Am I crazy for moving back to Detroit?

**Marlon_JB2** · March-18-13, 02:54 PM

Regardless, I'm doing it anyway. I'm a 25 year old single male that decided to jump on the cheap real estate bandwagon. I'm sick of renting. Tired of apartment complexes giving every single excuse to enter my unit. I swear it's almost like they do this on purpose to be nosy.

I work on the East Side of Detroit and live in Ypsilanti. Tired of the commute. I swear I'm going in for an oil change every month. I'm tired of going to the gas station. I'm tired of dealing with being in this bootleg hood. I figure if I gotta live in the hood, might as well live in the real hood right?

I'm about to purchase a home that is just south of Harper Woods. It's dirt cheap just like everything else in the city. It needs no work. None. I've looked at the surrounding suburbs and they all seem to have the same problems as Detroit these days. Burglaries, car thefts, vandalism, etc. Seems you can't escape it unless you move north of Hall Rd. I'm not doing that. I don't have the funds.

I grew up on the East Side so it's not like I'm a stranger to the area. I left thinking the grass was greener on the other side. Well it isn't. Not at all. Just a few months ago, my tires were slashed, and nobody can even understand why. Of course "security" saw nothing.

I love this city for some strange reason and it's a shame a bunch of careless jerks, which includes government and citizens don't seem to care enough to keep it up.

I promise I will keep my yard maintained.

But numerous people have called me crazy for doing this. I don't understand why. Even with taxes and insurance [[which is going to suck bad), it's going to come out cheaper than paying for all of that crap plus gas living all the way out here. Plus, the money I'm paying for rent I might as well be flushing down the toilet anyway as I have nothing I can call mine. That's really what this is about. Having something I can call my own and hoping the city comes back someday, you know?

Shollin · March-18-13, 03:11 PM

As someone who left Harper Woods because of the crime, I wish you luck. Break ins, carjackings, and even the occasional shooting are becoming common. If you must purchase in the area, why not just go into Harper Woods? At least the schools are better, [[very good if you get into Grosse Pointe district) all the services are better, and the city is tougher on blight. Housing really isn't that much more.

**9606 Prest** · March-18-13, 03:37 PM

Stay in Ypsilanti and look for a job in Ann Arbor!

**Smirnoff** · March-18-13, 03:56 PM

After you are robbed with a knife or even shot, your house emptied while you are at work, & your car is either stripped or stolen.....let us know how well you are. The nightly gunshots & neighborhood fires will also make you sleep well, very tranquilizing. Oh, don't call the police either, because they are not coming.....

**Jason** · March-18-13, 04:13 PM

It sounds like it's too late now, but if you're going to move to Detroit imo that's not a very good place to pick. If you work on the east side, you can buy a cheap house that's nicer in Indian Village or West Village, and have better neighbors and community, better schools [[and the kinds of families that value good schools as neighbors), lower crime, and imo those areas are growing and would be a better investment. The area you're planning on moving to is falling apart.

**JJD** · March-18-13, 04:13 PM

Wow! For Detroit Yes forum you are getting some seriously biased and negative responses from Non-Detroiters. I for one support your decision, and more good people moving in, being watchful, and maintaining their property is the only road to improvement. I am a 30 year old male with a wife and 1 year old daughter. We moved back to Detroit and love it and our community that cares. Your neighborhood is what you and your neighbors make it. I say good luck, be careful and be vigilant and I hope you are able to improve the city and neighborhood. There are definately more challenges and risks than living in Bloomfield, but it is not as bad as these posts make it out to be.

**Detroit Stylin** · March-18-13, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by JJD

Wow! For Detroit Yes forum you are getting some seriously biased and negative responses from Non-Detroiters. I for one support your decision, and more good people moving in, being watchful, and maintaining their property is the only road to improvement. I am a 30 year old male with a wife and 1 year old daughter. We moved back to Detroit and love it and our community that cares. Your neighborhood is what you and your neighbors make it. I say good luck, be careful and be vigilant and I hope you are able to improve the city and neighborhood. There are definately more challenges and risks than living in Bloomfield, but it is not as bad as these posts make it out to be.

And I support it as well...

Signed,
A Life long Detroit Resident

**Jason** · March-18-13, 04:29 PM

It has nothing to do with "Detroiters" and "Non-Detroiters".

The city is not a big monolithic thing, and you can't paint it in big strokes. There are plenty of genuinely great places to live in Detroit, and there are a lot of bad places to live in Detroit.

Shollin · March-18-13, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by JJD

Wow! For Detroit Yes forum you are getting some seriously biased and negative responses from Non-Detroiters. I for one support your decision, and more good people moving in, being watchful, and maintaining their property is the only road to improvement. I am a 30 year old male with a wife and 1 year old daughter. We moved back to Detroit and love it and our community that cares. Your neighborhood is what you and your neighbors make it. I say good luck, be careful and be vigilant and I hope you are able to improve the city and neighborhood. There are definately more challenges and risks than living in Bloomfield, but it is not as bad as these posts make it out to be.

I'm speaking from direct experience from the neighborhood and I lived on the good side of the tracks where the city could provide police and street lights. The area along Moross has declined severely and quickly.

**Detroitnerd** · March-18-13, 04:49 PM

I know some people who live in the hood and it is different. It's working out for a friend of mine who knows his neighbors pretty well [[their brother was squatting his house when he bought it so they met each other pretty much right away). And he doesn't really keep a lot of stealable stuff at his house, and he's used to living pretty raw. It may not appeal to everyone.

Might I suggest that instead of living right where you work, you consider a neighborhood with more modest problems? The east side has really been hard hit. Perhaps someplace a bit less hit-up? If not Hamtramck, perhaps someplace on the outskirts of Hamtramck? I lived in the neighborhood east of Conant between Conant and Buffalo and Hamtramck had a stabilizing effect on that neighborhood. There was still property crime, and a few shootings over the years, but not much more than you can expect that in any big American city.

Good luck. Don't mind all the people who say it's crazy. But do take the time to meet with people who live in the city and gain their perspectives. Take your time and really get the lay of the land. Despite these outbursts on this thread, there will be some people here who have good insights who've done it. Django? Gannon?

**Detroitnerd** · March-18-13, 04:52 PM

One place that sometimes has houses at Wayne County Auction that's looking better recently is the quadrant north of Carpenter, east of Joseph Campau, west of Conant and south of Davison [[still the quickest way to the east side). At auction you can get a place for $500, but it'll need some work for sure!

Shollin · March-18-13, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

One place that sometimes has houses at Wayne County Auction that's looking better recently is the quadrant north of Carpenter, east of Joseph Campau, west of Conant and south of Davison [[still the quickest way to the east side). At auction you can get a place for $500, but it'll need some work for sure!

Wow I didn't even know this neighborhood was still in tact. I lived there when I was a kid.

**Detroitnerd** · March-18-13, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by Shollin

Wow I didn't even know this neighborhood was still in tact. I lived there when I was a kid.

Well, when they closed that police station and the hospital, it really started getting run-down. There used to be quite a few professionals in there, but they're all but gone. Now, WEST of Joseph Campau is quite dodgy, and I wouldn't recommend it, but EAST of Joseph Campau, the Bangladeshis have moved in with a vengeance, making it a sort of northern extension of Hamtramck's booming Bangladeshi population. In and among the Bangladeshis is a sprinkling of artists and "art homes" as part of Mitch Cope and Gina Reichert's POWER HOUSE project for JUXTAPOZ magazine. I had a good friend buy a home there just about a month ago.

It's great to have the neighborhood you were brought up in be invested in, because you get to drive through and remember it without so much bittersweetness. I'm glad for you, Shollin!

**Honky Tonk** · March-18-13, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by JJD

Wow! For Detroit Yes forum you are getting some seriously biased and negative responses from Non-Detroiters. I for one support your decision, and more good people moving in, being watchful, and maintaining their property is the only road to improvement. I am a 30 year old male with a wife and 1 year old daughter. We moved back to Detroit and love it and our community that cares. Your neighborhood is what you and your neighbors make it. I say good luck, be careful and be vigilant and I hope you are able to improve the city and neighborhood. There are definately more challenges and risks than living in Bloomfield, but it is not as bad as these posts make it out to be.

Sounds like a great community. Which community are you in?

**Marlon_JB2** · March-19-13, 12:53 PM

Wow. I was gonna make another long post but I pretty much summed up all of my feelings in the first one anyway.

Once again, I grew up on the East Side... to make matters worse... 48205. [[Well both sides, actually, and apparently some people didn't read it the first time I said it) My mom still lives there. Gunshots are totally ignored by me. I probably wouldn't pay them a bit of attention. From my experiences on the West Side, and talking to a few friends and officers, there's no real difference between the two.

The secret is just to look the part, act the part, be vigilant and for God's sakes don't have on $2,000+ worth of clothes. Criminals can sense you're not familiar or from around the area.

Originally Posted by JJD

Wow! For Detroit Yes forum you are getting some seriously biased and negative responses from Non-Detroiters. I for one support your decision, and more good people moving in, being watchful, and maintaining their property is the only road to improvement. I am a 30 year old male with a wife and 1 year old daughter. We moved back to Detroit and love it and our community that cares. Your neighborhood is what you and your neighbors make it. I say good luck, be careful and be vigilant and I hope you are able to improve the city and neighborhood. There are definately more challenges and risks than living in Bloomfield, but it is not as bad as these posts make it out to be.

Riiiiight. Instead of letting the city just outright die, I figured I'd do my part as a responsible resident to make an attempt to bring life back into it. Honestly that is all it takes. I've heard many stories about others doing the same. My realtor says I am not the only one either. [[We are past the point of her lying to me to get a sale, I can sense the difference, heh...)

**TexasT** · March-19-13, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by Marlon_JB2

Regardless, I'm doing it anyway. I'm a 25 year old single male that decided to jump on the cheap real estate bandwagon. I'm sick of renting. Tired of apartment complexes giving every single excuse to enter my unit. I swear it's almost like they do this on purpose to be nosy.

I work on the East Side of Detroit and live in Ypsilanti. Tired of the commute. I swear I'm going in for an oil change every month. I'm tired of going to the gas station. I'm tired of dealing with being in this bootleg hood. I figure if I gotta live in the hood, might as well live in the real hood right?

I'm about to purchase a home that is just south of Harper Woods. It's dirt cheap just like everything else in the city. It needs no work. None. I've looked at the surrounding suburbs and they all seem to have the same problems as Detroit these days. Burglaries, car thefts, vandalism, etc. Seems you can't escape it unless you move north of Hall Rd. I'm not doing that. I don't have the funds.

I grew up on the East Side so it's not like I'm a stranger to the area. I left thinking the grass was greener on the other side. Well it isn't. Not at all. Just a few months ago, my tires were slashed, and nobody can even understand why. Of course "security" saw nothing.

I love this city for some strange reason and it's a shame a bunch of careless jerks, which includes government and citizens don't seem to care enough to keep it up.

I promise I will keep my yard maintained.

But numerous people have called me crazy for doing this. I don't understand why. Even with taxes and insurance [[which is going to suck bad), it's going to come out cheaper than paying for all of that crap plus gas living all the way out here. Plus, the money I'm paying for rent I might as well be flushing down the toilet anyway as I have nothing I can call mine. That's really what this is about. Having something I can call my own and hoping the city comes back someday, you know?

Moved here from Chicago last summer for many of the same reasons. No regrets here!

**Zug** · March-19-13, 02:05 PM

I think you have good reasons for moving back. A good positive attitude is a nice thing. Trying to be one of the first to bring back a neighborhood is an excellent thing. Also, from a cost-savings perspective, it sounds like you'll be better off.

HOWEVER, you did ask an opinion-based question. Acknowledging your motives behind the move, there will still be lots of people that will say you are crazy. Personally, I would not make the same choice of neighborhood, but I wouldn't call you crazy. I call it idealistic. I'm at a point where I don't want to hope a place becomes nicer, but I want someplace already nice. I commend you for making a difference, and hopefully others will follow you.

**Marlon_JB2** · March-19-13, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by Zug

I think you have good reasons for moving back. A good positive attitude is a nice thing. Trying to be one of the first to bring back a neighborhood is an excellent thing. Also, from a cost-savings perspective, it sounds like you'll be better off.

HOWEVER, you did ask an opinion-based question. Acknowledging your motives behind the move, there will still be lots of people that will say you are crazy. Personally, I would not make the same choice of neighborhood, but I wouldn't call you crazy. I call it idealistic. I'm at a point where I don't want to hope a place becomes nicer, but I want someplace already nice. I commend you for making a difference, and hopefully others will follow you.

I haven't been able to find any other significantly better neighborhood in my budget, but I am so SICK of waiting. I thought I was a country boy, I'm not. I've been watching the neighborhood for last few weeks and I've been seeing some homes being fixed up, so we'll see. One was entirely gutted and totally remodeled. I'm going nuts on mine I know that. New garage and entry doors, maybe new windows when I save up the cash... it already has a new roof, furnace and water heater so I'm not worried about those three...

Nice yards scare troublemakers. I think that is what has kept my mom's block looking decent all these years.

Shollin · March-19-13, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by Marlon_JB2

I haven't been able to find any other significantly better neighborhood in my budget, but I am so SICK of waiting. I thought I was a country boy, I'm not. I've been watching the neighborhood for last few weeks and I've been seeing some homes being fixed up, so we'll see. One was entirely gutted and totally remodeled. I'm going nuts on mine I know that. New garage and entry doors, maybe new windows when I save up the cash... it already has a new roof, furnace and water heater so I'm not worried about those three...

Sounds like a plan. Broadcast to the neighborhood you have money. I spent a lot of money on my house in Harper Woods. I lost all the money I invested in it. It was enteraining when the police tackled the prowler in my yard. For a moment I thought they were going to go Malice Green on him. You don't have to worry about that though. Detroit police don't come for prowlers.

**Marlon_JB2** · March-19-13, 03:41 PM

Thank you for assuming that I had money. I don't, I'm just using some savings from over the YEARS to buy this house is all.

I don't make $100k/yr. I don't make $50k/yr. I don't even make $40k/yr. But I do make enough to get by and be comfortable.

That sucks that you lost money in something you considered as an investment. I'm sure the people who lost money in the stock market crashes thought the same thing... it's luck of the draw. I'm not trying to invest anything, just have a decent 4 walls and a roof...

If I never get more than what I put into it if I ever sell it, that's fine with me. To me, a home is a place to sleep, and eat. Not a goldmine... IMO that is one of the reasons why the market crashed in the first place. Totally unsustainable prices. Why should I pay you $50,000 for a remodeled kitchen when YOU only paid $10,000 for it?!

I know that is an extreme example, but I'm just trying to get my point across.

**daveyarm** · March-19-13, 03:51 PM

Short and simple: after 45 years in the suburbs, I moved to Downtown Detroit a year ago – – – and I am loving every minute of it!

Shollin · March-19-13, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by Marlon_JB2

Thank you for assuming that I had money. I don't, I'm just using some savings from over the YEARS to buy this house is all.

I don't make $100k/yr. I don't make $50k/yr. I don't even make $40k/yr. But I do make enough to get by and be comfortable.

That sucks that you lost money in something you considered as an investment. I'm sure the people who lost money in the stock market crashes thought the same thing... it's luck of the draw. I'm not trying to invest anything, just have a decent 4 walls and a roof...

If I never get more than what I put into it if I ever sell it, that's fine with me. To me, a home is a place to sleep, and eat. Not a goldmine... IMO that is one of the reasons why the market crashed in the first place. Totally unsustainable prices. Why should I pay you $50,000 for a remodeled kitchen when YOU only paid $10,000 for it?!

I know that is an extreme example, but I'm just trying to get my point across.

I bought my house in Harper Woods in 1993 and sold it in 2010 for less than what I paid in 93, and I had added an addition, finsihed the basement, and built a bump out in the upstairs to create a master bedroom. The added living space should've added value. The extreme crime increase dropped the value. People don't want to live in a nieghborhood where about 75% of the houses have "this home is protected by Brinks" signs.

**jolla** · March-19-13, 04:04 PM

I don't think you're crazy, as long as you don't have kids.

**Marlon_JB2** · March-19-13, 04:22 PM

Regarding the schools, as a graduate of DPS I'll tell you what the problem REALLY is.

It's NOT the teachers.

It's the lazy wannabe parents who don't take the time to sit down with their children and teach them *anything*. They consider these school systems to be teaching babysitters. No, it doesn't work like that.

A good old fashioned BELT will solve the behavioral problems too... but since parents want to be FRIENDS with their kids, that's also out of the question...

I was AFRAID of my parents but I KNEW THEY LOVED ME and I LOVED THEM. That's what kept me on the straight and narrow...

Shollin · March-19-13, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by Marlon_JB2

Regarding the schools, as a graduate of DPS I'll tell you what the problem REALLY is.

It's NOT the teachers.

It's the lazy wannabe parents who don't take the time to sit down with their children and teach them *anything*. They consider these school systems to be teaching babysitters. No, it doesn't work like that.

A good old fashioned BELT will solve the behavioral problems too... but since parents want to be FRIENDS with their kids, that's also out of the question...

I was AFRAID of my parents but I KNEW THEY LOVED ME and I LOVED THEM. That's what kept me on the straight and narrow...

I agree with the education aspect, but you cannot forget the safety aspect. Kids are being robbed of their clothing while waiting for a school bus.