Detroit Home Renovation Blog
Hello,
It was suggested that I keep an ongoing blog or thread about my move to Detroit, renovation of the home I bought and the various experiences good bad and ugly.
So here it goes:
I flew into Detroit last week to inspect the house I bought in Morningside on Buckingham.
Morningside has many examples of colonial style homes with brick facades now either vacant or used as section 8 rental.
As I got off of the 94 freeway and drove in the still pitch black early morning I saw a neighborhood that reminded me of Highland Park in L.A. from about 25 years ago. There were a few burned out houses, but not as many as I had seen in other locations. The over all impression was one of both poverty and potential.
I drove across outer drive and noticed a variety of neighborhoods, some spendid, some not so splendid.
As I finally came across my own block I found my house and pulled into the tiny driveway.
My home is structurally very sound, but has been hit by vandals. The actual livability factor of the house is solid. Most of the damage is cosmetic. I already knew that I would have to replace plumbing and heat systems so this is no surprise.
The professional thieves had already plundered what they wanted long ago. The roof, put there by the previous owner who lost the property because of a sub prime mortgage, is new and in great condition. The garage needs some help, but againt the roof is new.
The houses to both the left and the right are vacant. However someone has gone to some effort to make it appear as though the houses are at least watched or maintained.
The worst blight on the block is just across the street from me. It is the only burned roof on the block that I was able to find.
The neighborhood itself is mixed. There were obviously working class Black families, not gang members but just decent folks, walking their kids to school, going to work, etc. There were also caucasians in the neighborhood. A young woman who appeared to be either Hispanic or Mediterranean of some sort lives in the colonial style house next to the one with the burned down roof.
She is petite and owns a dog that seems to be twice her size. I plan to have my wife makes her acquaintance later.
The most frightening experience of the day was the brief encounter with a very angry White Guy. He was walking his German Shepard and volunteered his opinion about how the neighborhood had fallen apart. I am told that I needed a big gun and a big dog.
He had lived in the neighborhood for 50 years...growl growl [[the dog was well behaved and sweet) The guy seemed to be in his mid 50's so that could mean that he somehow inherited the house from his parents.
I certainly saw no signs of him being threatened by anyone else around him.
My biggest problem at the moment seems to be teenage vandals. They are breaking into the house and using it as a place to party. Given the fact that the place has been vacant for several years this is no big surprise. I found some Zig Zig papers on the floor [[as if I had never used those in my own youth) as well as empty brandy bottles.
Later in the afternoon there were two police cars that parked on the street. The police seemed to be in a pretty jovial mood so I went over and talked to them. They told me:
"Nothing much ever happens on this street. It's pretty quiet."
Mighty encouraging words.
I am asking my contractors to include baby-sitting the house in their list of services for doing the work that needs to be done.
My next step will be to do everything that can be done to the house while we still live in a different state.
Once we move and can take proactive steps to protect the renovations as they continue we will start to bring the beautiful old house back to life.
To be continued....
