Why I left

[terryh]

Sorry to see you go, but I so understand. CRIME, C-R-I-M-E, and more "Crime" and the justification therein [[don't snitch mentality) is the biggest problem I have with trying to continue to stay. Sure crime and theft is everywhere the argument goes - got that! But it's very high in Detroit! Thus, I am very cautious - everywhere, including the burbs!! I WILL NOT "naively" put myself in harms way.

I was born in Detroit, from family coming from the south in the late 50's. However, were it not for living in a shared dwelling with very excellent community-minded neighbors, strong security, security dogs and someone always home, I would NOT live in the city at this point. Family members and friends have endured home invasions, while they slept [[thankfully no one was killed) etc. and that kind of stuff has an impact by proxy if not directly.

And you make a good point about not being able to shop adequately in the city. Quality food and variety is just not available.

I work part-time in the suburbs and a full-time community oriented job in Detroit and find it just more convenient and safer to shop and get my gas while I am already in suburbs on my way home. Thus, to save gas, I plan my commerce that way [[having to go out of the city regularly anyway). Though I still do some shopping in the city and make an effort to support some business, but some areas I will not get out of my car. Period.

Once you've experienced the quality of better, it is harder to live with/ accept the lack in the city. The contrast of services and quality of life simply cannot be ignored!! In any event more people are living in shared dwellings per the economy and there is better safety in numbers... so I'll stay so long as I am not in a single family home. I like the "amenity" of coming home from a 12-hour work day and finding my possessions were I left them.

Thus, I don't CARE how many five-star restaurants and stadiums et al there are DOWNTOWN, until the "bold-faced" in-your-face, brazen crime, scrapping and theft quotient throughout the city is addressed more working, tax paying citizens will leave the cities neighborhoods.

Citizens are often afraid to 'snitch' for fear of retaliation....

[Meddle]

Often wondered if I made the right choice or if I'd look back and have regrets. Seeing some of the posts here, specifically the monstrosity next to where Hudson's used to be downtown and the meltdown of Livonia/Westland/Canton retail areas, I see no reason to look back anymore.

[313WX]

specifically the monstrosity next to where Hudson's used to be downtown

Compuware?

[Zacha341]

That is indeed part of the reason. Thus, things go on as they do...

Citizens are often afraid to 'snitch' for fear of retaliation....

[laurin]

That is indeed part of the reason. Thus, things go on as they do...

The anonymous text line is a help.

But police response is not a given. When we called because our house had been broken into, they operator insisted that she take the report over the phone. Then once the police finally did show, they insisted that we not move anything so that the evidence/fingerprint technicians could come and dust. It took a day to realize that we were complete idiots for believing that.

[tlharrington]

I grew up in Detroit. My family lived on Alma near Chalmers until I was 2. [[1969-1970) We then moved to 8100 Dobel. [[1970-1978) We lived in the lower flat until just after my 10th birthday. I played with my friends until the street lights came on with no worries. Our babysitter lived right across the street and all the moms on the block knew each other and would rat you out! My parents then bought their first house at 14453 Houston-Whittier. I graduated from Denby in 1986 and moved out just shy of my 21st birthday in 1989. I moved back into Detroit on the west side on Westbrook in 1992 and moved to Pierson south of Joy in 1995. We moved out for good when bullets fired from the next block over in broad daylight passed overhead as we were sitting on the front porch. That was 1998. My parents abandoned their home in November of 1996 after my mother was mugged in the driveway 3 times in one week. The next spring they received a letter from the city that stated their house was subject to forfeiture because of narcotics activities. My Dad called them and said "It's all yours!" I do occasionally go into the city for concerts and other events or to visit friends, but I don't think I'll move back in this lifetime.

[GUSHI]

Moved out in summer of 1993, Lived on the eastside, Miller and Mt Elliott Attended St Lads. k-8, and St Florian for 2 years of highschool. Neighborhood got really bad. A few dead bodies found in the alley by my house. Me and my buddy had a gun pulled on us and my parents decided that was it. Was getting in fights and arguments with Yemans all the time. Kind of miss my child hood, playing cops and robbers in empty house, playing basketball w/ a cut out milk crate as the hoop, playing tackel street football, playing in stripped cars. I have mostly wonderful memories of the city and will always love it.

[lukabottle]

I moved to Oakland, California in 2008 for a different perspective and also to pursue an urban planning degree once I acquired in-state tuition. How can you plan cities when aIl you know is a dysfunctional one? The UC system increased tuition for urban planning by $5,000 a year, causing me to change my plans.

I applied to several schools and ended up pursuing a MUP at McGill University in Montreal. International tuition is cheaper [[plus great health insurance) than instate tuition at University of Michigan. I am currently interning in Pittsburgh and will return to Montreal in August. In January, I will finish my last semester in Detroit. Hopefully my old apartment in Cass Park reopens. I really loved living there. My landlord was awesome.

Depending on the job situation, I hope to return to Detroit permanently and buy a house where my grandparents used to live on the east side. Traveling has been fun but I am a bit homesick. There is no where like Detroit.

I

[terryh]

I considered moving to Detroit when I was single, but now that we have a baby girl no way. I was mad at myself for getting off at the 8 mile I-75 exit instead of at 9 mile as we had our daughter in back in her car seat.. There was a huge Rottweiller roaming about, tall weeds, abandoned homes etc....what if my car happened to stall there, me with no gun or pepper spray? I do have a tire iron...Are the residents of that area so selfish, adolescent, spacey and dopey they cant take some pride in their community? I used to be more liberal minded on race and class issues, life experience has changed my views drastically....absentee landlords and apathetic city officials? Put the basketball and x-box down, get motivated and get youre hands dirty.....learn some new landscaping techniques...pick up the litter...poison and trap the vicious dogs that menacing the children...

[DetroitPole]

Haven't left yet, not in a hurry, but I plan to. There is just no future here.
Detroit is fucked beyond belief. To make matters more hopeless, there is absolutely zero leadership or vision left in this region. It is 2011 and we can't build a stupid rail line, and the Oakland County exec is vowing to block it from coming into his awful little fiefdom. Meanwhile the last hope for Detroit, Dave Bing, is a clueless, out-of-touch old man with no management skills or clear, coherent plan.

The good neighborhoods have been falling off for at least a decade or so. They have the opposite problem other posters have described. It doesn't really matter how much the neighbors care - we need government to deal with things like abandoned houses and illegal dumping and police protection. Instead we're left on our own to fend for ourselves. I live in a great city neighborhood, but I don't know how long we could hold out without some serious help.

The city has tens of thousands of great people, but their goodness is outweighed by the sheer badness of so many city residents. There are too many people who are crude, wicked, ignorant slime in the city capable of doing little else except causing conflict or crime. I used to be idealistic and able to see the goodness in all people. Now I'm cynical and jaded. I don't care how poor you are or about some 'civil justice' issue, there is no excuse to have piles of garbage in your front yard or to be shouting and shooting for no reason. As far as I'm concerned, people like that shouldn't be allowed to breed.

The city is a hulking ruin of a place and the suburbs are bland, awful, and soulless. So many people in the suburbs have been disconnected from urban life - for generations now - that they don't even seem to understand the benefits or importance of major cities and their amenities.

There are a lot of nice people here, but too many of them have left. The best and the brightest, coolest and nicest go seeking real cities and opportunities, not Brightmoor, Brighton, or Birmingham.

[Ravine]

Haven't left yet, not in a hurry, but I plan to. There is just no future here.
Detroit is fucked beyond belief. To make matters more hopeless, there is absolutely zero leadership or vision left in this region. It is 2011 and we can't build a stupid rail line, and the Oakland County exec is vowing to block it from coming into his awful little fiefdom. Meanwhile the last hope for Detroit, Dave Bing, is a clueless, out-of-touch old man with no management skills or clear, coherent plan.

The good neighborhoods have been falling off for at least a decade or so. They have the opposite problem other posters have described. It doesn't really matter how much the neighbors care - we need government to deal with things like abandoned houses and illegal dumping and police protection. Instead we're left on our own to fend for ourselves. I live in a great city neighborhood, but I don't know how long we could hold out without some serious help.

The city has tens of thousands of great people, but their goodness is outweighed by the sheer badness of so many city residents. There are too many people who are crude, wicked, ignorant slime in the city capable of doing little else except causing conflict or crime. I used to be idealistic and able to see the goodness in all people. Now I'm cynical and jaded. I don't care how poor you are or about some 'civil justice' issue, there is no excuse to have piles of garbage in your front yard or to be shouting and shooting for no reason. As far as I'm concerned, people like that shouldn't be allowed to breed.

The city is a hulking ruin of a place and the suburbs are bland, awful, and soulless. So many people in the suburbs have been disconnected from urban life - for generations now - that they don't even seem to understand the benefits or importance of major cities and their amenities.

There are a lot of nice people here, but too many of them have left. The best and the brightest, coolest and nicest go seeking real cities and opportunities, not Brightmoor, Brighton, or Birmingham.

DetroitPole, I haven't been participating in this forum, for reasons which are irrelevant here, but I foresee you catching a load of shit for that post, and since I-- a resident of Detroit for 36 years-- happen to 100% agree with it, I'm not going to sit back and allow your ass to be flogged alone.
I'm with ya, pal; as for the rest of you, bring on the gang-jump, because if Detroit Pole ain't ready for it, I am.

[Zacha341]

Don't get me started about the abandon dogs roaming about especially the pit bulls. These dogs are too often acquired as 'trophy' pets. Then when the reality of feeding, and properly caring for them comes and the gleam wear off these animals are turned out to the streets.

I am seeing more and more dogs large and small hit on the side of the road. Pit bulls laying dead on the freeways where they've wondered and been hit. I carry high power wasp spray [[best for dogs) in my car. If you cannot afford the care and detailed work that pet ownership requires DO NOT HAVE PETS.

I considered moving to Detroit when I was single, but now that we have a baby girl no way. I was mad at myself for getting off at the 8 mile I-75 exit instead of at 9 mile as we had our daughter in back in her car seat.. There was a huge Rottweiller roaming about, tall weeds, abandoned homes etc....what if my car happened to stall there, me with no gun or pepper spray?....

[sam]

I suppose I left HP in 65 when I graduated from HS. My family did not leave completely until 1974. There was the 67 riot and the white flight, but we had no idea that a city like Detroit could see a downturn that would last for decades. When my family migrated from the South in 52 Detroit was one of the richest cities in the world.

I did not return simply because of my career. It lead to Washington DC; I was a naval architect employed by the US Navy. If I had been a different type of engineer I might well have remained in Michigan.

I definitely miss the way Detroit was when I grew up. There is good government and bad government and Detroit has had a very long dry spell. Many cities have adopted to changing economic conditions and survived in one way or the other, but Detroit is still the exception. Detroit could have been Atlanta, a big city with lots of problems that is intact and has survived as far as I am concerned. Its economy was more diverse and its government more adept.

I sure do miss the Great Lakes, and the Michigan scenery.

[chitaku]

I too agree with DetroitPole who hit the nail right on the head.

[kathy2trips]

It's still Detroit 1980 in my head. If it could be like I remember it, I'd be back in a second. I haven't been back since August 1981 when my grandmother died. I graduated from WSU '79 and could NOT find a job. There were MBA's sweeping the floor at Burger Chef. I found a great job in Houston 2 weeks after I arrived. I didn't leave Detroit, I'm fond of telling people. Detroit left me.

[Roomseller]

Joined the Navy in 1979. Been around the world twice. Retired from active duty in Virginia Beach and was just too lazy to move, still haven't decided what I want to do when I grow up. My dad died at Zug Island May 27, 1967, my mom died in Melvindale exactly 40 years later, May 27, 2007. You can take the kid out of Detroit but you can't take Detroit out of the kid.

[hamtown mike]

Nobody is a punk for leaving, and nobody is a hero for staying.
I haven't left, but if I had more money, I would have.

Thanks for this.

[Hermod]

It's still Detroit 1980 in my head. If it could be like I remember it, I'd be back in a second.

I am holding out for 1950 in Detroit.

Great neighborhoods and great people.

[English]

I am holding out for 1950 in Detroit.

Great neighborhoods and great people.

For some of us.

[kathy2trips]

For some of us.

But not you?

[agirlintheD]

I couldn't agree more, DetroitPole. And your post couldn't have been more timely. Today, I received an email from a dear friend who lives alone in Detroit. Her mom died in December and there are very houses, let alone neighbors left. She's not in good health and has no income. Her words were unsettling..."I plan on sticking around until, well, until they burn it". What kind of life is that? We all know the neighborhoods are in dire need of TLC...but the reality is, it won't happen. It scares me to think she is a prisoner in her home. She said she longs for those days when neighbors would sit on their porch and listen to their transistors...but now she hears gunshots. I have to believe this was not what was intended for Detroit...or its residents. I have to believe somewhere there is an answer. There has to be....it can't go on like this forever...can it?

[SWMAP]

A snapshot of Life in the D, circa 1966, from Wikipedia:

Detroit was regarded by many in the United States as a leader in race relations during the early 1960s. The election of Mayor Jerome Cavanagh in 1961 brought reform to the police department, led by new Detroit Police Commissioner George Edwards. Organized labor, led by UAW President Walter Reuther, planned major redevelopment for inner-city slums.[20] The New York Times editorialized that Detroit had “more going for it than any other major city in the North.”[21]
Detroit had a large and prosperous black middle class; higher-than-normal wages for unskilled black workers because of the auto industry; two black congressmen, half the total black representation in Congress at the time; three black judges; two black members on the Detroit Board of Education; a housing commission that was forty percent black; and twelve blacks representing Detroit in the Michigan legislature.[22] Nicholas Hood, the sole black member of the nine-member Detroit Common Council praised the Cavanagh administration for its willingness to listen to concerns of the inner city. Only weeks prior to the riot, Mayor Cavanagh had proudly remarked that one did not “need to throw a brick to communicate with City Hall.”[23] Moreover, Detroit had acquired millions in federal funds through President Johnson’s Great Society programs and poured them almost exclusively into the inner city. The Washington Post claimed Detroit’s inner-city schools were undergoing “the country’s leading and most forceful reforms in education.” Housing conditions were not viewed as worse than those of other Northern cities. In 1965, the American Institute of Architects gave Detroit an award for urban redevelopment. The city had mature black neighborhoods like Conant Gardens, as Detroit had always absorbed new arrivals in areas founded on an ethnic base. As Paul Wrobel writes, in Our Way: Family, Parish, and Neighborhood in a Polish-American Community ethnic communities in Detroit like Poletown, Chaldeantown, Corktown, Mexicantown, and Greektown are ubiquitous.[24] African-Americans were no different, and according to an aide to President Johnson, in May 1967, the federal administration ranked housing for blacks above that of Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, and Cleveland. Finally, the Department of Justice's Office of Law Enforcement Assistance designated Detroit as the “model for police-community relations”.[25] Fortune, Newsweek, Christian Science Monitor, Look, Harper’s, U.S. News and World Report, and The Wall Street Journal all published positive articles on the city; Mayor Cavanagh was so highly regarded nationally that he headed the Conference of Mayors and National League of Cities after earning 69% of the votes in his 1965 reelection campaign. Although Cavanagh alienated many when he ran a failed attempt to earn the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate in 1966, the city was proud of defusing a possible riot situation on Kercheval Street in 1966 and felt police were capable of handling potential riot situations.
Nevertheless, according to Violence in the Model City by University of Michigan’s Sidney Fine, African-Americans felt dissatisfaction with social conditions in Detroit before July 23, 1967. After the riot, the Kerner Commission reported that their survey of blacks in Detroit found that none was “happy” about conditions in the city prior to the event. The areas of discrimination identified by Fine were: policing, housing, employment, spatial segregation within the city, mistreatment by merchants, shortage of recreational facilities, quality of public education, access to medical services, and “the way the war on poverty operated in Detroit.”[26]