Syria's Loss Detroit's Gain? Proposal to Settle Refugees in Northtown

[Lowell]

With plans congealing for the USA to accept a large influx of refugees from the Syrian civil war, a plan is being floated to resettle them in a once predominantly Arab-American neighborhood of Northtown, formerly known as Chaldean Town. It it roughly centered around John R and Seven Mile in Detroit. What do you think?

Haifa Fakhouri, president and CEO of the Arab American and Chaldean Council, has a vision for Detroit — specifically, one square mile of the city.

A nearly 20-year-old plan to redevelop an area on Seven Mile Road, now known as NorthTown and formerly called Chaldean Town, was stalled several years ago after the first phases were completed.

Now, Fakhouri and the ACC see opportunity coming from war-torn Syria, where millions have fled seeking asylum across the eurozone to realize the NorthTown project, including new multifamily Section 8 housing.

She believes as many 5,000 Syrian families seeking refugee status could call NorthTown home and revitalize the blighted neighborhood.

[Wesley Mouch]

With plans congealing for the USA to accept a large influx of refugees from the Syrian civil war, a plan is being floated to resettle them in a once predominantly Arab-American neighborhood of Northtown, formerly known as Chaldean Town. It it roughly centered around John R and Seven Mile in Detroit. What do you think?

Fine idea. Just not big enough. I would think Detroit could handle thousands and thousands more.

[dtowncitylover]

But only Christian Syrians. Ain't no way a mosque is going to get built in their neighborhood.

[pkbroch]

I live across Woodward from " Northtown" never heard that name used before, it is a overgrown, burned out, vacant mess with a few habitable houses.

Perfecting Church building program with their unfinished after 10+ years of work church, blights the corner, their Woodward frontage and the land behind it. In order for this to be settled by 5000 people housing would have to be built on a large scale and vacant land would have to be acquired. While a noble idea it would take $$$$$ to make it habitable again. Even the commercial strip on Seven is mostly vacant due to crime, little police protection, vandalism and arson.

These poor people have fled a bombed out mess, that area would really have to be cleaned up to be habitable for such a large population.

[Honky Tonk]

Fine idea. Just not big enough. I would think Detroit could handle thousands and thousands more.

That's fine, as long as they all have paid medical, credit, money, and are able to pay City, State, and Federal taxes. If not, we already have some.

[Honky Tonk]

But only Christian Syrians. Ain't no way a mosque is going to get built in their neighborhood.

I don't believe Downtown Detroit has a mosque, it could use one.

[Wesley Mouch]

I live across Woodward from " Northtown" never heard that name used before, it is a overgrown, burned out, vacant mess with a few habitable houses.

Perfecting Church building program with their unfinished after 10+ years of work church, blights the corner, their Woodward frontage and the land behind it. In order for this to be settled by 5000 people housing would have to be built on a large scale and vacant land would have to be acquired. While a noble idea it would take $$$$$ to make it habitable again. Even the commercial strip on Seven is mostly vacant due to crime, little police protection, vandalism and arson.

These poor people have fled a bombed out mess, that area would really have to be cleaned up to be habitable for such a large population.

People who have survived Syria's civil war just want a chance. While some [[or maybe many) of the refugees are poor and unskilled, many are architects, lawyers, doctors, and no doubt build contractors. I wouldn't underestimate their ability to overcome obstacles. I'm sure the City of Detroit's Human Rights Department would help them, too. They'd have some real human rights to address here.

[hybridy]

Penrose Village is the name of the new development that is occurring in the area.

http://growtown.org/projects/penrose/

[Hypestyles]

Also, what about that area near Davison & the Lodge where there is an active effort to present itself to Muslim residents-- http://www.freep.com/story/news/colu...irit/29710209/
If plans regarding Syrian relocation are continued, there needs to be federal money [[and hopefully international money) directed to clearing out any devastated housing and building new apartments. Single family homes should be carefully thought out, however. There needs to be partnerships with ethical nonprofit agencies with global reach that can deal ethically with the refugee community. Also there needs to be a strong, deliberate effort to outreach residents already in these surrounding areas- including jobs outreach.

[Dan Wesson]

Great!!

Section 8, welfare for the well to do, jobs for the not so well to do and welfare for the least well to do.

Build it and they will come...<sarc off>

[EastsideAl]

But only Christian Syrians. Ain't no way a mosque is going to get built in their neighborhood.

See, that's the thing. The Chaldean community have very recently made it pretty damn clear that there ain't no way they're building that community for the many Muslim refugees.

[Bham1982]

People who have survived Syria's civil war just want a chance. While some [[or maybe many) of the refugees are poor and unskilled, many are architects, lawyers, doctors, and no doubt build contractors. I wouldn't underestimate their ability to overcome obstacles. I'm sure the City of Detroit's Human Rights Department would help them, too. They'd have some real human rights to address here.

And that would be why Germany reports that 90% of the "refugees" [[who passed through five other stable, safe countries before reaching Germany) are unemployable. They're basically benefits shopping, and Germany has the best benefits.

And "Northtown" barely exists. There aren't even homes for the most part, and anyone you forcibly settled there would be in Sterling Heights with their countrymen in 6 months.

[Richard]

It takes two years to vette before they can even come over here,so they have to resettle somewhere else then apply,then wait two years.

One would figure the first host country would not be to happy about supporting one for two years then have them leave.

A doctor,lawyer,etc. would not be able to use those skills in this country without going through the whole education process that is required for US doctors etc. so those skills are pointless.

In Orlando there are lots of x doctors,dentists,lawyers etc. from South America cleaning hotel rooms and such.Some do have underground clinics that cater to their nationality and seem to do well with that.

World news followed a couple and their child from the day they left to now where they have resettled in a small village in Germany and are in a unknown time period of a holding pattern.

She was a hairdresser and he was a sheet metal worker.

So there is a huge cost involved and a large time frame,housing,clothing,medical,food and so on,kinda like what we already have and already need to maybe be doing with our own existing population.

In the 60s in Orlando the Gov built a sub-division for the Cubans,they got a free house and $5000,lot of money in the 60s,they have never been tracked and figure in the 60s Orlando was a small farm town,but they all have seemed to move on to points unknown and there is not really per-say a high concentration of Cubans in one spot like other nationalities.

It may all sound good but it is a large investment over a long period of time with zero guarantees of retention,it is not like you can take 10,000 and resettle and all of the sudden you have success.

The only thing it would do would be to provide a large amount of Government funds flowing into the community,kinda like after a major disaster.Short term an injection of cash into the city long term would be at least 5 years before stabilization.

Seems like it would be a better investment to inject the cash to build what is already there with foundation,because the resettlement does really nothing to address the existing problem and it will not go away.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Unlike some others, I think it would be a good idea, assuming the funding is there to really improve the area enough.

Since the Arab American and Chaldean Council is already behind the idea, you have a local organization with ties to the community already committed to the effort.

The area is just off of Woodward. With some notable exceptions, I think areas straddling Woodward have a lot of potential for redevelopment. And while many do not really care for the "Magic" proposal for the fairgrounds, if that does proceed, this targeted area would have solid redevelopment to its north, and stability to its west as well. Doesn't the fairgrounds proposal include a WCCC location? They could institute programs geared to this community.

While the vastly empty city could certainly handle a lot more than 5,000, I think a higher figure would just create more resistance and be harder to implement.

Sure there is a ton of blight, vacancy, arson, crime, etc in that area now. I think filling it up with a lot of war-torn refugees who aren't about to put up with any crap might just take care of that.

Of course, it would be key to make the area nice enough, safe enough, and thriving enough to retain the immigrants and/or attract future immigrants to the area. But I think that it totally possible.

[Honky Tonk]

It takes two years to vette before they can even come over here,so they have to resettle somewhere else then apply,then wait two years.

One would figure the first host country would not be to happy about supporting one for two years then have them leave.

A doctor,lawyer,etc. would not be able to use those skills in this country without going through the whole education process that is required for US doctors etc. so those skills are pointless.

In Orlando there are lots of x doctors,dentists,lawyers etc. from South America cleaning hotel rooms and such.Some do have underground clinics that cater to their nationality and seem to do well with that.

World news followed a couple and their child from the day they left to now where they have resettled in a small village in Germany and are in a unknown time period of a holding pattern.

She was a hairdresser and he was a sheet metal worker.

So there is a huge cost involved and a large time frame,housing,clothing,medical,food and so on,kinda like what we already have and already need to maybe be doing with our own existing population.

In the 60s in Orlando the Gov built a sub-division for the Cubans,they got a free house and $5000,lot of money in the 60s,they have never been tracked and figure in the 60s Orlando was a small farm town,but they all have seemed to move on to points unknown and there is not really per-say a high concentration of Cubans in one spot like other nationalities.

It may all sound good but it is a large investment over a long period of time with zero guarantees of retention,it is not like you can take 10,000 and resettle and all of the sudden you have success.

The only thing it would do would be to provide a large amount of Government funds flowing into the community,kinda like after a major disaster.Short term an injection of cash into the city long term would be at least 5 years before stabilization.

Seems like it would be a better investment to inject the cash to build what is already there with foundation,because the resettlement does really nothing to address the existing problem and it will not go away.

Even though "Doctor" and "Lawyer" are more impressive titles, I bet the hairdresser and sheet metal worker would find jobs sooner. You have to learn our laws, get certified by our Boards, have a great grasp of the English language, not to mention build up a client base. I know a Doctor who's been living in this country, and she works in accounting, because USA's certifications aren't the same as the country she came from. I also know immigrants that have had medical treatment and childbirth "on the house", while working and struggling citizen couples are paying through the nose for Health Care. Why do you think that is?

[Richard]

Sure there is a ton of blight, vacancy, arson, crime, etc in that area now. I think filling it up with a lot of war-torn refugees who aren't about to put up with any crap might just take care of that.

Of course, it would be key to make the area nice enough, safe enough, and thriving enough to retain the immigrants and/or attract future immigrants to the area. But I think that it totally possible.

That is exactly what they are running from,they are not interested in revitalizing a neighborhood and doing what it takes,they could do that where they are.

They are looking to relocate to a nice stable community where they can send their kids to school and provide a safe setting.If Detroit was at that point now it would not need to re-settle refugees.I am not trying to dis the city but remind me why people left in the first place,but then fly thousands in and trap them into a situation that most would not that are already in the country?

Maybe places like Birmingham or one of the burbs,or San Diego,San Fransisco or a city that can more afford to absorb the associated costs.

The really downside would be,let one thug kill,rape,rob one and it becomes Detroit all over the international news,it does not matter that it could happen anywhere,the negativity on a international level would do more damage to the city then it is worth.

It sounds really harsh but why all the trends?

Years ago it was adopt a foreign child,while ours sit in holding waiting for a loving family.
Then it was feed other countries starving children,while ours go hungry to school.

I was raised Midwestern Lutheran and 100% believe in helping out our fellow man,but as an American my duty is to Americans first then we do what we can for others.

[Richard]

Even though "Doctor" and "Lawyer" are more impressive titles, I bet the hairdresser and sheet metal worker would find jobs sooner. You have to learn our laws, get certified by our Boards, have a great grasp of the English language, not to mention build up a client base. I know a Doctor who's been living in this country, and she works in accounting, because USA's certifications aren't the same as the country she came from. I also know immigrants that have had medical treatment and childbirth "on the house", while working and struggling citizen couples are paying through the nose for Health Care. Why do you think that is?

Maybe that is the answer is to vett the skilled trades and use them to fill positions until we train others.

The work visias have always been geared towards the high skilled jobs,maybe we need to lower that to help build the work force on the mid level instead,I agree the hairdresser and sheet metalworker would be more beneficial to the city then a lawyer.They would be able to establish way more quicker.

Immigrants and health care.

The feds know that the individual states cannot adsorb the costs for health care for undocumented,so they become a client of the state and for every client the state receives money from the feds,so the more clients they have the more money they receive.

It is a major incentive and cash flow for the states.

Free health care is easy,just pretend you are not a citizen.

"Free" has got to be one of the most misunderstood words in the dictionary.

[Honky Tonk]

"Free" has got to be one of the most misunderstood words in the dictionary.

I disagree, I think it's the most understood word in the dictionary.

[Danny]

Nortown along Van Dyke and E. 7 Mile Rd. has been a desolate black and blighted ghetto-hood. With fewer well kept up homes just north of E .7 Mile Rd. and Van Dyke. When suffered Syrian families move in to that area how are they going adjust to the blighted area loaded with poor welfare and food stamp folks? To develop that area for Syrian families they need to know are they going to be safe? They need good schools, police protection, better housing and business. Otherwise they will move to another area.

Nice try!

They can not move from their war town nation to war torn ghetto.

[Wesley Mouch]

Even though "Doctor" and "Lawyer" are more impressive titles, I bet the hairdresser and sheet metal worker would find jobs sooner. You have to learn our laws, get certified by our Boards, have a great grasp of the English language, not to mention build up a client base. I know a Doctor who's been living in this country, and she works in accounting, because USA's certifications aren't the same as the country she came from. I also know immigrants that have had medical treatment and childbirth "on the house", while working and struggling citizen couples are paying through the nose for Health Care. Why do you think that is?

So let's say we have 5,000 immigrants. That's many times more workload than a single doctor can handle. So we don't need a doctor who can speak English. We need a doc who speaks their language. They have their own client base.

The certification problem is a problem with our system. Not a problem with the refugees. I'm not interested in systems designed to protect industries. If they are college educated doctors will real talents, our system should find a way to use their talents.

[softailrider]

I live across Woodward from " Northtown" never heard that name used before, it is a overgrown, burned out, vacant mess with a few habitable houses.

Perfecting Church building program with their unfinished after 10+ years of work church, blights the corner, their Woodward frontage and the land behind it. In order for this to be settled by 5000 people housing would have to be built on a large scale and vacant land would have to be acquired. While a noble idea it would take $$$$$ to make it habitable again. Even the commercial strip on Seven is mostly vacant due to crime, little police protection, vandalism and arson.

These poor people have fled a bombed out mess, that area would really have to be cleaned up to be habitable for such a large population.

Not to hijack this thread but does anybody know why in hell that huge church is still a work in progress?

[Jason]

I think as long as it's practical and the resources are available for it, temporarily housing refugees here would be fine.

But I think that permanently letting Syrian refugees in is a different story. Suddenly having thousands of people with no jobs, many with no educations, many who don't speak english, separated from their friends and family [[their support networks). You'd just end up with thousands of people stranded and isolated in the hood, set up for failure. Honestly we already have thousands of current citizens who are in the same situation, and, while acknowledging their undeservedly tragic lives, they're liabilities, not assets. I think in the long term thousands of refugees would also be liabilities.

For doctors and lawyers and things like that, while it's true that they wouldn't be able to practice in the United States without redoing a lot of their stuff [[and many might), despite that they would still be a positive addition to Detroit's human capital.


I think if a single area were completely demolished and rebuilt, to be a completely cohesive high quality neighborhood with a newness [[a lack of existing cultural identity or history within that specific area) that would allow the refugees to completely identify with the new area, and if this new neighborhood included office and retail space, jobs training, assimilation assistance, and other resources that enabled everyone to start new businesses to serve a self sustaining population, then I would be supportive of it, but that would be a massive undertaking.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

That is exactly what they are running from,they are not interested in revitalizing a neighborhood and doing what it takes,they could do that where they are.

They are looking to relocate to a nice stable community where they can send their kids to school and provide a safe setting.If Detroit was at that point now it would not need to re-settle refugees.I am not trying to dis the city but remind me why people left in the first place,but then fly thousands in and trap them into a situation that most would not that are already in the country?

Maybe places like Birmingham or one of the burbs,or San Diego,San Fransisco or a city that can more afford to absorb the associated costs.

The really downside would be,let one thug kill,rape,rob one and it becomes Detroit all over the international news,it does not matter that it could happen anywhere,the negativity on a international level would do more damage to the city then it is worth.

It sounds really harsh but why all the trends?

Years ago it was adopt a foreign child,while ours sit in holding waiting for a loving family.
Then it was feed other countries starving children,while ours go hungry to school.

I was raised Midwestern Lutheran and 100% believe in helping out our fellow man,but as an American my duty is to Americans first then we do what we can for others.

I don't think the plan is to move them into a neighborhood and then revitalize it, but would be to move into an already revitalized neighborhood. My support for the initiative would be based on a very large pool of funds to reconstruct and stabilize the area, and then repopulate it. And "they could do that where they are"? While being in the cross hairs of Assad and ISIL? They are not exactly fleeing a just a bad neighborhood.

As far as the "Americans first" argument, it would be easier to subscribe to if we did not continually meddle in, and make matters worse in, the Middle East.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

That is exactly what they are running from,they are not interested in revitalizing a neighborhood and doing what it takes,they could do that where they are.

They are looking to relocate to a nice stable community where they can send their kids to school and provide a safe setting.If Detroit was at that point now it would not need to re-settle refugees.I am not trying to dis the city but remind me why people left in the first place,but then fly thousands in and trap them into a situation that most would not that are already in the country?

Maybe places like Birmingham or one of the burbs,or San Diego,San Fransisco or a city that can more afford to absorb the associated costs.

The really downside would be,let one thug kill,rape,rob one and it becomes Detroit all over the international news,it does not matter that it could happen anywhere,the negativity on a international level would do more damage to the city then it is worth.

It sounds really harsh but why all the trends?

Years ago it was adopt a foreign child,while ours sit in holding waiting for a loving family.
Then it was feed other countries starving children,while ours go hungry to school.

I was raised Midwestern Lutheran and 100% believe in helping out our fellow man,but as an American my duty is to Americans first then we do what we can for others.

um......yes, lets give them all a million dollar apartment in SF

[takascar]

People who have survived Syria's civil war just want a chance. While some [[or maybe many) of the refugees are poor and unskilled, many are architects, lawyers, doctors, and no doubt build contractors. I wouldn't underestimate their ability to overcome obstacles. I'm sure the City of Detroit's Human Rights Department would help them, too. They'd have some real human rights to address here.

Help them - with WHOSE MONEY !?!?!?!?!?!? How about the residents in Detroit who have suffered already due to lack of support from outside to provide AMERICAN CITIZENS with opportunities. If you want to start a riot - bring in some completely foreign people and start giving them welfare checks and let the long-suffering citizens see that happening. It would make the late 60's look like a picnic! NO! No one comes in unless they have something to contribute to the city. First off, they need to come in pre-employed [[i.e. with a job). Don't see how Syrian refugees who don't speak English just coming off the boat will have any of that.