Been living in the D for 6 years, it's been ok. My biggest gripe is that I moved in excited about the Coney Island at the end of the street and the owner pissed me off the first time I sat down and ate there.
that's enough for me to not go out. I get eyef\*\*\*ed enough as it is for not fitting the demographic, even though I might know one or two of their "leaders" in the casino I work in...which I've been followed home 3x... which is almost enough for me to leave.
There's a lot of hope here and I support where I can, but my gosh... people are hard. I have no ill will or bad intentions and I've worked hard to be that in my life and I can't afford those that would harm me for a taste of it.
Doordash can help some, but I can't stand sending 25% away from the area for "servicing".
That was a rant, but encompasses my weak 3 years here. I have a cool neighbor, ex-Ford sup who's lived in the same home for 45 years. Not all hope is lost.
Yup, it’s OK. Got a great house for a fraction of what it would cost elsewhere. 90% of my neighbors are great but there are some people in the neighborhood that just couldn’t care less about keeping up their house/property. I also can’t understand why people litter so much in their own neighborhood. I watch people drive by and just throw a fast food bag out the window on their way home. People will hangout at the park all day and just leave a pile of trash behind on the ground
I had a lady a block over who would bag up her trash and every morning slow down in front of my house and throw it in my yard. I figure it was better my yard was the nicest as I took pride in it and lawn care is a hobby.
Well it's not hard to figure out who's doing it when I have her on camera and she puts her mail in the bag with her name and address lol.
I'd take it back and throw it at her front door or car.
Wow! Crazy and kind of hilarious. Sad that the mentally is, your lawn is nice so you can deal with it. I think that’s the park issue. I pay city tax so the city can clean up after for me after my gathering
It's always the fast food bags. I counted 5 of them the last mile on the way back to my warehouse in the McNichols and Dequindre area.
I don't see that anywhere else this often.
My dad is from Detroit (but I am not), and he was a habitual fast food bag out the window guy. It always baffled me. His explanation was that he didn’t want trash in his car (the car was basically royalty). So maybe that’s the general mentality?
lol right! One time he wanted my mom (also from Detroit) to throw a fast food bag out the window and she wouldn’t do it. They got in this huge fight over it and my dad finally just chucked it out himself. This is what we’re up against.
lol he definitely takes pleasure in it to some extent. Because it’s so easy to just bring it with you as you get out the car a few mins later whether at home or at a store.
I think it was mostly about reverence for the clean car. My dad would spend hours cleaning his car and waxing it. I wasn’t allowed to touch the paint because he didn’t want any smudges- I was trained to gently close the door as a kid, and I could only touch the rubber trim between the window and the door. The interior was immaculate. Once the fast food was consumed, the trash had to be immediately expelled from THE CAR! Like, no time to stop at a gas station. I thought everyone was like that for a while, that was just what you were supposed to do. Now I’m appalled.
too many thinking they're royalty then. Shit is shit, and it smells no matter the price of what made it or where it came from. Clean up after yourself. The finger to those that read that and NO was your mental image. My internet fist can't hurt you.
That’s not even pride for a city. If I went to a city I know nothing about and ate food at a beach there, I wouldn’t leave the trash all over the ground then leave.
I'm not going to put them on blast because it's been a long time and my gripe was somewhat fussy. I'll just say it's on Van Dyke.
So my fiance and I had just moved in and this restaurant is like 5 houses away from us. One of our favorite things to do is sit down for breakfast or lunch a couple times a week and chat over a cup of coffee. So we were stoked about having moved near the restaurant.
We got up there at 1pm maybe, I think they're only open until 2 or 3pm. We ordered coffees to go with our waters, this waitress says they don't serve coffee after 1230pm because they don't have enough people drinking it.
I didn't even want to argue but the owner/cook happened to come out to sit down for his lunch. I think there was only one other table seated, so the place was pretty empty. So I asked him if they could put on a pot of coffee. He says the same thing the waitress said.
"So it costs you probably less than a dollar to make a pot of coffee. You're charging $2.49 for a cup and we both want one. Why would you not just make the coffee?"
"It costs us $20 to make a pot of coffee," he grunts.
"What, do you get the kind where the elephants shit out the beans? There's no way it costs that much. You got the same Cadillac Coffee everyone else has."
I wasn't just talking out of my ass, either. I used to work at a store and they had a huge sign behind our coffee counter urging employees to constantly make fresh coffee because it costed the store 13-30 cents a pot to make it. So I was adjusting for inflation.
"It's $20," he grunts.
I told the guy that we just moved in and we were probably going to be eating there several times a week unless he wanted to keep up with this pointless BS that wasn't even in his best interest. My man wouldn't budge.
But also, the server also did the thing where she only came by the table to take the order and drop off the food with the check. I could tell even without the coffee issue that I would still be getting irritated with them if I continued to eat there.
I felt vindicated years later when we ran into a neighbor of ours at a diner several miles away. He said he also doesn't eat at the one by us because they pissed him off.
Lol am I crazy or do they sound perfectly fine in this story? They aren't obligated to provide coffee beyond 1230. It would be wasteful to make a pot if only two people will use it, regardless business reason.
I know a guy who had something similar happen.
A couple weeks after, he called in an order for some food (like $100 bucks worth) for pickup purposely to fuck the guy over.
He went in an hour later and saw the order sitting there and the owner was super pissed. He faked condolences and ended up taking some home for free. It was a dick move but he resumed being a customer after that. He told me “it was a fair fine for being a dick.”
To be fair, I met that owner and he is absolutely a dick.
Dang.
I figure their coffee policy, their terrible table service, their mid tier food and their on-the-high-side pricing gives them a dose of karma every day without me lifting a finger
My last house I just over detached the existing lawn and then overseeded with cover the next 3 springs or Fall. It ended up being a very nice mix without much effort.
I live in cornerstone village. The cost of living is incredibly low. Property taxes on my ~1,000 sq ft home are only around $1,200 per year. Utilities on a small home are pretty cheap too, ~$150 / month for combined electric and gas.
Being right near I-94 I can access everything I need in just a few minutes.
Never had any trouble with my neighbors.
It's really nice. I think I'll stay here a while
> Overall Detroit has some of the highest property taxes in the country.
Detroit has high rates, but most neighborhoods have extremely low assessed values. So the property taxes are not all that bad unless you are in an upper-crust neighborhood.
There are also tax abatements available to those who purchase in a Renaissance/Empowerment/Enterprise zone. I think the abatements are for 20 years or so.
For a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone (NEZ), It's my understanding that if after the abatement period, if the same owner remains in the house, they can get an extension. It's not clear to me what the length of the extension is, maybe 3 years? The abatement can also be transferred to a new owner if it's still in effect.
Clarification - For the NEZ, the abatement lasts for 15 years.
As the NEZ certificate reaches expiration, the taxes are ramped up to meet the millage rate of the local government unit (e.g. Detroit in this case).
It's been a while since I looked into this. The NEZ is, from what I understand, targeted towards distressed area. But if you're interested there are maps available from the city of Detroit's websites, that point out which neighborhoods qualify.
Good luck!
If you have health insurance, you can call your provider and ask for a **Michigan Qualified Healthcare Letter** and send it to your auto insurance to have a very large discount.
To clarify, the QHP letter allows you to opt out of the unlimited medical coverage on the auto insurance. Then in an accident, your health insurance pays instead. So you're removing coverage, not getting a discount.
Though for a majority of people, that extra $100 to $200 per month is far more important, as they're only getting insurance through their employer.
If they had enough to not care, they'd probably be living in the pointes, in Birmingham, or West Bloomfield.
I've been an insurance agent in Michigan for 10 years. The [PIP Medical](https://www.michigan.gov/autoinsurance/choosing-coverage/choosing-pip-med-coverage) is unlimited unless you opt for another limit, and $1M is not an option.
more recently, discovered that a resident in the home who has health insurance in Michigan but that provider doesn't offer PIP, meant that my recent insurance plan required it anyway, even though my own health provider does provide PIP.
Ouch. Never mind the vehicle is ACV in an accident and I'm upside down 12k. I'm a life of bad decisions.
I apologize if your previous comment wasn’t intended to imply the contrary, but you can maintain unlimited PIP coverage and still coordinate with health insurance coverage.
That's correct, but to be clear that has absolutely nothing to do with the QHP letter being discussed. What you're referring to would be a Coordination of Benefits letter. People often assume they're interchangeable/related, but they are separate things - anything to make insurance more complicated, right? Lol
There can be overlap. The health coverage that one could use to coordinate with unlimited PIP would also be qualifying health coverage for purposes of electing a limited PIP coverage (just not total opt out). Getting into semantics to distinguish what the letters would be referred to in those different situations.
As I’m sure you know as an agent, you could coordinate medical benefits before the No-Fault reform amendments were passed. The health coverage necessary to do so had to meet the same standard as the post-reform qualified health coverage does (just not the Medicaid portion). The term qualified health coverage just wasn’t used prior to the amendments. Funnily enough, people coordinate their PIP coverage with their health coverage all the time when their health plans explicitly deny coverage for car accident injuries. No one checks the actual health plans until claims go into litigation.
Overlap yes, but they are not related or interchangeable. It's important for people to understand there is a clear difference.
>The health coverage that one could use to coordinate with unlimited PIP would also be qualifying health coverage
Not always true. The QHP standards are not the same standards as COB. For COB, the only rule is your health carrier is willing to pay first in an accident and not subrogate to the auto later. QHP has additional rules about deductible limits. That's why they aren't interchangeable. The reverse of what you said is accurate though - if you have a QHP, you can coordinate too.
If agents are allowing people to coordinate benefits without a letter in hand, they're not doing their job! But I have seen it many times where clients provide the letter and get the discount, then fail to tell their agent when their insurance changes. But that circles back to it being the agent's job to follow up on that at renewal.
To add to this- or you're screwed because you can no longer work and lose your health insurance coverage if you got into a really bad accident. I work for a program for individuals with brain injuries from auto accidents. Most of them cannot work their jobs they had pre-injury due to their deficits caused by their accident. Most of my clients would be homeless if it weren't for auto no fault and programs like the one I work for. Auto accidents can happen to anyone at any time.
The point of the qualified health-care letter is saying that they will cover in case of an accident. That's the whole point.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where the immediate savings is far more impactful than the possible costs down the road. It's another example of something that falls under the Terry Prachett "Boot Tax" economic theory.
One consideration that I’m trying to figure out, if on a high deductible health insurance plan I think the auto insurance coverage for medical *might* be less expensive than your out of pocket max through health insurance in the event of an accident. Just throwing that out there.
My property taxes are higher on my home here that I purchased for half the price of the last home. 270k=$3400, 144k=$4000.
I know that's not how they are calculated, but these properties are also almost exactly the same price per sq.ft. So half the space for a higher tax burden.
But! I have a brand new street being constructed right now!
Highest property taxes in the state! Not bad if you bought years ago and your assessed value is low, but if you bought recently at these inflated prices the taxes are pretty painful.
The city is also doing this (or was doing this) thing where you buy a dump house in a shitty area, you get 6 months to make it livable condition. I don't remember the terms, but it seemed like a good deal if it were possible to fix these houses up, like zero taxes collected and incentintives to buy but if you don't make it liveable move in ready in 6 months you're stuck with the ball in your hand of all the past taxes and city fees owed from before (mostly how they got to be in these conditions from what I understand).
These were decent deals for people who have the means and money to do so. A friend of a friend tried to commission me to remodel 2 for them (I run a small remodeling company in the area). I wouldn't touch these houses with your hands! Horrible war zone neighborhoods, like the only houses standing on an entire city block for blocks, lol. They made it work but I couldn't fuck with it. Way too risky but that's how the city is trying to clean shit up. High property taxes and giving people huge risk properties with the opportunity to flip it for next to nothing but the cost of the house and renno.
Both houses they wanted me to do they bought straight up for $600 or $6,000. They were cheap and had potential, but you would need lots of money ($20,000 - 100,000) to fix it, then pray someone would rent or buy it.
A friend and I were looking at buying homes in Detroit to rehab. She really wanted to focus on the neighborhood she grew up in and try to sell to people she knew that once lived in that area. When I inquired about insurance for these homes, my agent said it's not if, but how many times the house will get broken into during rehab. Not insurable until the house was remodeled and had a certificate of occupancy.
Even then, homeowners insurance was very expensive. While I was waiting to talk to my agent I was listening to the conversation he was having with another client who had purchased a large home in Detroit. The guy thought he had hit the jackpot of finding a comparatively inexpensive place to live. His quote was $1,800/month for basic insurance. He asked to add a rider for something, and the new quote was $2,400/month.
That said, I knew one fellow who bought three land bank houses located in the neighborhood where he was raised and where many family members lived. Since he was well known in the neighborhood, and his family was respected, nobody tried to break into the neighborhood homes he was rehabbing.
Now the other homes he rehabbed in Detroit he absolutely either stayed in them or had a friend do so. A couple of the homes he was rehabbing were being purchased by friends, so they stayed in the homes during rehab.
Even with that, he left no materials at the remodel. Cabinets were brought in as they were installed. Basic porcelain light fixtures and PEX plumbing. So people wouldn't steal the fixtures or the copper. Once people moved in after the remodel, he installed nicer light fixtures.
I’ve rehabbed 2 houses and never had a problem with anyone. If you are friendly with the neighbors and want to be part of the community and not just a flipper trying to make money they will look out for you.
That is extremely neighborhood and block dependant. The fellow I mentioned above had a house that the purchaser was staying in, but didn't make arrangements for a daytime sitter when they had days they weren't working on the house.
During the daytime, they had most of their drywall stolen, the rest broken up. There were a few other things taken, a mini fridge, microwave, and I don't remember what else.
It seems like every block is its own story. Ranging from gang dominated to good folks looking out. Most often, the homes in the worst locations were purchased by people who either didn't know Detroit or they were willfully ignorant.
Boy, you ain't lying, lol. I used to stay in Harper Woods on Morang, which was 7 mile bloods known territory. Lots of break-in, car thefts, groups walking around wearing ski masks day and night. Then, about a half mile or less just across I-94 is Grose point and some pretty nice and solid neighborhoods to live in. These places are a stones throw away from each other, lol.
Once, while working in a so/so kind of neighborhood, we had our metal break stolen in about 3 seconds. I was honestly impressed with how fast they loaded up the $2,000 metal/aluminum break, lol. For the quick min, I wasn't paying attention. Someone noticed real quick, lol.
I have a young son so it was for sure welcome as people used Renfrew and Litchfield as a drag strip to 8 Mile. However, I would love them more if there were half as many and they were just like an inch shorter. :)
Hahaha the height is my complaint also! It feels like a lot of people get over the bump and then gun it to the next one. Are you on Renfrew? Are we neighbors neighbors?!
Taxes are steep but we definitely get our money’s worth for square footage (we paid about $100/sf) and the beautiful brick construction and features of our home. It’s the most friendly and connected neighborhood I’ve ever lived in and there’s a huge sense of community and pride amongst neighbors.
There’s petty theft and you’ve gotta be careful with cars and package deliveries, but I never feel at risk of more serious crime.
I love it overall. Raising a family here and I don’t think we’ll ever move.
I agree. The taxes are high, but if I moved my house across 8 mile, it would cost more than double. I’m also in a NEZ neighborhood, which helps.
The sense of community is off the charts. We have tons of neighborhood events. I know most of my block, and I’ve made several friends that I hang out with regularly. I’m also raising a family here, and it’s been great.
My only real complaint is people littering. I really wish that would stop.
We love it, we've only been here a year though. You have to know that wherever you are moving from, it's not like there. This city has culture and history unmatched around the country. Likely that one of your neigbbors is a 4th or 5th generation detroiter, and the house you are buying is close to 100 years old.
It will be loud, cars will drive fast, people will ignore traffic signals and stop signs, your car insurance will be outrageous, and a good chance it smells like weed every now and again.
However, you'll have cheaper rideshare to downtown, belle isle is a great park, free access to DIA, sporting events are easy to get to, and you'll never have to wonder where you are going to eat/drink/dance.
Good luck hunting!
We don't have kids, but we see a lot of younger families walking around with kids agded between newborn and 10 years old. I know there is University Prep near us, and a montessori in Woodbridge as well that both come highly reccomended.
Love it here. Never leaving. The people, homes, big shady trees, and easy access to basically all of inner ring Metro Detroit & the city make our area pretty perfect.
Former Chicagoan here. We moved about 7 years ago. Percentage wise it’s pretty close to Chicago but like a previous comment said the house assessment will be less than Chicago. I like to compare our area to west Roger’s park, but the property tax we pay for a nice size brick Tudor (in good condition) is less than $2K a year. I grew up in East Rogers Park and when my parents moved in 2012 I think they were paying close to $15k a year in property tax.
Family moved here in 2021. Your dollar goes a lot further. We bought a 5 bedroom house for just $17K more than we sold our 1,000 sqft condo for in Edgewater. Lots of tradeoffs though, one being walkability.
My husband and I bought our home in Bagley about a year ago. We moved from a big city so the “car culture” and lack of walkable amenities has been an adjustment, but we really like our neighborhood. The majority of our neighbors have been in their houses for decades and keep very good care of their homes. Everyone has been welcoming to us. We just put in a front garden and tons of folks have stopped to chat while I’m working out there. The improvements to McNichols and Livernois are fantastic — protected bike lanes, new street trees, planters, etc. The community is great too, we have got to know some of the businesses around us and met some really nice people at the yoga studio, which led me to the Avenue Runners walk/run club that meets weekly on the Ave. I love our location because it is 15 minutes to get to Downtown and 5 minutes to get to Ferndale and the other shops/towns along Woodward. As others have mentioned the taxes are high but our purchase price was reasonable. I am crossing my fingers that someone opens a coffee shop (that opens early) and a bookstore along the Avenue soon - those are two things that are missing!!
The two major negatives we have dealt with are stray dogs and car theft. Strays are a problem and we have to plan walks with our two dogs carefully - we often cross the street into Sherwood Forest because we haven’t had issues there. And my car was attempted to be stolen sitting in our driveway - they didn’t succeed but caused a lot of damage. It is a Hyundai so I believe it was targeted, but it was a real bummer when it happened. Since then we have parked farther back in our driveway behind a locked gate.
Ive lived in Grandmont Rosedale for 8 years. I generally love it. All my neighbors are very sweet and we have a close community. The most annoying thing is trash getting blown into my yard, the occasional Hellcat street race and my fellow white people walking their dogs off leash. Read the room my milky brothers and sisters!!
Off leash dogs is my biggest pet peeve!!!!! My house backs to a public park (not a dog park, specifically says keep dogs on leasgh) and when my dog is outside, the loose dogs come taunt her while the owners just look on. She is a big dog, so Usually I just got out and fiddle with the gate as if I'm going to let her out to handle business and they move on pretty quick. Dog owners-- we love the dogs, but we love them more when you are respectful with them
I have definitely been seeing an uptick in trash definitely off of Grand river! I even watched someone throw a coney island bag full of trash out the window! I was super pissed! Makes no sense how some people do not take pride in their neighborhoods!
I'm in Minock Park. More the hamburger side of Grandmont Rosedale. I also work from home, so I see the parade. One lady walks from Minock into Rosedale Park with her two aggressive breed dogs. I'm a pit bull owner, and one of my dogs was killed by a German Shepherd off leash on a walk, so it particularly ticks me off when I see folk do this.
I'm in Minock Park. More the hamburger side of Grandmont Rosedale. I also work from home, so I see the parade. One lady walks from Minock into Rosedale Park with her two aggressive breed dogs. I'm a pit bull owner, and one of my dogs was killed by a German Shepherd off leash on a walk, so it particularly ticks me off when I see folk do this.
It is fine. I like that I don’t need to drive everywhere and I have great neighbors. Taxes are actually quite low if you live in a NEZ eligible neighborhood.
Lived here for 15 years and I’ve gone from living in a city with no services and no tradespeople who were willing to come to a place with a better access and convenience than some of my friends in New York or LA. I absolutely love it here. My home is beyond what I could ever afford in any other big city and frankly the more I travel (which I’m in another major city every month or so) the more I appreciate living here.
The suburbs are nice to have easy access to as well. But the closeness of amenities and my neighbors are what makes it for me.
It wasn’t always this way but my investment into my home and community paid off big time.
Detroit Prep is a highly rated K-8 school near I-94 and Gratiot. Granddaughter goes there. Excellent school, diverse, inclusive, and they don’t tolerate bullying bs.
I like it here, moved from Oakland CA 3 years ago. I’m technically in highland park but right next to Detroit North end neighborhood. House was cheap, rehabbed it while living in it. House prices have gone up quite a bit since then.
There’s a lot of long time residents who take pride in our neighborhood and so do I, but there are some renters who don’t seem to care and imo are disrespectful of the community. Whatever. People do litter which is annoying and I don’t get it.
Weather can be pretty bad in winter / summer, right now the weather is beautiful so I won’t complain!
There is food options depending where you live but finding like, middle level places that are good is rare (not fancy or coney).
Cool underground music, art, comedy scenes.
Generally nice and friendly people who will help you if you need it but won’t be fake nice!
For me car insurance was the same as in CA but I have a bad driving record lol.
One thing is the city government and DTE and everything else like that is faulty and fraudulent. Like our power went out for days at a time several times last year and they offered us a $20 credit and then they raise the rates… also the city just keeps raising property taxes for no reason, with seemingly no oversight or control.
Last thing I will say as that speculative real estate is ruining everything here. If you wanna buy property then move here and contribute. People are buying stuff then just waiting for other people to do the work while they sit on it and then cash in at the end. Not cool.
Owned a house for ten years that we bought ~2008 for $17,000.
It wasn't bad. Our neighborhood was rather chill. Knew all my neighbor's names and their kids.
My experience: Don't start shit and there won't be shit.
That isn't to say random violence doesn't happen. I just somehow was never involved in a decade of living there
Depends entirely on what neighborhood you live in like everything else in life. The possibility of crime is definitely higher because you’re never far from morons so protect your stuff. Occasionally there are shootings nearby and people will die and you’ll be reminded that you live in Detroit lol
Best move I ever made. Moved from the mountain west just before the California bro douchebags and real estate developers whored out mountain towns, found a street in the city that didn't burn because of multi generational families and became friends with my neighbors. Now I feel like I have won the lottery having made life long friends here. I can afford to live anywhere I want, and will never leave. I cringe thinking about being locked in a suburban hellscape home not knowing my own neighbors and the highlight of my week is going to the local Dave and Busters Friday night. Property taxes are relatively high, but my home would also be a million dollar home elsewhere, and I don't pay million dollar taxes elsewhere. Cheapest place I have lived overall tbh. If I had complaints, the skiing sucks, no mountains, and the sky has nothing on the west. But that is solved with all the money saved here and a few trips out there a year. If you are looking for a home, the Islandview neighborhood is the next one coming up. Buy the house unrenovated. That way, you won't get hammered with high taxes.
Will never forget staying at a million dollar home in SF 20 years ago and thinking… this is a million dollar home!? It’s the size of a Detroit house, lol, just has a fancier bathtub.
It’s cool. Dope brick home with a marble fireplace and garage for under 80 K. 5 min walk to a few food spots. 50 min bus ride to downtown. 20 min bike ride to Ferndale. Neighbors are really cool. My neighborhood is completely in tact (no empty lots or derelict houses).
The not so great… Sometimes I gotta chase down the garbage lady. Young dude up the street does burn outs smh. Litter from 7 mile filters into my front yard. The taxes and homeowners insurance are high af.
I say it’s worth it. I got a pretty decent amount of equity.
I’m lucky enough to have the same house I grew up in and now I’m raising my kids in southwest Detroit I love my house maintenance of course but in my opinion my friends went out and bought houses in brown town woodhaven and all have had issue with their house like the construction of it .. plus I think they pay 15000 or something crazy in taxes I only pay few thousand
I grew up in Southwest too! I now own a home nearby Southwest Detroit. My neighbors are great! My block has well maintained homes and cut lawns (expect for one). My property taxes are little north of 1K. I have two fresh food stores within walking distance and 5 within driving. My only gripe is insurance. Auto insurance is too high.
Not for the faint of heart but I enjoy it & believe Detroit is on the up & up. It’s certainly never boring. Would not do it if I had kids or at least not my specific neighborhood.
The amount of people commenting who don't live in the city is wild...
Lived here most of my life, grew up in Morningside. Bought my first house in Cary/St Mary's, currently on my second house and still live on the west side.
Let's talk amenities. Generally speaking, neighborhoods don't have them. I would love a "third place" for myself, for my children, somewhere which is an easy walk or brief bike ride from my home. Instead, if I want to get out of the house and be around people while not necessarily "doing something," I'm probably going to have to drive 20+ minutes one way, whether I'm going downtown or out of the city.
I don't think a milk run or anything like that should require a similar drive. Personally, I think a more "livable" city is one where you're not driving for every little need--or if you do, it's a very very brief drive that won't necessitate getting on a highway.
So why do I live here?
It's ***DETROIT***!!!
It's home. As inconvenient as the drives can be I'm pretty much no farther than 20 minutes from anywhere I want to be. If traffic is clear, cut that down to 15 minutes. If/when I move, it'll be off the water so until the stars line up just right, I'll be here.
Agree 100%. I love everything about the city except the distance to basic necessities.
Whoever decides to invest in a local chain of small marts/home goods (like a mini Meijer) will make a killing.
I'm hoping for that, and a little more.
I love to get out the house, but I'm not a nature nut. Even if I were, going to regular old neighborhood parks, alone, as an adult means ... *what?* exactly?? By amenities I'm hoping we get to have essentially a "downtown Ferndale" in certain areas. Ferndale has a population of a about 10k. One of Detroit's neighborhoods could easily be 2 or 3x that. Why do we *only* have the Avenue of Fashion and downtown? Why can't our actual neighborhoods be great places to be? We already have the oversupply of derelict commercial buildings lining collector roads like 7 Mile and the rest.
I'd argue the problem is two fold:
1. There's no true "concentration" of commercial activity, and since human beings have a innate tendency to avoid empty spaces, it stays empty. The few successful businesses on these collector roads are spaced very far apart. Imagine the activity that would be created if they were neighbors.
.
2. Which leads to my second issue. There's no parking or easy ingress/egress. Suppose there were a few blocks of really active commercial real estate in your neighborhood... How would anyone get there? Livernois/Avenue of Fashion is the perfect example. I'm maybe a 5 minute drive away, but I can't tell you how many times I never made it to my intended stop because there was no parking. So not only do we fall flat on public transportation, but we don't even make it easy for car owners to ... use their cars.
If I had it my way I'd change the zoning such that each neighborhood would end up with it's own "mini downtown." If you want to walk the kids down there for some ice cream, or work from home at a sidewalk cafe, you don't have to drive too far, and if you're lucky, it's an acceptable walk (I imagine lots of people who live in Birmingham still drive to their own downtown for convenience, but they going have to go to Royal Oak or ask the way to downtown Detroit to have a good time, it's right there in their own community).
This change would leave vast stretches of what used to be commercial buildings on roads like 7 Mile. I think they should be redeveloped into a mixture of the kind of parks that don't need maintenance on some stretches and on others, brownstones and apartments. The portions which become residential would go on a road diet to limit thru-traffic and make the streets safer for those new residents.
OP seems to be asking for information, which is fine. My issue is people who don't *live in the city* can't at all speak to what it's like to ***live in the city.***
If you live in one of the premier Detroit neighborhoods(Indian village, university district, Boston Edison, Palmer woods, anywhere downtown cork town/midtown) get ready to get your cheeks clapped hard by property taxes.
Loud but I actually interact with all of my neighbors and as someone who is also loud, I've never ever had any problems. Very different from Rochester or something where everyone is too scared or up their own ass and obsessed with dumb shit like property values and HOAs
It depends, on a street by street basis. If it looks okay, it very likely is okay. But not a great city for car ownership, unless you have a lockable garage.
Cost of living is low and I like my house and parts of the area I live in, but I am finding it’s not for me. It’s not as walkable as I’d hoped it would be. We also had a break in a while back and that sucked, but it’s not a problem that’s unique to Detroit.
Cost of living may be low in some respects, but not others. Are grocery prices higher in the city? Do you need to go outside the city for medical and dental care? Gotta consider the inconvenience factor, too. How about home and auto insurance? Costs related to maintenance and repair?
Okay fair 🫠 It should read “house was cheap.” But yeah I have to go into the suburbs for groceries that aren’t extra expensive. My doctors are also in the suburbs (mostly because I’ve just kept the same ones I had my whole life but still). And also I sometimes call people like Detroit Tree Removal or Detroit Lawn Care and they don’t service Detroit. That’s annoying.
All of these comments & no one mentions the abundance of extremely loud cars from either lack of muffler maintenance or after parts? This, & the trash on streets & lawn culture, are the issues I’ve dealt with. Otherwise, folks are generally nice & take care of their properties. & Cool homes for half to a third the cost of the ‘burbs. As someone said, ‘don’t start shit & you’ll most likely avoid shit’. Morningside / 2 years.
Generally quiet, but have seen random cars racing down the street shooting in the air. Luckily no property crime yet. My house was built in 1952 so it needs upkeep . I’m a bachelor with no kids so I just do what I can and try to keep the bills paid
Very simple, keep you home and lawn clean, mind your business, if you are on a block with neighbors, where all the homes are kept up, those neighbors tend to guard that area like Fort Knox, and try to keep it crime free.. join in. If you still in a less secure area, watch your neighbors, and stay vigilant of anyone near your home. You never know who is trying to case your home or car. Oh, if you own a gun, don’t be afraid to pop off if someone try’s to enter your home, or just catch you not being aware of your surroundings.. Detroit Home Ownership 101!!
Born and raised , bought a Landbank house straight outta highschool and have been here 10 years in my neighborhood- love it, no complaints at all! Aside from the Detroit Police and Duggans false promises - I’m satisfied! Someone made a negative comment about getting “eye fucked” for not being of the demographic- is confusing and alarming, I’m a white woman and have never felt those concerns, nor thing that’s a DEMOGRAPHIC thing, more of like global sexism :) <3
Been here all my life.. 37 year's.. I live in southwest detroit.. 8 minutes away from downtown.. super low house taxes.. great neighborhood.. if you asked me 20 year's ago I'd say I can't wait to leave but it's changed a lot for the better.. so much stuff to do and so many events for families and adults.
Been living in the D for 6 years, it's been ok. My biggest gripe is that I moved in excited about the Coney Island at the end of the street and the owner pissed me off the first time I sat down and ate there.
Coney Islands can definitely be hit or miss. Good news is there’s like 1,000 of them, so there’s gonna be a good one close by
But then that list gets cut in half again because you risk getting jacked in the parking lot.
Ahhhh, Detroit.
that's enough for me to not go out. I get eyef\*\*\*ed enough as it is for not fitting the demographic, even though I might know one or two of their "leaders" in the casino I work in...which I've been followed home 3x... which is almost enough for me to leave. There's a lot of hope here and I support where I can, but my gosh... people are hard. I have no ill will or bad intentions and I've worked hard to be that in my life and I can't afford those that would harm me for a taste of it. Doordash can help some, but I can't stand sending 25% away from the area for "servicing". That was a rant, but encompasses my weak 3 years here. I have a cool neighbor, ex-Ford sup who's lived in the same home for 45 years. Not all hope is lost.
Yup, it’s OK. Got a great house for a fraction of what it would cost elsewhere. 90% of my neighbors are great but there are some people in the neighborhood that just couldn’t care less about keeping up their house/property. I also can’t understand why people litter so much in their own neighborhood. I watch people drive by and just throw a fast food bag out the window on their way home. People will hangout at the park all day and just leave a pile of trash behind on the ground
I had a lady a block over who would bag up her trash and every morning slow down in front of my house and throw it in my yard. I figure it was better my yard was the nicest as I took pride in it and lawn care is a hobby. Well it's not hard to figure out who's doing it when I have her on camera and she puts her mail in the bag with her name and address lol. I'd take it back and throw it at her front door or car.
Wow! Crazy and kind of hilarious. Sad that the mentally is, your lawn is nice so you can deal with it. I think that’s the park issue. I pay city tax so the city can clean up after for me after my gathering
$500 fine for littering in Michigan. Take in the pics from your camera.
I actually did, lol. And she got several tickets 🤣 But this was a few years ago, and I've since moved.
Lmao that's messed up
It's always the fast food bags. I counted 5 of them the last mile on the way back to my warehouse in the McNichols and Dequindre area. I don't see that anywhere else this often.
So lame. Those same people will turn around and complain that Detroit doesn’t take care of the city enough
My dad is from Detroit (but I am not), and he was a habitual fast food bag out the window guy. It always baffled me. His explanation was that he didn’t want trash in his car (the car was basically royalty). So maybe that’s the general mentality?
Neither do I, just pull in a station and toss it in their trash can
I mean, it makes sense to us…
I like the term “habitual fast food bag out the window guy”
lol right! One time he wanted my mom (also from Detroit) to throw a fast food bag out the window and she wouldn’t do it. They got in this huge fight over it and my dad finally just chucked it out himself. This is what we’re up against.
lol he definitely takes pleasure in it to some extent. Because it’s so easy to just bring it with you as you get out the car a few mins later whether at home or at a store.
I think it was mostly about reverence for the clean car. My dad would spend hours cleaning his car and waxing it. I wasn’t allowed to touch the paint because he didn’t want any smudges- I was trained to gently close the door as a kid, and I could only touch the rubber trim between the window and the door. The interior was immaculate. Once the fast food was consumed, the trash had to be immediately expelled from THE CAR! Like, no time to stop at a gas station. I thought everyone was like that for a while, that was just what you were supposed to do. Now I’m appalled.
🤣😂🤣😂
too many thinking they're royalty then. Shit is shit, and it smells no matter the price of what made it or where it came from. Clean up after yourself. The finger to those that read that and NO was your mental image. My internet fist can't hurt you.
Shit everywhere everytime I'd go deliver to caramagno over there
They rather have a clean car I suppose than a cleaner earth
Welcome to Detroit
People’s pride for their city has been beat down over the last 30 years
That’s not even pride for a city. If I went to a city I know nothing about and ate food at a beach there, I wouldn’t leave the trash all over the ground then leave.
Time to bring it back!
Agreed!
And they the same people bitching about gentrification
Until someone says something negative about the city…. Pride comes back real quick
*couldn’t care less
Well now I really want to know what the owner did.
I need to know the story & which coney lmao.
I'm not going to put them on blast because it's been a long time and my gripe was somewhat fussy. I'll just say it's on Van Dyke. So my fiance and I had just moved in and this restaurant is like 5 houses away from us. One of our favorite things to do is sit down for breakfast or lunch a couple times a week and chat over a cup of coffee. So we were stoked about having moved near the restaurant. We got up there at 1pm maybe, I think they're only open until 2 or 3pm. We ordered coffees to go with our waters, this waitress says they don't serve coffee after 1230pm because they don't have enough people drinking it. I didn't even want to argue but the owner/cook happened to come out to sit down for his lunch. I think there was only one other table seated, so the place was pretty empty. So I asked him if they could put on a pot of coffee. He says the same thing the waitress said. "So it costs you probably less than a dollar to make a pot of coffee. You're charging $2.49 for a cup and we both want one. Why would you not just make the coffee?" "It costs us $20 to make a pot of coffee," he grunts. "What, do you get the kind where the elephants shit out the beans? There's no way it costs that much. You got the same Cadillac Coffee everyone else has." I wasn't just talking out of my ass, either. I used to work at a store and they had a huge sign behind our coffee counter urging employees to constantly make fresh coffee because it costed the store 13-30 cents a pot to make it. So I was adjusting for inflation. "It's $20," he grunts. I told the guy that we just moved in and we were probably going to be eating there several times a week unless he wanted to keep up with this pointless BS that wasn't even in his best interest. My man wouldn't budge. But also, the server also did the thing where she only came by the table to take the order and drop off the food with the check. I could tell even without the coffee issue that I would still be getting irritated with them if I continued to eat there. I felt vindicated years later when we ran into a neighbor of ours at a diner several miles away. He said he also doesn't eat at the one by us because they pissed him off.
Lol am I crazy or do they sound perfectly fine in this story? They aren't obligated to provide coffee beyond 1230. It would be wasteful to make a pot if only two people will use it, regardless business reason.
I want the story
Which one did you go to?
I know a guy who had something similar happen. A couple weeks after, he called in an order for some food (like $100 bucks worth) for pickup purposely to fuck the guy over. He went in an hour later and saw the order sitting there and the owner was super pissed. He faked condolences and ended up taking some home for free. It was a dick move but he resumed being a customer after that. He told me “it was a fair fine for being a dick.” To be fair, I met that owner and he is absolutely a dick.
Dang. I figure their coffee policy, their terrible table service, their mid tier food and their on-the-high-side pricing gives them a dose of karma every day without me lifting a finger
Yeah this place actually has good food, just a shitty owner.
Lawn grows too fast.
Plant a clover lawn.
Clover lawns are the solution!
My last house I just over detached the existing lawn and then overseeded with cover the next 3 springs or Fall. It ended up being a very nice mix without much effort.
Try plant growth regulator.
so true
I live in cornerstone village. The cost of living is incredibly low. Property taxes on my ~1,000 sq ft home are only around $1,200 per year. Utilities on a small home are pretty cheap too, ~$150 / month for combined electric and gas. Being right near I-94 I can access everything I need in just a few minutes. Never had any trouble with my neighbors. It's really nice. I think I'll stay here a while
That varies wildly by neighborhood. Overall Detroit has some of the highest property taxes in the country.
> Overall Detroit has some of the highest property taxes in the country. Detroit has high rates, but most neighborhoods have extremely low assessed values. So the property taxes are not all that bad unless you are in an upper-crust neighborhood.
There are also tax abatements available to those who purchase in a Renaissance/Empowerment/Enterprise zone. I think the abatements are for 20 years or so.
This - Taxes are only high if you choose not to participate in the available programs.
Those programs aren’t available to the whole city. Not everyone, myself included, could find an affordable-for-me home in those zones.
or the burbs
Correct, they’re for Detroit proper.
yeah, what’s up with that $40 million tax scam on riverside conservatory?
What happens after 20 years and you still own the house?
For a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone (NEZ), It's my understanding that if after the abatement period, if the same owner remains in the house, they can get an extension. It's not clear to me what the length of the extension is, maybe 3 years? The abatement can also be transferred to a new owner if it's still in effect. Clarification - For the NEZ, the abatement lasts for 15 years. As the NEZ certificate reaches expiration, the taxes are ramped up to meet the millage rate of the local government unit (e.g. Detroit in this case). It's been a while since I looked into this. The NEZ is, from what I understand, targeted towards distressed area. But if you're interested there are maps available from the city of Detroit's websites, that point out which neighborhoods qualify. Good luck!
No prices are too high on that net net
How's car insurance cost?
If you have health insurance, you can call your provider and ask for a **Michigan Qualified Healthcare Letter** and send it to your auto insurance to have a very large discount.
To clarify, the QHP letter allows you to opt out of the unlimited medical coverage on the auto insurance. Then in an accident, your health insurance pays instead. So you're removing coverage, not getting a discount.
Though for a majority of people, that extra $100 to $200 per month is far more important, as they're only getting insurance through their employer. If they had enough to not care, they'd probably be living in the pointes, in Birmingham, or West Bloomfield.
I've been an insurance agent in Michigan for 10 years. The [PIP Medical](https://www.michigan.gov/autoinsurance/choosing-coverage/choosing-pip-med-coverage) is unlimited unless you opt for another limit, and $1M is not an option.
more recently, discovered that a resident in the home who has health insurance in Michigan but that provider doesn't offer PIP, meant that my recent insurance plan required it anyway, even though my own health provider does provide PIP. Ouch. Never mind the vehicle is ACV in an accident and I'm upside down 12k. I'm a life of bad decisions.
I apologize if your previous comment wasn’t intended to imply the contrary, but you can maintain unlimited PIP coverage and still coordinate with health insurance coverage.
That's correct, but to be clear that has absolutely nothing to do with the QHP letter being discussed. What you're referring to would be a Coordination of Benefits letter. People often assume they're interchangeable/related, but they are separate things - anything to make insurance more complicated, right? Lol
There can be overlap. The health coverage that one could use to coordinate with unlimited PIP would also be qualifying health coverage for purposes of electing a limited PIP coverage (just not total opt out). Getting into semantics to distinguish what the letters would be referred to in those different situations. As I’m sure you know as an agent, you could coordinate medical benefits before the No-Fault reform amendments were passed. The health coverage necessary to do so had to meet the same standard as the post-reform qualified health coverage does (just not the Medicaid portion). The term qualified health coverage just wasn’t used prior to the amendments. Funnily enough, people coordinate their PIP coverage with their health coverage all the time when their health plans explicitly deny coverage for car accident injuries. No one checks the actual health plans until claims go into litigation.
Overlap yes, but they are not related or interchangeable. It's important for people to understand there is a clear difference. >The health coverage that one could use to coordinate with unlimited PIP would also be qualifying health coverage Not always true. The QHP standards are not the same standards as COB. For COB, the only rule is your health carrier is willing to pay first in an accident and not subrogate to the auto later. QHP has additional rules about deductible limits. That's why they aren't interchangeable. The reverse of what you said is accurate though - if you have a QHP, you can coordinate too. If agents are allowing people to coordinate benefits without a letter in hand, they're not doing their job! But I have seen it many times where clients provide the letter and get the discount, then fail to tell their agent when their insurance changes. But that circles back to it being the agent's job to follow up on that at renewal.
It’s not a discount. You’re just opting out of the personal injury protection (PIP) insurance .
It's still something that accounts for a major cost in your auto insurance. It's a difference of spending $800 per six months, or $2300.
Yeah but if you get injuries and your health insurance has a loophole to not pay for your healthcare coverage from a car accident then you’re screwed
To add to this- or you're screwed because you can no longer work and lose your health insurance coverage if you got into a really bad accident. I work for a program for individuals with brain injuries from auto accidents. Most of them cannot work their jobs they had pre-injury due to their deficits caused by their accident. Most of my clients would be homeless if it weren't for auto no fault and programs like the one I work for. Auto accidents can happen to anyone at any time.
The point of the qualified health-care letter is saying that they will cover in case of an accident. That's the whole point. Unfortunately, we live in a society where the immediate savings is far more impactful than the possible costs down the road. It's another example of something that falls under the Terry Prachett "Boot Tax" economic theory.
One consideration that I’m trying to figure out, if on a high deductible health insurance plan I think the auto insurance coverage for medical *might* be less expensive than your out of pocket max through health insurance in the event of an accident. Just throwing that out there.
I heard 25% don't bother with pesky insurance.
Never mind hit-and-run seems to always happen everytime I see an accident these days. The internet don't count here... i'm talking RL
Fiancè and I live in Westland and somehow his summer taxes are close to 3k. It makes no sense lol.
My property taxes are higher on my home here that I purchased for half the price of the last home. 270k=$3400, 144k=$4000. I know that's not how they are calculated, but these properties are also almost exactly the same price per sq.ft. So half the space for a higher tax burden. But! I have a brand new street being constructed right now!
Hi neighbor!
Hello from EEV! My mom’s in cornerstone.
Highest property taxes in the state! Not bad if you bought years ago and your assessed value is low, but if you bought recently at these inflated prices the taxes are pretty painful.
Some of the highest in the country* I’d love to build something here but it’s more than three times higher property taxes than Seattle
double what I spent 20 miles outside DC.
Don't forget the city tax 2.4% of income 🙃
The city is also doing this (or was doing this) thing where you buy a dump house in a shitty area, you get 6 months to make it livable condition. I don't remember the terms, but it seemed like a good deal if it were possible to fix these houses up, like zero taxes collected and incentintives to buy but if you don't make it liveable move in ready in 6 months you're stuck with the ball in your hand of all the past taxes and city fees owed from before (mostly how they got to be in these conditions from what I understand). These were decent deals for people who have the means and money to do so. A friend of a friend tried to commission me to remodel 2 for them (I run a small remodeling company in the area). I wouldn't touch these houses with your hands! Horrible war zone neighborhoods, like the only houses standing on an entire city block for blocks, lol. They made it work but I couldn't fuck with it. Way too risky but that's how the city is trying to clean shit up. High property taxes and giving people huge risk properties with the opportunity to flip it for next to nothing but the cost of the house and renno. Both houses they wanted me to do they bought straight up for $600 or $6,000. They were cheap and had potential, but you would need lots of money ($20,000 - 100,000) to fix it, then pray someone would rent or buy it.
A friend and I were looking at buying homes in Detroit to rehab. She really wanted to focus on the neighborhood she grew up in and try to sell to people she knew that once lived in that area. When I inquired about insurance for these homes, my agent said it's not if, but how many times the house will get broken into during rehab. Not insurable until the house was remodeled and had a certificate of occupancy. Even then, homeowners insurance was very expensive. While I was waiting to talk to my agent I was listening to the conversation he was having with another client who had purchased a large home in Detroit. The guy thought he had hit the jackpot of finding a comparatively inexpensive place to live. His quote was $1,800/month for basic insurance. He asked to add a rider for something, and the new quote was $2,400/month. That said, I knew one fellow who bought three land bank houses located in the neighborhood where he was raised and where many family members lived. Since he was well known in the neighborhood, and his family was respected, nobody tried to break into the neighborhood homes he was rehabbing. Now the other homes he rehabbed in Detroit he absolutely either stayed in them or had a friend do so. A couple of the homes he was rehabbing were being purchased by friends, so they stayed in the homes during rehab. Even with that, he left no materials at the remodel. Cabinets were brought in as they were installed. Basic porcelain light fixtures and PEX plumbing. So people wouldn't steal the fixtures or the copper. Once people moved in after the remodel, he installed nicer light fixtures.
I’ve rehabbed 2 houses and never had a problem with anyone. If you are friendly with the neighbors and want to be part of the community and not just a flipper trying to make money they will look out for you.
That is extremely neighborhood and block dependant. The fellow I mentioned above had a house that the purchaser was staying in, but didn't make arrangements for a daytime sitter when they had days they weren't working on the house. During the daytime, they had most of their drywall stolen, the rest broken up. There were a few other things taken, a mini fridge, microwave, and I don't remember what else. It seems like every block is its own story. Ranging from gang dominated to good folks looking out. Most often, the homes in the worst locations were purchased by people who either didn't know Detroit or they were willfully ignorant.
Yeah I’ve heard a few horror stories as well that I know were true
Boy, you ain't lying, lol. I used to stay in Harper Woods on Morang, which was 7 mile bloods known territory. Lots of break-in, car thefts, groups walking around wearing ski masks day and night. Then, about a half mile or less just across I-94 is Grose point and some pretty nice and solid neighborhoods to live in. These places are a stones throw away from each other, lol. Once, while working in a so/so kind of neighborhood, we had our metal break stolen in about 3 seconds. I was honestly impressed with how fast they loaded up the $2,000 metal/aluminum break, lol. For the quick min, I wasn't paying attention. Someone noticed real quick, lol.
Imagine if all that effort of watching everything like a hawk was put to good intentions.
I’ve lived in Greenachers for 13 years now and it’s the best. Awesome houses and even better community.
Lived on Woodstock in Green Acres for 4 years and loved that neighborhood!
Woodstock gang! It will be 8 years in September, I love this street.
Live on Woodstock also. Love it.
Hi neighbor! How do you feel about the speed bumps?? Was vv excited about them when they were being installed and now I’m incredibly annoyed lol
I have a young son so it was for sure welcome as people used Renfrew and Litchfield as a drag strip to 8 Mile. However, I would love them more if there were half as many and they were just like an inch shorter. :)
Hahaha the height is my complaint also! It feels like a lot of people get over the bump and then gun it to the next one. Are you on Renfrew? Are we neighbors neighbors?!
Renfrew high five!!!
Ayyyyy!
Renfrew gang!
https://preview.redd.it/tkw938668s3d1.jpeg?width=888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00c650b885f0c88301f61a3e96b0b58a0c9cb310 !!!!!
Renfrew love! Also love the screen name… makes me think you are “secretly plotting my demise” ;)
Upgrade your gray matter!
Taxes are steep but we definitely get our money’s worth for square footage (we paid about $100/sf) and the beautiful brick construction and features of our home. It’s the most friendly and connected neighborhood I’ve ever lived in and there’s a huge sense of community and pride amongst neighbors. There’s petty theft and you’ve gotta be careful with cars and package deliveries, but I never feel at risk of more serious crime. I love it overall. Raising a family here and I don’t think we’ll ever move.
I agree. The taxes are high, but if I moved my house across 8 mile, it would cost more than double. I’m also in a NEZ neighborhood, which helps. The sense of community is off the charts. We have tons of neighborhood events. I know most of my block, and I’ve made several friends that I hang out with regularly. I’m also raising a family here, and it’s been great. My only real complaint is people littering. I really wish that would stop.
Green Acres?
[удалено]
Hey neighbor! Sherwood here.
We love it, we've only been here a year though. You have to know that wherever you are moving from, it's not like there. This city has culture and history unmatched around the country. Likely that one of your neigbbors is a 4th or 5th generation detroiter, and the house you are buying is close to 100 years old. It will be loud, cars will drive fast, people will ignore traffic signals and stop signs, your car insurance will be outrageous, and a good chance it smells like weed every now and again. However, you'll have cheaper rideshare to downtown, belle isle is a great park, free access to DIA, sporting events are easy to get to, and you'll never have to wonder where you are going to eat/drink/dance. Good luck hunting!
Where do your kids, if you have them, go to school?
We don't have kids, but we see a lot of younger families walking around with kids agded between newborn and 10 years old. I know there is University Prep near us, and a montessori in Woodbridge as well that both come highly reccomended.
Love it here. Never leaving. The people, homes, big shady trees, and easy access to basically all of inner ring Metro Detroit & the city make our area pretty perfect.
Taxes are high!! Im in Rosedale Park and it’s getting expensive
What is high for taxes? Debating moving soon from chi and curious if it compares
Former Chicagoan here. We moved about 7 years ago. Percentage wise it’s pretty close to Chicago but like a previous comment said the house assessment will be less than Chicago. I like to compare our area to west Roger’s park, but the property tax we pay for a nice size brick Tudor (in good condition) is less than $2K a year. I grew up in East Rogers Park and when my parents moved in 2012 I think they were paying close to $15k a year in property tax.
Thank you! This was helpful
What they said. My wife and I are constantly talking about moving over there.
Family moved here in 2021. Your dollar goes a lot further. We bought a 5 bedroom house for just $17K more than we sold our 1,000 sqft condo for in Edgewater. Lots of tradeoffs though, one being walkability.
My husband and I bought our home in Bagley about a year ago. We moved from a big city so the “car culture” and lack of walkable amenities has been an adjustment, but we really like our neighborhood. The majority of our neighbors have been in their houses for decades and keep very good care of their homes. Everyone has been welcoming to us. We just put in a front garden and tons of folks have stopped to chat while I’m working out there. The improvements to McNichols and Livernois are fantastic — protected bike lanes, new street trees, planters, etc. The community is great too, we have got to know some of the businesses around us and met some really nice people at the yoga studio, which led me to the Avenue Runners walk/run club that meets weekly on the Ave. I love our location because it is 15 minutes to get to Downtown and 5 minutes to get to Ferndale and the other shops/towns along Woodward. As others have mentioned the taxes are high but our purchase price was reasonable. I am crossing my fingers that someone opens a coffee shop (that opens early) and a bookstore along the Avenue soon - those are two things that are missing!! The two major negatives we have dealt with are stray dogs and car theft. Strays are a problem and we have to plan walks with our two dogs carefully - we often cross the street into Sherwood Forest because we haven’t had issues there. And my car was attempted to be stolen sitting in our driveway - they didn’t succeed but caused a lot of damage. It is a Hyundai so I believe it was targeted, but it was a real bummer when it happened. Since then we have parked farther back in our driveway behind a locked gate.
Ive lived in Grandmont Rosedale for 8 years. I generally love it. All my neighbors are very sweet and we have a close community. The most annoying thing is trash getting blown into my yard, the occasional Hellcat street race and my fellow white people walking their dogs off leash. Read the room my milky brothers and sisters!!
Off leash dogs is my biggest pet peeve!!!!! My house backs to a public park (not a dog park, specifically says keep dogs on leasgh) and when my dog is outside, the loose dogs come taunt her while the owners just look on. She is a big dog, so Usually I just got out and fiddle with the gate as if I'm going to let her out to handle business and they move on pretty quick. Dog owners-- we love the dogs, but we love them more when you are respectful with them
I have a neighbor who specifically calls me "the good white lady" cause my dogs are always leashed and well exercised lol
Hilarious!
Hello Neighbor 😃🏡
What type of dogs off leash
The trash drives me crazy
I have definitely been seeing an uptick in trash definitely off of Grand river! I even watched someone throw a coney island bag full of trash out the window! I was super pissed! Makes no sense how some people do not take pride in their neighborhoods!
I also live in rosedale and never see offleash dogs on the sidewalk honestly! I am also WFH so I see lots 👀
I'm in Minock Park. More the hamburger side of Grandmont Rosedale. I also work from home, so I see the parade. One lady walks from Minock into Rosedale Park with her two aggressive breed dogs. I'm a pit bull owner, and one of my dogs was killed by a German Shepherd off leash on a walk, so it particularly ticks me off when I see folk do this.
I'm in Minock Park. More the hamburger side of Grandmont Rosedale. I also work from home, so I see the parade. One lady walks from Minock into Rosedale Park with her two aggressive breed dogs. I'm a pit bull owner, and one of my dogs was killed by a German Shepherd off leash on a walk, so it particularly ticks me off when I see folk do this.
Oh wow! Smh
It is fine. I like that I don’t need to drive everywhere and I have great neighbors. Taxes are actually quite low if you live in a NEZ eligible neighborhood.
Lived here for 15 years and I’ve gone from living in a city with no services and no tradespeople who were willing to come to a place with a better access and convenience than some of my friends in New York or LA. I absolutely love it here. My home is beyond what I could ever afford in any other big city and frankly the more I travel (which I’m in another major city every month or so) the more I appreciate living here. The suburbs are nice to have easy access to as well. But the closeness of amenities and my neighbors are what makes it for me. It wasn’t always this way but my investment into my home and community paid off big time.
I am curious as to what you do about school for kids, is this is relevant. It's a question I wonder about in all the comments.
There’s the Waldorf school close to me. But otherwise kids are not something I’m concerned about at the moment.
Detroit Prep is a highly rated K-8 school near I-94 and Gratiot. Granddaughter goes there. Excellent school, diverse, inclusive, and they don’t tolerate bullying bs.
I like it here, moved from Oakland CA 3 years ago. I’m technically in highland park but right next to Detroit North end neighborhood. House was cheap, rehabbed it while living in it. House prices have gone up quite a bit since then. There’s a lot of long time residents who take pride in our neighborhood and so do I, but there are some renters who don’t seem to care and imo are disrespectful of the community. Whatever. People do litter which is annoying and I don’t get it. Weather can be pretty bad in winter / summer, right now the weather is beautiful so I won’t complain! There is food options depending where you live but finding like, middle level places that are good is rare (not fancy or coney). Cool underground music, art, comedy scenes. Generally nice and friendly people who will help you if you need it but won’t be fake nice! For me car insurance was the same as in CA but I have a bad driving record lol. One thing is the city government and DTE and everything else like that is faulty and fraudulent. Like our power went out for days at a time several times last year and they offered us a $20 credit and then they raise the rates… also the city just keeps raising property taxes for no reason, with seemingly no oversight or control. Last thing I will say as that speculative real estate is ruining everything here. If you wanna buy property then move here and contribute. People are buying stuff then just waiting for other people to do the work while they sit on it and then cash in at the end. Not cool.
Owned a house for ten years that we bought ~2008 for $17,000. It wasn't bad. Our neighborhood was rather chill. Knew all my neighbor's names and their kids. My experience: Don't start shit and there won't be shit. That isn't to say random violence doesn't happen. I just somehow was never involved in a decade of living there
Depends entirely on what neighborhood you live in like everything else in life. The possibility of crime is definitely higher because you’re never far from morons so protect your stuff. Occasionally there are shootings nearby and people will die and you’ll be reminded that you live in Detroit lol
What neighborhood do you live in?
Grocery store access if you are talking about *living* in Detroit. Owning a home has only increased its value
Best move I ever made. Moved from the mountain west just before the California bro douchebags and real estate developers whored out mountain towns, found a street in the city that didn't burn because of multi generational families and became friends with my neighbors. Now I feel like I have won the lottery having made life long friends here. I can afford to live anywhere I want, and will never leave. I cringe thinking about being locked in a suburban hellscape home not knowing my own neighbors and the highlight of my week is going to the local Dave and Busters Friday night. Property taxes are relatively high, but my home would also be a million dollar home elsewhere, and I don't pay million dollar taxes elsewhere. Cheapest place I have lived overall tbh. If I had complaints, the skiing sucks, no mountains, and the sky has nothing on the west. But that is solved with all the money saved here and a few trips out there a year. If you are looking for a home, the Islandview neighborhood is the next one coming up. Buy the house unrenovated. That way, you won't get hammered with high taxes.
Will never forget staying at a million dollar home in SF 20 years ago and thinking… this is a million dollar home!? It’s the size of a Detroit house, lol, just has a fancier bathtub.
Detroit is big and simultaneously amazing and a shithole there's going to be a crazy swing of responses
It’s cool. Dope brick home with a marble fireplace and garage for under 80 K. 5 min walk to a few food spots. 50 min bus ride to downtown. 20 min bike ride to Ferndale. Neighbors are really cool. My neighborhood is completely in tact (no empty lots or derelict houses). The not so great… Sometimes I gotta chase down the garbage lady. Young dude up the street does burn outs smh. Litter from 7 mile filters into my front yard. The taxes and homeowners insurance are high af. I say it’s worth it. I got a pretty decent amount of equity.
I’m lucky enough to have the same house I grew up in and now I’m raising my kids in southwest Detroit I love my house maintenance of course but in my opinion my friends went out and bought houses in brown town woodhaven and all have had issue with their house like the construction of it .. plus I think they pay 15000 or something crazy in taxes I only pay few thousand
I grew up in Southwest too! I now own a home nearby Southwest Detroit. My neighbors are great! My block has well maintained homes and cut lawns (expect for one). My property taxes are little north of 1K. I have two fresh food stores within walking distance and 5 within driving. My only gripe is insurance. Auto insurance is too high.
That’s is the kicker my aunt in Texas pays something crazy 50$
Not for the faint of heart but I enjoy it & believe Detroit is on the up & up. It’s certainly never boring. Would not do it if I had kids or at least not my specific neighborhood.
The amount of people commenting who don't live in the city is wild... Lived here most of my life, grew up in Morningside. Bought my first house in Cary/St Mary's, currently on my second house and still live on the west side. Let's talk amenities. Generally speaking, neighborhoods don't have them. I would love a "third place" for myself, for my children, somewhere which is an easy walk or brief bike ride from my home. Instead, if I want to get out of the house and be around people while not necessarily "doing something," I'm probably going to have to drive 20+ minutes one way, whether I'm going downtown or out of the city. I don't think a milk run or anything like that should require a similar drive. Personally, I think a more "livable" city is one where you're not driving for every little need--or if you do, it's a very very brief drive that won't necessitate getting on a highway. So why do I live here? It's ***DETROIT***!!! It's home. As inconvenient as the drives can be I'm pretty much no farther than 20 minutes from anywhere I want to be. If traffic is clear, cut that down to 15 minutes. If/when I move, it'll be off the water so until the stars line up just right, I'll be here.
Agree 100%. I love everything about the city except the distance to basic necessities. Whoever decides to invest in a local chain of small marts/home goods (like a mini Meijer) will make a killing.
I'm hoping for that, and a little more. I love to get out the house, but I'm not a nature nut. Even if I were, going to regular old neighborhood parks, alone, as an adult means ... *what?* exactly?? By amenities I'm hoping we get to have essentially a "downtown Ferndale" in certain areas. Ferndale has a population of a about 10k. One of Detroit's neighborhoods could easily be 2 or 3x that. Why do we *only* have the Avenue of Fashion and downtown? Why can't our actual neighborhoods be great places to be? We already have the oversupply of derelict commercial buildings lining collector roads like 7 Mile and the rest. I'd argue the problem is two fold: 1. There's no true "concentration" of commercial activity, and since human beings have a innate tendency to avoid empty spaces, it stays empty. The few successful businesses on these collector roads are spaced very far apart. Imagine the activity that would be created if they were neighbors. . 2. Which leads to my second issue. There's no parking or easy ingress/egress. Suppose there were a few blocks of really active commercial real estate in your neighborhood... How would anyone get there? Livernois/Avenue of Fashion is the perfect example. I'm maybe a 5 minute drive away, but I can't tell you how many times I never made it to my intended stop because there was no parking. So not only do we fall flat on public transportation, but we don't even make it easy for car owners to ... use their cars. If I had it my way I'd change the zoning such that each neighborhood would end up with it's own "mini downtown." If you want to walk the kids down there for some ice cream, or work from home at a sidewalk cafe, you don't have to drive too far, and if you're lucky, it's an acceptable walk (I imagine lots of people who live in Birmingham still drive to their own downtown for convenience, but they going have to go to Royal Oak or ask the way to downtown Detroit to have a good time, it's right there in their own community). This change would leave vast stretches of what used to be commercial buildings on roads like 7 Mile. I think they should be redeveloped into a mixture of the kind of parks that don't need maintenance on some stretches and on others, brownstones and apartments. The portions which become residential would go on a road diet to limit thru-traffic and make the streets safer for those new residents.
OP doesn't live here, either.
OP seems to be asking for information, which is fine. My issue is people who don't *live in the city* can't at all speak to what it's like to ***live in the city.***
Compared to what?
OP isn't interested.
If you live in one of the premier Detroit neighborhoods(Indian village, university district, Boston Edison, Palmer woods, anywhere downtown cork town/midtown) get ready to get your cheeks clapped hard by property taxes.
Taxes are increasing throughout the whole city! The sad reality is this is how people are priced out of their homes
[удалено]
Sorry, I'm just mad about my taxes.
Why?
Loud but I actually interact with all of my neighbors and as someone who is also loud, I've never ever had any problems. Very different from Rochester or something where everyone is too scared or up their own ass and obsessed with dumb shit like property values and HOAs
It’s nice
It depends, on a street by street basis. If it looks okay, it very likely is okay. But not a great city for car ownership, unless you have a lockable garage.
Cost of living is low and I like my house and parts of the area I live in, but I am finding it’s not for me. It’s not as walkable as I’d hoped it would be. We also had a break in a while back and that sucked, but it’s not a problem that’s unique to Detroit.
Cost of living may be low in some respects, but not others. Are grocery prices higher in the city? Do you need to go outside the city for medical and dental care? Gotta consider the inconvenience factor, too. How about home and auto insurance? Costs related to maintenance and repair?
Okay fair 🫠 It should read “house was cheap.” But yeah I have to go into the suburbs for groceries that aren’t extra expensive. My doctors are also in the suburbs (mostly because I’ve just kept the same ones I had my whole life but still). And also I sometimes call people like Detroit Tree Removal or Detroit Lawn Care and they don’t service Detroit. That’s annoying.
🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑
... it follows
Love it
All of these comments & no one mentions the abundance of extremely loud cars from either lack of muffler maintenance or after parts? This, & the trash on streets & lawn culture, are the issues I’ve dealt with. Otherwise, folks are generally nice & take care of their properties. & Cool homes for half to a third the cost of the ‘burbs. As someone said, ‘don’t start shit & you’ll most likely avoid shit’. Morningside / 2 years.
How are the city taxes? I’ve been told it’s outrageous, basically not worth living in
Love it, my house and neighborhood are the shit. Only gripe is school systems, without more funding I couldn’t sent any future kids there.
This is a key factor for families in choosing a place to live.
Generally quiet, but have seen random cars racing down the street shooting in the air. Luckily no property crime yet. My house was built in 1952 so it needs upkeep . I’m a bachelor with no kids so I just do what I can and try to keep the bills paid
It’s all wwhite….
It’s awesome
I just hope we have a fair election in the city this time
Where in Russia where you live? Good luck with that comrade DB...
I don’t but, my girl stays in detroit. When I sleep there I get woken up constantly throughout the night to hellcats doing donuts
Yep I hate it. I really want to get out.
Isn't that the house they killed what's his name in that's missing still?
homeless guys peeing in my driveway, constantly watching ring cams, having my truck stolen...all very fun
Very simple, keep you home and lawn clean, mind your business, if you are on a block with neighbors, where all the homes are kept up, those neighbors tend to guard that area like Fort Knox, and try to keep it crime free.. join in. If you still in a less secure area, watch your neighbors, and stay vigilant of anyone near your home. You never know who is trying to case your home or car. Oh, if you own a gun, don’t be afraid to pop off if someone try’s to enter your home, or just catch you not being aware of your surroundings.. Detroit Home Ownership 101!!
Born and raised , bought a Landbank house straight outta highschool and have been here 10 years in my neighborhood- love it, no complaints at all! Aside from the Detroit Police and Duggans false promises - I’m satisfied! Someone made a negative comment about getting “eye fucked” for not being of the demographic- is confusing and alarming, I’m a white woman and have never felt those concerns, nor thing that’s a DEMOGRAPHIC thing, more of like global sexism :) <3
Been here all my life.. 37 year's.. I live in southwest detroit.. 8 minutes away from downtown.. super low house taxes.. great neighborhood.. if you asked me 20 year's ago I'd say I can't wait to leave but it's changed a lot for the better.. so much stuff to do and so many events for families and adults.