Considering moving to Detroit

Looking for advice from Detroit natives. I'm self-employed and am considering moving to Detroit. I'd like to move into one of the mostly vacant neighborhoods and purchase a whole bunch of vacant lots so I can have extensive gardens, orchards, etc, while still being in an urban area. I'm also very intrigued and excited by the various urban agriculture and greening of Detroit projects, and would love to be involved in the city's rebirth. I've been looking, on-line, at the area SW of where I-94 and I-96 meet. Looks like quite a lot of vacant land, just what I'm looking for.
So, would this be safe? I've been looking at crime statistics, and from what I can tell area isn't any worse than where I live now in Lansing, but I don't really know what it looks like from the ground. Is this somewhere a scrawy white guy with no street smarts can live by himself? Are there other areas with lots of vacant land that would be a better choice? And what about city services? I've seen a lot of contradictory things about this elsewhere on-line. Is there still trash pick-up etc in these mostly abandoned neighborhoods?

If it's empty lots you want you are coming to the right place. I have a couple to get you started. They're on the Eastside by the Eastern Market. You can grown your veggies and walk them over to the Market on Saturday to sell.

You really can't argue with that logic!

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Originally Posted by MidTownMs

If it's empty lots you want you are coming to the right place. I have a couple to get you started. They're on the Eastside by the Eastern Market. You can grown your veggies and walk them over to the Market on Saturday to sell.

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You can try. Theys been a mess of folks that already did. Theys all gone now.
Maybe they juss came before their time.

Usually the areas with tons of vacant lots are "Hell zones" there is a reason why all those lots are vacant. You gotta get someone who really knows Detroit to help you. http://www.motorgay.net/

No street smarts? That's not a good way to start things.

As aforementioned, the vacant land isn't there for no reason. It's there because everybody left and most everything left standing was burned/demolished.

The better neighborhoods have little or no vacant land because people still live there because they're still livable, such as the near Northwest Side, East English Village, Indian Village, etc.

If you were to pick a mostly vacant area then North Corktown is probably your best bet. Largely vacant but mostly just old timers. Quiet.

Living alone isn't a great idea either, if only because the bad guys will pick up on your movement patterns and rob you blind while you're out. Get a roommate or get to know your neighbors. North Corktown is okay because they fall under the Corktown Residents Association. Those are important; nearly all the in-tact neighborhoods have active associations. You absolutely must get to know your neighbors, and you're better off where there are homeowners, even if they're elderly or poor, instead of transcient renters. No man is an island, and you better not think you can survive as one in Detroit.

Lots of people still do what you are looking to do, though. Brother Nature farm is in North Corktown, for example. No one does it alone though.

Check this area out. No one is really left, you have grosse pointe to the east, Jefferson Businesses District to the South, and plenty of vacant land at cheap prices. There are multiple smaller seasonal markets in the area as well.

http://g.co/maps/6dj3h

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Originally Posted by poobert

North Corktown is okay because they fall under the Corktown Residents Association.

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We're ok because we shoot people that come in and cause problems. Political organizing does help though :)

As for the op, I think the original location you're looking at is a good one, it's an old part of the city and was originally part of Corktown. There was a 20 year period where a U of M planning professor took a large swath of that part under his wing, it resulted in some good outcomes I think.

Some things to keep in mind-
-Whatever hood you end up in, you'll end up living on your block, so make sure you get on with your neighbors. They're the ones who will either save your life on a daily basis or make your life a living hell.
-Don't come in talking about how you want to buy up land, it's a great way to arouse suspicion. And honestly, you don't need to own it.
-Farming is a lot of work. Urban farming is even more work. Every lot has its own special problems. Plan accordingly.
-Most of the successful farmers in the city were something else in the city first. It allowed them to build the networks you need to get the urban advantage out of urban farming. It's a really hard thing to do when you're farming since [[as noted above) farming is a lot of work. Not much time for parties.

My advice: Move to the place where you want to be a farmer and focus on making friends and learning the trade. Start by renting.

I think getting into urban farming would be great, not sure if you would really make much money though. You should check out this building. It looks as though most of the neighborhood has been demolished. I agree with the earlier post stating you can't live by yourself. Maybe you could start some type of borading house and see if any earthy college kids would be willing to help you fix everything and help with the garden.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/22...21222959_zpid/

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Originally Posted by sbs0909

I think getting into urban farming would be great, not sure if you would really make much money though. You should check out this building. It looks as though most of the neighborhood has been demolished. I agree with the earlier post stating you can't live by yourself. Maybe you could start some type of borading house and see if any earthy college kids would be willing to help you fix everything and help with the garden.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/22...21222959_zpid/

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I don't get it, list price of $225,000, yet the estimated value on zillow is less than $30,000... this seems nore accurate

I actually think this building has been for sale off and on for years always listed at the same price, 225,000. Idk how the owner expects to sell something that pricey in the location that it's at but maybe there is more to it when you see the interior. I think the building is really cool but I wouldn't feel safe to live there unless I had lots of roommates

Hey there,

I and a group of others are in the process of setting up a similar situation in Hamtramck-Hamtown Farms. Though it has a community and sustainability mission it is similar in scale to what you are looking to achieve.

Drop me a line hamtownfarms@gmail.com and I'd be more than happy to chat about some of the road blocks we've encountered and how we've gone about overcoming them. Or find Hamtown Farms on facebook to learn more. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hamto...07254785975360

^Do you by chance plan to use a plot of land south of Holbrook and behind the strip mall? A few weeks ago I saw a bunch of orange flags that look like they are set up for a garden/farm.

great article: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...icle-1.1028629