Detroit should become the San Francisco of Transgendered

[Patrick]

This could be end up being BS but I was told that Mt Clemens stands a good chance to become the next Ferndale at least in the gay enclave sense. The homes and architecture are just as nice or nicer than in Ferndale and it is affordable for fixer-uppers.

[EastSider]

I think the criticism of Hamtramck's housing stock is premature. There are more than a few with late, late Victorian bones that just need the gingerbread put back on. Even the bulk of the housing, the 1920 bungalow whatever you call it can be dressed up to look like a Victorian cottage on the outside, while the inside layouts can be altered beyond belief.

[detmich]

I think the criticism of Hamtramck's housing stock is premature. There are more than a few with late, late Victorian bones that just need the gingerbread put back on. Even the bulk of the housing, the 1920 bungalow whatever you call it can be dressed up to look like a Victorian cottage on the outside, while the inside layouts can be altered beyond belief.

Why? That would yield a suburban syle amalgam of nothingness.

[EastSider]

Why? That would yield a suburban syle amalgam of nothingness.

It seems to work on some of the houses in Corktown of the same vintage.

[detmich]

It seems to work on some of the houses in Corktown of the same vintage.

Corktown? They couldn't even support the MCB, what do they know about style.

[EastSider]

Corktown? They couldn't even support the MCB, what do they know about style.

But they do have Slows!

[EastsideAl]

A "gaying" of Highland Park would just be turning back the clock in a way. I knew a number of gay people who lived in HP back in the '60s and early '70s.

[hudkina]

Hamtramck's housing stock is mostly low-quality tract housing quickly built to house the thousands of workers in the area factories. While Hamtramck has it's charms, it's not the epitome of the type of charm that gentrification is attracted to. The problem is that Detroit doesn't have too many neighborhoods left where historic gentrification can occur. The Corktown/Woodbridge area, Midtown, and possibly a few corners in the Poletown area. The North End/Central Woodward Corridor has a lot of great housing stock, even extending into Highland Park. The problem is that there really isn't an historic business strip along that corridor anymore. Oakland and Hamilton are pretty much destroyed and Woodward is way too congested for a proper neighborhood center.

[masterblaster]

Hamtramck's housing stock is mostly low-quality tract housing quickly built to house the thousands of workers in the area factories. While Hamtramck has it's charms, it's not the epitome of the type of charm that gentrification is attracted to. The problem is that Detroit doesn't have too many neighborhoods left where historic gentrification can occur. The Corktown/Woodbridge area, Midtown, and possibly a few corners in the Poletown area. The North End/Central Woodward Corridor has a lot of great housing stock, even extending into Highland Park. The problem is that there really isn't an historic business strip along that corridor anymore. Oakland and Hamilton are pretty much destroyed and Woodward is way too congested for a proper neighborhood center.

-Hamilton Avenue within Highland Park is decently preserved.

-The 3 large commercial districts [[Lahser, Greenfield, Oakman) along Grand River are decently preserved - and the some of the blocks around those commercial areas have great housing stock

-A Far out neighborhood with great potential is the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood [[south of Jefferson). The housing stock is first-rate, the commercial district has great architecture and is decently preserved, it has 3 or 4 riverfront parks, and it is not that far from downtown.
http://www.realestateone.com/vp/List...&cd_MLS=115540

-How about University District and the Bagley Community - 7 Mile/Livernois strip is pretty much intact

-Martin Park, the neighborhood south of University District, has great housing [[sans Parkside St) and a decently intact Puritan Avenue. Russell Woods has a couple intact blocks of Dexter Avenue.

[Detroitej72]

I like the idea of the University District or Bagley, as they have some of the most beautiful houses. It could be just the shot in the arm that the area needs, and as stated, there is a decent commercial strip on Livernois that could use some TLC.

Another area that should be mentioned, I think, is Rosedale Park, as it has the commercial area and beautiful houses that can be bought for good prices at the present time.

[Detroitej72]

Hamtramck's housing stock is mostly low-quality tract housing quickly built to house the thousands of workers in the area factories.

The thing I've always thought that was interesting was that Hamtramck was mostly frame, multiple-family houses, while Highland Park was mostly large brick, mostly single-family dwellings.

Hamtown was where the working factory man, mainly from Poland, rested their boots, while HP was where more well off folks, most native born tended to call home.

Hamtown today is still a major immigrant destination, where as HP is largely forgotten and has many areas that look like a war zone. I think what has helped Hamtramck is the constant influx of immigrants who fix up the older housing stock, and it in turn keeps the neighborhoods vibrant.

[hudkina]

The Palmer Woods and Rosedale Park areas are already middle-class neighborhoods. They have some of the nicest housing in the city, but I wouldn't necessarily classify them as "gentrification" candidates. For one, they are already relatively gentrified, and for two the neighborhoods are more "suburban middle-class" than the typical gentrification target. Jefferson-Chalmers is a good candidate. I also thought that the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood would be a great gentrification candidate, especially considering that it directly borders the Grosse Pointes and the Detroit River. The area is relatively isolated, making it less vulnerable to crime.

As far as Hamilton Ave, I wouldn't necessarily call it "preserved" as most of the buildings are empty shells completely open to the elements.

[Bloomfield Pills]

Is there a foot fetish-friendliy community? I've been lobbying to add foot fetishists to the GLBT acronym; it should be GLBTFF -- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and Foot Fetishists.

But if we do that, we'll then have to add people who aren't gay but enjoy anal beads, which would be GLBTFFPWAGBEAB.

Then we'll have to add people who enjoy being whipped on the scrotum with a ruler while their wives dress up as nuns, which could give us the ever-popular:

GLBTFFPWAGBEABPWEBWOTSWARWTWDUAN

Why isn't there a community that's friendly to S&M enthusiasts? Or guys who like to dress up like Batman? Damned bigots.

[hudkina]

LOL. Well we shouldn't refrain from spending hundreds of millions on ad campaings to attract the PWEBWOTSWARWTWDUAN community no matter how small the group is. We don't want to be viewed as nazis!

[1953]

Gender-variance is more common than one would suspect. I think we can get a growing t-girl community going in this town, if we try...

To answer the question about whether its a mental illness, worthy of therapy: transsexuality is likely to be removed from the list of mental illnesses when the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual [[which defines mental illnesses) is released, because, much like homosexuality, there is increasing recognition that transsexuality is a relatively common, socially harmless form of human existence. People are born tall, black, green-eyed, gay, and, yes, occaisionally, they are born with a disconnect between their internal gender and their exterior gender. Its been going on a long time...

[erichp77]

It would be great to see what the gay neighborhood looked like back in the day. I tried fishing some up on line a few years ago but never found one. However, I did get some history lessons from the old folks which are consistent to this thread. The drug epidemic and police problems were the main reason for folks leaving the area.

I still think that Highland Park could be a great gayborhood once again in the future.

[izzyindetroit]

Highland Park has a long way to go. Its potential is exponential. I had a conversation with an ex HP police officer at the Town Pump one afternoon. I don't remember his name but he is an advisor to the current police chief and is a member of the city planning commission. My friend and I were completely blown away at his optimism and spirit for the city.

[jtf1972]

Wow, you've got some real street cred.

When you have to preface your comments by explaining why you are not what you appear to be you usually really are exactly that.

Yes yes yes. I know... In a politically correct society when there is any sort of issue that could be insensitive and your opinions and/or views don't welcome anything and everything with open arms, you are seen as being the scrounge of the earth.

Perhaps I should have either kept my opinion/question to myself, or not prefaced it with my "street cred."

Whatever.

[Bloomfield Pills]

What happens in someone's bedroom should stay in the bedroom. There's no need for a "gay community" any more than there is for an "S&M community." Stop making your private business public and nobody will have the chance to discriminate against you.

And before you say, "Well, it's not just about sex; it's about a lifestyle," let me tell you that S&M enthusiasts say the exact same thing. And most of them don't go around flaunting the fact that they're into that lifestyle.

A gay person can show up to family gatherings with a "friend" of the same sex; they don't have to hold hands and kiss -- just as Uncle Joe can come to the party with Aunt Jane without kneeling before her and kissing her feet.

I really, really, really wish people would stop making the personal political.

[hudkina]

You just lost me...

[EastsideAl]

Bloomfield Pills just made me want to show up over at his house and kiss some men, and I'm not gay.

[vetalalumni]

Bloomfield Pills just made me want to show up over at his house and kiss some men, and I'm not gay.

Good one EastsideAl. Funny.

[detmich]

What happens in someone's bedroom should stay in the bedroom. There's no need for a "gay community" any more than there is for an "S&M community." Stop making your private business public and nobody will have the chance to discriminate against you.

And before you say, "Well, it's not just about sex; it's about a lifestyle," let me tell you that S&M enthusiasts say the exact same thing. And most of them don't go around flaunting the fact that they're into that lifestyle.

A gay person can show up to family gatherings with a "friend" of the same sex; they don't have to hold hands and kiss -- just as Uncle Joe can come to the party with Aunt Jane without kneeling before her and kissing her feet.

I really, really, really wish people would stop making the personal political.

I really, really wish you would die.

[jtf1972]

I really, really wish you would die.

Well, well, well... Aren't we a little testy.

Calm down, or we might have to have a straight pride parade!

[detmich]

Well, well, well... Aren't we a little testy.

Calm down, or we might have to have a straight pride parade!

AS long as it's in the suburbs, Detroit doesn't need your type.