 
Chitaku
Member
Username: Chitaku
Post Number: 424
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 68.43.107.72
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 9:01 pm: |    |
I was crusing around Ballduck park today and noticed the area was really 1950s 1960s looking. Does anyone know much about this area? Its kind of odd and misplaced. Compared to the rest of the area. |
Tarkus
Member
Username: Tarkus
Post Number: 45
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 68.43.115.231
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 9:40 pm: | |
Are you talking about the bungaloos west of Balduck? They were built for the influx of labor during WW2. Roughly Radnor West to Bluehill. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1701
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 69.221.73.49
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 11:11 pm: | |
Yeah I drove Radnor from Mack to the Marquette School area today too. This is an area which marks the change in housing stock that you see in NE Detroit from Pre WWII west of here, to post War N/E of here. It is a wierd little corner of Detroit too, where Warren and Mack come together. The housing here is similar to the rest of the Moross corridor, and what you see in southern Warren and Harper Woods. It took a while to develop. Being so far east of the central city, the housing first came closer to the lake, thus the older Pointes have been developed since the turn of the century. The edge of Detroit's pre-depression housing stock is in East English Village. When you get east of Cadieux toward Balduck Park as you mentioned, you get into an area that was either wooded or swampy until sufficient demand for lower/middle income housing came about post WWII. |
Steelworker
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Username: Steelworker
Post Number: 667
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 68.73.5.10
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 11:36 pm: | |
ive spent a decent amount of time in the area. my step father just moved out. It is about as suburb of an area you can get living inside of detroit. for a long time the whole moross area was full of DPD homes. Spent many a winter sledding down the hill in balduck park, and a few times playing tennis inside eastside tennis club(behind it). |
Chitaku
Member
Username: Chitaku
Post Number: 426
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 68.43.107.72
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 12:29 am: | |
I heard there was a outdoor roller hockey rink in the area, anyone know where? |
Tarkus
Member
Username: Tarkus
Post Number: 46
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 68.43.115.231
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 6:29 am: | |
They used to build one every winter at Balduck. That ended in the 80's There is one in GP right behind the Village shops where the tennis courts are. Heilman Rec also had one but KK has slated Heilman Rec to close. As for a roller hockeyI don't know of any. |
Chitaku
Member
Username: Chitaku
Post Number: 429
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 68.43.107.72
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 8:51 am: | |
Heilman to close? I used to skate there as a kid, damn Kwame! |
Danny
Member
Username: Danny
Post Number: 4246
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 141.217.174.223
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 9:01 am: | |
Well since a lot to low-income black-folks moved over there since in 1990s, white folks moved someplace else like Snobbyville just on the other side of Mack Ave. Where they raise the property rates and set up renting restrictions to keep black-folks and other minorites out. |
1953
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Username: 1953
Post Number: 855
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 209.104.146.146
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 9:51 am: | |
Oh, Danny boy. |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 2271
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 4.229.105.25
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 10:09 am: | |
I lived in the Balduck Park area for 30 years.
Here's how you look at the housing stock...
------------------------------ ----
WEST OF BALDUCK PARK (Radnor to Cadieux):
Between Mack and Warren - mainly smaller wood frame cottage style houses.
Between Warren & Chandler Park Drive - 3/4 wood frame & 1/4 brick houses.
Between Chandler Park Drive & Harper - mostly brick houses.
------------------------------ ------
EAST OF BALDUCK PARK (Anatole to Moross):
East side of Gateshead to Moross - Brick houses.
West side of Gateshead to Canyon - smaller wood frame cottage style houses.
------------------------------ ----------
Danny - most Balduck Park folks couldn't afford a move to Grosse Pointe. They moved to Macomb County.... mostly Detroit Police/Fire personnel moved out.
Few areas of Detroit have been as impacted by the removal of city residency for workers, than has the Balduck Park area. However, one can hardly say that poor blacks moved into the area. The home prices of brick homes in the area are $100,000 plus. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1703
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 70.141.78.246
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 10:22 am: | |
Believe me, though, when I say that you can find near or even under 200k homes in the district of GP Farms between Chalfonte and Mack around the Mack/Warren area (streets like Cloverly, Calvin, Belanger, Hillcrest) and extending up to the Mack/7 neighborhoods. Right now there are 35 homes on the GPF market for under 250k. In the end, there isn't much of a gulf between the Balduck Pk. area and GP Farms across the way on Mack. Sure the homes average 50k-100k more, but this is on par with the fact that the homes are generally around 2000+ sf rather than 1000 sf or so, and they are older and more unique. My observation is that this part of GP Farms is becoming more integrated, and the Balduck portion of NE Detroit has been remained fairly diverse and safe. All in all, this far east part of Detroit has held together immensely better than far west neighborhoods along the Redford border i.e. Brightmoor.
Additionally, just for Danny--as far as I know, you can lease homes in Grosse Pointe Farms, City, and Park, with the westernmost streets in GP Park being at least 80 percent rentals. GP City has several rental/duplexes available on streets like Neff and St. Clair, even close to Jefferson, and it also has plenty of townhouses (both luxury and economy) in this same neighborhood. Again, Danny debunked.
What I know Balduck for more than anything is the impressive amateur fireworks shows that occur nightly from about 6/20 to 7/10, and especially within a few days of July 4th. I sit in my backyard or front stoop from my parent's home near Mack Ave. and get quite a show. On occasion we'd go up behind Eastside Tennis or on Radnor St. and take a look up close. Never seen the cops bust that illegal fun! |
Danny
Member
Username: Danny
Post Number: 4252
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 141.217.174.223
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 10:25 am: | |
Gistok,
Now add in the more poor black Detroiters moving in with the combination a landlord/Slumlord rents and a property rates would decrease. There are some white-folks who used to live at Balduck Park ghettohood are now in snobbyville and yes most of them are at Macomb County cities mingling along with the Americanized Italian communities. |
Bongman
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Username: Bongman
Post Number: 1100
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 198.111.56.128
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 10:28 am: | |
I thought St. John's Hospital had purchased a fair amount of properties in that area for their employees. |
Jfried
Member
Username: Jfried
Post Number: 848
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 209.131.7.190
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 10:56 am: | |
I live in Brush Park, but the sell of getting my soon to be fiance into the city has been very tough. However, she really likes this area. Hillcrest & Lanoo, between Mack & Chandler Park are great streets with mostly brick colonials. While most were built in the 40's and 50's and don't have the history I'd like, we've seen several homes that have a lot of character. The best part, in her mind, is the walkability of the thriving shoppping on mack (in both GP and Detroit), the diversity of the neighborhood, and the proximity to 94 (we both work on the east side). While I would much better stay were the action is, this seems like a decent compromise where I'll get to stay in the city.
I've spent a lot of time the past month driving, biking and walking the area. The amount of use balduck park gets amazes me. Softball, soccer, dog walkers, picnics, reunions, hiking/biking - there is always something going on. On Mack you have everying from cleaners, to bars/restaurants, bike shops, and chain and independent grocery, all within 5 minutes.....on foot.
Like I said, I'd rather be downtown, but this does seem like a great area. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1708
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 70.141.78.246
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 11:12 am: | |
You're right...I take Mack for granted a lot. Warren isn't all that bad either...it has a lot of the bare neccesities. Brush Park just has so much more character that the NE edge, so I'd have a tough time making that compromise. Have you talked about East English Village? You could have a cooler house near another walkable portion of Mack where there is plenty to do along the Park/Detroit edge as well. |
Ilovedetroit
Member
Username: Ilovedetroit
Post Number: 2316
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 63.149.5.130
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 11:14 am: | |
jfried - Try East English Village (between Mack and Harper and Outer Drive and Cadieus). There are some beautiful and wonderful homes there and it is a great neighborhood. ALSO Morningside (the other side of Outer Drive) most specifically Audobon is a great steet w/ some very nice homes for sale now. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1709
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 70.141.78.246
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 11:17 am: | |
Haha we both had the same impulse when we read Jfried's comments...yeah I meant to say Morningside i.e. Three Mile Drive to Chatsworth has cool homes too. Mack Ave. is replete with antique stores in addition to neccesities like a video store and grocer along this stretch. Down towards Alter and the western Park you have cool places like Tom's Oyster Bar, Double Olive, and Marge's Bar. |
Dmb
Member
Username: Dmb
Post Number: 189
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 68.61.245.34
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 12:04 pm: | |
Jfried,
I live on Gateshead St. (next street south of Lannoo) and I would higly reccomend my neighborhood. While the style of houses and overall size isn't as interesting or big as English Village, the walkability and location more than make up for it. When I moved here from Sterling Heights 4 years ago my parents and friends were a bit skepitcal, however they have all come to love the area and what it has to offer. It is very safe(Both Harper Woods and GP cops patrol as well as Detroit), and we have the added bonus of having a GP mailing address so insurance rates are low. My car insurance actually went down when I moved into my house from Sterling Heights. There is a really neat Tudor for sale on Hilcrest(5th or 6th house off Mack) that is about 1750sq feet that has a ton of character. To be honest I would buy it myself if I hadn't just renovated my place. Best of luck! |
Courtney
Member
Username: Courtney
Post Number: 103
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 68.21.39.0
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 12:46 pm: | |
We lived on University between Mack and Warren in a wood frame house on a crawl space built in 1939. A number of houses right around us were built between 1920sish and 1940 - the second boom being right after the war, and at least on our street, the same brick house was put up on every free lot there was.
I miss it badly. It's a great neighbourhood - most neighbours were homeowners, the lots were big enough for kids to play on them and not in the street, and it was quiet, despite its location. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1711
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 70.141.78.246
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 1:46 pm: | |
Oh this is a very quiet area. Mack Avenue does not carry too much traffic compared to other city/suburb thoroughfares, especially after 6pm. Nights are always quiet in this area (except for around the 4th of July by Balduck as I mentioned earlier). |
Jfried
Member
Username: Jfried
Post Number: 849
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 209.131.7.190
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 2:17 pm: | |
thanks mackinaw & ilovedetroit. we have been looking in those areas as well. there is a really cool place listed on Chatsworth, first block off Mack, and we've looked at several of the homes on Audobon as well.
dmb - that tudor is my better half's favorite place so far. it is immaculate, however, the thing that scares me is the original boiler, and original windows that aren't in great shape. it may need a roof, too. we're probably going to take another look next week. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1712
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 70.141.78.246
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 2:37 pm: | |
Oh I found the listing for that Tudor (3 beds, circa 1928, asking $159k)...that's a nice pick, Jfried. There's a 1927 boiler in my house which still fires...just have someone who knows what they're doing check it out. The possibility of having to put up a new roof gives you a reason to haggle with the agent to knock off ten grand. I'll hafta drive by later... |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 2273
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 4.229.105.18
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 3:15 pm: | |
The shopping amenities in the Balduck Park area are awesome.... Pointe Plaza has everything from a Buddy's Pizza to a Barnes & Noble Bookstore. There's all the Grosse Pointe & Detroit shops along Mack Avenue... my favorite is Josef's Bakery in GPW (drooling on my keyboard!)... Alexander & Polen Butcher Shop, Merit Woods Pharmacy (if you're tired of the big boxes!)... Mr. C's Deli, and a plethora of restaurants.
Whether its a Kinko's, a Coin Shop, a Car Wash, a Lamp & Curio Shop, Sports Paraphenalia, a National Coney Island, you name it... that neighborhood has it!
That neighborhood has the retail that other Detroit neighborhoods (and downtown!) would envy!
And if you have a medical problem or emergency... St. John Hospital towers over the neighborhood and is only 2 minutes away!
(Message edited by Gistok on June 08, 2006) |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1714
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 70.141.78.246
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 3:36 pm: | |
Tons of car dealers, too, on the Detroit side. Lots of professional offices as well. GP Farms seems content letting the empty parcel at 7/Mack sit there, and that's a shame. That Moross to Alter stretch of Mack probably marks the area with the most healthy Detroit-based small busineses, and a stretch where more non-Detroiters shop in Detroit than anywhere else in the city. |
Chitaku
Member
Username: Chitaku
Post Number: 432
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 68.43.107.72
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 3:38 pm: | |
I love my hood! |
Dmb
Member
Username: Dmb
Post Number: 191
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 68.61.245.34
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 4:10 pm: | |
Jfried, that house has been on the market since the end of September and it was originally priced at like $167,000, so I bet they will be willing to deal. The house next door to it went up almost the same time and it's still around as well. My neighbors house just went on the market and it is in great shape, check it out (5248 Gateshead). |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 2277
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 4.229.105.18
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 4:18 pm: | |
.... and if it's a garden nursery you want... Allemon's on Mack (and little Meldrum's across the street from it in GP City) are hard to top.
Mackinaw.... what I would like to see on the prime multi-acre parcel in GP Farms at Mack & Moross is a 5-6 story upscale 100 room luxury suite hotel, perhaps in a Parisian style ... a place for well heeled out-of-towners visiting their Grosse Pointe friends. And attach to it a small covered arcade of shops (jewelry, fashion, gourmet...) Something that GP'ers can use as a badge of pride to uphold their perceived "Snootyville" moniker...  |
Krawlspace
Member
Username: Krawlspace
Post Number: 261
Registered: 04-2004
Posted From: 69.246.59.170
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 8:02 pm: | |
I had no idea we were neighbors, Gistok...
I've lived near the Cadieux Farmhouse for 8 years. I am the second owner of a home built in 1949, purchased from the daughter of the couple that had it built. I am told that the wife was raised in the farmhouse but I have no way to confirm that.
Another bit of trivia in the area concerns the number (now dwindling) of streets with no curbs. Guilford between Warren and Mack is like this for long stretches. I understand this is a result of the Civil Works Administration portion of Roosevelt's New Deal. Unemployed men were federally paid to lay roads in areas where no development had yet been planned. Many of these empty, gridded fields remained empty until the post-war years. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1715
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 70.141.78.246
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 8:07 pm: | |
Gistok, we need to take that plan to the city. Although what I mentioned on another recent thread wasn't too far off (I was going for maybe a ten story luxury apartments with views of the lake and skyline). Two towers could fit there, I'm sure... |
Ilovedetroit
Member
Username: Ilovedetroit
Post Number: 2318
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 69.246.54.234
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 8:39 pm: | |
I love EEV but I think Audobon is beautiful. I have lots of friends there and it is a very close neighborhood...people are actually friends there. |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 2279
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 4.229.72.97
| | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 11:54 pm: | |
Yep, I grew up on Marseilles near Berden. One of the things I always thought was weird about the neighborhood was the fact that virtually no cross streets exist between University and Hereford. Minerva, Berden, Linville and Frankfort do not cross this barrier. Besides the main streets, only Southampton crosses over. |
Ilovedetroit
Member
Username: Ilovedetroit
Post Number: 2325
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 69.246.54.234
| | Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 6:51 am: | |
I almost bought a house at Southampton and Audobon 7 years ago...but they would not move on the price.
Jfried - Another nice area is along Chandler Park. |
Rust
Member
Username: Rust
Post Number: 137
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 64.118.136.130
| | Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 7:36 am: | |
Mackinaw & Gistok,
The City of Grosse Pointe Farms is in the very early stages of beginning the process to determine the fate of the Mack & Moross lot. The city also owns the land that the Kroger store sits on and the parking lot behind it. They have stated that when the lease runs out with Kroger that they are unlikely to renew it. They plan to incorporate it into whatever they do with the adjacent empty parcel.
I also live in the neighborhood on Manor. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1719
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 68.248.1.213
| | Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 2:46 pm: | |
That's a cool neighborhood, Rust. My parents lived nearby on Calvin for a time.
Thanks for the info on Mack/7. |
Nedab3
Member
Username: Nedab3
Post Number: 86
Registered: 01-2004
Posted From: 71.28.147.244
| | Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 9:29 pm: | |
Balduck park had the greatest snow sled hill and ice skate pond in the early 50's. Warming hut was one of the green voting huts. Is the hill still there? Many firemen and police officers lived in that area. very safe place. |
Tarkus
Member
Username: Tarkus
Post Number: 47
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 68.43.115.231
| | Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 9:55 pm: | |
The hill is still there but it seems much smaller. The City took out the tobogan runs and the stairs in the 90's. Did you ever go down the hill in your wagon during the summer? Or go to the pond in the woods across the street? |
Nedab3
Member
Username: Nedab3
Post Number: 87
Registered: 01-2004
Posted From: 71.28.147.244
| | Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 9:16 pm: | |
As we get older everthing seems smaller. Both wagon and bike went down the hill. Don't remember the pond. |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 2286
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 4.229.81.48
| | Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:12 pm: | |
Yes, the hill is still the same size. I remember as a kid playing on the backside of the hill with all the huge boulders and small bushes. It was great. I used to take my bicycle down the hill in the summer.
The only pond (unless you count the winter ice rink) was within the Nature Center, that fenced in wilderness near Marquette School. As a kid attending Marquette in the 1960's I used to love our science teacher (old Miss Schneider) taking us to the nature center just 200 feet from our classroom window. The nature center was awesome... with the pond and the "Aspen Trail". I remember many school days looking out the window at the Nature Center daydreaming.... |
Hornwrecker
Member
Username: Hornwrecker
Post Number: 1234
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 63.41.8.74
| | Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:27 pm: | |
That hill was tall enough. We used to have cross country practices running up the steep back side of it, then down the front in a loop about a quarter mile long. Rinse, repeat 20 times. I would gladly bulldoze that mother. |
Patrick
Member
Username: Patrick
Post Number: 3449
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.209.165.7
| | Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:33 pm: | |
copper canyon? |
Irish_mafia
Member
Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 538
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 70.229.40.99
| | Posted on Monday, June 12, 2006 - 8:56 pm: | |
Yes Patrick. Copper Canyon. Though I understand many of the cops moved from there when they were allowed to by the courts.
I have a cousin that bought one of those little belgian houses for nothing. |
Harsensis
Member
Username: Harsensis
Post Number: 56
Registered: 07-2005
Posted From: 71.227.102.82
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 13, 2006 - 12:31 am: | |
Grosse Pointe Farms bought all the stores at 7 & Mack to lower the crime rates, since most of the crime stats took place there. I didn't have a problem with them buying out Sears, AL Price and Krogers, but they should have never forced the homeowners out along Moross. I live on Ridgemont near you Rust and Dmb. I think a hotel would be a great addition to the area, we need it. I just hope they don't do something dumb with it. Right now it is a very expensive soccer field. |
Jokerman
Member
Username: Jokerman
Post Number: 17
Registered: 07-2005
Posted From: 67.125.189.14
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 14, 2006 - 1:56 pm: | |
Back in the very late sixties or early seventies, Balduck Park was a geat hangout for east side kids. We were all hippies then and there was a lot of partying, music, drinking, and pot smoking going on there. Every night for awhile it was like a mini Woodstock. Finally, the cops couldn't take it any more. They came in and rioted for several nights in a row with many kids getting kicked and knocked about by DPD billy clubs. I narrowly missed getting bonked in the head myself as we ran back to our cars. Eventually they cleared us out permanently and ruined our fun. Does anyone else remember this? |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 2303
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 4.229.81.143
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 14, 2006 - 3:08 pm: | |
Harsensis, yes I remember them getting rid of the homeowners. They did it in a rather underhanded way. They bought out the 8th house south of Mack and bulldozed it. That was the way for the Farms to show the other 7 homeowners closer to Mack that they were serious about getting rid of the houses, and that the 7 homeowners time was up. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 1736
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 70.237.11.26
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 14, 2006 - 3:13 pm: | |
These municipalities have a history of crap like this. Like when Grosse Pointe City made a massive, now underused parking lot behind the Mack Avenue shops @ Rivard (Marseilles) by cutting in backyards of Washington Rd. and Rivard Blvd. homeowners. They've done the same, only going so far as to take out houses, by Bon Secours hospital, and in a few spots near Kercheval avenue retail.
This leads into the controversial topic of eminent domain, of course... |