Obscure neighorboods of the City

[Kathleen]

A lot of the names you see for city neighborhoods today really came into use relatively recently, with the increased neighborhood organization of the 1960s and/or the city planning and "urban renewal" work of the 1950s and 60s.

Or more recently. A case in point is the proliferation of neighborhood names on the far east side...names like East English Village and Morningside. I grew up in the Warren Ave.-Outer Drive area and that's how we referenced our neighborhood. In the mid-70's and into the 80's, we saw the growth of neighborhood associations and we aligned ourselves with the group names: DARE [[Detroit Area Residents East), DEAR [[Detroit East Area Residents), NEAR, ONE, etc. But no specific neighborhood names until after us kids had married and moved out of the area, and my parents moved to Arizona.

According to their website, the East English Village was named in 1990 by the local homeowners association that evolved from one of the above named neighborhood associations. http://www.eastenglishvillage.org/welcome.html

[Eastside]

Or more recently. A case in point is the proliferation of neighborhood names on the far east side...names like East English Village and Morningside. I grew up in the Warren Ave.-Outer Drive area and that's how we referenced our neighborhood. In the mid-70's and into the 80's, we saw the growth of neighborhood associations and we aligned ourselves with the group names: DARE [[Detroit Area Residents East), DEAR [[Detroit East Area Residents), NEAR, ONE, etc. But no specific neighborhood names until after us kids had married and moved out of the area, and my parents moved to Arizona.

According to their website, the East English Village was named in 1990 by the local homeowners association that evolved from one of the above named neighborhood associations. http://www.eastenglishvillage.org/welcome.html

The East English was formally DEAR. The EEV name was one of three final names submitted for consideration and voted upon by the residents. The EEV name won by a majority vote.

At that time, the DEAR organization leadership met and held brainstorming sessions with area real estate companies on ways to stabilize real estate values and create demand for the great homes found within the EEV boundaries. So it was decided to brand the neighborhood as an upscale, stable neighborhood. Shortly after the name was adopted, the boundary signs were built and installed, brochures were created touting the benefits of living in EEV and media coverage followed. It worked. Demand for the homes went up along with prices. But, unfortunately like most neighborhoods in Detroit and surrounding communities , this latest recession has taken it's toll on home values.

[Kathleen]

Thanks, Eastside, for the additional details. My point was just that the newer neighborhood names are fairly recent.

I was pretty involved with DEAR as a block representative for several years until I got married and moved. While there, I co-authored a history of churches in the area covered roughly by the East Warren Businessmen's Association. And as part of a class at Wayne State, I did an overview and analysis of the EWBA from a wide variety of demographic factors. It was interesting to look at the neighborhood I grew up in from so many different angles!!