Your "White Flight" Story

[MicrosoftFan]

I always think history is best when it is from someone who lived it.

So I'm wondering what peoples stories are of leaving Detroit. When did you leave, why did you leave, and is there one thing or event that pushed you out of the city?

And what does your old neighborhood look like now?

Thanks,
MicrosoftFan

[Farwell]

1. Property theft.
2. Declining property values
3. Harassment and bullying by the new black immigrants to the neighborhood targeted only toward white residents.
4. Decline of public schools.
5. Loss of a sense of community.

Sad. My home from 1950-1975. Don't wish any ill will to the city but just don't care. Moved on a long time ago.

[masterblaster]

1. Property theft.
2. Declining property values
3. Harassment and bullying by the new black immigrants to the neighborhood targeted only toward white residents.
4. Decline of public schools.
5. Loss of a sense of community.

Sad. My home from 1950-1975. Don't wish any ill will to the city but just don't care. Moved on a long time ago.

If you really don't care about Detroit, and you have moved on, why are on a Detroit-focused website?

[Farwell]

If you really don't care about Detroit, and you have moved on, why are on a Detroit-focused website?

Nostalgia and the historical aspects.

[Hermod]

If you really don't care about Detroit, and you have moved on, why are on a Detroit-focused website?

If you go out to any blue collar bar in the suburbs, you will meet first generation [[and second generation) suburbanites that will express their love for the Detroit that was and their sorrow for the Detroit that is. They consider themselves as exiles from a massive ethnic cleansing that took place in the 60s and 70s.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Farwell'
You Sir... hit the nail succinctly on the head 4 out of 5 [[I could not agree with your description of the African Americans as "new black immigrants" although you did revise your comments with an apology of a poor choice of words which I believe as a sincere explanation..but I digress)
My love affair with Detroit has never ended but my parents stayed too long and endured heart wrenching crimes ranging from physical assault to multiple break-ins of property loss and auto theft. The "straw" that got the moving truck in the driveway with a teary eyed family loading it up to move just a few blocks across the DMZ [[Alter road for them at the time '94) and move into a home and neighborhood that gave them the security of a warm blanket on cool night, was my mother who came home from work to a house that was turned upside-down not only did they steal but they had to make a mess while doing it, my Dad who was a hunter all his life had his entire collection of hunting rifles stolen [[wonder how many crimes were committed with those after the fact). The police never even came to the house, they simply said come down to the 5th [[St Jean and Jeff) and make a report. But above all the property loss, it was that feeling of being violated and having to leave the city you grew up in, raised a family in and loved. Real Detroiters feel the city in their bones, its a soulful part of their DNA. Mom and Dad came from the same neighborhood, mom-Belverdere, Dad Harding, they went to High School together [[Annunciation). Well I've ranted long enough but your Thread kinda hit home.

1. Property theft. [Crimes ranging from physical assault to multiple break-ins of property loss and auto theft]
2. Declining property values [They sold the home in '94 for just a few grand over what they paid for it back in '68]
3. Harassment and bullying by the black in the neighborhood targeted only toward white residents. [This started in the early mid 80s and progressively got worse year after year, the teenagers of the neighborhood didn't like to use sidewalks and made a game of how close they could get to my Dads car as he came home from work]
4. Decline of public schools. [We pulled out of DPS system when busing came along]
5. Loss of a sense of community. [It slowly slipped away]

Sad. My home from 1950-1975. Don't wish any ill will to the city but just don't care. Moved on a long time ago.

[Burnsie]

When my grandparents moved to Detroit in 1952 or '53, they looked at renting near the GM HQ where my grandfather worked, but the landlord told them he only rented to Jewish people. So, they moved into a duplex on Field St. at Vernor. In about 1954, the landlord told my grandmother that he decided he only wanted to rent to black people, so my grandparents and their three kids had to leave. That was their reward for paying the rent on time and being quiet tenants. Like in Dan Wesson's case, their white privilege had become a hindrance.

They then looked at houses on Grand Blvd near there. Indian Village appealed to them but it was too expensive. Ultimately they decided to move to Royal Oak.

[dtowncitylover]

Ultimately they decided to move to Royal Oak.

Where black Americans had to be out by sunset and couldn't get FHA loans to live.

[dtowncitylover]

...new black immigrants to the neighborhood targeted only toward white residents.

What the hell are "black immigrants"?

You say you've "moved on" but it's hard to believe you when you categorize your fellow CITIZENS who have a different pigment of skin into a group that's been historically maligned.

White neighborhoods weren't welcoming to any black families so I wonder if the feelings and harassment went both ways. Until the whites finally gave up and moved. No one tried to reconcile, we all just segregated ourselves.

[Farwell]

What the hell are "black immigrants"?

You say you've "moved on" but it's hard to believe you when you categorize your fellow CITIZENS who have a different pigment of skin into a group that's been historically maligned.

White neighborhoods weren't welcoming to any black families so I wonder if the feelings and harassment went both ways. Until the whites finally gave up and moved. No one tried to reconcile, we all just segregated ourselves.

Poor choice of words on my part. I apologize. Doesn't change the fact that razor blades hidden between fingers became a part of childhood scuffles, my brother got roughed up enough times that he was forced to change schools, we had to get a German shepherd to protect our property and the final straw, our house dropped in value to what my parents bought it for in 1950. You are right. We chose not to be martyrs to a cause and got the hell out. Best decision my folks ever made. Maybe your experience of growing up in Detroit at that time is different and you didn't experience any of what I did.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

What the hell are "black immigrants"?

You say you've "moved on" but it's hard to believe you when you categorize your fellow CITIZENS who have a different pigment of skin into a group that's been historically maligned.

White neighborhoods weren't welcoming to any black families so I wonder if the feelings and harassment went both ways. Until the whites finally gave up and moved. No one tried to reconcile, we all just segregated ourselves.

Excellent points !!

[thomprod]

What the hell are "black immigrants"?

You say you've "moved on" but it's hard to believe you when you categorize your fellow CITIZENS who have a different pigment of skin into a group that's been historically maligned.

White neighborhoods weren't welcoming to any black families so I wonder if the feelings and harassment went both ways. Until the whites finally gave up and moved. No one tried to reconcile, we all just segregated ourselves.

I agree with your points, dtowncitylover.

[scarecrow]

What the hell are "black immigrants"?

I think they meant migrants. Since there was a mass exodus from the south at the time.

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My great grandfather owned an AMC dealership on Greenfield back in the day. He kept it there the entire time until the neighborhood fell apart around it where it was eventually sold.

They left Detroit and went to Farmington Hills when it was still farmland so I'm assuming around 55 or 56 since it was right before Greene's was opened.

[bartocktoo]

I think they meant migrants. Since there was a mass exodus from the south at the time.

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My great grandfather owned an AMC dealership on Greenfield back in the day. He kept it there the entire time until the neighborhood fell apart around it where it was eventually sold.

They left Detroit and went to Farmington Hills when it was still farmland so I'm assuming around 55 or 56 since it was right before Greene's was opened.

What blows my mind is that we moved to Rochester Hills when I was young in 1979 [[where I grew up...full disclosure I've lived in and out of the city and currently in an inner-ring suburb)...farmland there too. 40 years later the sprawl north from where I grew up near Oakland U is arguably another 11 miles, north east and north west much further. And the area's population has stayed the same...

[Zacha341]

Yes my parents, black, migrated from the south etc. Both sides bringing their siblings with them. They came in the late 50's. A family elder working on the construction of Cobo Hall, another Uniroyal Tire on Jefferson, an aunt a school teacher, one the US Post Office, etc. They lived their entire lives in Detroit.

I think they meant migrants. Since there was a mass exodus from the south at the time.
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My great grandfather owned an AMC dealership on Greenfield back in the day. He kept it there the entire time until the neighborhood fell apart around it where it was eventually sold.

They left Detroit and went to Farmington Hills when it was still farmland so I'm assuming around 55 or 56 since it was right before Greene's was opened.

[Hermod]

1940-1954. We moved because my father had a wish to live in the country. We moved to Rochester [[which was country then, the Future Farmers of America was the largest club in the high school). I lived in Detroit in 1961 till I left to go into the Army [[and never came back). Our old neighborhood by Nottingham and Grayton isn't the worst place in Detroit now, but where i lived in 1961 [[Schoenherr & 7 Mile) is pretty bad. The worst is the total collapse of most commercial activity there.

[Johnnny5]

I'm too young to have first hand knowledge of my family leaving Detroit, but I've heard the stories from others. My grandfather's family is Polish and lived in Southwest Detroit [[23rd and Buchanan area). They left around 1958 not because they wanted to, but because the new single family brick homes being built in Warren were better than what they had, and more affordable.

My great grandparents stayed behind in their Detroit homes, but the 67' riots changed that in hurry. There was heavy looting and arson damage very close to their homes and along with almost all of my great aunts and uncles they left Detroit immediately afterwards.

[EastsideAl]

Don't have one. My family never left. Dad lived all 91 of his years on the east side of Detroit.

[hybridy]

Lived in city proper from 03-08...left due to recession. Came back to metro in 2015. Leaving for good in August for better professional opportunities, better pay and better public schooling. There's this perception by employers that detroit is cheap...if I live in burbs and care about quality schooling that's simply not the case. Fleeing high car insurance, slow SMART buses, litter, crappy infrastructure, bottle deposits, $170/mo downtown parking, high daycare costs, and the overall CBD construction project. Every amenity detroit offers is matched by multiple Midwest metros with a legitimate upshot. I love this place, but I can't justify it anymore. The real estate market is at peak so time to cash out.

[313WX]

Lived in city proper from 03-08...left due to recession. Came back to metro in 2015. Leaving for good in August for better professional opportunities, better pay and better public schooling. There's this perception by employers that detroit is cheap...if I live in burbs and care about quality schooling that's simply not the case. Fleeing high car insurance, slow SMART buses, litter, crappy infrastructure, bottle deposits, $170/mo downtown parking, high daycare costs, and the overall CBD construction project. Every amenity detroit offers is matched by multiple Midwest metros with a legitimate upshot. I love this place, but I can't justify it anymore. The real estate market is at peak so time to cash out.

There's a good chance I'll be leaving soon for similar reasons. I see no future in Michigan for anyone who's ambitious and does not have an Engineering degree from U of M / MSU, especially with the beginning of the next downturn in the Auto Industry [[which is slowly dying any way).

I'm curious to know however, what do you mean by "There's this perception by employers that detroit is cheap?" Could you elaborate?

[hybridy]

There's a good chance I'll be leaving soon for similar reasons. I see no future in Michigan for anyone who's ambitious and does not have an Engineering degree from U of M / MSU, especially with the beginning of the next downturn in the Auto Industry [[which is slowly dying any way).

I'm curious to know however, what do you mean by "There's this perception by employers that detroit is cheap?" Could you elaborate?

my company has several branch offices around the country. I've encountered several local colleagues whose wages are very low for equivalent work to those in other Midwest offices. I myself received multiple job offers with 20% better salary for what I do now. Maybe it's suppl/demand, but my current employer balked at salary ranges I received.

[313WX]

my company has several branch offices around the country. I've encountered several local colleagues whose wages are very low for equivalent work to those in other Midwest offices. I myself received multiple job offers with 20% better salary for what I do now. Maybe it's suppl/demand, but my current employer balked at salary ranges I received.

Thanks for the clarification.

Since the auto industry collapse, companies in Michigan [[that are not the Big 3 automakers) have been squeezing the copper out of a penny, since their cash flows are heavily dependent on the cyclical nature of the auto industry. With labor being a company's biggest expense, it's workers who take the brunt of this way of doing business.

That's largely the reason you hear so many places whining about so-called labor shortages, because they don't want to train people who would accept their abysmal wages yet they don't want to pay the right wage for someone who has the experience / education they desire [[not because there's a literal shortage of labor).

Between having to work in companies in Michigan that will find 6 ways from Sunday to screw you over in compensation / perks / benefits, the long / overcast / snowy / cold winters, the crumbling infrastructure and the dysfunctional governments, it's no wonder young people / professionals are fleeing the state and folks from outside of Michigan are hesitant to move here.

[hybridy]

And based on the earlier half of my career out of state, the 'good ole boy' culture still permeates throughout the area.

[Bham1982]

T
I'm curious to know however, what do you mean by "There's this perception by employers that detroit is cheap?" Could you elaborate?

Metro Detroit is not that cheap. Median home prices are higher than in most other Midwest metros.

If you have or want kids there are like 10 school districts with decent schools, and they're all fairly expensive. If you want a lively downtown + good schools there are like two or three districts and the prices are almost as high as on the coasts.

Then there are high property taxes, high gas costs, no public transit, really, weather issues, deteriorating infrastructure, etc. In terms of what you get, is Metro Detroit really that "cheap"?

And property values barely budge over time. What's "cheaper"? A 500k home that doubles in value over 10 years or a 150k home that's still worth 150k in 10 years? I would say the former. Metro Detroit is the latter.

[hybridy]

Yep Detroit is affordable in some regards, but attractive burbs aren't. The only high quality public school district that doesn't require a 45 min commute to the CBD is Grosse Pointe South, and if I want 3 bed, 2 bath, an attached garage and central air under $300k [[non-condo) you can forget it...