Detroit's Neighborhoods in the 70s

[MicrosoftFan]

What were Detroit's neighborhoods like in the 1970s? Were they burned out with a checkerboard of empty lots like we have now? What were the business districts like? Were there Black Neighborhoods and White Neighborhoods? If so, what were they?

Trying to get a perspective on how most of Detroit was back in the 70s, and when the rapid decline across the city started.

Thanks,
MicrosoftFan

[Bham1982]

I wasn't around, but there was little abandonment in the 1970's. The black neighborhoods were in the core, and the white neighborhoods were on the fringes. Crime and racial tension were high. The city was much busier and more vibrant than now, but everything was going downhill fast. The retail corridors were still all intact, but started suffering terminal decline.

There was basically a "line" of black advancement outward, and so every year the black neighborhoods grew and white neighborhoods shrunk.

In 1970 I think the West Side was mostly black south of say McNichols and east of the Southfield Fwy. Everything to the north and west was white. Just to illustrate I know someone who attended Henry Ford High on the NW side and I think the school was basically entirely white in the late 60's and entirely black by the mid 70's. Same thing happened to Mumford, but about five years earlier, and same thing happened to Redford, but about 10 years later.

The East Side had less black "advancement". Unlike the generally higher income West Side, the working class East Side ethnics couldn't just pick up and move to the burbs. I think everything past City Airport was white until 1980 or so. I know the Far East Side high schools like Finney were mostly white in the 70's.

Middle class blacks basically followed Jews in a Northwest direction. Poorer blacks went East or West. The Eastside had a reputation as being more racist, so this also contributed to slower turnover. People don't like to move where they aren't welcome.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I wasn't around, but there was little abandonment in the 1970's. The black neighborhoods were in the core, and the white neighborhoods were on the fringes. Crime and racial tension were high. The city was much busier and more vibrant than now, but everything was going downhill fast. The retail corridors were still all intact, but started suffering terminal decline.

There was basically a "line" of black advancement outward, and so every year the black neighborhoods grew and white neighborhoods shrunk.

In 1970 I think the West Side was mostly black south of say McNichols and east of the Southfield Fwy. Everything to the north and west was white. Just to illustrate I know someone who attended Henry Ford High on the NW side and I think the school was basically entirely white in the late 60's and entirely black by the mid 70's. Same thing happened to Mumford, but about five years earlier, and same thing happened to Redford, but about 10 years later.

The East Side had less black "advancement". Unlike the generally higher income West Side, the working class East Side ethnics couldn't just pick up and move to the burbs. I think everything past City Airport was white until 1980 or so. I know the Far East Side high schools like Finney were mostly white in the 70's.

Middle class blacks basically followed Jews in a Northwest direction. Poorer blacks went East or West. The Eastside had a reputation as being more racist, so this also contributed to slower turnover. People don't like to move where they aren't welcome.

Do you mean, you weren't around because you weren't possibly born yet [[ 1982 ) or because you grew up someplace else? Simple question, no sarcasm....

[Bham1982]

Do you mean, you weren't around because you weren't possibly born yet [[ 1982 ) or because you grew up someplace else? Simple question, no sarcasm....

I was born late 70's. The "1982" refers to something else.

I've always had an interest in Detroit during the 60's and 70's, though. The pace of change was incredible.

[Meddle]

There was basically a "line" of black advancement outward, and so every year the black neighborhoods grew and white neighborhoods shrunk.

In 1970 I think the West Side was mostly black south of say McNichols and east of the Southfield Fwy. Everything to the north and west was white.

I think you're pretty much wrong. I can say that because I was there.

I can also say most of Brightmoor was lily white and was one of the worst areas of the city. Pure poor white trash rednecks.

Much of the area west of Wyoming was mixed with denser pockets of different groups. Oddly enough, some sections north of Seven Mile went bad before other areas. I was near Fenkell and Greenfield until '78 and that area was fine despite becoming more mixed.

I went to Fenkell and Evergreen area which was also fine until I moved out of town in the mid 80s.

In the early 90s, I moved back into town near McNichols and Telegraph and that area stayed relatively safe. I moved out of state in '98 and got a lot more for my house than I ever expected to; close to double what I paid for it.

[Bham1982]

I think you're pretty much wrong. I can say that because I was there.

The racial map, posted in this thread, shows I wasn't entirely accurate, but not too far off either.

I guessed that the West Side was black up to McNichols and the Southfield Fwy. It appears that black neighborhoods did extend to around the Southfield Fwy [[or is that Greenfield?), but I underestimated black expansion northwards- black neighborhoods existed west of Livernois and east of Greenfield [[?) and extended to 8 Mile.

I can also say most of Brightmoor was lily white and was one of the worst areas of the city. Pure poor white trash rednecks.

I wasn't making value judgments. I bet you the black neighborhoods of NW Detroit were generally much nicer than lily-white Brigtmoor. After, all, they were occupying higher income neighborhoods full of professionals. The neighborhoods around UofD appear to have been majority black by 1970, and those neighborhoods were very nice [[they're somewhat nice even today).

And Fenkell-Greenfield was probably niceish because that's the Grandmont neighborhood. Nice brick homes. Even today, that area is better-than-average.

[Király]

I underestimated black expansion northwards- black neighborhoods existed west of Livernois and east of Greenfield [[?) and extended to 8 Mile.

The 8 Mile–Wyoming area was a black neighborhood long before the 1960s, it was settled by blacks in the early 20th century, when the surrounding area was still farmland.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

The 8 Mile–Wyoming area was a black neighborhood long before the 1960s, it was settled by blacks in the early 20th century, when the surrounding area was still farmland.

It actually started out as mixed, with a wall built [[Birwood Wall) in the 40's, to separate whites and blacks. Here's a couple of articles documenting this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Wall http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...-wall/2127165/

[Meddle]

And Fenkell-Greenfield was probably niceish because that's the Grandmont neighborhood. Nice brick homes. Even today, that area is better-than-average.

Umm, no, not Grandmont. Not even close to Grandmont. 1-1/2 story brick bungalows on 30x60 lots like most of the west side west of Livernois and much of the east side.

No idea what it's like today since I haven't been there since 1990 or so which was the last time I drove through there to see the old house.

[Bham1982]

Umm, no, not Grandmont. Not even close to Grandmont.

You seriously lived around Fenkell-Greenfield and believe it is "not even close to Grandmont"?

I suggest you consult a map. Grandmont is just off Grand River east of the Southfield Fwy, which is right by Fenkell-Greenfield.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I think you're pretty much wrong. I can say that because I was there.

I can also say most of Brightmoor was lily white and was one of the worst areas of the city. Pure poor white trash rednecks.

Much of the area west of Wyoming was mixed with denser pockets of different groups. Oddly enough, some sections north of Seven Mile went bad before other areas. I was near Fenkell and Greenfield until '78 and that area was fine despite becoming more mixed.

I went to Fenkell and Evergreen area which was also fine until I moved out of town in the mid 80s.

In the early 90s, I moved back into town near McNichols and Telegraph and that area stayed relatively safe. I moved out of state in '98 and got a lot more for my house than I ever expected to; close to double what I paid for it.

Totally agree about Brightmoor. Had a cousin that stayed on Chapel near Outer Drive, and most of the residents back then were white, but some blacks lived there as well.

[p69rrh51]

I wasn't around, but there was little abandonment in the 1970's. The black neighborhoods were in the core, and the white neighborhoods were on the fringes. Crime and racial tension were high. The city was much busier and more vibrant than now, but everything was going downhill fast. The retail corridors were still all intact, but started suffering terminal decline.

There was basically a "line" of black advancement outward, and so every year the black neighborhoods grew and white neighborhoods shrunk.

In 1970 I think the West Side was mostly black south of say McNichols and east of the Southfield Fwy. Everything to the north and west was white. Just to illustrate I know someone who attended Henry Ford High on the NW side and I think the school was basically entirely white in the late 60's and entirely black by the mid 70's. Same thing happened to Mumford, but about five years earlier, and same thing happened to Redford, but about 10 years later.

The East Side had less black "advancement". Unlike the generally higher income West Side, the working class East Side ethnics couldn't just pick up and move to the burbs. I think everything past City Airport was white until 1980 or so. I know the Far East Side high schools like Finney were mostly white in the 70's.

Middle class blacks basically followed Jews in a Northwest direction. Poorer blacks went East or West. The Eastside had a reputation as being more racist, so this also contributed to slower turnover. People don't like to move where they aren't welcome.

Bham you lack of knowledge of the city is beyond astonishing. Although anytime I need a "pick me up" I just have to read your comments and laugh until it hurts. Its time to do real research before you comment on here.

[Bham1982]

Bham you lack of knowledge of the city is beyond astonishing. Although anytime I need a "pick me up" I just have to read your comments and laugh until it hurts. Its time to do real research before you comment on here.

Well it's truly wonderful you're so knowledgeable and easily humored. It's amazing the 1970 Census data somehow mirrors my statements; they must be in on the conspiracy.

Now please detail where I was wrong.

[p69rrh51]

Well it's truly wonderful you're so knowledgeable and easily humored. It's amazing the 1970 Census data somehow mirrors my statements; they must be in on the conspiracy.

Now please detail where I was wrong.

Your ignorance of the city is not worth my time to document.

[ct_alum]

I wasn't around, but there was little abandonment in the 1970's. The black neighborhoods were in the core, and the white neighborhoods were on the fringes. Crime and racial tension were high. The city was much busier and more vibrant than now, but everything was going downhill fast. The retail corridors were still all intact, but started suffering terminal decline.

There was basically a "line" of black advancement outward, and so every year the black neighborhoods grew and white neighborhoods shrunk.

In 1970 I think the West Side was mostly black south of say McNichols and east of the Southfield Fwy. Everything to the north and west was white. Just to illustrate I know someone who attended Henry Ford High on the NW side and I think the school was basically entirely white in the late 60's and entirely black by the mid 70's. Same thing happened to Mumford, but about five years earlier, and same thing happened to Redford, but about 10 years later.

The East Side had less black "advancement". Unlike the generally higher income West Side, the working class East Side ethnics couldn't just pick up and move to the burbs. I think everything past City Airport was white until 1980 or so. I know the Far East Side high schools like Finney were mostly white in the 70's.

Middle class blacks basically followed Jews in a Northwest direction. Poorer blacks went East or West. The Eastside had a reputation as being more racist, so this also contributed to slower turnover. People don't like to move where they aren't welcome.

You should have stopped after the first three words.

[Bham1982]

You should have stopped after the first three words.

I don't doubt you believe such ridiculous nonsense. Your non-logic explains our country's dead-end current political environment perfectly.

I mean, how could someone know about anything historical unless they were physically there, right? It isn't like there are libraries, govt. data sources or academic research.

I'm sure the world's leading Egyptian scholars are all 3,000 years old, right?

[Hamtragedy]

I don't doubt you believe such ridiculous nonsense. Your non-logic explains our country's dead-end current political environment perfectly.

I mean, how could someone know about anything historical unless they were physically there, right? It isn't like there are libraries, govt. data sources or academic research.


I'm sure the world's leading Egyptian scholars are all 3,000 years old, right?

Please stop trying to defend yourself. The OP asked what Detroit neighborhoods were like in the 70's and at what times and where did certain downward trends occur. Giving generalizations on no specific demographic or geography only leads to general speculation of what happened with no insight other than to have read it on the inner-tube or in a book lacking the real mindset of what actually happened.

As someone who was there, not just in Grandmont, but at Bewick and Jefferson and Mack and Chalmers, I can contradict nearly all of your generalizations. Did you know that the all- black congregation at Charlevoix and St. Jean was totally opposed to the Black Panthers holding breakfasts to feed hungry children, even though HUD provided the funding, and the white minister had to convince them that feeding hungry children was a good thing? Things aren't always what they seem.

Attacking people "who never looked at a map" even though we did, in fact, live close by, but by geographical and cultural boundaries wouldn't even consider those areas local, is just arrogant. Yeah Greenfield and Fenkell was close to Grandmont, but so was Southfield and W. Chicago, which to me was much closer, as Cody High was my block's districted high school, [[and in the 70s was full of burnouts). Three blocks west was districted Cooley, and four blocks north was Redford. But whodafuck cares where it rests on a map other than you? We sho' as hell didn't. We had our boundaries, and if we drifted from them we got in trouble, either by being there or by our parents.

So please, stop trying to be such a damn know-it-all all the damn time, and then getting pissed off when you get called out on it. Learn something from being wrong instead of being all hard-headed about it.

By the way, "whodafuck cares", "sho' as hell don't" and "hard-headed" are all classic Detroit terms, but you already know this because you're so well-read.

[ct_alum]

Please stop trying to defend yourself. The OP asked what Detroit neighborhoods were like in the 70's and at what times and where did certain downward trends occur. Giving generalizations on no specific demographic or geography only leads to general speculation of what happened with no insight other than to have read it on the inner-tube or in a book lacking the real mindset of what actually happened.

As someone who was there, not just in Grandmont, but at Bewick and Jefferson and Mack and Chalmers, I can contradict nearly all of your generalizations. Did you know that the all- black congregation at Charlevoix and St. Jean was totally opposed to the Black Panthers holding breakfasts to feed hungry children, even though HUD provided the funding, and the white minister had to convince them that feeding hungry children was a good thing? Things aren't always what they seem.

Attacking people "who never looked at a map" even though we did, in fact, live close by, but by geographical and cultural boundaries wouldn't even consider those areas local, is just arrogant. Yeah Greenfield and Fenkell was close to Grandmont, but so was Southfield and W. Chicago, which to me was much closer, as Cody High was my block's districted high school, [[and in the 70s was full of burnouts). Three blocks west was districted Cooley, and four blocks north was Redford. But whodafuck cares where it rests on a map other than you? We sho' as hell didn't. We had our boundaries, and if we drifted from them we got in trouble, either by being there or by our parents.

So please, stop trying to be such a damn know-it-all all the damn time, and then getting pissed off when you get called out on it. Learn something from being wrong instead of being all hard-headed about it.

By the way, "whodafuck cares", "sho' as hell don't" and "hard-headed" are all classic Detroit terms, but you already know this because you're so well-read.

Ah yes, "hard headed" - This first Mrs. Alum was very fond of that saying. Put me down for Jefferson & Alter, Chandler Park Drive & Dickerson, Mack & Sheridan and of course all points between there and Cass Tech [[Class of 71). But of course, I couldn't know more than Bham about those areas and times because he probably read something in Wikipedia and looked at a map. Well, I guess that he is entitled to his "alternative facts", right?

[jcole]

I lived on the far NE side until 1973 when my dad retired from DPD. Our immediate neighborhood was pretty white with blacks beginning to move into the areas around us, by Gratiot from McNichols to 7 Mile and around Denby High. Very little abandonment by the time we moved up to Almont, but over the next 5 or 6 yrs of coming back to visit you'd notice more houses up for sale in the neighborhood and a few here and there abandoned. Our local shopping districts were 7 and Gratiot, which was anchored with a Federal's and a Ward's and lots of other small stores and was still good until sometime after we moved. Our really local shops were on Kelly Rd from 7 to 8 mile with about 90% of them being in Harper Woods.

[EastsideAl]

I was a teenager in Detroit in the '70s and remember those years quite well. We lived on the east side and my family was quite involved in neighborhood and civic affairs. I was riding the buses every day to/from school, often through downtown. As a curious kid I rode buses all over the city, and once i had my drivers license and a car around 1976, went exploring everywhere.

In the late '60s the city was still full [[my near east side elementary school was so overcrowded that we needed portable classrooms on the playground). A lot of white folks did leave after the '67 riot, but more black families moved further out into the neighborhoods as the whites were leaving to take their place. Although the overall population of the city began to decline in the mid-50s, most streets were lined with occupied houses in a way that's almost inconceivable looking at the city today. Most neighborhoods remained reasonably populated into the mid-80s.

Significant abandonment of housing really began with the ill-fated and ill-administered HUD rehab programs under Nixon and his HUD Secretary George Romney from 1969 into the early '70s. Several neighborhoods "targeted" by the HUD program, like the area between Cadillac and Conner on the east side, were hit pretty hard by this and suddenly had a noticeable number of empty houses. There was also a fair amount of emptying out or clearance of neighborhoods for urban renewal projects that never panned out, or that sank in a morass of poor administration, like what happened to Brush Park. By the late 70s there were noticeable numbers of vacant houses in many neighborhoods, and a slow program of demolitions had begun.

As for your question about racial residential patterns, you have to keep in mind that Detroit was essentially a segregated city into the early '50s. Black residents were effectively allowed to live only in a few very overcrowded neighborhoods, mostly on the near east side [[Black Bottom - where Lafayette Park and Elmwood Park are today, Paradise Valley directly to the north - which included Brush Park and the areas where the Chrysler Freeway and much of the Med Center are now, and further north of Grand Blvd. in the old North End east of Woodward). There were a few black pockets on the west side, most notably the area around Tireman just west of Grand Blvd., as well as a section of the far southwest side down into River Rouge and Ecorse. Conant Gardens, east of Conant and south of 7 Mile, was built in the 1930s as an isolated middle-class black neighborhood.

This pattern all began to change quickly with the 'urban renewal' destruction of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley in the '50s, the building of large public housing projects, and the Supreme Court ruling ending restrictive covenants in deeds. As Bham indicates, in the 1950s blacks started moving into the Dexter-12th St. area north of the Blvd. on the west side as the area's predominantly Jewish population began moving further to the northwest, and in the 60s followed them further northwest up into the Mumford High area. On the east side, after the destruction of their old neighborhoods, blacks quickly moved eastward across much of the lower east side. By 1970, the east side south of Harper was predominantly black from Elmwood Park to east of Connor. And also north of Hamtramck up Conant to 7 Mile. On the west side the black population stretched north of I-94 and west over to Schaefer or Greenfield.

I actually still have a lot of nostalgia for the early '70s in Detroit. Despite all the fears, there never was another large riot. Some neighborhoods seemed to stabilize as integrated for a while, downtown was struggling but still full of stores and commerce, a number of redevelopment schemes were being proposed, abandonment was mostly confined to certain neighborhoods, and there seemed to be some strong hope of political and economic progress. But the 1973 mayoral campaign turned very racially toxic, especially around the issues of policing that were instrumental in sparking the riot. There was a long grinding and vicious fight over school desegregation. Crime started to rise again with the heroin boom. And most damaging of all, the economy slowed dramatically in the mid- to late-70s, with the energy and 'stagflation' crises, and the auto industry took a huge hit [[from which it never really recovered). The brief era of optimism ended pretty damn quickly.

Here, from the Detroit 1701 site, is a map of the racial composition of Detroit from the 1970 census:

[Dan Wesson]

I was a teenager in Detroit in the '70s and remember those years quite well. We lived on the east side and my family was quite involved in neighborhood and civic affairs. I was riding the buses every day to/from school, often through downtown. As a curious kid I rode buses all over the city, and once i had my drivers license and a car around 1976, went exploring everywhere.

In the late '60s the city was still full [[my near east side elementary school was so overcrowded that we needed portable classrooms on the playground). A lot of white folks did leave after the '67 riot, but more black families moved further out into the neighborhoods as the whites were leaving to take their place. Although the overall population of the city began to decline in the mid-50s, most streets were lined with occupied houses in a way that's almost inconceivable looking at the city today. Most neighborhoods remained reasonably populated into the mid-80s.

Significant abandonment of housing really began with the ill-fated and ill-administered HUD rehab programs under Nixon and his HUD Secretary George Romney from 1969 into the early '70s. Several neighborhoods "targeted" by the HUD program, like the area between Cadillac and Conner on the east side, were hit pretty hard by this and suddenly had a noticeable number of empty houses. There was also a fair amount of emptying out or clearance of neighborhoods for urban renewal projects that never panned out, or that sank in a morass of poor administration, like what happened to Brush Park. By the late 70s there were noticeable numbers of vacant houses in many neighborhoods, and a slow program of demolitions had begun.

As for your question about racial residential patterns, you have to keep in mind that Detroit was essentially a segregated city into the early '50s. Black residents were effectively allowed to live only in a few very overcrowded neighborhoods, mostly on the near east side [[Black Bottom - where Lafayette Park and Elmwood Park are today, Paradise Valley directly to the north - which included Brush Park and the areas where the Chrysler Freeway and much of the Med Center are now, and further north of Grand Blvd. in the old North End east of Woodward). There were a few black pockets on the west side, most notably the area around Tireman just west of Grand Blvd., as well as a section of the far southwest side down into River Rouge and Ecorse. Conant Gardens, east of Conant and south of 7 Mile, was built in the 1930s as an isolated middle-class black neighborhood.

This pattern all began to change quickly with the 'urban renewal' destruction of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley in the '50s, the building of large public housing projects, and the Supreme Court ruling ending restrictive covenants in deeds. As Bham indicates, in the 1950s blacks started moving into the Dexter-12th St. area north of the Blvd. on the west side as the area's predominantly Jewish population began moving further to the northwest, and in the 60s followed them further northwest up into the Mumford High area. On the east side, after the destruction of their old neighborhoods, blacks quickly moved eastward across much of the lower east side. By 1970, the east side south of Harper was predominantly black from Elmwood Park to east of Connor. And also north of Hamtramck up Conant to 7 Mile. On the west side the black population stretched north of I-94 and west over to Schaefer or Greenfield.

I actually still have a lot of nostalgia for the early '70s in Detroit. Despite all the fears, there never was another large riot. Some neighborhoods seemed to stabilize as integrated for a while, downtown was struggling but still full of stores and commerce, a number of redevelopment schemes were being proposed, abandonment was mostly confined to certain neighborhoods, and there seemed to be some strong hope of political and economic progress. But the 1973 mayoral campaign turned very racially toxic, especially around the issues of policing that were instrumental in sparking the riot. There was a long grinding and vicious fight over school desegregation. Crime started to rise again with the heroin boom. And most damaging of all, the economy slowed dramatically in the mid- to late-70s, with the energy and 'stagflation' crises, and the auto industry took a huge hit [[from which it never really recovered). The brief era of optimism ended pretty damn quickly.

Here, from the Detroit 1701 site, is a map of the racial composition of Detroit from the 1970 census:

Excellent synopsis. This agrees with my recollections as a resident and as a residential service technician whose areas of service included all zipcodes in Detroit proper.

Good job.

[Danny]

When my mom and dad move a three family flat in Lawton St. south of Six Mile Rd and north of Puritan St. in 1975. The hood was 80% black. But the rest of the hoods north of Six Mile Rd. was 77% white. Including Palmer Woods. Palmer Park and and its apts. was Mostly Jewish that is becuase Temple Israel was there. Six Mile and John R area. east of Woodward Ave. Near the Highland Park border was mostly White [[ fewer poorer whites) 7 Mile Rd between Woodward and John Rd. was mostly Chaldean [[Chaldeantown)

Go further west pass Wyoming Ave to Five Points. [[ Redford TWP.) That area was 80 to 90% white.

Now African American communities in Detroit has grown pass 8 Mile Rd and I don't see no signs of slowing. After Dan Gilbert and folks bought all of Downtown Detroit and called 'Gilberttown" Black folks are quickly getting put out and push out the burbs.

Detroit is changing for better or for worse. New development from Little Caesar's Area to the proposed Gilbert Tower at the old Hudson's Block. Detroit's first black Mayor Coleman Young is probably has did rollover is grave and see what his city become.

So far as known:

1. White folks are coming back

2. Black folks are leaving

That will ease the population growth.

Detroit will be diversified by any means necessarily.

[GMan]

I grew up in N.W. Detroit in the 70's, McNichols and Shaefer area.
Neighbor hood was definitely more mixed after the riots, but I would argue well integrated.
We had Mt. Carmel Hospital that provided housing to staff that included Dr.s from India and nurses from the Philipines. Had one Chinese heritage family, one Japanese heritage immigrant in an inter racial marriage with a mix of white and black families filling out the rest of the neighborhood round up. On a whole everybody was in the same boat, trying to make a living and get their kids a decent education. Everyone still went to church and kept their little part of the world clean.
I would say that it was in the later 70's early 80's that the neighborhood declined. Break ins started and Suspicious fires happened to the neighborhood businesses. Drug use was noted in the alleyways with empty syringes and auto paint "buzz bombs" littering the landscape.
City services like street sweeping and sewer cleanouts had stopped by the late 70's adding to the appearance of neglect and to get a street light repaired was an adventure in navigation through the city hall phone system usually followed by a hollow promise to get to it some time in the future.

Once the local business's went out, we had to travel to nearby Redford for grocery shopping and other needs. My mom didn't drive and going to Northland involved an expensive [[for us anyway) taxi ride or taking two busses.
That combined with my dad falling victim to a daylight robbery attempt by a 13yr old with a gun looking for a victim so he could score some drugs put the nail in the coffin for us.
Despite my dad being unemployed at the time he scored a rental in nearby Redford.
Only look back with fondness though on my little part of the city.

[ottokar790]

I attended St. Ambrose Elementary on Altar Rd. from 1970-76. I remember a very diverse group of Caucasians, blacks and Filipinos attending that school. My parents left Detroit for Grosse Pointe after the '67 riot. I was raised in a very racist environment, one which did not change until I moved to California and experienced a very diverse community. When I return to Detroit, I still see a very divided community...

[Wesley Mouch]

I attended St. Ambrose Elementary on Altar Rd. from 1970-76. I remember a very diverse group of Caucasians, blacks and Filipinos attending that school. My parents left Detroit for Grosse Pointe after the '67 riot. I was raised in a very racist environment, one which did not change until I moved to California and experienced a very diverse community. When I return to Detroit, I still see a very divided community...

Yes, it has its divides. I however see great progress in race relations in Detroit and the area. We may be behind many other places, but I think we're progressing just as quickly.

To the OP, if you weren't alive during the 50s-70s, then its probably pretty hard to imagine the power that racial animus and discrimination had on Detroit. CAYoung was elected in 74 [[?). He told white folks to leave, and they did. If cross-district bussing had been approved, Metro Detroit might have had much greater racial healing. Instead, Detroit-only school bussing to make every Detroit school reflect the city-wide racial balance scared white folks who still had one foot in the past. They starting leaving in droves for the safe suburbs. CAY's bigotry kept the flow going. And CAYs dismemberment of the Police Department ensured continued white flight.

Its worth a quick mention that there was black flight, too. There's a tendency by us white folk to think of blacks as a homogenous group. The black arrivals in Detroit's white outer neighborhoods were fleeing the same inner city problems as anyone else. From my personal experience, they were solid, middle-class families seeking better for their families. Flight wasn't just white flight, it was just flight for safety.

Another quick mention. We do a disservice today by claims of racism everywhere and in everyone's minds. The racism of 1970 was far worse than the remaining echoes we face today.

All said as a white dude. So consider the source.