How's Harper Woods These Days?

[Zacha341]

I was wondering about that.....

How is Harper Woods anywhere near Ferndale?

[ddaydetroit]

I was at a barbershop in the shores not long ago me the barber and an retired police officer were talking local neighborhoods he has been living in Harper Woods for many years and he literally broke down in tears talking about his neighborhood in the Moross and Kelly area he said its really gone down hill crime has gotten out of control and he was on a fixed income and cant afford to move the guy looked like he was in his 80's it was sad.

[Maof]

I was at a barbershop in the shores not long ago me the barber and an retired police officer were talking local neighborhoods he has been living in Harper Woods for many years and he literally broke down in tears talking about his neighborhood in the Moross and Kelly area he said its really gone down hill crime has gotten out of control and he was on a fixed income and cant afford to move the guy looked like he was in his 80's it was sad.

That's very sad. Moross and Kelly is awful and has been going downhill for years. Many vacant, burned, trashed homes along that area. Just had another shooting on Moross a few days ago. I grew up in Harper Woods [[further in about 7 blocks) and it really was a great community. Nice ranch homes with huge yards. Walked to and from school, friends homes, library etc. But, that's what we did in Detroit at one point as well.

[MrMichigan]

You’d think they would have torn down that burned out dollar store at Morang and Kelly by now. Granted that is Detroit not HW

[eastland]

There are some positives in the neighborhood. St. Jude is still open and the Life Builders organization is doing great things on both sides of Kelly Road.

[MicrosoftFan]

My thought would be that Eastland could be redeveloped into a long strip of stores anchored by a Meijer or Target, similar to The Hill in AP or State Fair Redevelopment.

[softailrider]

That's very sad. Moross and Kelly is awful and has been going downhill for years. Many vacant, burned, trashed homes along that area. Just had another shooting on Moross a few days ago. I grew up in Harper Woods [[further in about 7 blocks) and it really was a great community. Nice ranch homes with huge yards. Walked to and from school, friends homes, library etc. But, that's what we did in Detroit at one point as well.

A guy I know opened a pizza place in a strip mall right there. It lasted only a few months. He couldn’t keep a delivery driver, they kept getting robbed, beaten up, shot. If you’re behind bulletproof glass it’s okay, if you’re out making deliveries you better be some kind of a commando.

[Maof]

A guy I know opened a pizza place in a strip mall right there. It lasted only a few months. He couldn’t keep a delivery driver, they kept getting robbed, beaten up, shot. If you’re behind bulletproof glass it’s okay, if you’re out making deliveries you better be some kind of a commando.

That really is a shame. Like I said, it was a great community. Police service was always great, street clean up was done on a regular basis. In the fall, you could put your leafs at the curb and trucks would "vacuum" them up, which I believe they still do. Once a year, they would have big trash day and you could put anything out [[furniture, appliances, etc.)and they would take it. But, if it gets to a point where you have to have bullet proof glass, why bother.

[jcole]

That's very sad. Moross and Kelly is awful and has been going downhill for years. Many vacant, burned, trashed homes along that area. Just had another shooting on Moross a few days ago. I grew up in Harper Woods [[further in about 7 blocks) and it really was a great community. Nice ranch homes with huge yards. Walked to and from school, friends homes, library etc. But, that's what we did in Detroit at one point as well.

Mao, I grew up on the Detroit side of Kelly about a block and 1/2 west. The houses on our street are mostly still there, not in great shape, but there. I do know my best friends house on Manning and Kelly is burned and gutted. It is sad to see.

[313WX]

There are some positives in the neighborhood. St. Jude is still open and the Life Builders organization is doing great things on both sides of Kelly Road.

To be clear, only the church is still open. The school has been closed for over a decade.

[jcole]

To be clear, only the church is still open. The school has been closed for over a decade.

It's a charter school now: https://www.nhaschools.com/schools/R...ter-Academy/en

[313WX]

My thought would be that Eastland could be redeveloped into a long strip of stores anchored by a Meijer or Target, similar to The Hill in AP or State Fair Redevelopment.

Target just closed their Eastland store earlier this year. If the demographics were there, they would have stuck it out.

As far as Meijer, I'm sure they'd be worry about siphoning customers from their other nearby stores. The lower east side, aside from the old money in Grosse Pointe, is largely poor/working class and the population density continues to collapse as people are still shifting further north for safer neighborhoods/good schools.

And your comparisons to The Hill and State Fairgrounds aren't reasonable. The Hill is adjacent to the main campus of one of the world's largest corporations, where tens of thousands of highly paid salaried employees work. Meanwhile, the State Fairgrounds is adjacent to the wealthiest zip codes in Detroit [[and one of the wealthiest in Metro Detroit) plus has high visibility along two heavily traveled state highways. Eastland is kind of tucked away in a fashion where if you've never been there, you'd miss it completely.

[Maof]

Mao, I grew up on the Detroit side of Kelly about a block and 1/2 west. The houses on our street are mostly still there, not in great shape, but there. I do know my best friends house on Manning and Kelly is burned and gutted. It is sad to see.

I know that area well. Hubby had a house on Edmore and, I believe Rex, before we married. Always did fireworks on the 4th of July at the elementary school there, the name I can't remember. When he sold in '93 it was still a nice area and his Uncle until he died about 10 years ago. Drove thru there several months ago and it's somewhat of a shit show. Some are taking care of their homes, others mostly, not so much.

[313WX]

Now, how's Eastpointe these days?

About the same as Harper Woods...

I recall hearing recently that EDPS were fighting against state control because of their deteriorating finances.

[jcole]

I know that area well. Hubby had a house on Edmore and, I believe Rex, before we married. Always did fireworks on the 4th of July at the elementary school there, the name I can't remember. When he sold in '93 it was still a nice area and his Uncle until he died about 10 years ago. Drove thru there several months ago and it's somewhat of a shit show. Some are taking care of their homes, others mostly, not so much.

I think that was McGregor school. I lived half a block from St Jude.

[Danny]

I was at a barbershop in the shores not long ago me the barber and an retired police officer were talking local neighborhoods he has been living in Harper Woods for many years and he literally broke down in tears talking about his neighborhood in the Moross and Kelly area he said its really gone down hill crime has gotten out of control and he was on a fixed income and cant afford to move the guy looked like he was in his 80's it was sad.

Once the hood folks from Detroit moved in, neighborhood and the property values drop. Harper Woods is prime example of late white flight. Wait until you see what Harper Woods will look like in 20 years. It would look like White Boy Rick and the Curry Brothers has expand his drug deals there.

Be worried Grosse Pointers!

[poobert]

How's Harper Woods these days?

Bad.

[Danny]

I know that area well. Hubby had a house on Edmore and, I believe Rex, before we married. Always did fireworks on the 4th of July at the elementary school there, the name I can't remember. When he sold in '93 it was still a nice area and his Uncle until he died about 10 years ago. Drove thru there several months ago and it's somewhat of a shit show. Some are taking care of their homes, others mostly, not so much.

You know what that means? Harper Woods is becoming Ghetto Woods.

[Maof]

I think that was McGregor school. I lived half a block from St Jude.

That's it!

[masterblaster]

As a west side of Detroit/Metro area resident [[Warrendale!), I have only been to Harper Woods 2 to 3 times in my life. But from the posts on this thread, I am really saddened at what has become of Harper Woods.

We are repeating the same cycle of white flight-black takeover-things go down hill that has been happening since the 1940s. We have not learned from the past. It just keeps going on and on and on, but this time outside of the Detroit city limits. Can this phenomenon by stopped in any way?

[Bham1982]

We are repeating the same cycle of white flight-black takeover-things go down hill that has been happening since the 1940s. We have not learned from the past. It just keeps going on and on and on, but this time outside of the Detroit city limits. Can this phenomenon by stopped in any way?

To be fair, I think the white flight phenomenon has slowed down markedly, and the increasing diversity of the region has made traditional black-white conflicts less pertinent.

To illustrate, Southfield went from majority white to majority black in maybe 15 years. But adjacent areas with new black influx, like West Bloomfield and Farmington Hills, are transforming much slower.

The Woodward corridor in Oakland is a bit odd. It's lily-white. There's basically no black presence [[and really no Asians or Hispanics) between Detroit and Pontiac. But you go a few miles east or west, and it gets very diverse. West Bloomfield, Novi and Troy are super-diverse. Birmingham, Berkley and Royal Oak have little diversity.

Macomb is a bit different, because the black population is faster growing, you have an aging white ethnic population, and property tends to be cheaper. As the Poles/Italians/Germans of Southern Macomb pass on, their homes are frequently bought by black [[or Chaldean, Albanian or Hmong) households.

Doesn't Wayne County already have lots of areas where blacks and whites have lived side by side for decades? Places like Wayne, Westland and Romulus? Working class auto towns? I remember playing these high schools back in the late 90's and they always seemed a pretty even mix of black and white.

[Towne Cluber]

The Woodward corridor in Oakland is a bit odd. It's lily-white. There's basically no black presence [[and really no Asians or Hispanics) between Detroit and Pontiac. But you go a few miles east or west, and it gets very diverse. West Bloomfield, Novi and Troy are super-diverse. Birmingham, Berkley and Royal Oak have little diversity.

Again, this is an exaggeration. Ferndale is approximately 10% Black. The Asian population of Birmingham and Royal Oak is about equal to the statewide percentage. Furthermore, the Asian population of Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township is double the statewide percentage.

Are you seriously trying to claim that there isn’t a significant minority customer/worker population at Beaumont Hospital, the Detroit Zoo, Shrine, Cranbrook, gyms, banks, grocery stores, retail, restaurants, car washes, gas stations, car dealerships/repair, and the many other amenities along the Woodward Corridor?

[Danny]

Just recently there has been car windows being shot at by bb guns in some Harper Woods neighborhoods. H.W. police are looking for those hoodlums.

Be worried Grosse Pointe folks!!!

[MrMichigan]

Just yesterday there has been car windows being shot at by bb guns in some Harper Woods neighborhoods. H.W. police are looking for those hoodlums.

Be worried Grosse Pointe folks!!!

Shut up Danny

[Bham1982]

Again, this is an exaggeration. Ferndale is approximately 10% Black. The Asian population of Birmingham and Royal Oak is about equal to the statewide percentage. Furthermore, the Asian population of Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township is double the statewide percentage.

Ferndale black population is near 8 Mile/RO Township, and basically an extension of Detroit. Rest of Ferndale is lily-white. Birmingham and RO have very small Asian populations, unlike neighboring communities. Bloomfield Twp Asian population is well west of Woodward [[in fact well west of Telegraph) fitting the pattern.

Southern Oakland Communities along Woodward:

Pleasant Ridge is 94.7% white, and 1.9% black
Huntington Woods is 96.0% white and 1.0% black
Berkley is 93.3% white and 3.0% black
Birmingham is 92.3% white and 3.0% black

In contrast, Farmington, W. Bloomfield have large black populations, Troy, Farmington and Novi have large Asian populations, and W. Bloomfield has a huge Chaldean population. Obviously Southfield, LV, OP, and RO Twp are majority black.

Basically none of these "off Woodward" communities are more than 70% or so white, while the "on Woodward" communities tend to be 90%+ white.

Not sure about the rest of your post, as I obviously referred to resident population, not whether someone at a gas station happens to be nonwhite.