5 ms·

as a young person i'm constantly looking for cheap areas to live with growth prospects. i went to detroit for a weekend last year and was just stunned by how ch

as a young person i'm constantly looking for cheap areas to live with growth prospects. i went to detroit for a weekend last year and was just stunned by how cheap some of the property is, but also how run down the east side of town is, it's unfathomable to believe that could happen to an american city until you visit. on a block of 10 houses there would be 5 empty/stripped, 4 rundown, 1 artist commune. i just don't see what the growth prospects are for detroit. i don't think manufacturing is coming back anytime soon to the US, and in terms of natural resources/weather detroit seems limited. the music scene is cool, but not the serious tax revenue generator the city needs. as a resident are you seeing any growth industries cropping up?

echelon 8y ago
> just stunned by how cheap some of the property is What kind of prices are you talking about?
- mixmastamyk 8y ago
  Not up on the current but there were houses for ~$10k a few years ago. That's next to a burnt out crack house from the Eminem movie, like #8 below: https://detroit.curbed.com/maps/lose-yourself-in-this-8-mile-filming-location-map https://detroit.curbed.com/maps/lose-yourself-in-this-8-mile...
- jdhn 8y ago
  Here's a selection of homes from East English Village, which has won the Detroit Curbed Cup competition 2 years in a row (for what that's worth): 3 bd / 1 bth / 2 car garage: $90k [0] 4 bd / 2 bth / 2 car garage: $190k [1] 3 bd / 2 bth / Garage status not mentioned: $120k [2] [0]https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/5257-cadieux-rd-detroit-mi-48224--2050771507 https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/5257-cadieux-rd-detroit-... [1]https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/4800-bishop-st-detroit-mi-48224--2050769906 https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/4800-bishop-st-detroit-m... [2]https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/5042-grayton-st-detroit-mi-48224--1001626271 https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/5042-grayton-st-detroit-...
  - bluedino 8y ago
    What's with the real estate photography trend of trying to make everything look like a circa 1998 3D Render?
    - jdhn 8y ago
      I bet that it's due to subpar lighting combined with the mindset that HDR will fix all visual flaws.
  - captain_perl 8y ago
    Well, those are inflated prices from being listed on Trulia. You can buy thousands of houses in Detroit at auction for $5,000 plus back taxes. They all will need rebuilding. However, the soil is contaminated with heavy metals (I would check where the foundries and prevailing winds were) and the water supply has issues. And if you want to raise a family, you will need to find an area with a credible school and police force.
    - jdhn 8y ago
      The biggest issue in my opinion are Detroit schools, they're just abysmal. Directly to the south of the houses I posted is a separate group of cities called the Grosse Pointes. They're in the same county as Detroit, but they're their own cities complete with different schools. The same houses I posted above would go for 1.5-2x their price if they were less than a mile south simply due to the school districts.
- blihp 8y ago
  Just a few years ago there were some spectacular deals if you didn't mind a (major) fixer-upper: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cheap-detroit-houses-auction_n_5148152 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cheap-detroit-houses-auction_... While you're unlikely to find anything like that today, the prices vary widely depending on which part of the city you look at. According to Zillow, the median price is $41.5k but the range is massive (i.e. low 5-figures at the low end to (I believe) low 7-figures at the high end)
jdhn 8y ago
Maybe AV R&D, but that's the biggest one right now. Duo Security just got bought by Cisco for $2 billion I believe, but that's in Ann Arbor. I'm excited to see what happens when/if StockX is bought by someone. It could turn out to be the spark the city needs to jumpstart more tech jobs.
- roymurdock 8y ago
  i checked out stockx it's like an ebay focused narrowly on street wear. i guess tech$co$ acquiring this could provide some jobs but isn't ebay laying off/rebranding and doesn't craigslist (similar concept) operate with 50 employees? hopefully the car industry can overcome AV level 3+ challenges and bring some affordable autos to mkt soon with true hands off autonomous (level 3) capabilities
- Kinnard 8y ago
  StockX is owned by Dan Gilbert.

echelon 8y ago

> just stunned by how cheap some of the property is What kind of prices are you talking about?

mixmastamyk 8y ago
Not up on the current but there were houses for ~$10k a few years ago. That's next to a burnt out crack house from the Eminem movie, like #8 below: https://detroit.curbed.com/maps/lose-yourself-in-this-8-mile-filming-location-map https://detroit.curbed.com/maps/lose-yourself-in-this-8-mile...
jdhn 8y ago
Here's a selection of homes from East English Village, which has won the Detroit Curbed Cup competition 2 years in a row (for what that's worth): 3 bd / 1 bth / 2 car garage: $90k [0] 4 bd / 2 bth / 2 car garage: $190k [1] 3 bd / 2 bth / Garage status not mentioned: $120k [2] [0]https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/5257-cadieux-rd-detroit-mi-48224--2050771507 https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/5257-cadieux-rd-detroit-... [1]https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/4800-bishop-st-detroit-mi-48224--2050769906 https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/4800-bishop-st-detroit-m... [2]https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/5042-grayton-st-detroit-mi-48224--1001626271 https://www.trulia.com/p/mi/detroit/5042-grayton-st-detroit-...
- bluedino 8y ago
  What's with the real estate photography trend of trying to make everything look like a circa 1998 3D Render?
  - jdhn 8y ago
    I bet that it's due to subpar lighting combined with the mindset that HDR will fix all visual flaws.
- captain_perl 8y ago
  Well, those are inflated prices from being listed on Trulia. You can buy thousands of houses in Detroit at auction for $5,000 plus back taxes. They all will need rebuilding. However, the soil is contaminated with heavy metals (I would check where the foundries and prevailing winds were) and the water supply has issues. And if you want to raise a family, you will need to find an area with a credible school and police force.
  - jdhn 8y ago
    The biggest issue in my opinion are Detroit schools, they're just abysmal. Directly to the south of the houses I posted is a separate group of cities called the Grosse Pointes. They're in the same county as Detroit, but they're their own cities complete with different schools. The same houses I posted above would go for 1.5-2x their price if they were less than a mile south simply due to the school districts.
blihp 8y ago
Just a few years ago there were some spectacular deals if you didn't mind a (major) fixer-upper: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cheap-detroit-houses-auction_n_5148152 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cheap-detroit-houses-auction_... While you're unlikely to find anything like that today, the prices vary widely depending on which part of the city you look at. According to Zillow, the median price is $41.5k but the range is massive (i.e. low 5-figures at the low end to (I believe) low 7-figures at the high end)

jdhn 8y ago

Maybe AV R&D, but that's the biggest one right now. Duo Security just got bought by Cisco for $2 billion I believe, but that's in Ann Arbor. I'm excited to see what happens when/if StockX is bought by someone. It could turn out to be the spark the city needs to jumpstart more tech jobs.

roymurdock 8y ago
i checked out stockx it's like an ebay focused narrowly on street wear. i guess tech$co$ acquiring this could provide some jobs but isn't ebay laying off/rebranding and doesn't craigslist (similar concept) operate with 50 employees? hopefully the car industry can overcome AV level 3+ challenges and bring some affordable autos to mkt soon with true hands off autonomous (level 3) capabilities
Kinnard 8y ago
StockX is owned by Dan Gilbert.