Ghost Blocks in Detroit

[313WX]

I'm just looking around on Google Maps, and I'm astounded by all the ghost blocks that are all around the city. By ghost blocks, I don't mean blocks that have no homes on them and have revreted back to nature, but a densely constructed block with NOTHING but empty homes [[maybe ONE or TWO occupied homes), and it appaers as if poeple were literally just uprooted from these places...

Delta Street is one [[Davison and McNichols area)...

Then there's Brentwood Street, betweeen Van Dyke and Veach. Even the Google maps image doesn't do it justic, as it has gotten worse yet [[those images are 3-4 years ago in some instances).

Runyon Street between 7 Mile and Lappin.


Really, just seeing all of these ghost streets popping up in areas that were otherwise occupied back in the 1990s and early 2000s is really surreal, and it's hard to believe Detroit still has 700,000 yet when looking at them.

Do you have any other ghost streets you've encountered that you'll like to share? I know there's the infamous Robinwood Street between John R. and Woodward, but feel freee to post any other ghost streets you know about and discuss them here.e

[Crumbled_pavement]

it's hard to believe Detroit still has 700,000 yet when looking at them.

Trust me Detroit doesn't [[600k max, and I'm being generous). As for ghost blocks, pretty much every other street. Check out the area south of 7 Mile between Lahser and Southfield Freeway. A lot of ghost blocks in that area. Better yet, just spin the dial. You can't miss.

[softailrider]

Tacoma Street, right off Gratiot, North of 7 mile. There's nobody living in any of those houses.

Strange thing is, one block over on East State Fair, the neighborhood is beautiful, almost every house looks great.

[DetroitPlanner]

I used to live on one of these blocks but I kept getting interupted by kids in a Van with Mystry Machine painted on the side of it. Those meddling kids forced me to move!

[Packman41]

Another Ghost Block is where I grew up on the lower east side. Take a look at Coplin St. between Vernor and Kercheval - near Carstens Elementary School and the Montheith Library.

Not one home left. All the homes on this block were on 30 foot wide lots, so the place was densely packed. But, no longer.

If you go 9 blocks east, then you arrive in Grosse Pointe Park where you only see rooftops and nearly no vacant lots.

[poobert]

It is a never-ending cycle. So a house or two goes vacant for any number of reasons, then virtually overnight the vandals swoop in and render the house an open, dangerous, hulking shell. Then arsonists, squatters, or drug dealers will set up shop. Nobody wants to live accross the street or next to that and then those people leave...repeat the process...through the entire city.
What are the police doing about it? Nothing. They don't come for squatters or drug houses.
What is Bing doing about it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Oh yeah, there's a taco truck now, though.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Packman you beat me to it, I grew up in theEastlawn/Jeff and then Jeff/Chalmers area south of Jeff back in the 60-70s and that area as well is an example of a ghost neighborhood

[Wheels]

Bing has an Idea to downsize Detroit. Why not let it happen itself with a little push from the city. I still haven't figured out how he plans to incorporate the outlying islands that do survive into Midtown.

[Brian1979]

The last time I was in Detroit I was riding around with a buddy of mine and we said let's go look at the ghetto. Well it didn't take long to find a ghetto. I was heading up Woodward almost to Grand Blvd. and I said the next street I see with a bunch of abandoned houses on it I'm turning on that street. So I turned on Philadelphia Street and I guarantee that at least 95% of the houses on Philadelphia east of Woodward were abandoned, the canopies over the porches collapsed on just about every house, boarded up houses, burned up houses.

Then we went over by the Packard plant after driving through Hamtramack, I hadn't been by the Packard plant in a number of years and was amazed that there were actually people parked around there, the next day I found out the Packard plant was going to be demolished.

[Brian1979]

Tacoma Street, right off Gratiot, North of 7 mile. There's nobody living in any of those houses.

Strange thing is, one block over on East State Fair, the neighborhood is beautiful, almost every house looks great.

Which direction off Gratiot are you talking about? I've been looking at Google Maps and know it may not be up to date but I started at the corner of Joann and Tacoma and found several abandoned houses there, east of Gratiot though I couldn't find many.

[MidTownMs]

The last time I was in Detroit I was riding around with a buddy of mine and we said let's go look at the ghetto. Well it didn't take long to find a ghetto. I was heading up Woodward almost to Grand Blvd. and I said the next street I see with a bunch of abandoned houses on it I'm turning on that street. So I turned on Philadelphia Street and I guarantee that at least 95% of the houses on Philadelphia east of Woodward were abandoned, the canopies over the porches collapsed on just about every house, boarded up houses, burned up houses.

Then we went over by the Packard plant after driving through Hamtramack, I hadn't been by the Packard plant in a number of years and was amazed that there were actually people parked around there, the next day I found out the Packard plant was going to be demolished.

How can what you described be a ghetto if the areas you drove through were absent of inhabitants?

[Brian1979]

How can what you described be a ghetto if the areas you drove through were absent of inhabitants?

There were people around just not many.

[RaumVogel]

Which direction off Gratiot are you talking about? I've been looking at Google Maps and know it may not be up to date but I started at the corner of Joann and Tacoma and found several abandoned houses there, east of Gratiot though I couldn't find many.

This is 1 block WEST of Gratiot. The contrast is HUGE. Did the Realtors know how to separate the two different types of homeowners?

[Detroitgayhistoryguy]

This neighborhood, east of John R and north of Mcnichols, holy hell!

[rjk]

Either a firebug or a drug war has been hitting the area south of 8 and west of John R. That area has been bad for a while but it's amazing how many of the houses have been torched.

The other side of John R is better but quite a few fires have been taking place there also. I had relative who lived in this area many decades ago and all three of their houses were burnt down over the last year or two.

[Wheels]

This neighborhood, east of John R and north of Mcnichols, holy hell!

This was my neighborhood growing up. Brush street across from Greenfield Park School.
Very densely populated mostly two family flats on 30 foot lots.
Garages in rear with Ally's no driveways.
Elm trees on every lot so it truly was like a tunnel.
Very mixed ethnic background's until the late 60's when the Chaldean's first started arriving.
This area was where Devils Night first started to take hold in the early 60's. Every Halloween we would loose a large number of garages.
No one used them and they were falling down.
Rumor was people were collecting insurance.
Ironically one of the only buildings still standing on Brush is a Hall that was abandoned all through the 50's and 60's.

[Ronnieguy]

Simple solution , 80% of these people are on Welfare, put them to work tearing down these blocks by hand, the city can provide the tools and removal trucks .
No work NO CHECK!
And then turn it all into farmland and have them work it , again No work NO CHECK!
Before people get all over me for the term "Them" it refers to anyone on the government Dole any one !!!
Bing has a chance to change the current system and set an example to the rest of the country.....NO WORK NO CHECK !!!

[poobert]

Simple solution , 80% of these people are on Welfare, put them to work tearing down these blocks by hand, the city can provide the tools and removal trucks .
No work NO CHECK!
And then turn it all into farmland and have them work it , again No work NO CHECK!
Before people get all over me for the term "Them" it refers to anyone on the government Dole any one !!!
Bing has a chance to change the current system and set an example to the rest of the country.....NO WORK NO CHECK !!!

Simple? You mean like you?

What about those too old or disabled to tear apart houses block by block?

As you describe it, this would be extremely dangerous work. What happens when one of these chain gang laborers gets hurt out of no fault of their own? Killed? Just throw them in the pit they're creating and bury them? Perhaps douse them with gasoline first?

How does the city coordinate these hand-to-hand demolitions to provide the resources? Where does the money come from for these presumed DPW trucks and dumpsters standing ready at the site? Are these people now city employees or city slaves or something?

The farmland thing...boy, that really doesn't have any connotations to it, now does it? Besides that, after a house with pipes and lead paint and everything else that happens to a house [[most of which have basements, are these indentured servants to dig those out and fill them?) in 80 years or so [[which is about how old these houses are) we're supposed to just grow shit there and eat it? Yum!

Why not just house them in camps? Sound familiar?

Amendment XIII

Section 1.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

There's that old thing.

If I am injured, say, in the military or at work, and cannot work anymore, and thus am on the "dole" and fit your definitions of "any one" [[sic) and live in Detroit, do I have to tear apart houses or die or something?

Oh, and in most cases somebody owns those properties. In many cases, investors. What about private property rights? We just start arbitrarily tearing down improvements on parcels owned by someone else with these slave laborers? If I don't cut my lawn while I'm on vacation is your band of conscripted welfare criminals going to tear apart my house, too?

Simple...ton.

[rjk]

Simple solution , 80% of these people are on Welfare, put them to work tearing down these blocks by hand, the city can provide the tools and removal trucks .
No work NO CHECK!
And then turn it all into farmland and have them work it , again No work NO CHECK!
Before people get all over me for the term "Them" it refers to anyone on the government Dole any one !!!
Bing has a chance to change the current system and set an example to the rest of the country.....NO WORK NO CHECK !!!

I'd bet you your idea would cost twice as much as having a company that does this type of work do it. With the training that would be needed, the potential for injuries and all the goverment red tape it sounds like a nightmare.

[GUSHI]

Line up the dozers,,,start knocking it down,,,,Detroit With only a few exceptions is fucked up, it's the mayors and city councils fault, past and present, Detroit lives in denial, it's not what it was and will never be,,,,,,,,

[Blueidone]

In the area near Coplin...Gray St. and Springle St...a developer has built brand new housing for low income and handicapped people, in conjuction with the Coalition on Temporary Shelter. Total of 34 units so far, all full, very successful. There were more applicants than housing units available.

Yet, for some unknown reason [[there are suspicions, of course) when the same developer requested to build more housing the in the same area, he was told he could not.

The land is vacant. It is mostly owned by the City. Why would you not want more housing for the low income residents of the City? Simply incredible!

[p69rrh51]

Line up the dozers,,,start knocking it down,,,,Detroit With only a few exceptions is fucked up, it's the mayors and city councils fault, past and present, Detroit lives in denial, it's not what it was and will never be,,,,,,,,

Very true but once in a great while the is a gem in the weeds! Call it preservation by neglect. I found the original pic in an old issue of Island Architect. The home was designed and built by George Nettleton in 1896. Nettleton was Albert Kahn's partner in the late 1890's. After finding Nettleton's address in the city directories I was suprised to find that the home was not located well known areas of the city homes were built in the late 19th century. A map search started with the expected empty lot but knowing the search may be off a bit a quick search came up with a home that was very close to the pic. I took a pic last week and it was spot on. Not being familiar with the area of the city I was delighted to see a very nice Queen Anne/Shingle Style home a block or so away but of course the usual empty lots also. Must have been a very nice neighborhood at one time.

[poobert]

What kills me is that is in virtually every one of these neighborhoods there will be rows of empty houses interspersed with a couple immaculately maintained old homes. What a hard, hellish life that must be.

[313WX]

In the area near Coplin...Gray St. and Springle St...a developer has built brand new housing for low income and handicapped people, in conjuction with the Coalition on Temporary Shelter. Total of 34 units so far, all full, very successful. There were more applicants than housing units available.

Yet, for some unknown reason [[there are suspicions, of course) when the same developer requested to build more housing the in the same area, he was told he could not.

The land is vacant. It is mostly owned by the City. Why would you not want more housing for the low income residents of the City? Simply incredible!

That entire area [[Warren-Jefferson-Alter-Conner) is slated to be essentially removed from the grid. This may likewise be the reason why they're closing Carstens Elementary, Monteith Library and removing the street lights on Kercheval.

[mikefmich]

I know it's reality and all.....& I've done my share of Googling street view too.
But it still depresses the hell out of me.

State Fair & Gratiot. It's where my ex lived when we first started dating.
I ran the entire east side as a kid and young adult.
Bleeh.