  Clarie Member Username: Clarie Post Number: 16 Registered: 11-2007 |
I think the schools are pretty rough right now. Families with children are not comfortable moving there. | ||
Steve Member Username: Steve Post Number: 130 Registered: 02-2006 |
Hy's Juvenile was a great toy store. It was in the shopping center (this is before they were "malls") on the northwest corner of 9 Mile and Coolidge. | ||
Luckycar Member Username: Luckycar Post Number: 53 Registered: 02-2007 |
Fights at OPHS!Back in 1975 we would have the mother of all fights.It started when those rednecks at Ferndale HS had some kind of trouble with the blacks kids from Royal Oak Twp.Half of the ROT kids went to Ferndale HS,half went to Oak Park.The next day there would be trouble at OPHS,and there was.Lots of pushing of freshmen girls with arms full of books,travelling down the halls in packs trying to intimidate people.Seems kind of harmless today.Well sometimes people don't see things as harmless and push back.It was a running ,fist swinging good old time.They brought the busses back to haul the kids to ROT,but they were chased down Coolidge towards 8 mile,kind of a tactical retreat.Lots of fights along the way.We even had a 10 second blurb on the evening news with Walter Cronkrite!After that we had police in the school for a long time,helmets,nightsticks,tryin g to look tough.Ah memories of school days. | ||
Dougw Member Username: Dougw Post Number: 1987 Registered: 11-2003 |
quote: The problem with metro Detroit is that there are too many "transitional" communities. Many transitional communities are doomed to be destroyed. We need to find a way to make these transitional communities more stable and permanent (i.e. non-transitional). | ||
Gron Member Username: Gron Post Number: 6 Registered: 10-2006 |
OPHS Class of '73' Pepper and Frost before that. Hung out at Sternbergs (Best friends' sister dated Moe's son). First job ever was scorekeeper at the ice rink. How many of us remember Mr. Goff (Don't call him Jack!)? Sledding at the hill, July 4th booths at the park. Having a "rich" friend living in the Manor. On and on... Long time ago. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6800 Registered: 02-2004 |
Take a look a Oak Park High School student demographics.   Oak Park High School's student population is now 94% black, 5% white and 1% hispanic its been most black since the late 1960s and it increased as more blacks from Detroit NW ghettohoods follow the 25 year ethnic Jewish exodus. Yes there were racial fights and conflicts, but black students in Oak Park High School are doing fine in getting their educational requirements. | ||
Crawford Member Username: Crawford Post Number: 153 Registered: 10-2006 |
I'm surprised there are any white students in Oak park schools. Even when I was in school in 90's, Oak Park schools were overwhelmingly black (assuming the sports teams we played were representative of the overall student body). I think the mostly white part of Oak Park goes to Berkeley schools, but that area has been getting more diverse. The proportion of black in Berkeley schools has grown rapidly, largely because of the Oak Park section of the district. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6807 Registered: 02-2004 |
Yes they do Crawford, because most white parents are still have second thoughts of sending their children to mostly black public schools. But black parents don't need to have second thoughts of sending their black kids to mostly white public schools. "FEAR IS A WEAPON HIDDEN IN LOVE." | ||
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed Post Number: 1477 Registered: 02-2006 |
Right or wrong, my perception of Oak Park remains the bus shelter at 9 and Coolidge, which was always disgusting and covered with trash and litter blowing around. | ||
Steelworker Member Username: Steelworker Post Number: 1024 Registered: 02-2004 |
my gf lives in cardboard village of oak park (south of 9, between coolidge and rosewood) its not a bad neighborhood at all they are small inexpensive house that have great mature tree lined streets. We walk her dog and ride our bikes every week in summer in that neighborhood. It is mixed neighborhood, asian arab, white and black. Not a scary nor a crime ridden neighborhood at all. Just inexpensive. some nicely taken care of houses and some craptastic rentals also. | ||
Waz Member Username: Waz Post Number: 233 Registered: 11-2006 |
Oak Park went to hell after the Stage Deli closed  . Seriously though, I remember reading about a small Russian community (don't know if they were Jewish or not) somewhere in Oak Park. This was back about a decade ago when the Red Wings had so many Russians that it was considered a novelty. Does anyone remember around where they might've lived, or if they still live there? | ||
Luckycar Member Username: Luckycar Post Number: 54 Registered: 02-2007 |
"cardboard village"was where I grew up.House was on the corner of Corning and Manistee,the "big" three bedroom job,no basement and one bathroom.Great times at Lessenger/Frost/OPHS.Steelwork er,my folks moved out in the early 90's,it was still ok then. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 982 Registered: 08-2007 |
There is a strong Russian community around 10 mile and Greenfield. There is a Russian bakery there and a store, not the big Kosher market, but a smaller import grocery next to the bakery. Great bread at the bakery, and piroshki, and Bishop's Bread which they call cake. The stores are in Southfield, but the community is also in OP. A lot of people around there are from Minsk, in ByeloRusse. Up in the Lincoln and Greenfield area there is a very strong Orthodox community. The area was recently annexed into OP from RO Twp. (Message edited by gazhekwe on November 14, 2007) | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 965 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yeah, Stage was good but Katz's was TOPS... | ||
Clarie Member Username: Clarie Post Number: 21 Registered: 11-2007 |
What is in the building where Stage use to be? Also, where was Katz? | ||
Clarie Member Username: Clarie Post Number: 22 Registered: 11-2007 |
How about the ice arean? | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 272 Registered: 06-2007 |
The school-aged white kids in Oak Park are mostly Orthodox Jewish. None go to public schools. They utilize the UHS system. That cardboard village was the one that made me most uneasy. Troy, Corning and Saratoga from Scotia to Rosewood. 90% of the houses have bars on at least the doors.One or two houses you can chalk up to paranoia or decoration. But nine out of ten? I really believe theres a reason for that many houses to be barred. | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 383 Registered: 04-2006 |
Is it possible that they were just built like that? Oak Park's housing stock is very homogeneous, so if one house was built with bars on it, just about every other one on the street would have been as well. I'm not sure if we're talking about the same sort of bars, but a lot of 50s and 60s tract houses were built with storm doors that look like bars. | ||
Luckycar Member Username: Luckycar Post Number: 55 Registered: 02-2007 |
Bars didn't show up in the ville until the late 90's.Some homes west of Coolidge had them sooner. | ||
Bobj Member Username: Bobj Post Number: 2813 Registered: 11-2003 |
I lived in Huntington Woods for 6 or 7 years and frequented many Oak Park businesses. It seemed like a real melting pot of people that seemed to all get along. | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 966 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yeah, Luckycar, Palmer Woods and also the Northfield/Dartmouth area just east of Coolidge had decorative bars - the more affluent homes... | ||
Irunwscissors Member Username: Irunwscissors Post Number: 3 Registered: 11-2007 |
I lived in Ferndale, I used to ride my bike and roller blade in "cardboard village" and all over Oak Park every night in the summer, never had any problems. Once I crossed Wyoming- into ROT that got a little scary.....but again, no problems. This was 2 years ago. | ||
Steelworker Member Username: Steelworker Post Number: 1026 Registered: 02-2004 |
carboard village is very safe cops always around there pulling people over on rosewood coming from ROT. | ||
Mrsjdaniels Member Username: Mrsjdaniels Post Number: 300 Registered: 08-2005 |
I live n OP and I love it...we have had a rash (in the summer) of some tire thieves but I feel VERY SAFE in my house and community. I've left the doors unlocked, by accident, quite a few times...even left the door wide open and nothing. | ||
Sarge Member Username: Sarge Post Number: 809 Registered: 10-2003 |
When did they start calling the area cardboard village? I lived there in the 70s and 80s and never heard that term. My stepbrothers were living on Saratoga by Rosewood up until a few years ago and I don't think they had either. | ||
Luckycar Member Username: Luckycar Post Number: 56 Registered: 02-2007 |
I first heard the term cardboard village in the early 70's.I think nobody said it in front of me out of respect.Not that I was tough by any means.It was that we were from that part of Oak Park and got along in life like all the southfield/west bloomie wannabes.Pants went on the same way,kids went to colleges,fathers worked hard.Its just where my folks could afford to move to at the time,1960.Kids were in school,which were great back then,so why move? | ||
Sarge Member Username: Sarge Post Number: 810 Registered: 10-2003 |
Violence sounds alarm at Oak Park High http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/S CHOOLS/711200363/1026 | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 3726 Registered: 10-2003 |
Sigh. F&$*in' people, I swear. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6820 Registered: 02-2004 |
I can what's going on at Oak Park High School: The Oak Park Police Department is across the street from Oak Park High School. According to Lt. Mike Pousak, the police made five runs to the high school between Sept.10 and Oct. 31. Sept. 10: A student with marijuana was arrested and released to his parents. He must appear in juvenile court. The suspect is BLACK. Sept. 21: Another student was found with marijuana, was arrested and released to his parents. The suspect is BLACK. Oct.12: At 9:30 p.m. police were notified of a large group of people -- between 50 and 60 surrounding a custodian who was being beaten. Pousak said there's no way to determine exactly how many participated in the beating, or that they were Oak Park students because no arrests have been made. The case is under investigation. Most of the suspects were BLACK. Oct. 31: A student found with marijuana and a 12- inch long folded knife was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon. He was arraigned and received personal bond of $2,500 and released. The suspect is BLACK. Oct. 31: Police were called to the school again when a fight broke out in the cafeteria around 11 a.m. Eight students were arrested for fighting and six were arrested for disorderly conduct at dismissal time. Most of the suspects were BLACK. And I thought that Oak Park is a well kept up ethnic diverse community with a ethnically diverse public school system. Well, Oak Park High is turning into one of the bad Detroit Public High Schools. Filling up juvenile delinquents who came from broken homes with broken families, assimulated with the Hip Hop and drug culture. I can see why white folks quickly move out when 10 to 100 black families move into their neighborhoods. I have been following the psychology of the mind of the Caucasian America race for a couple years and this is the result: Some( NOT ALL) white folks still bear their cowardice traditions of xenophobicism. They hid their cowardice in the practices of racism and segregation. While some white folks want make friends with black folks and any other ethnic folks, however they don't want to live next to any blacks, or ethnic races for permanent reasons. As long they continue on the practice, they would continue to pass it down to their children and they are the one who would decide what people, race and society they want to live in. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6821 Registered: 02-2004 |
Luckycar "Kids were in school,which were great back then,so why move?" When black families move to white neighborhoods of Oak Park back the late 1970s to the present. White families out of their xenophobic minds started to either send their kids to mostly white schools at another district or move to another white neighborhood where there is a full white school and better enviroment for them. That is why lots of Oak Park Public Schools are mostly black and the white student population is dwindling: Look at the factual data from Schooldigger. The blue color represents black students while the purple color represents the white students: Einstein Elementary  95% black 3%white Key Elementary  88% black 9% white Lessenger Elementary  75% black 22% white Oak Park High School  95% black 5% white Pepper Elementary  92% black %5 white That school is only about 2 blocks west of the Hasidic Jewish Community. Roosevelt Middle School  91% black 7% white In the city that is 46% white and 45% black and Oak Park Public Schools is about 93% black, where is most of white kids in Oak Park go? Did their parents sent them to Berkley or Royal Oak Public Schools? After all both of those school districts are part of the Schools of Choice program. We all can thank the 25 year exodus of the ethnic Jewish community for the sudden black population growth of Oak Park possible and try not to point blaming fingers on the Jews and white folks who used to dwell in Oak Park a long time ago. Oak Park today is still beautifil and the black folks who are living in those cookie cutter cardboard houses are doing just fine. The neighborhood is not yet a ghetto and will not be until somebody mess it up. |
