Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 786 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Friday, July 06, 2007 - 9:36 pm: | |
But when? Every house on this block (except one) has gone up in flames, and this one probably will too: http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_83 21.jpg?t=1183771170 http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_83 22.jpg?t=1183771192 |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1513 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Friday, July 06, 2007 - 9:38 pm: | |
Well sheesh. So much for rebuilding Detroit, LMFAO! |
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall
Post Number: 235 Registered: 05-2004
| Posted on Friday, July 06, 2007 - 9:40 pm: | |
Stop being so negative. |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 787 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Friday, July 06, 2007 - 9:43 pm: | |
Me? I'm being predictive. Urbanize? He just knows I'm right. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1515 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Friday, July 06, 2007 - 9:46 pm: | |
Yeah, he's right. It's already a Crack House with Raids every Friday Night. Now some dolt just needs to set it on fire But really, Bullet was WAYYYYY too Blunt with it, even though he was telling the truth. |
Tetsua Member Username: Tetsua
Post Number: 1257 Registered: 01-2004
| Posted on Friday, July 06, 2007 - 11:21 pm: | |
quote:yeah, he's right. It's already a Crack House with Raids every Friday Night. I find that hard to believe, that place doesn't look nice enough to be a crack house. |
Dfd Member Username: Dfd
Post Number: 256 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 12:04 am: | |
Do you have pictures of either side of the house? |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 790 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 8:09 am: | |
Yes I have more photos, Dfd. I'll have them for ya later today... |
Eric_w Member Username: Eric_w
Post Number: 259 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 2:19 pm: | |
That isn't unique. I'd like to see something set up where empty house lots could be given away,literally given away to citizens to build on. Something like this: you get a section of land for free & within a year you have to set up a mortgage or financing to build a home on it. If after year you do not the land reverts to the city. The city will get a new home & a taxable dwelling eliminating abandoned areas. Since the cost of buying land is eliminated, it reduces the cost of building a home making it feasible. To make it attractive to developers-give them a tax credit on each home they build or give them a discount on permits to lower their costs |
Tony_box_42 Member Username: Tony_box_42
Post Number: 54 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 3:40 pm: | |
Could you post a location please ? Thanks ! TONY |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 793 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 3:54 pm: | |
Dfd, here are the photos you requested, I hope they help. I have a view from the alley but it's obscured by the ghetto palms. http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 19.jpg?t=1183837265 http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 20.jpg?t=1183837294 Tony_box_42, as you can tell by the second photo, this house is on St. Aubin, north of Ferry. Eric_w, your idea is the best one I have ever heard, and I think it's practical and offers a solution to a problem. (Message edited by Bulletmagnet on July 07, 2007) |
Rocket_city Member Username: Rocket_city
Post Number: 319 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 4:39 pm: | |
It'll be in the winter. When you're homeless and cold, you burn kindling...which this home is pretty much reduced to. |
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 1273 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 5:29 pm: | |
Bulletmagnet, I think that you have hit a new low with this thread. I that this is the sickest and nastiest thread that I have seen on DY in a while. Why don't you just go burn it down yourself if you are really that anxious to see the last house on the block go. |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 796 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 5:40 pm: | |
Charlottepaul, but I don't want it to burn. I am just saying that it is GOING to burn. And not by me, but by some shit head. This is like watching a puppy play near a busy highway, and you can't do a thing about it. Eric_w is right-on with his above post, and I'm all for it. In the mean time, you wanna join my "Burn Pool"? I guess, oh, how bout...November 3rd of this year. What say you? |
Kslice Member Username: Kslice
Post Number: 86 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 5:56 pm: | |
It always weird to think about houses like that. That was probably a real nice house at one time, owned by a middle upper class family. One day they packed up, ran to the suburbs and the hose never saw use again... |
Susanarosa Member Username: Susanarosa
Post Number: 1579 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 5:58 pm: | |
quote:That was probably a real nice house at one time, owned by a middle upper class family. One day they packed up, ran to the suburbs and the hose never saw use again... If only the truth was ever so tidy. |
J_to_the_jeremy Member Username: J_to_the_jeremy
Post Number: 25 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 6:40 pm: | |
I don't see what's offensive at all about this thread. It's sad, but likely that the house will be burned. |
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 1282 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 6:44 pm: | |
yeah, but to me it's like betting money on who the next person to be shot in Detroit is going to be. |
J_to_the_jeremy Member Username: J_to_the_jeremy
Post Number: 26 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 6:46 pm: | |
Understandable. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1552 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 6:53 pm: | |
The fact is, you know another abandoned house will burn and another person will be shot. It's like betting on the whole Roulette board. |
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln
Post Number: 43 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 8:41 pm: | |
Are there any houses within several blocks of that one that ARE still occuppied? |
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone
Post Number: 99 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 10:11 pm: | |
Eric...I happen to work for a company that builds the tax credit housing you are talking about. They can buy the lots for $400. An equity fund puts up the construction money and earns tax credits from the Feds for building homes and renting them to low-moderate income families. The problem is..it is NOT profitable. The majority of the tenants do not take care of the property, pay their rent on time, or even leave the unit in good condition when they leave. In a year and a half, we have had 3 families skip out owing more than $1500 each, partly because the court system in Detroit is very PRO TENANT. Part of the problem is also the income restrictions place on the tax credit housing by the government. They really aren't realistic. For every 50 applicants, we only get one or two who meet the income guidelines and can afford the rent. We offer a brand new 3BR 2 BA townhome with full basement, C/A, carpeting, all appliances and 1.5 car garage for $685 a month plus all utilities. The program is designed to give people a taste of home-ownership by making them responsible for some things, but not everything. They don't pay their utility bills, and the court will not let us evict them for that...only non-payment of rent. We are about to buy more lots and try some more and see if quantity will help improve the profitability. My boss is a huge supporter of the efforts to bring Detroit back and he won't stop trying. But the neighborhood needs to be cleaned up. We had 5 break-ins at the end of last year and four residents moved out the next week. The program for creating the housing is there...sustaining it is the problem. |
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven
Post Number: 73 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 10:18 pm: | |
Charlottepaul Are you starting a pool on the next to be shot in Detroit? |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1561 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 10:27 pm: | |
Now who would have a pool filled and prepared for a dead body with Bullet Holes? (lol) |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 797 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 8:38 am: | |
Wow, this is a LOT to chew on! Kslice: "That was probably a real nice house at one time, owned by a middle upper class family. One day they packed up, ran to the suburbs and the house never saw use again..." As I have stated very early on, the reason I post these photos is two fold: First is simply to archive Detroit structures as I see them in my travels. I started doing this when my work brought me into these neighborhoods. I saw they were slowly changing before my eyes. One day a beautifully broken gas station would be there, and the next week it would be gone, just that fast. I know few care about them, broken burned and busted up. But I couldn't help thinking about who had lived in these houses, and who had worked in these buildings. It seemed that a whole period of Detroit history was slipping away, and no one cared. I wanted, at the very least, to capture what could be the last glimpse of the structures that were once homes or livelihoods to Detroiters. Many neighborhoods are in this final stage, before the urban parries. Soon, the above mentioned home will vanish into them as well, gone but for a quick pic posted here. I find this very sad, and so does someone who lives here: http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 45.jpg?t=1183895669 Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I was hoping against hope, that I would put these photos in front of enough people for someone to say. "Hey! I lived there once!..." or " Bullet, back in 1940, I worked in that gas station you posted on the Defunct Gas Station thread..." Maybe I'm just pissing in the wind, I don’t know, but believe it or not, some people have responded. And that makes me happy. Hpgrmln: This neighborhood was once part of the thriving Polish settlement in Detroit. It got bisected by I-94 years ago, and the Pole Town plant took much else of what was left to the north. People still live here in this quadrant (I-94/Chene/Ferry/St Aubin), but not many. More live to the east of Chene though. There is a LOT of history here. Go have a look and see what I mean. It will be put in perspective. Some here will recognize these: http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 34.jpg?t=1183895803 http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 36.jpg?t=1183895827 http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 37.jpg?t=1183895849 Blueidone: I guess in reality Eric_w's above idea in a tuff one. And you keep going in spite of it all. In a strange way, I wish I could homestead Detroit. I know I would make a go of because of my up bringing, as I come from a very self reliant family. I think this is important as it applies to tenets. You named the second hurtle well "The problem is. It is NOT profitable" I don't know how long one can keep going like this, but you company seems to have heart. Good luck, and please keep us posted. Urbanize: Whad ya say you and I join in Charlottepaul's ‘Pool’? "It’s like betting money on who the next person to be shot in Detroit is going to be" I don't know the name, but a black male is a sure bet. |
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall
Post Number: 236 Registered: 05-2004
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 12:14 pm: | |
Until people start caring about themselves and their property, nothing will change in Detroit's neighborhoods. Handouts haven't helped in the past. I'm all for helping people that want to help themselves but too often HUD scandals and people who just don't care have scuttled worth while programs. I wish I knew the answer. |
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven
Post Number: 75 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 1:03 pm: | |
You said it all Bulletmagnet! |
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven
Post Number: 76 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 1:10 pm: | |
Bullet Speaking of old stations, did you have a chance to get a shot of the old Speedway on Conner and Elmdale? |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1588 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 1:14 pm: | |
It's not Defunct actully. It's a British Petro Gas Station last I check. |
Ray Member Username: Ray
Post Number: 920 Registered: 06-2004
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 3:12 pm: | |
ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It seems like sort of grass roots land banking. |
Dfd Member Username: Dfd
Post Number: 258 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 3:44 pm: | |
Bulletmagnet, thanks for the extra pictures. I like the razor wire. Blueidone, do empty lots carry the same problem of absentee owners who have to be found before the property can be developed? |
Eric_w Member Username: Eric_w
Post Number: 260 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 4:58 pm: | |
Eric...I happen to work for a company that builds the tax credit housing you are talking about. They can buy the lots for $400. An equity fund puts up the construction money and earns tax credits from the Feds for building homes and renting them to low-moderate income families. The problem is..it is NOT profitable. Not exactly what I'm talking about. It would be for someone like me that gets the lot or lots for free. I go to bank or mortgage company,get it financed then after the home is built I & my family live there. Then I'm invested in home ownership and the neighborhood. Take one of the empty blocks in Detroit-have 10-15 families build & move into homes with lots they choose. An empty block is now inhabited by people. To encourage contractors & lenders to get involved, give them some tax breaks on construction permits and cost of processing loans and a credit for each home they build to increase their profit and give the lender a tax credit on each loan they give. The flaw is renting, the people renting don't have any investment in the property. Brightmoor 35-40 years ago is a perfect example. It was never high class but back then most residents owned their homes so they kept them up. After the white flight the homes were mostly rented & then the blight took hold. |
Tiberius Member Username: Tiberius
Post Number: 22 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 6:44 pm: | |
Former Detroit Police Chief William Hart lived on St. Aubin. I wonder if this was his place. |
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone
Post Number: 103 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 7:04 pm: | |
Dfd...the property that we purchased had already reverted to the City of Detroit. They were the owners when we purchased the land. Eric..that sounds like a wonderful plan. And there may even be a federal program for this, but I would have to check with some others to find out for sure. HUD has several home ownership programs all going on. I will try to find out. |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 800 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 7:07 pm: | |
Paulmcall: Your words ring clear as a bell. Caldogven: Thanks for the thumbs up. I have not forgotten your request, though I appreciate the reminder. Soon, I promise, pal. Urbanize: Mom said don't nit-pic. Ray: Spread mine in Detroit. Dfd: No prob, stay safe out there. Eric_w: I think you are one side of the same coin w/Blueidone. Tiberius: Really? Does it still stand today? St. Aubin runs up from Jefferson to 94 (and beyond?) so it is a long street. |
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone
Post Number: 104 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 7:10 pm: | |
Also...back in the late 60's and early 70's HUD had a program for building housing cooperatives. Some of those built in heavy urban areas did not survive, but a lot of them did. There are some in the City that are doing very well. This program never gave full ownership to the members, but they own a share of the corporation that owns the entire place. Equity is built as the cooperative mortgage is paid off, so when members leave, they receive an equity payment, similar to when you sell a house. The incoming members has to pay that to the outgoing member. Because there is an "ownership" of a sort, the members tend to take better care of the property than in a straight rental, and there is a Board of Directors that governs the property made up of the residents. Of course, this federal program no longer exists. It was killed in the late 70's I believe. I lived in one for 30 years...served on it's Board for 25 of those years. I know it can work. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 1598 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 7:29 pm: | |
Bullet: Whatever flots your boat. It's doesn't make sense to go all the way to a gas station with the name of one of the biggest "if not biggest" Oil Companies in both Europe and America, snap a picture, and then label it as defunct. |
Jb3 Member Username: Jb3
Post Number: 151 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 9:21 pm: | |
Blueidone, Do you guys buy scattered parcels or do you try to get groups of lots? |
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone
Post Number: 106 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 11:10 pm: | |
Jb3..they originally bought 5 parcels; two on one side of the street and 3 on the other. I'm not sure what lots they are looking at this time. I think they would prefer connected lots. I wasn't working for this company at initial start-up. I came in when had just begun construction. |
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven
Post Number: 77 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 11:44 pm: | |
Bullet Whenever -- I'm not going anywhere. |
Swbaby12345 Member Username: Swbaby12345
Post Number: 31 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 09, 2007 - 12:26 am: | |
I agree with BULLETMAGNET. About a year ago the house next door burned down (i was in the area at the time so i went to go see it). since then they have tore it down. BULLETMAGNET- from that house location, head west on st. aubin to the next street over (dont know the name of it) and there will be a nice little yellow house- all the houses around it,including a bad fire next door to it, have burned or are vacant. TAKE A PIC OF THAT ONE TOO! |
Jb3 Member Username: Jb3
Post Number: 152 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 09, 2007 - 12:57 am: | |
Thanks Blueidone, this is a discussion i've had many times in the past about not being able to make these lots profitable due to the inconsistency in which they are offered. You can get maybe one good parcel and three crap ones, which ultimately hurts the whole idea of it and keeps the desirability low. I'm intrigued with the possibility (if you've read any of my other posts) of creative forms of land ownership. The hard part isn't creating an inviting place to live, nor an easily maintained rental unit, it's keeping the costs low enough to make it financially viable. However, there comes a certain 'economy of scale' with higher density buildings. without boring you with hypothetical scenarios, i'd be interested in doing a study on any future projects. That being said, it would help if you guys did a quick study on the costs of building three homes on three parcels and the assistance you would get from the equity fund. I would like to run those numbers against the costs it would take to build what i see is possible while either reducing or eliminating many of the problems you are running into. What can be done and what cannot be done is very site specific though and doesn't work across the board. So each project would have to be looked at individually and have to take advantage of the surrounding conditions. For the most part though, these projects exist within certain typical neighborhoods that many assumptions can be made. Let me know if your interested. Unfortunately i don't feel comfortable, given my confrontational nature, in divulging any personal information on this forum. If you feel comfortable with giving me some way of contacting you, we could start from there. Let's just say i work for a well respected architecture firm in the city to alleviate any doubt you may as to my credentials. Good Luck if you're not interested! And keep up the effort, i know it's frustrating working in the City. |
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone
Post Number: 107 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 09, 2007 - 7:25 am: | |
Jb3..thanks for your offer and input. I'm a very small fish in the company but I will run it by someone and see if it goes anywhere. Please send an email to corneroffice2@aol.com so I will have your contact information. Sorry for hijacking your thread, Bullet. |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 803 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 09, 2007 - 8:40 am: | |
Blueidone, I am happy to have sparked interest and discussion. Swbaby12345, check back here latter today. Urbanize, I should be in that hood soon, so what the hell. Just to define, any gas station which is now out of business, and may hanging in there as some other entity (a church, perhaps?) is how I would call it. Though I did snap a photo of an empty lot once, with only the sign remaining, waay defunct. So you are right, I'm just doing a favor. He did work there in the past, so who knows what else might be around that is interesting. |
Michigan Member Username: Michigan
Post Number: 668 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 09, 2007 - 9:33 am: | |
Bullet I love your photos. |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 804 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 09, 2007 - 1:02 pm: | |
Thanks, Michigan. The idea in far from unique. Others have done it much better. I just shoot what I see, then shoot again when its gone. I have a shot of the one that you saw burn, taken a month or so before the event. Here are a few while I look for the ones you requested, Swbaby12345: http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 29.jpg?t=1183999602 http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 27.jpg?t=1183999627 http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_84 26.jpg?t=1183999646 I don't want to rehash these too many times, so I will post the remainder one last time later on. |
Sbyman Member Username: Sbyman
Post Number: 31 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 2:54 am: | |
hey bullet what are the strips on the outside of the "soon to be burned" house for or were once for? lol |
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 816 Registered: 01-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 8:18 pm: | |
Today, my travels took me by the St. Aubin Street house. I looked over at it as I passed, and something stapled to the front caught my eye: http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_86 77.jpg?t=1184283557 Upon closer inspection: http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_86 81.jpg?t=1184283799 So, maybe this house won't burn after all. Is this fate a better ending for this house, formerly a Home? I suppose so. But that is all it will be, an ending. A little piece of Detroit pushed into the basement of our forgotten history. |
Frumoasa Member Username: Frumoasa
Post Number: 35 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 8:38 pm: | |
Although it is sad that a structure that was formerly a home has come to be demolished, consider it far better. If there are children in that neighborhood, this is one less place to provide haven for crackheads and one less hazardous place to play. Kids don't always have the common sense to stay out of an open and unsecured structure, so at least now they will not run the risk of falling through charred floorboards or otherwise hurting themselves or being hurt. |
Atl_runner Member Username: Atl_runner
Post Number: 1965 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 9:34 pm: | |
The roof looks to be in really good shape. Interesting. |