Which areas safe to walk all hours -incl evening?

[NoHeartAnthony]

And those other areas are probably a little more dangerous.

[detr0itkid]

This has been a good thread.

Let me clarify - and maybe fine tune it.

One can look at statistics and show for example that Detroit has more assaultive crime than NYC and way more than say El Paso-ok we don't need to argue that. Years of statistics will win out over anecdotal evidence [[ie. "but my uncle knew someone who had a YUGO and it drove just fine")

Likewise we can all agree that a violent crime can happen in any neighborhood in America and such happens frequently.


What I'm getting at is areas where one can generally walk without being even hassled, sized up as potential prey, and where there isn't any visible signs of current or recent activity. So if you're walking on the riverfront and a car blares by stops and the occupants get out and shoot you, its not necessarily that that neigbhorhood isn't safe its more a Detroit of Urban Crime incident. Likewise there may be some areas that are really vacant. They might not look nice and they can be extremely poor but perhaps have few occupants --maybe older residents that haven't been able to flee or fix things up.

Maybe areas that "feel " safe 24/7 would have been a better title.

I'd say you have a pretty good understanding of things, I wouldn't be too worried about violence. But here is my take on a few "nice" neighborhoods:

University District, [[where I grew up and my parents still live): Safe and Walkable- But there is no where really to walk to. Same I believe to be true of Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, Green Acres, and Rosedale park.

Boston Edison: Lots of home for your money, safe of physical harm, some chance your home will get broken into.

Woodbridge: great community, walking distance to bars & restaurants. Because it is such a "nice" community and because of the nievity of WSU students criminals sometimes see it as an easy target for petty theft, muggings. Kind of annoying but the worst that will happen is that someone will break your car window or steal your wallett. If you park in your garage, and walk with your dog or a friend you will be fine. Same can be said about corktown.

Brush Park: If I had the money I'd move there. So close to downtown, so much barren land, it is not a good place for "Crimes of opertunity". I think It would be safe.

Hubbard Farms: Nice homes, Good community, Safe walk to bars/restaurants of Mexicantown. Only drawback is that you get crazies from the yorba walking up and down your street littering. Also when I lived there high school kids would take pacakges that I got delived off my porch. But I never felt like I would get assaulted or broken into. Most people who live there have a dog and a gun so criminals don't view it as a community of victims.

East English Village: it's fine, IMO kind of booring and far, and houses are not too impressive, but there are a lot of cops living there and it's close to the Grosse Points, so i'd assume it would be safe. But there is not too much to walk to there.

Indian Village: Beautifully homes, beautifull neighbors, safe durring the day, I've heard a lot of stories of stolen cars and people getting held up in their driveways. Same idea people come there to prey on the wealthy liberals. But if you are rich enough to afford your city taxes, insurance, utilities, and upkeep on one of those monster homes. Losing your car or wallet every 10 or 15 years should not be that big of a deal. Same can be said of west village to a lesser extent.

Downtown: I'm not much for condos [[I've got 4 dogs) but if you want a condo I think downtown is completly safe.

Midtown: The bums make it look scary, but everyone who lives there is either a college student/hipster or both. Plus there are lots of bars, restaurants. It's basically where I hang hout and I always feel safe. You just need to realize that bums can't afford guns, are too old/disabled to hurt you, and for that matter are usually to lazy to bother even trying. They just look scary cause they are crazy, but they are harmless.

North Corktown: I live in an apartment here while I'm rehabing a house here. Because of all the empty lots, and the hand full of dilapitated homes, it is not nearly as impressive looking durring a neighborhood drive through as any of the previously mentioned neighborhoods. However, the new housing stock is filled with good, mostly young, hard working people who all want the urban experience. The old housing stock is a mix of house rehabilitors such as myself, and old hillbillies that have been here forever. This neighborhood is well lit, we have neighborhood patroll, taxes are cheap, there is develpoment, and and the whole neighborhood seems to go to sleep early. At night all you can here is crickets cherping. More importantly this neighborhood is stable. There are no forclosures in the whole neighborhood. For that matter there is only one home for sale at all in this neighborhood. So if you can talk one of the speculators who are holding onto some of the uninhabited homes into selling you will be buying into a great neighborhood. Enough of my push for people to move into my new neighborhood. I feel completely safe here. I've had no problems here and I'm about a 5 minute walk to woodbridge, corktown, and motor city casino. And about a 15 minute walk to downtown or midtown. I think my neighborhood is great, I've lived and worked all over the city and this is where I settled. So take that for what it's worth.

All of this being said there are very few areas I actually feel unsafe walking, Davison & Linwood, 6 Mile & Gratiot, Near City Airport, are a few examples, and believe me if you are in one of these neighborhoods you will know it and leave quickly. I just dress neutral and act natural, and in 28 years of living in Detroit I've always been compleetly fine.

I'm sick of typing, hopefully this was helpfull

Message me if you have specific questions

[grumpyoldlady]

Even parts of paradise aren't safe at night. I have friends that just returned from the Hawaiian Islands, and they were warned by their tour guide and hotel concierge not go out alone at night. I don't recall which island this was on...they visited 3, I believe.

[stnfrnt]

I think I see sort of a method to Ocean2026's madness, here.First, he wants to give abandoned houses to illegal aliens. Probably some nice old Detroit architecture there. It's safe to walk around there, because illegals aren't going to do anything to get the police involved in anything.. This thread could turn out to be a pretty good roadmap for muggers. Watch it, folks. I know from the other threads I see O2026 posting on that he has a real hard time dealing with cold hard facts when they don't support his positions. Stirs up the pot pretty good. I used to live in Detroit many years ago. I'm in California, now, so I can't offer any first hand experiences that would be relavent here. I think this Ocean guy lives in Texas..

[Roq]

"Detroit is dangerous. So why deny it?"

Because it's not true.

Forbes disagrees with your statement:

"Unfortunately for the Motor City, Kilpatrick, 38, is just one ripple in the area's sea of crime. Detroit is the worst offender on our list of America's most dangerous cities, thanks to a staggering rate of 1,220 violent crimes committed per 100,000 people."

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/23/mos...an-cities.html

That is a hell of a rate.

[detmich]

Forbes disagrees with your statement:

"Unfortunately for the Motor City, Kilpatrick, 38, is just one ripple in the area's sea of crime. Detroit is the worst offender on our list of America's most dangerous cities, thanks to a staggering rate of 1,220 violent crimes committed per 100,000 people."

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/23/mos...an-cities.html

That is a hell of a rate.

Rule number 1 - never tell the truth if people don't want to acknowledge it.

[BShea]

I live in Lafayette Park, which I consider a nice area and I love it, but I don't consider it as safe as the neighborhood I previously lived in, in Port Huron. Two very different animals.

Crime can happen anywhere. It's more likely to happen in some places than others. Overall, Detroit as a whole is more dangerous than most American cities, but it has areas that are safer than others. There's nothing parochial in that statement. It's fact. Crime happens here. One simply has to be smart about it.

Another thing to consider is the geography of Detroit and its neighborhoods -- the layout and distribution of people means you can't perfectly compare this city and its neighborhoods to others that are set up in other ways.

Is all of Detroit some lawless post-apocalyptic dystopia? No. Is it a Pleasant Valley Sunday? No. Just because someone walked a couple times from one place to another and didn't get mugged doesn't make it safe. Just because someone got their bike stolen doesn't make it Gaza City. Detroit is what it is, and you're a fool not to be cautious. Even around the stadiums on game days there is crime. Hence, the legions of cops.

If you think it's so safe, leave you car unlocked all the time and don't use a Club.

If you think it's so dangerous, stay away.

Of, be smart and be aware of your surroundings.

[Michigan J]

The issue of Detroit being a safe city is off the table --It’s not safe – if you want actual statistics read the blurb and follow the link below. That doesn’t mean we write off the whole city, but that we have to address the underlying issues that made it that way [[but that’s another thread). The “safe� areas of Detroit are different from other cities in that they are small islands of perceived safety in a large sea of unsavory areas. There is no continuous safe zone that stretches for any distance in Detroit, and let’s face it; Detroit isn’t that large of a city anymore. There is a lot of good left but there is a lot of bad that needs to be extinguished in order to reform the city and make it feel safe for everyone, not just the “street smart�.

America's Most Dangerous Cities
By Zack O'Malley Greenburg
Friday, April 24, 2009provided by Forbes.com
Top 5 Most Dangerous Cities:
No. 1 Detroit, Mich.
[[Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 1,951,186
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 1,220


http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/106978/America%27s-Most-Dangerous-Cities

[FlyingJ]

This thread is a Rorschach Test. I have a friend whose professor stepfather won't lock their door because he refuses to "give in to the paranoia" but because we're from Detroit & have a few cops in the family tree we practice the "Sacramento Vampire Rule" whereas Richard Trenton Chase, a serial killer you may Google by either name & was the source of a pretty scary movie by the guy who did the Exorcist called "Rampage", operated under the proviso if you left your door unlocked he took as tacit approval from his victims he could come in & butcher you, drink your blood, feast on your body parts, take a knife to any sex or waste organs & stuff animal poop in your mouth. I would rather live my life without confusing any Sacramento Vampires, personally...I've been enough muggings, shoot outs & race riots