Detroit’s Core Thrives As Criminals Prey On Neighborhoods

**begingri** · July-21-12, 08:49 PM

After three years in a suburban house, Nathaniel Wallace bought a loft in Detroit’s midtown, where major crime has dropped 38 percent in three years.

The 32-year-old computer contractor paid less than $200,000 for the restored three-level building with stainless-steel appliances and a rooftop view of the Comerica Park baseball stadium.

“People see Detroit as the cool place to be,” he said.

Six miles north, state Representative Jimmy Womack, 58, was robbed at gunpoint July 8 near his Detroit home. He said three men stole $300 from his pocket after he refused to give them his 2011 Cadillac SRX, then laughed as they walked away.

“We’re falling apart as a community,” said Womack.

As small, safe enclaves attract residents -- midtown’s population grew 33 percent in 10 years as Detroit as a whole lost 25 percent -- cuts in police protection threaten to unleash more crime in outer neighborhoods that already lead the nation in violence. Spreading the core’s vitality may decide the fate of the near-bankrupt city.

Last year, Detroit’s 2,137 violent crimes per 100,000 people, including 344 homicides, led U.S. cities with populations of 300,000 or more, according to an FBI report. St. Louis was second, with 1,857 crimes per 100,000.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...hborhoods.html

**EASTSIDE CAT 67-83** · July-21-12, 09:40 PM

Sure mid-town may thrive now and has seen a recent increase in population, this is all good news for the city center but the types of folks who live and move there are doing so for just a few short years. They are mostly young upwardly mobile educated folks likely without children who are seeking the hipster urban experience. I wouldn't think they are putting down roots and raising families. Personally I would be more concerned with making the outlying neighborhoods that exist throughout the city safer places to live and raise families.

**RickBeall** · July-21-12, 10:23 PM

You gotta protect the neighborhoods too.

**Hamtragedy** · July-21-12, 11:16 PM

So then what you're saying is, after 40 years, the emphasis on rebuilding downtown and the immediate environs is finally starting to come to fruition. And all it took was the emigration of 750,000 from the city proper to give the illusion that Detroit is rebounding.

Call me when the police show up in Grandmont to take a police report.

**Chicago48** · July-22-12, 06:08 AM

Originally Posted by EASTSIDE CAT 67-83

Sure mid-town may thrive now and has seen a recent increase in population, this is all good news for the city center but the types of folks who live and move there are doing so for just a few short years. They are mostly young upwardly mobile educated folks likely without children who are seeking the hipster urban experience. I wouldn't think they are putting down roots and raising families. Personally I would be more concerned with making the outlying neighborhoods that exist throughout the city safer places to live and raise families.

If the most crime is happening in the outer hood that's where the police should be. If the mid-town is so prosperous they can afford to hire private patrol. And until the black residents of Detroit march and protest on city hall, nothing is going to be done.
Eventually the crime will find itself in mid-town....trust me, I live in Chicago and for decades the gangs were on the south side....now they've fanned out and are in the "good" neighborhoods.

**Wheels** · July-22-12, 08:19 AM

When did they move Comerica Park to midtown?

**Hermod** · July-22-12, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by Chicago48

If the most crime is happening in the outer hood that's where the police should be. If the mid-town is so prosperous they can afford to hire private patrol. And until the black residents of Detroit march and protest on city hall, nothing is going to be done.
Eventually the crime will find itself in mid-town....trust me, I live in Chicago and for decades the gangs were on the south side....now they've fanned out and are in the "good" neighborhoods.

The gangs used to be concentrated in the city center in Detroit as well. Now they have moved out to the outer neighborhoods and the newcomers are coming into the abandoned city center and midtown.

**daddeeo** · July-22-12, 12:27 PM

Criminals go where the vulnerable money is.

**DetroitPlanner** · July-22-12, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by Hermod

The gangs used to be concentrated in the city center in Detroit as well. Now they have moved out to the outer neighborhoods and the newcomers are coming into the abandoned city center and midtown.

When were gangs clustered in the City Center?? I never recall those days but I sure remember them being around the far west side back in the 1970's.

**Hermod** · July-23-12, 03:11 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

When were gangs clustered in the City Center?? I never recall those days but I sure remember them being around the far west side back in the 1970's.

In the 1940s, they were pretty much inside the perimeter of the boulevards.

**rex** · July-23-12, 10:10 AM

I mean. Yes. Its all true. By and large residents in the neighborhoods dont have the means to sustain themselves by legal means outside of public assistance. I would expect that many who have jobs do what they can to cloak their income because public assistance alone isn't enough, service industry paychecks aren't enough and together its just scraping by. I don't have a negative perception of those selling drugs. You got to make it somehow. We have more low skill people than low skill jobs. Its a small miracle that people with education and financial means are willing to be surrounded at all sides by the crime

**EASTSIDE CAT 67-83** · July-23-12, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by rex

By and large residents in the neighborhoods dont have the means to sustain themselves by legal means outside of public assistance. I don't have a negative perception of those selling drugs. You got to make it somehow.

Wow Rex...nice position! I hope you are not raising your kids to make the same career choice..since you think its Ok and all to augment your Govt provided check [[reads tax revenue from working stiffs) with slinging dope...Wow

**jolla** · July-23-12, 01:52 PM

I don't have a negative perception of people who sell drugs. It's no different [[morally) than selling liquor.

**TKshreve** · July-23-12, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by jolla

I don't have a negative perception of people who sell drugs. It's no different [[morally) than selling liquor.

Except liquor is regulated, passed through safety inspections, supports companies [[not an individual), prohibited to minors, and taxed. So no, it's very different in fact.

**Wheels** · July-23-12, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by jolla

I don't have a negative perception of people who sell drugs. It's no different [[morally) than selling liquor.

So crack dealers are OK in your neighborhood? Good luck with that.

**Zacha341** · July-23-12, 02:28 PM

Sure some people descretly sell drugs to a regular clientele of adults for years without drama and have rules of order etc. for when folks can purchase and get their stuff.

But spend a week or two living next to a more casual full-out 'crunked-up' dope house!? That sorta lifestyle is 'constant' comings and goings [[adults and youth); a 'sentinel' watch-out person positioned on the front porch or nearby 24-7, trash from the 'guests' frequency; car horns blowing day and night from more hurried 'guests'... Loud talking, and music all times of night! Seller, 'guests' and visitors STARING at you as you come and go...

And that's setting aside the associated discord [[beef), rivalry, violence and eventual law enforcement scene kicking in doors, shootings, and or the joint being set on fire -- the slow wait for the fire truck. Oh, yeah... umm, No - thank you.

I know of these things as a family member live on a block with two such 'sellers'... they finally had to move.

Originally Posted by jolla

I don't have a negative perception of people who sell drugs. It's no different [[morally) than selling liquor.

**downtown_racine** · July-23-12, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by Wheels

So crack dealers are OK in your neighborhood? Good luck with that.

You said a mouthful with that, at first I kinda agreed with Rex but then thought about it for a minute and the way some people deal drugs is real low key selling a few bags of grass a week probably owning a home and automobile and working a day job. Then you have the homeless pistol toting sociopath who doesnt have anything but a corner to stand on and sell packets of crack and heron and the inevitable rival seller warfare that is part and parcel in that trade. Such is life in the big city....

**jolla** · July-23-12, 04:49 PM

Your problem is with the criminality that often [[but not always) surrounds selling drugs.

**Wheels** · July-23-12, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by jolla

Your problem is with the criminality that often [[but not always) surrounds selling drugs.

Where do you live that selling drugs is not a criminal act?

**Detroitnerd** · July-23-12, 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by Wheels

Where do you live that selling drugs is not a criminal act?

Speaking of that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal

**detroitsgwenivere** · July-23-12, 06:57 PM

Good for you Rex and jolla. You are entitled to your opinions.

I've been around too many trappers who've tried to hold their neighborhoods together and support their families, who aren't typically violent and are just products of their environment to paint them all with a broad brush. [[often they're the young guys standing on the corner).

But I don't blame people for disliking trap spots, they are dangerous for sure and only end up burnt up or shot up, while operations move to another house, repeating the cycle.

**Zacha341** · July-23-12, 07:52 PM

Hah... Um, yeah it usually does... who wants that gamble nearby or there's those untidy overdoses - even amongst the so-called 'polished' users:

Vincent Vargas hair gets a bit disheveled as Mia Wallace requires a 'refreshing' shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKQ-B...eature=related

Originally Posted by jolla

Your problem is with the criminality that often [[but not always) surrounds selling drugs.

**SWMAP** · July-23-12, 08:29 PM

I had a guy with a disability check living next door 2005-2007. He once offered to sell me a new refrigerator and when we went to look at it in his garage I saw that he had a store of appliances and lots of stuff. It became clear to me that he, formerly a railroad employee was selling stuff from the close trains here in SWDetroit. He also had a small marijuana operation going as people came in and left with McDonald's and Burger King bags in hand. Then there was the illegal electric hook up and the 8 floodlights illuminating his house and the garage and my bedroom all night. Still, he was pleasant and eager to show me how I too could get my gas meter fixed to run slow. But his son moved in with him and Sonny sold heroin and used heroin and his girlfriend too. You don't think the next generation improves when Dad sells drugs and other stuff to "get by?" Things got terrible. Luckily Dad died of liver failure and sonny moved on. Anyway, I have bad memories of that small-time drug seller and I don't think he was an asset to the neighborhood.

**DetroitPlanner** · July-23-12, 09:13 PM

Originally Posted by Hermod

In the 1940s, they were pretty much inside the perimeter of the boulevards.

That pretty much describes most of the City in the 1940s. The Purple Gang was N of there along Oakland Ave N of Highland Park.

**rb336** · July-23-12, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by Chicago48

If the most crime is happening in the outer hood that's where the police should be. If the mid-town is so prosperous they can afford to hire private patrol. And until the black residents of Detroit march and protest on city hall, nothing is going to be done.
Eventually the crime will find itself in mid-town....trust me, I live in Chicago and for decades the gangs were on the south side....now they've fanned out and are in the "good" neighborhoods.

The difference here is that Detroit is essentially a "reclamation" project. when rebuilding a car, you don't put fresh body panels on a rusted-out frame. you don't put new siding on a house with rotten timbers. You want a strong city, you have to start somewhere, and the core is the logical place to do it.