Better and worse parts of brightmoor

[Tireman6]

I'm considering a move to Brightmoor and was wondering if anyone within knowledge could break down the rougher and quieter sections of Brightmoor.. For example different sections off of schoolcraft and fenkell and so on. I stay off tirrman on the west side so I'm not new to the hood or trying to rile anything up I just got a good deal over in bmoor but have heard a lot of bad things about the area

[Meddle]

I left in '98 but I don't recall any 'better' parts then. Maybe the far south -- s/o Fenkell. From there to McNichols was Mad Max land.

Go west of Telegraph if you can. Although parts of that were no bargain either.

[FormerEastsider]

I lived in Brightmoor [[W. Outer Drive & Telegraph) for one year in the early 80's. Even then many houses on some of the residential streets were already boarded up or abandoned. Lots of cars sitting on blocks. That was 20 years ago so maybe things have improved.

[softailrider]

I lived in Brightmoor [[W. Outer Drive & Telegraph) for one year in the early 80's. Even then many houses on some of the residential streets were already boarded up or abandoned. Lots of cars sitting on blocks. That was 20 years ago so maybe things have improved.

There is a lot more vacant lots now. The city did tear a lot of stuff down. The shopping district [[or what used to be a shopping district) is about 90% gone. I would say the area has been cleaned up quite a bit. Sure wouldn't want to live there - bad part of town for as long as I can remember.

[Lowell]

One of the intriguing areas of Brightmoor to me are the properties that back onto the Rouge River along Grayfield and Iliad. If one likes-nature-in-the-city these would be great properties and, considering that all things eventually change, may have great long term investment prospects. It's like being up north but in the middle of town.

In any other urban setting these would be highly-prized building sites for mansion level homes.

Take a Google Street view tour along Grayfield starting at this community garden. These are modest homes but you can see that many are quietly very tidy and well-maintained.

[archfan]

Lowell, from what I can see on Loveland, someone has already started buying up properties on Grayfield. I was surprised to see that the river actually cuts through some of the parcels.

[Pickford-Bentler]

Take a look at the area around Bramell, north of Schoolcraft.

[Neilr]

The KnuckleHead Farm is on Grayfield in Brightmoor.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/791938 [[Scroll through the pictures.)

https://www.facebook.com/KnuckleHeadFarm

[Lowell]

Excellent point Neilr. This satellite image shows how good the Grayfield St. properties are - huge back gardens down the the river and Rouge Park forest on the other side. Knucklehead is in the middle.


Nice picture of Knucklehead on their airbnb page gives and idea of the height of the embankment, well above the flood plain. What a deal too. I am tempted to staycation there.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I left in '98 but I don't recall any 'better' parts then. Maybe the far south -- s/o Fenkell. From there to McNichols was Mad Max land.

Go west of Telegraph if you can. Although parts of that were no bargain either.

Isn't west of Telegraph considered Redford? Or does Redford start west of Beech Daly? If so, I didn't know.

[Lowell]

This is what Google maps considers Brightmoor and I believe it is accurate. The old original 'downtown' Brightmoor dating from the 1920's is at Fenkell and Burt. Some images of that are at http://www.detroityes.com/webisodes/...heaterFull.htm [click the pictures to see more when there]

[RickBeall]

Amazing insight into the area Lowell, thanks.

[nativegirl]

Lowell and others, does any one know or seen the area in Brightmoor where there's literally a hole in the earth with just fresh dirt no cement and houses? off Fenkell past Evergreen I believe.

[Meddle]

This is what Google maps considers Brightmoor and I believe it is accurate. The old original 'downtown' Brightmoor dating from the 1920's is at Fenkell and Burt.

That's much bigger than I would call it. I wouldn't go south of the Jeffries for one. I'd start further west than Evergreen and go north of Pilgrim.

Fenkell and Burt was fairly active into the 70s though. After that, it was only a place to drive through without stopping.

[Meddle]

Lowell and others, does any one know or seen the area in Brightmoor where there's literally a hole in the earth with just fresh dirt no cement and houses? off Fenkell past Evergreen I believe.

I don't see anything like that on Google Earth, but there are several blocks that look to have been almost completely demolished. Braile, Stout, Pearson, Chapel, Burgess, Blackstone and several others -- I only see one or two houses on many of them.

[Meddle]

Isn't west of Telegraph considered Redford? Or does Redford start west of Beech Daly? If so, I didn't know.

From 8 Mile Rd to Puritan, it goes west a half-mile to Five Points.

It was weird when I lived out there. I had a Redford Zip Code which got me far better insurance rates. We'd get both Redford and Detroit fire, police and EMS responding to incidents.

I had a [[313) 533 phone number, but I can't remember now if that was Detroit or Redford.

[Gpwrangler]

I'm considering a move to Brightmoor and was wondering if anyone within knowledge could break down the rougher and quieter sections of Brightmoor.. For example different sections off of schoolcraft and fenkell and so on. I stay off tirrman on the west side so I'm not new to the hood or trying to rile anything up I just got a good deal over in bmoor but have heard a lot of bad things about the area

If you got a good deal on a place I guess you should ask about that place.

[Chloe]

My understanding about the development of Brightmoor in the 1920's by BF Taylor included the area west of Telegraph, which is actually Redford. The area was developed without infrastructure, and the city subsequently annexed the area east of Telegraph, providing lighting, etc. That is the apparent reason the roads were not paved on the streets west of Telegraph. My Dad, who grew up in Brightmoor during the 1930's-1940's, talked about the lack of indoor plumbing in my Grandparents home on Virgil until the late 1930's. He also talked about swimming in the Rouge during the summertime!!!. I remember visiting my Grandmother in the 1970's when I was a child, and her door actually being unlocked. Major changes occurred in the neighborhood in the 1980's.

[archfan]

The KnuckleHead Farm is on Grayfield in Brightmoor.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/791938 [[Scroll through the pictures.)

https://www.facebook.com/KnuckleHeadFarm

How embarrassing, I saw that one person had bought a number of parcels, and it looked like others were bought by a Real Estate Investment Trust [[REIT). It turns out that Mark and Riet are the owners of Knucklehead Farm. Oops.

[Enduro]

Lowell and others, does any one know or seen the area in Brightmoor where there's literally a hole in the earth with just fresh dirt no cement and houses? off Fenkell past Evergreen I believe.

About 8 years ago or so I had a contract job with a mapping company just driving every street on the map while connected to a satellite. I was a bit concerned/excited to get assigned Brightmoor because I knew I'd get to see some interesting things but also because there would be streets completely impassible and I knew it would be a great place to ambush a wayward vehicle with a bunch of expensive equipment on board.

Anyways, besides boats in the middle of the streets blocking passage and other curiosities [[I always drove the parks and cemeteries too because I found them fascinating and no one seemed to mind) the weirdest thing I encountered was a giant hole in a street that had nice, occupied homes on the west and the river on the east. By hole think landslide, more than half a lane wide. The road had just broken off and fallen down the steep grade a story or two to the river. Completely dangerous, impassible and super fascinating. Wish I had got a pic but I don't think I had a camera phone at the time.

Really wish that was a job that would have lasted forever. I really enjoyed seeing so many nooks and crannies of the city and the cool mom and pop businesses that don't get the attention they deserve... or sometimes that they want!

[Lowell]

Enduro, your job and discoveries sound similar to my former life as a Sears delivery driver that sooner or later got me on every street longer that three blocks, city and burbs. Best of all I got to go inside lots of homes. There was an interesting inverse correlation too. The tougher the neighborhood, the kinder and more appreciative they home dwellers were.

Brightmoor was on its way down even then but far more densely populated, troubled and teeming with kids. Today it's devastated areas are quiet, almost sylvan with only a few houses on each block and half of them abandoned. It is strangely peaceful and one rarely sees another.

[ggores]

Grew up there and delivered Detroit News from about '79 to '84. At peak had nearly 400 customers between Evergreen and west to Outer Drive, Fullerton south to Outer Drive north. I know it makes not much sense, but Outer Drive runs both East-West, and North-South.

Good deals in the neighborhood, if you are willing to do some repair work, if you have common sense and are at least desensitized to the occasional [[random) violence and criminal activity. To be specific, I would say to stay close to Lyndon. The streets are not the best in the world.

[Tireman6]

I appreciate all the answers ~

how is about the area around schoolcraft and evergreen?

[Wheels]

The closer you are to Scotty Simsons the better.