I used to drive through some of those areas in the video when on investigations down there just for kicks. There are large areas that have essentially gone back to wilderness. There'd be junk cars or piles of tires blocking streets and you'd have to turn around - would make a great location for a sci-fi movie. Finally told my 2-3 clients who serviced The City that I was no longer doing work within the city limits. One can only be chased by so many pit bulls and deal with the criminal element for so long. No amount of $$ could make it worthwhile :mad:

No one is buying in Pompeii either. Mount Vesuvius is still active just like the Democrats in Detroit.

Several people have mentioned farming. I don't think so. Topsoil where roads are/were is gone. Where house were, not only is the topsoil gone but you have know idea what they used for fill. Lead, PCB, who knows what could be in the soil. You would need to soil test every square yard to know that it was safe to eat anything produced.

Let it go back to nature, either on it's own or with a little help. Buy out the last house on the street and let it go.

I like to use Google earth to look around. I had previously noticed this line of houses. Does anyone from Detroit area have an explanation? Also, if you REALLY want to buy RE in Detroit, right next to these houses, or where there are similar situations would be a place to start. In my opinion.

This is just west of KDET/Coleman A. Young International Airport/Detroit City Airport.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1548125830.jpg

For a few minutes way back when, the city experimented with semi-voluntary relocations of people to/from select areas and neighborhoods to reduce infrastructure and utility costs.

It did not go over very well for various reasons. One argument was counched in terms of ‘reservation’, another in ‘plantation’. A particularly notable instance involved a very elderly woman who’d lived in the same house for, like, 80 years. It was the only, or nearly only, occupied house in a several block area. She balked at being relocated, of course, somebody sued so the city had to continue providing utility services, road maintenance, etc for that one house.

There are occasional pockets of well-maintained houses. Usually not that many in a row though. I worked for insurance companies and it was always easy to find the houses in Detroit (or Flint which is even worse). Didn't need a house number. Just looked for the one house on the street with a security fence and a green cut lawn - that's the only house with insurance! Usually, older people who have lived there for 40+ years. Next door would be burned out crack houses or vacant lots.

My guesses are as good as anyone's.

1. Actively involved landlord that lives on the block.

2. Church or other charity like Habitat for Humanity took steps to preserve the row of houses.

3. A movie set.

4. A cult of some kind

5. A group of neighbors that all know each other and decided to fight the tide of change.

6. Block is protected by Wiccan magic

7. Some sort of block grant, public or private for home improvements.

Like I stated before, when left to seed, stick built houses will return to nature in 50-75 years. If this seems implausible to you look into permanent wood foundations using pressure treated wood. They used to be rated for 50 years about 40 years ago, then in the mid-1980's 75 years, and now projected up to 100 years under optimal conditions. Why would anyone use a wood foundation? Because it's rated to last as long as the rest of the house.

Tag Archives: Housing Age
Wayne County Home to Region’s Oldest Homes
November 21, 2017 by Drawing Detroit
Housing Age |
I know there is an urge to blame policy/politics and corruption for the physical manifestations we see, but that's would be like blaming your kitchen for your two week old bananas going brown.

Get over it, bananas go brown and houses crumble into the ground - that's the way it is unless extreme measures are taken.

EDIT:
The Housing Age link is easy to read and has many informative maps - check it out - good stuff.

Most of the housing stock has not been maintained well, it's pretty amazing that so much of it has lasted past the 50 year mark.

Based on photos posted in the forum before, there seems to be a turning point, a point of no return where if no intervention is done, nature takes the property within five years or less.

Luck. They're still there because they had no where to go. Probably paying a mortgage on a worthless house. Lucky because they had enough neighbors willing to stick it out, and the ability to do so.


That's not a good area, and still in a state of decline. The city really needs to do something about that airport. It has no purpose. I used to drive past it when the highway I typically take was closed down for re-construction. Amazed to see a "working" airport where all parking lots except one have been reclaimed by nature.

I'm surprised people mention weather. I lived in Chicago, and it sucks there too in the winter. Been in "Detroit" (Grosse Pointe, 2 blocks from Detroit) for almost 6 years, and the improvements are night and day. Most is downtown/midtown, but starting to see it in the neighborhoods too. Still, a long ways to go in the neighborhoods. But, the constant road and infrastructure improvements are encouraging. Even the Packard Plant is slated to have some occupancy in 2020. I took a tour of that last year, WOW...that place is huge.

Anything valuable in the not too distant future is already owned by the Illitch family or Dan Gilbert.

No risk no return. If losing $30k will bankrupt you, don't do it.
Do your homework and the risk looks acceptable, go for it.
One thing to watch out for is the tax rate on vacant land. Most cities have adopted higher rates on vacant land to discourage leaving it sit.

They don't just shoot in the dark, they take aim first.

I suspect that no project goes ahead without being 100% financed, pre-leased and costs known along with all the due diligence and marketing one can bear.

Smaller players set their projects to be swept up in the bigger players success via adjacency or association.

You don't go on to the playing field alone, you bring a team with you, and your chances of winning are better if the game is rigged in your favor. That takes money and connections.

Another thing to consider is that living in a corrupt city like Detroit, if you show up and show signs of wealth and competence, you are in instant target for corrupt politicians. This is probably the main reason so many stay away. Many of the other issues are really just a manifestation of this root cause.

42,000 properties are in various stages of tax foreclosure in Detroit. It takes three years in arrearage to go into foreclosure. Something like 40% are occupied

What this says to me is that the decimation of the tax base by fleeing Detroiters is excerbated by the people still there who don't pay their property taxes.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2019/01/26/wayne-county-hearings-tax-foreclosure/2682434002/

in the real world Pompeii is totally surrounded by the suburbs of naples
with a lot of the old city of Pompeii still under new buildings
so yes one can buy in the area just not in the exposed dug out area SmileWavy

a rerun of the Vesuvius eruption that buried Pompeii would kill millions today :eek: