nice, same on the west side if you go far enough north or west you go up these hills and it's way nicer. I guess crime isn't worth it if you have to walk up a hill.

[Indentured Servant]

Originally Posted by cmf89

thank you all for the feedback! I am still going to be nervous in the area. we will always have the doors locked and such. We don't have any real valuable things so I hope we won't be a target for any burglary. I know with any area there is crime, but We will just stick to ourselves and I hope things will be okay. The way people talk about the area they make it seem like people are running down the street randomly shooting at people. I hope that is not the case. I've been told to not go to any of the gas stations in the area since they tend to have a lot of drug deals going on. We do have a family living below us, and I was told that the previous tenant lived in the apartment for 4 years. It couldn't have been that bad if they stuck around for that long. We do plan on having a gun in the apartment so hopefully we won't ever have to use it.

People have a misconception of what a "bad neighborhood" is actually like to live in. The vast majority of days are "normal" and peaceful. I lived on the lower east side of Detroit, Joseph Campau, and SE Grand Rapids (not far from that location on Franklin). Day to Day life is generally event free, but every once in a while you run into "situations".....car break in, vandalism, burglary, witnessing assaults, threats, etc. Its toughest to be a youth in the hood...where you have to traverse the streets on foot on go to the area schools. As an adult you can just stay in your home, get in your car, etc.

That area used to be about 95% AA. Now its about 70% AA...with a good mix of Hispanics and whites. Crime has gone down considerably from past years...but crime rates ebb and flow and a gang rivalry or something could spark and increase violence in the area. The higher the percentage of rentals on the block or area...the more problematic it likely will be. However, section 8 is being pushed to the suburbs more and more. There seems to be a master plan to make way for gentrification of the core.

[walker46]

Originally Posted by westboundrambler

. . . It seems all the best places in GR to live are "up hills" if that makes any sense. on diamond or fuller, etc once you pass Mich. ave. you go up a huge hill and it's suddenly nice, same on the west side if you go far enough north or west you go up these hills and it's way nicer. I guess crime isn't worth it if you have to walk up a hill.

I think you may have stumbled upon the real reason for all of Detroit's troubles. It has no hills, it's flat.

[Michigantown]

Grand Rapids' hoods are pretty tame.

[Indentured Servant]

Originally Posted by Michigantown

Grand Rapids' hoods are pretty tame.

Unless you are among those getting killed. Honestly, in the 90's when I would travel from the D to GR, there was a lot more crime in the neighborhood in gr than in the one I lived in Detroit. It was actually wild. I would sit on the porch and see all kinds of crazy stuff. Those were the years that gr murder rate peaked. None of it was threatening to me, however, except once.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by walker46

I think you may have stumbled upon the real reason for all of Detroit's troubles. It has no hills, it's flat.

There is some truth to that. The lower parts of downtown were prone to some pretty bad flooding from the Grand River, especially on the West Side and the Southeast Side, so the wealthy furniture company owners and factory managers built homes up on the high ground. That's how Heritage Hill came about (it wasn't called Heritage Hill back then).

[westboundrambler]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

Unless you are among those getting killed. Honestly, in the 90's when I would travel from the D to GR, there was a lot more crime in the neighborhood in gr than in the one I lived in Detroit. It was actually wild. I would sit on the porch and see all kinds of crazy stuff. Those were the years that gr murder rate peaked. None of it was threatening to me, however, except once.

Yea, I will say it has gotten waaaay better over the past 20 years, but GR has a ways to go. I could see it being a really great city with a lot to do and less and less crime in 40 years or so.

[actinic]

Originally Posted by Michigantown

The good news is that Grand rapids hasn't had a homicide yet this year.

They've had one now. Guess what? Yep, the SE side.

[HappyFarm34]

Originally Posted by Michigantown

The good news is that Grand rapids hasn't had a homicide yet this year.

Originally Posted by actinic

They've had one now. Guess what? Yep, the SE side.

wait until the weather gets warmer, there will be more. Most homicides in GR seem to happen in that area

The longest stretch without a homicide in GR has been several months which is uncommon

[Kroth]

My advice with living in that area since you are already there is get both a dog and a gun. Not an area I would ever consider living in, until they improve it massively.