Janesback Member Username: Janesback
Post Number: 288 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 11:34 am: | |
Fear is the number one thing that has killed this city and all cities for that matter. Suburban living arrangements are what our reactions have created. ------------------------------ --- Fear may be a life saver as well. Common sense with a gut feeling and fear thrown in will keep a person sensible in dangerous situations, Mackinaw I ( young white female) had a cop recently read me the riot act because I was in the "wrong" part of town, saying any normal sane person would be stupid to be driving in the part I was touring. He point asked, "Lady, arent you scared to be in this area"? "I am" Sometimes you have to accept a situation for what it is. If it is unsafe, full of drugs, thugs and murders, then that is what it is. Its dangerous and unsafe. Who in their right mind then would want to live there, much raise a family there? When things are obvious, follow your gut and take precautions. It can save your life. Jane |
Gibran Member Username: Gibran
Post Number: 174 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 11:57 am: | |
Born and raised in Detroit, graduated from Denby 1977 and moved to attend college at NMU went back for a year in 1982 lived on wayburn the whole time...always dreamed of moving back and teaching at Denby...Couldn't get hired in Detroit ...teacher freeze went to Texas and found career path... My parents moved out in the mid 1980's ...went to UP and loved it.. |
Danny Member Username: Danny
Post Number: 5770 Registered: 02-2004
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 12:35 pm: | |
Half of my relatives left Detroit for Southfield, West Bloomfield, Pontiac, Inkster, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Lincoln Park, Westland and Redford TWP. The other half stayed in Detroit for they never give up their ghettohoods to anyone. |
Craig Member Username: Craig
Post Number: 172 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 12:41 pm: | |
Hi Mack... The implied point of my screed was "coming back never." No doubt Indian Village and Rosedale and many other better-off areas are livable and pleasant, but your point is really mine: I don't want to live in an area of big homes and monitored fences. I have happy childhood memories of playing "catch" in the street, small gardens in small backyards, sitting on the covered porch with neighbors watching the rain, etc. Whether I can afford it or not I don't want big, but I do want a nice bungalow in an area of bungalows, peopled by the sort of working-stiffs who's idea of fun is a backyard cookout or a bunch of neighbors helping the one guy fix a plumbing problem. The places that I remember and idealize appear to be gone, and a disfunctional society has been dropped down among what I knew and loved. I saw the working man's dream become hell. I was and will be a good citizen, but until the regular guy can have a happy, unmolested life in Detroit I'll sit on the sidelines. |
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 2670 Registered: 02-2005
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 12:52 pm: | |
Your point is pretty understandable. Thanks for the clarification, too. |
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo
Post Number: 79 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 1:07 pm: | |
We left in March of 1982. We moved first to Canton and then to South Lyon. I was born in April of 1981 and from that time until January of 1982, we were robbed twice and had another attempted robbery. I guess my parents just had enough at that point. |
Club_boss Member Username: Club_boss
Post Number: 27 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 1:23 pm: | |
My grandparents (dads side) moved out of Detroit in the 50’s; they moved to Wyoming Street in Dearborn and stayed there until his death in 1968. While living in Detroit they settled in, got married, and had 3 children. My grandmother (moms side) stayed until 1975, they lived on Lauder and then on Warwick; this set of grandparents’ married and raised 7 girls, all in Detroit. Most of the grandchildren were in born in Detroit as well, yours truly included. Forgot the second part... I would come back for employment purposes. (Message edited by club boss on April 09, 2007) (Message edited by club boss on April 09, 2007) |
Hybridy Member Username: Hybridy
Post Number: 88 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 1:55 pm: | |
leaving in may to take a co-op in sc but i will be back by aug may 2008 will prolly be when i have to decide to stay or go forever |
Eric_w Member Username: Eric_w
Post Number: 90 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 3:01 pm: | |
Born & raised on the west side. I & my wife & children moved for keeps in 1996. My mom moved in 1998. In a nutshell I'll never be comfortable living inside the Detroit city limits I'm sad to say.Too much crime & racists blacks live in the city. When I lived in Detroit, I lost out on at least 3 real good suburban job opportunities because I did live there.I wish I'd moved many years sooner. |
Gibran Member Username: Gibran
Post Number: 175 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 3:28 pm: | |
The Detroit of our youth is gone but then again it is disappearing from all cities. I resent the fact that I saw a quote about Brazil having the highest murder rate, then they compared it to Detroit....even if I were to come back; and there are times where i would give anything to have the neighborhood of my youth, I realize it will take a vision that seems to be only shared on this forum to get there. I think Detroit is heading back. But, will it ever be the place where a sixth grader could ride to the foot alter to fish, or a sixteen year-old park at Belle Isle, I don't know. I hope so for the sake of the children growing up there now. If all people could see love instead of fear and despair than we have a chance... I may be getting to old to return to the city of my youth...but, my hope is that through efforts mentioned on this forum it will be a place one day for the next generation to have fond memories..and can say I remember when I walked the streets and felt proud of my city. |
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd
Post Number: 784 Registered: 07-2004
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 3:33 pm: | |
My grandparents left Detroit for Dearborn in about 1925, I think. |
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian
Post Number: 937 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 4:15 pm: | |
I wanted to post in the "Coming to Detroit" Thread but saw how much work people put into thier posts with dates and addresses, and decided not too as I don't have the specs. But I can easily answer this one as I was there. We lived on St. Mary's and my parents moved out in 1977 for Southfield because they did not want me in the DPS school system and did not want to pay for a private education. |
Xd_brklyn Member Username: Xd_brklyn
Post Number: 219 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 5:15 pm: | |
My parents grew up on the east side; my dad near Eight mile and Mound, and my mom, in a few places along Jefferson. I've been told again and again by my dad that they moved out of Detroit in 1955 because they couldn't afford a good home in the city. (I guess before the expressways, Detroit was the location to be in.) So instead, they opted to settle around 12-mile in Madison Heights. Had a good upbringing in the Mad Heights, but wanted to live in Detroit to experience city life. So while attending Wayne State, I moved to Dakota street just west of the Dakota Inn in the early '80s. Rented a fine floor-through and even went without a car for long stretch, but left Detroit in the mid-80s for Brooklyn, NY to seek even more city life. Like much of my other relatives, my immediate family, with the exception of my father, is now dispersed around the Greater Detroit Metro area. |
Kahnman Member Username: Kahnman
Post Number: 29 Registered: 02-2006
| Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 5:28 pm: | |
My dad moved our family of 5 from Kansas City, MO to Detroit in 1965 when I was 4 years old. He found a house for us in Novi and was the service manager for Dictaphone on the corner of Greenfield and McNichols. We stayed there until 1971 when my dad had a chance to go into partnership with a friend in Grand Rapids. He found a home in Rockford and it was home base until my empty nester folks moved in 1995 to 20 acres and a log cabin in Newaygo. I moved to Washington state in 1986 for a career in neon tube bending and have been here ever since. All the rest of my family have stayed in Michigan: one brother in Lansing, one in Walker, and one a mile away from my folks. They constantly complain about the condition of the state but won't move. I was back to the midwest last April for my oldest daughter's college search. She was only interested in midwest colleges but ended up accepting a generous scholarship to Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. I had not been back to Detroit in 20 years. Some of you may remember our visit chronicled in this forum where she coined the new slogan, "Detroit-it's not as bad as I thought it would be!". I miss my family and friends but not the economic climate (or the humidity ;^I ). I still have a pull to the midwest and Detroit in particular. I'll always view it as my first "home". (Message edited by Kahnman on April 09, 2007) |
Jiscodazz Member Username: Jiscodazz
Post Number: 18 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 11:07 pm: | |
My parents' families moved to Trenton and Redford in the 50s to escape something. Now, and perhaps then, those cities are pieces of crap(they're even looking like Detroit in terms of decay). I moved the family name back to Detroit because I couldn't stand that trend. As much as I might get down on Detroit, I'd take it over Brighton, northern Macomb, Troy or where ever all the white people are flocking to these days. If I ever get too sick of Detroit and have to move, it's Goodbye Michigan. |
Whithorn11446 Member Username: Whithorn11446
Post Number: 37 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 11:42 pm: | |
Well, 11446 Whithorn(Gratiot and Gunston) was my grandparents address. They moved there in 1953 and my grandfather left in the mid 1980's. When my dad moved out in 1976 the neighborhood was just okay, meaning some break ins, a few cars stolen, and chances were that walking in the neighborhood wouldn't result in being mugged. By 1980 the neighborhood was unacceptable if one knew what the place was like in the 50's,60's, and early 70's. Arriving home after dark became a problem. Having the stove pulled out of the wall with the gas running, the house getting cleaned out(robbed), and thugs pulling guns and getting pissed because you have nothing left for them to steal is a problem. Hell, he received less money from the damn broker when selling the house in the 1980's compared to the amount of money put into renovation-upgrading in the 1960's. Obviously, he was not the only one burned on something like that. Its too bad because it seems like that was a tight knit neighborhood, especially compared to the burbs where more houses changing hands and people don't seem to know each other as well. De La Salle(Conner & Glenfield) left in 1982 with some sadness in my opinion. Apparently that neighborhood never left Brother George. Even though Brother George was from the east coast and moved back there after leaving DLS, he ultimately was buried at Mt.Olivet a couple of years ago. The Christian Brothers especially Brother George were apart of that neighborhood for decades. |
Detroitbill Member Username: Detroitbill
Post Number: 206 Registered: 09-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - 11:44 am: | |
Family moved from Detroit east side near Mack /Cadieux to across the river in Canada in 1966. I myself moved back to Detroit downtown in 1993, moved to Huntington Woods in 2003 and back Downtown Detroit in 2006. Living the way I do Downtown in a safe high rise co-op accessible to all downtown amenities makes living in Detroit very possible. Great people in my location also I must also state. I also own a condo in Toronto and believe it or not have more accessibility here at a fraction of the price. Detroit certainly has it problems but I think many in this metro area have no concept its quite liveable downtown provided you have put yourself in a good enviroment of which there are several. It would be much different however for a family. |
Msartlit Member Username: Msartlit
Post Number: 3 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - 6:55 pm: | |
My Dad left Detroit when he got married and my folks bought a house in Ferndale in 1950. My Grandparents stayed in Detroit until they built a little retirement home in Algonac in about 1954. Our family moved from Ferndale to Royal Oak in about 1956 and stayed there until my father retired and subsequently moved to Algonac around 1980. Even though I grew up in the 'burbs' we've always considered ourselves Detroiters. Detroit was 'downtown', Royal Oak was 'uptown'.I suppose that was geographical considering the bus routes on Woodward. After living in the Rockies for about 10 years I returned to live in another 'burb' of Detroit - WINDSOR! Closer to downtown than the other suburbs : ) |
Msartlit Member Username: Msartlit
Post Number: 4 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - 7:09 pm: | |
P.S. Some posts have noted crime and fear for safety as their reason for leaving the city. We never were fearful in Detroit except for the period during the riots when my father worked midnights at the Chrysler Mack Ave plant and there were snipings. I attended Wayne State in the early 70's and spent a lot of time wandering that area of the city. I worked in the Harmony Park area for a few years after that, and then in the late 90's until recently I worked in the area now called Campus Martius. I am a single white woman and I've never had one single unpleasant experience. I have considered and am considering moving to Detroit, my main concern is affordable housing, and the city taxes. |
65memories Member Username: 65memories
Post Number: 382 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - 7:18 pm: | |
Born in Detroit...1947 Hubert, St. Gemma schools Moved to Florida '57 Royal Oak '58 Wayne State Univ. grad. B.A, M.A. Back to the city...Rosedale Park Married, raised three boys in the city Still live in the city now...Rosedale Park is a great place to raise a family! |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3244 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - 10:31 pm: | |
1947 |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 262 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - 11:31 pm: | |
My Grandfather and his two sons built the house three generations of our family lived in on Farmbrook on the east side of Detroit. Here is in pertinent part what I stated on the "Gun Shots" thread: We left Detroit 10 years ago because: We lived about a block from that bank Swbaby12345, and were in there 24 hours before the murders took place, to refinance our house. The loan officer was killed. A Detroit Police Cadet was shot in the face and severely wounded, but survived. I don’t want to rehash the story, but the motivation was racist. I was at work when the story broke, and my wife was home with our two small kids. It was the last of many straws; drive by shootings into our property, fire bombings at the neighbors house, drug dealing across the street, B & E's all around us, stray dogs (pit bull, rottweiler), beat downs, a drunk set afire, my wife holding our infant son assaulted by a gang of preteens, and more. We left for all of those reasons, but the bank murders pushed us out. We both lived in Detroit all of our lives up to that point, and it took a lot to make us leave. But we will never go back, and no, I haven’t heard a shot since. |
Masterblaster Member Username: Masterblaster
Post Number: 26 Registered: 03-2005
| Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 12:03 am: | |
My father moved out of Detroit around 1982 to move in with my future stepmother in Inkster. We lived on Greeley street on the east side between 7 and 8 Mile Roads. We moved from Inkster to Southfield in 1987, when the house was robbed twice. My parents are still in Southfield. We were kind of like the early black flight that moved from the city to Southfield, but we were actually from Inkster. I moved back to Detroit (Warrendale Neighborhood) in 2005 when I was 25. Warrendale is a nice but slowing declining neighborhood. The evidence is in the amount of people renting houses. House prices have fallen in Warrendale, as it has in most of the metro area. If all you people who claim that Detroit is too expensive to live, would settle in Warrendale (where you would get a good deal on a house in an intact, reasonably well-kept neighborhood), it would be a stable and safer neighborhood. |
Jerrytimes Member Username: Jerrytimes
Post Number: 4 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 12:04 pm: | |
I personally never lived in Detroit, and my father lived in East Detroit (now Eastpointe) since he was two. But my Great grandparents were the last in my family to live there. They lived at 12345 Westphalia, which is west of Gratiot. Originally their house was the second off the corner, but the corner house burned years ago so theirs was now the corner house. They sold it in the early 70's after the riots because they had been broken into a couple of times. They lost a ton of money on it. Paid about $12,000 brand new for it in the early 50's and sold it for $3000. A few years ago my father and I drove by (something we did every year or so) and the basement had burned. A couple months later it was gone. I don't think I've ever seen my Dad almost cry before. When he saw that it burned he took a look around and into the house and was so mad I thought he was going to kick the door in. |
Nwkid Member Username: Nwkid
Post Number: 3 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 9:06 pm: | |
I left in 1976, joining the Navy, moved my mother out to the apartments behind the Botsford Inn on Grand River and 8 mile before I left. My father had just passed away, and she was afraid of living on her own in the city though the area was still pretty good, but starting to see break-ins and petty crime in the surrounding area. Starting to hear of family friends homes getting robbed. I moved my mother out of Detroit in 1978 to the West Coast. Brothers and sisters followed moving to the West Coast as well. |
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame
Post Number: 96 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Friday, April 13, 2007 - 1:39 am: | |
In my senior year at WSU my parents sat my sister and I down and said they had a chance to work for the same company. Only thing was, it was in a suburb of Houston, Texas. They were going to go down there for a week and check it out over Memorial Day holidays. My sister & I didn't think much about it; they had too many family ties in Detroit. They lived their whole lives on the east side. Well, they came back and said. "We're moving." I said, "Not me!" But we all went down there for a week in July and it was HOT AS HELL! My sister actually liked it, but I saw an armadillo run across the street and I totally freaked out! It might as well have been Mars. So, my family rented out our house in Warren, and I moved back in with my grandmother in Detroit. I tried for 9 months after I graduated, but just couldn't find a job. Finally, in February 1980, I called my mother in Houston and told her that I give up, I guess I was moving after all. She gave me her credit card number and I bought a ticket. My friends threw a party for me at the Red Carpet on Gratiot and I got extremely drunk and weepy. The next day, I cried all the way to the airport, too. My sister picked me up at the airport in Houston. Everybody, it seems, was wearing 10-gallon hats and boots, people were riding HORSES in the street! It was pretty nuts. I asked sis if it was always like that and she said, yes it was. I didn't know that she was lying; it just happened to be during The Houston Rodeo. Two weeks later, I had a great job doing promotions for a major record label. The following year, my grandmother sold her house to a Detroit policeman and his wife, a nurse at St. John's Hospital on Moross. Grandma came to live with us in Texas until she passed away in 1997. I never thought I'd be living in Texas, but I gradually got used to it. Also, there are a lot of ex-Detroiters living here. I really don't know too many native Texans, to be perfectly honest. Most people in Houston are from somewhere else. My two best friends are from New Jersey and Chicago. |
Gmich99 Member Username: Gmich99
Post Number: 182 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Friday, April 13, 2007 - 2:33 am: | |
My family left the city after the riots when property values left little or no reason to stay. They would never return, but I returned after my college education. I left when my post education opportunity presented itself. Despite my feelings for Detroit, I know longer see a reason to return. |
Corktown_paddy Member Username: Corktown_paddy
Post Number: 13 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Friday, April 13, 2007 - 2:51 pm: | |
Grandmother was the last one out in 1972, good thing too as the proceeds from the house that she lived in for the past 40 years actually gave her a good living for the nine years that preceded the move out. Another year or two in Detroit would have hacked pretty badly at it. |
Jerrytimes Member Username: Jerrytimes
Post Number: 34 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Friday, April 13, 2007 - 2:52 pm: | |
I just wish that the people in Detroit would have a little respect for their property and the property around them. Maybe some people would move back to the city. I would love to have a house in the D, but that's not happening. |
Gertrude Member Username: Gertrude
Post Number: 32 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Friday, April 13, 2007 - 5:10 pm: | |
I left Detroit in 1992 when I joined the Army. My mother and both surviving grandparents still live in Detroit. My grandmother is at Joy/Southfield but raised her children in Herman Gardens. My grandfather lives in the Central/Michigan Avenue area. My aunts and uncles left the city in the late 60s/early 70s and never go back. I live in the older part of Farmington Hills which reminds me of my neighborhood at Telegraph/I96 growing up. I would love to live in one of the older brick homes in Detroit, especially since it would shorten my commute to WSU greatly, if the crime rate were lower and the public services better. I am also not willing to drive my children to private school, so the schools would have to improve a fair amount. That said, I am proud to say I grew up in Detroit. My brothers, who also no longer live in the city, are also proud. 65memories - I attended St. Gemma's also, although in the early '89s. Not too many people have heard of it since it was always a small, neighborhood parish. |
Roseombre Member Username: Roseombre
Post Number: 5 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 1:21 pm: | |
My family left at different times. I was born and raised on the lower east side south of E. Jefferson on Lillibridge Street. It was a neighborhood of blue collar working people and I loved the neighborhood. I went to school at Lingemann, Foch, and Southeastern H.S. Graduated 1959. My parents sold out and left for California about 1973. At that time I was married with two kids and living on Chelsea Street. My parents were there during the 1968 riots without incident. The neighborhoods got so bad and property values just bottomed out so they sold everything and left. I left in 1974 because my husband got a good job in Mississippi. I can't go back home because it doesn't exist anymore. The Detroit I knew and loved is dead. |
Buyamerican Member Username: Buyamerican
Post Number: 64 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 2:43 pm: | |
Roseombre We were practically neighbors. I lived on Montclair and Vernor, went to Howe, Foch and SE..graduated in 1963. Like you, I loved my neighborhood, we had the best times and the greatest neighbors. Remember, you could sit on your porch 24 hrs. a day if you wanted to and there was always someone to talk to. You are right, the Detroit I knew and loved is dead. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 855 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 3:39 pm: | |
LMAO!!!! Why are people so worried when did people come or leave in Detroit? The bottom line is if there here or not here. |
Karl Member Username: Karl
Post Number: 6767 Registered: 09-2005
| Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 3:56 pm: | |
To all the folks who've posted heart-wrenching posts that encompass their family histories in the once-great City of Detroit: Though I have no authority to do so, I'd like to apologize for the idiot #855 post by Urbanize above. Of course it is clueless and classless, unlike your sincere writings which denote the heart & soul of a once-great city. Perhaps Urbanize will un-litter this thread by deleting his post, and I will gladly do the same with mine. |
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame
Post Number: 105 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 4:10 pm: | |
The bottom line is information, perspective, curiosity and history. Please don't delete your posts. I find them an interesting indication of the writers' POV. Isn't that why we post in the first place? |
Craig Member Username: Craig
Post Number: 193 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 4:38 pm: | |
Karl - you nailed it with Urbanize's narrow-minded comment. This thread of horror stories and broken hearts should be printed, bound, and then placed into the offices of city planners in Detroit and elsewhere. People move on for a reason, just as they abandon auto manufacturers, and failing to recognize the "why" means the end for cities as well as companies. Urbanize - if you're a City resident you'll be crying your AO when it finally is just you and a sea of thugs. Laugh away, but understand that people moved on for a reason, and ignoring those reasons will destine the City to oblivion. |
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame
Post Number: 108 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Sunday, April 15, 2007 - 8:48 pm: | |
Jerrytimes wrote: "...just wish that the people in Detroit would have a little respect for their property and the property around them." That reminds me of living on the Far East Side, when the neighbors would actually COMPETE over who had the nicest lawn and the spiffiest house. One year, we put a weather vane on our garage, and darn, within 2 years EVERYBODY on our street had a weather vane. We went to visit relatives in Philadelphia in the 60s and I remember my parents talking in the car about how people in Philly didn't spend a lot of time on their house; they were more interested in going out and socializing. People didn't socialize in their homes much there, like they did in Detroit, my parents reasoned. My parents entertained at home a lot, primarily because their friends could bring their kids, too. We'd watch "The Addams Family" and "F Troop" while the parents drank highballs and played cards. And argue about who had the prettiest lawn! I guess it's hard to have the ONLY house on the block that's kept up. Not all, but many renters, don't care about the property and the owners are often out-of-town or out-of-state. That's a big issue right there. The one time I rented a house, I was proud of the fact that I returned it in better condition than I received it. I just grew up with the "pride" factor. Pride in your home, pride in craftsmanship, pride in a job done well. A lot of that is gone, and I often wonder why. I don't think that's just Detroit, I think it's America in general. |
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall
Post Number: 88 Registered: 05-2004
| Posted on Sunday, April 15, 2007 - 10:31 pm: | |
When I grew up in Detroit (during the 50's) one of my dreams was to work downtown. I did get to briefly work part time for Theissen's Luggage on Griswold across from the bus stop in the early 70's. Too bad Mr. Theissen and one of his co workers were later killed in the store. Only after mom and dad were robbed separately and had the house broken into over on Winthrop (near Grand River and Greenfield) did they finally give up on the city in 1978. I had moved to a duplex on the Southfield service drive but left Detroit that year after our place was broken into while my wife was at Beaumont for a prenatal checkup. No way was I taking a chance with my wife and kid's safety. I still feel a sadness about the decline of the city. However once you fear for your life, it makes no sense to put up with everything else if you can afford to move. I really enjoy going for a walk now without having to look over my shoulder or worry if my house will be looted when I return. That's no way to live and more and more people are realizing that every day. Anyone that can get away is doing it. |
Bornthere Member Username: Bornthere
Post Number: 7 Registered: 05-2007
| Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 2:33 pm: | |
I was born in Detroit at the old St. Mary Hospital (doesn't exist anymore as far as I know). My parents were born and raised there. It was a totally different city then and areas were defined mostly by ethnicity. My Great Grandparents had a store near Eastern Market. It was a market/bar kind of place. They were Italian and sold Italian olive oil, cheeses etc. My mom and dad lived in Detroit till I was about 7. Then we moved to the Redford area... Seems like most folks started looking elsewhere for homes after the War. I think it was due to cheap housing in the suburbs; then referred to as 'country'. My Grandmother lived in Detroit for years; she sold her home on Sheridan near Gratiot and moved to a neighborhood further out. She lived near the State Fair grounds on Amelia St. for many years (till her death in 1984). My parents ended up in Northville. They lived in Westland later following retirement. I lived in Berkley (a suburb of Detroit) and later in the lakes area of Waterford. I used to occasionally visit Detroit until most relations were gone. Then there would be the occasional trip to go to the theater or some event. Those trips got further and further apart as the city disintegrated. If you didn't work down town why would you go there? No shopping, dangerous areas to drive through. Sad sights of crumbling ruins and familiar places boarded up or gone forever. I think this is the tendency of many cities that once were grand. I do like the idea of the city finding new life. It's a great location (barring the fact that Winter is so ugly in the city area). The Detroit River should be a big draw, though it is mostly hidden. The potential is there for a new Detroit, but the will does not seem to be there and the residents who are there now have no history driving them to restore or improve. I would not take the chance on the city. It's always in political uproar and too iffy. |
Revolutionary Member Username: Revolutionary
Post Number: 128 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 3:10 pm: | |
Grandpa grew up in Delray in the 30s, Italian family in what was a Ukrainian neighborhood then. Great Grandpa worked for Mr. Ford. Grandpa was the first in his family born in the US. He went to MSU (then MAC) for college and then served as a navy pilot in WWII. He died this year but would get very excited when I spoke about our home in Hamtramck. That man wasn't afraid of anything. "I don't think fear is a very effective way of dealing with things -- of responding to reality. Fear is just another word for ignorance." --Hunter S. Thompson, February 2003 |
Bobj Member Username: Bobj
Post Number: 2060 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 4:28 pm: | |
My Grandparents lived in Hamtown until they all passed away at various times in the 1950's. My parents met at Hamtown High. They lived in Detroit until 1956, then moved to a house with a huge lot in Warren Township, so my Dad could farm the back 1/2 acre or so. He did that until he died in 1983. |
Ray Member Username: Ray
Post Number: 879 Registered: 06-2004
| Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 6:55 pm: | |
I lived in Detroit until 1968. We lived near Livernois and my parents were so shaken by the riots that they moved out as soon as their lease was up. |
Durango Member Username: Durango
Post Number: 18 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 - 7:03 pm: | |
My parents are still living on the westside of Detroit. I left in 1986 to go to college and pursue a degree in agricultural economics. Obviously with a degree like that, I will probably never come back to the metropolitan Detroit area to work or live. I still miss the magic of the city when I was younger. Far westside in Colorado. |
Eastside_charlie Member Username: Eastside_charlie
Post Number: 53 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2007 - 3:34 am: | |
Boy that is a funny post!, detroiters are soo funy |
Paintnprint Member Username: Paintnprint
Post Number: 3 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2007 - 9:10 am: | |
My family moved out of Detroit in the summer of 1968 because we just couldn't take the crime anymore, nor the Black racism. After three of my bikes were stolen,out of our Detroit garage, my father said "No more bikes." And I was cut off at the knees because somebody stole three bikes, out of our garage. Really, my bikes stolen out of our garage Oh, and not to mention the Black racism. The young Black boys in my school lined up to kick my ass every day, when school ended. At 3:15, my mother asked, "Why are you out of breath, and panting?" "So I woudn't get my ass kicked by some angry Black boy." We knew it was time to move. In fear of his/my life? Time to move. And my mother cried over that. Regards, Greg Theakston |
Wally2times Member Username: Wally2times
Post Number: 45 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2007 - 9:37 am: | |
Quote: Oh, and not to mention the Black racism. The young Black boys in my school lined up to kick my ass every day, when school ended LOLOLOL I had the same problem in the 70's growing up there until picture day and the twins decided (we were in the 5th grade) they would attack my mmom. My mom, aint that some shit? I took it until that day and when they made that mistake I went balistic and dug my damn shoes in their faces and then beat the shit out of their 300lb racist ass sister too. No one ever laid another hand on me after that. Eff those racist bastards. we ended up leaving the jungle for a civilized place and the twins are now rapists and needle freaks. Matter of fact, I think every racist black person I ever came across growing up in Detroit has fallen into hell . Good, I am glad because they put me through hell and got exactly what they deserved. If there is a god he certainly works in mysterious ways. As if kids are not mean enough they have to be fed racism by their degenerate f**king parents. All in all, I still would not trade my childhood experiences. Its made me a better person. |
Durango Member Username: Durango
Post Number: 24 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2007 - 9:42 am: | |
Eastside_charlie, I am assuming you are referring to my last post. It's not a joke, I looked at economic landscape in Detroit and I didn't see a stable future in the automobile industry. My friends in high school laughed my high school advisors thought I was crazy. I went to Renaissance High School in Detroit and large portion of the students had aspirations of becoming doctors or engineers, some did and many didn't. I had dreamed of working in the automotive industry but future was too dark and uncertain. I took different direction and I don't have any regrets. I wish those well who remain in the auto industry. Happy the World of Agriculture. |
Soomka1 Member Username: Soomka1
Post Number: 15 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 5:22 pm: | |
We moved out in 1970 when my teacher at Parkman Elementary on the West Side told my parents to get me the hell out of there while they could and put me in a nice suburban school. I'm surprised by some of you guys talking about the black kids kicking your ass. They were about the only friends I had there. Most of the white kids were fresh from Alabama or Mississippi because their pappy came up here to work in the auto plants during the Viet Nam War production boom. They were all nasty little rednecks who made a lot of trouble for the native Detroiters black & white. |
Middleageguy Member Username: Middleageguy
Post Number: 33 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 6:32 pm: | |
Come to think of it, we had a couple of hillbilly families in our nneighborhood. And they were considered punks by the other kids. I had my first taste of dishonesty when a hillbilly by name of Ledford stole my bike. I was six. Luckily, someone ratted him out, and my dad and I went into their garage, and I got my bike back. THis was in the 7 / Mt. Elliot area. In 1970 that neighborhood was pure white. I went to St. Louis, and there were 2-3 black kids in my class. One named Ronald Stribling, always made me laugh. Moved out in '71 after a neigbor died of a heart attack after a break in while she was home, and we had 2 attempts, and later the police chased a guy through our yard. That year, 2 prefab HUD houses were plunked into our 'hood, and everyone freaked out, when they were occupied by blacks. The Detroit of our time will never come back. The architecture, the blue collar families, all gone. I'd say 20 years from now, Detroit will reach that critical mass, and be a place to live, but it will be something else. So, why would I then want to return? |
Newport1128 Member Username: Newport1128
Post Number: 12 Registered: 05-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 9:32 pm: | |
I left Detroit in 1976, having lived there for the first 25 years of my life. My parents moved to Detroit in 1950 from western Maryland. There were no jobs there, and there were jobs in the auto industry in Detroit. My parents and I lived in the same house in the Chalmers-Jefferson area until 1971, when the neighborhood began to "change". They moved to another Detroit neighborhood, around Whittier and Kelly. I lived with them until I got married in 1973. My wife and I got an apartment on Houston-Whittier near Gratiot and lived there until 1976. That area was also "changing": some of our neighbors cars got torched, and the mailboxes in our apartment lobby were broken into. These things, besides the fact that we were expecting our first child, made us want to move to the suburbs. We bought a condo in St. Clair Shores. My dad died in 1982, and my mom continued to live in their Detroit home until 1986, when I convinced her it was time to move to a safer area. |
Citychick Member Username: Citychick
Post Number: 3 Registered: 05-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 11:49 pm: | |
I left Detroit in '94, in part due to the crime, and the fact that my young daughter couldn't go outside and play without the idiots next door spitting on her and calling her "white bitch". Moved to Hamtramck for five years, and then moved to the suburbs in '99, where I found I couldn't fall asleep for because it was too quiet - no train whistles, no fire trucks roaring by, not even traffic....lol. |
Danny Member Username: Danny
Post Number: 5919 Registered: 02-2004
| Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 10:30 am: | |
Same goes for other folks who join the white flight from Detroit and suburbs, Citychick. Welcome the great exodus bandwagon. |
Philm Member Username: Philm
Post Number: 30 Registered: 03-2005
| Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 2:05 pm: | |
"Time to move. And my mother cried over that. Regards, Greg Theakston" Greg! My former next door neighbor. Phil Mendelson here. I left the city in 1974 for a career in California, but my folks had moved us to Southfield in 1963. I shared those experiences Greg describes before that move to Southfield. Phil |
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap
Post Number: 819 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 4:45 pm: | |
Lending credence to the posters who said that crime specifically against white people led them to leave Detroit: an article in today's Detroit News in which the wife of the 90-year-old man beaten recently in Detroit attempts to understand why her husband, Leonard Sims, was beaten - even after he surrendered his keys: "In his statement to police, Bradley described Sims, an African-American, as a white man with gray hair and about 75 years old. Sims' wife, Nora, 83, said outside the courtroom she believed that Bradley mistaking Sims for white led to the attack." |
Terryh Member Username: Terryh
Post Number: 305 Registered: 11-2006
| Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 6:56 pm: | |
Just curious city chick was the neighborhood you moved from on the fringe of the city? Warrendale, Southwest, and the far Northeastside seemed to have many whites up into the early nineties. I should have been a sociology major as the subject of white flight fascinates me. |
Jaj Member Username: Jaj
Post Number: 1 Registered: 05-2007
| Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 10:29 pm: | |
My family immigrated here in 1954... we bought a house at 7 mile/hayes for about $12000.. and things were great... I graduated from Cass Tech and went to WSU at night while working at GM during the day... However Vietnam came along and of course since I was attending WSU part time (only way I could afford to go).. I got the call from Uncle Sam in 1966... I heard of the Detroit riots while thousands of miles away fighting an unpopular war...I wasn't able to contact my Mom (now a widow)... she had to move in with my uncle in Warren during that time..We eventually sold the house for $3000...after feeling Detroit was no longer a safe place to live...and this was 20 years after the riots... we stayed but the writing was on the wall.. 32 years in Detroit... it was nice in the 50's & up through the middle 60's. After that...bad things started happening closer to home..thefts, murders-- made up our minds for us... leave ASAP.. |
Terryh Member Username: Terryh
Post Number: 311 Registered: 11-2006
| Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 1:49 pm: | |
Many Americans look at racism in terms of the historical oppression of American blacks. The fact of the matter is that black American society is severely distressed. I watched ROOTS ,despised the bigotry of my grandparents,and to a lesser degree my parents generation. Then I experienced mostly black poor and working class schools in the city of Flint..horrible experience and next to impossible to get a half way decent education. IT WAS WILD!!!Toughened me up for sure. Was grateful my family moved us back to semi-rural Lapeer County although I missed some of the friends I made.The more I experience life in southeast MI I can see there are two sides to the race issue.I am very progressive on most social and economic issues but agree with many of the criticisms of black American society and culture. The damage is done. I try to take each person as an individual but at the same time believe stereotypes exist for a reason. I attended an African community picnic on Ryan at 8mile; the Caribana in Toronto; totally postitive vibe compared to what I have experienced with black America. I confront my own fears and predjudices honestly. |
Citychick Member Username: Citychick
Post Number: 8 Registered: 05-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2007 - 12:46 pm: | |
TerryH...it wasn't exactly the "white flight" that lead me to move....it was more of the safety in the neighborhood. My house was robbed by a junkie, there was an arsonist in the area (and I lived by two abandoned buildings, which was scary enough without the arson threat), and my kid couldn't play outside without being assaulted by idiot neighbors. How do you explain to a 4 year old whose shirt is soaked in spit (literally) why some idiot is calling her a "white bitch"? You really can't. In the reasons listed above, two of the examples were committed by white people, as well as countless other crimes. My neighborhood was in the 6 Mile & Mound area, and was always a racially mixed area, though not many Asians. We went to school together, hung out together, and partied together. When "white flight" hit our area in the late '70s and early '80s, not too many jumped on the bandwagon. Most of the families I knew stayed until the mid '90s, and some of the older folks are still there. |
Vetalalumni Member Username: Vetalalumni
Post Number: 167 Registered: 05-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2007 - 3:58 pm: | |
I left for economic opportunities I could not find in Detroit. A stronger, diverse economy would make Detroit more appealing and would eventually have a positive ripple effect on other problem areas (crime, drug abuse, health etc...). (Message edited by vetalalumni on May 29, 2007) |
Izzadore Member Username: Izzadore
Post Number: 32 Registered: 11-2006
| Posted on Saturday, June 02, 2007 - 12:32 pm: | |
My family officially left Detroit (Schoolcraft and Stahelin) for Oak Park in '81. Now, (except for me living in the burbs of Chicago) everyone in my immediate family works in Detroit and lives in either Oak Park or Southfield. Of course, none of them work downtown though. Imagine that, a whole family that left Detroit earns a decent living in Detroit. I never thought about the irony until now... I'd move back if I were NOT in IT (perhaps an Engineer.) I've always thought that IT professionals get a bum-rap here... (Message edited by izzadore on June 02, 2007) |
Hornist9 Member Username: Hornist9
Post Number: 30 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Saturday, June 02, 2007 - 2:12 pm: | |
My parents left in 1942, six weeks following the birth of my older brother. Dad worked at the Tank Arsenal, and during the war, transportation to work was hard. They moved into Kramer Homes, which was about a mile and a half from the Arsenal. They formerly lived off of West Grand. |
Humanmachinery Member Username: Humanmachinery
Post Number: 26 Registered: 07-2006
| Posted on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 2:42 am: | |
>>>Expansion of the people mover to midtown and WSU campus<<< Ugh. No way. The people mover is a disaster that costs the city far more than it makes already. It's a failure, like all monorails. The tracks cannot diverge or switch, and you can't run multiple integrated networks simultaneously. They should get rid of it, use the money to improve bus service, and possibly bring back the trolly lines. This should have been done when the Hudson's demolition threw the people mover out of commision in 1998. |
Danny Member Username: Danny
Post Number: 6064 Registered: 02-2004
| Posted on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 3:20 pm: | |
My Mother was born in Detroit's SW side (Del-Ray) on the corner of W. Jefferson and Dragoon near the historic Fort Wayne site in 1955. Then moved to Brush Park, North Corktown Area, back to Del-Ray until her father died in 1958. The she move to Stopel St. just west of Livernois Ave. in Detroit's West Side in 1958. The neighborhood at the time was mostly white with a few black folks moving in until they filled up the entire blocks by the early 1970s and ghetto formed it. In 1975 My mom married my dad and she moved to The Martin park, Pilgrim Village, University, Bagley and Palmer Park Sub-division in Detroit's NW side when she have two kids me and sister. My mom lived there until 1985, However we was thinking about moving to Oak Park, MI. until her husband lost his job. Then my mom and family move to Stoepel St. until we rented a house at the Hubbard King sub-division along 6 Mile and Schaefer area. In 1989 my mom and family moved to Mansfield St. just west of Greenfield Ave. it was a well kept up neighborhood with some industry in front of our house. In 1992 my mom kick my dad out of the house for good and went through several boyfriends. In 1993 my mom and kids move to Grandmont St. south of Plymouth Rd. By 1998 my sister move to Lansing and then to Seattle, WA. By 1996 my mom decided that Detroit is not best place for her due to all the recent robberies. So she moved to big quite upstairs condo in Westland, MI. I kept the house in Grandmont until 2003 before to moved to the Cass Corridor area. In 2007 my mom divorsed my dad and married her boyfriend, Now I have a step-father and step-brother. My dad was born on Jos. Compeau St.( Black Botton) just south of E. Vernor Ave. in 1948. until his mother did in 1962. His father can't take of him and his brothers and sisters so he left Detroit the following year. My dad stayed with his aunt's house and along with his brothers and sisters until they all grew up. In 1966 My dad went to the Army, Served in Vietnam and return to America in 1971 where he stayed with his older sister's house on Lothrop St. west of W. Grand Blvd. near Grand River Ave. In 1975 My dad married my mom and moved to The Martin park, Pilgrim Village, University, Bagley and Palmer Park Sub-division in Detroit's NW side when she have two kids me and sister. My dad lived there until 1985. Later he lost his job and move to Stoepel St. until we rented a house at the Hubbard King sub-division along 6 Mile and Schaefer area. In 1989 my dad and family moved to Mansfield St. just west of Greenfield Ave. It was a well kept up neighborhood with some industry in front of our house. In 1992 my mom kick my dad out the house and went to live with her girfriend and concieved a baby boy who is my half-brother. By 1995 my dad and girfriend moved to Lauder St. south of Grand River Ave until her girlfriend kick him out in 1997. Then my dad live around people's houses, travel to and fro and back to Detroit. Then I help him rent a apt. He lived there in 2006 until money supply was cut off. Desperate for help My dad turn to my sister who is living in Seattle, WA. and he moved there until he get his money back. My dad have fed up with Detroit because of all the bureaucracy and corruption that was bought to him and eventually cut his retirement pensions for good. In 2007 he's divorse from my mom and today he's fight to get his pensions back. |
Hawthorne Member Username: Hawthorne
Post Number: 15 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 11:34 am: | |
We lived on Greenfield south of 7 Mile from 1964 to 1969 and I attended Winship Elementary. My family moved to Oak Park, mostly due to dissatisfaction with the Detroit Public Schools and the perception that Oak Park was better. Several of our friends had already moved there as well. The only family we had in Detroit had already moved out of state, so there was no family tie to the city anymore. My Dad's job had moved to Troy and Mom gave up her part-time job at the National Bank of Detroit downtown, so being close to the job was a contributing factor. I remember Mom saying that seeing tanks roll down Greenfield Ave. during the summer of 1967 was a great motivator that they had to move. |
Quozl Member Username: Quozl
Post Number: 783 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 12:16 pm: | |
Urbanize wrote:quote:Why are people so worried when did people come or leave in Detroit? Because that is the subject (When did your family leave Detroit?) of this thread moron, that is why! |
Why Member Username: Why
Post Number: 20 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 10:11 pm: | |
Affirmative action. |
Ericdetfan Member Username: Ericdetfan
Post Number: 104 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 2:18 pm: | |
we held out till 2002, then moved to dearborn heights. |
Margaret Member Username: Margaret
Post Number: 18 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 2:45 pm: | |
my family lived on Detroit's east side until the early 70s, when they moved to Allen Park, partly because of crime in the old east side neighborhood (Lakewood between Jefferson and Kercheval) and partly so my Dad could be closer to his job at Uniroyal. I myself left Detroit in the fall of 1969 to go to college, and never have lived there again. it's not for me. I'm sure my family is unusual: Mom and Dad were both born and raised in western Montana; Dad took the job at Uniroyal during the post-World War II years when the western Montana economy was even more dismal than usual. They came to Detroit in about 1948, I think, and left for Allen Park, like I said. then they moved back to Montana when Dad retired in 1982. I hope this helps! |
Larry2lee Member Username: Larry2lee
Post Number: 1 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Thursday, June 21, 2007 - 5:14 am: | |
moved with my mother in 1966, my parents divorced and my sister got married. lived on dickerson between goethe and charleviox. everyone knew one another on dickerson. went to carston elementary and st philip neri. hung out with jim wright, billy la fata, mike la maeda,mike sherrette, tony zerilli and tom accurso. in 1971 i came back and went to finney h.s. for a couple of months. went back to missouri, came back to michigan in 1979 after i got out of the air force. by 1982, i was living in detroit again, dresden and state fair. moved out in 1988. have mostly good memories of detroit. |
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me
Post Number: 24 Registered: 08-2007
| Posted on Sunday, August 26, 2007 - 7:45 am: | |
I was born and raised in Detroit. I left there in '79 and it was the best thing I ever did. The city was becoming home to many with a very different set of values and priorities. On my last trip I drove through the old neighborhood of McNichols & Mound Rd.. What a disgusting area, extremely different from fifty years ago. We could ride our bikes all day and our parents knew we would return for supper. I believe the McDonalds on McNichols had particle board windows at that time. Burned out houses waiting for the bulldozers to relieve them of their grotesque appearance. In the 50's there was no shortage of good neighbors and pleasant memories. we live in northern part of the state and I have no desire to go back. What I left was gone and I know it will NEVER return. Those who think they can turn it around don't have any idea of what it was like. They are not old enough to remember the late 40's, 50's and the first part of the 60's. |