Detroit's Ghetto

Detroit mother of six trades in $96k house for used minivan

2011-12-05T21:40:00.000-05:00

Monday December 5th, 2011

A mother living in Detroit has traded in her four-bedroom home for a 2006 minivan.

LaWanda Flake, a 36-year-old, disabled mother of six traded in her four-bedroom, three-bath house, located in one of the city's better neighborhoods and valued at $96,000 for a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander with 85,000 miles, valued at between $5000 and $8,500.

"I had a lot of good offers, some from out of state. It turned out I took one of the first offers I got because I felt like it helped us both," Flake told the Detroit News. "They needed the house more than anyone I spoke with. They kept telling me it was a blessing to them. I really feel like I made a good decision."

Flake said she posted the house offer on Craigslist because she needed a new car in order to get her children to school on time because the city's bus system was proving unreliable. Flake has an irregularly updated Twitter account, where you can see some of her complaints about the bus system.

Now, there are a couple of details that make this story far less crazy than it sounds at first. Number one, Flake and her six children are not living in the minivan. They've relocated to a three-bedroom home nearby that she was able to purchase on a $4,000 land contract.

And even though the house was once home to Diana Ross and the Supremes, Flake purchased it last year at a foreclosure sale for $3,600, not its near six-figure retail value. The house reportedly has several thousand dollars worth of necessary repairs waiting for the new owners, including a new furnace and water heater.

The family who purchased Flake's home has decided to stay anonymous for now. Flake agreed to not mention their names in the story, but she did note that she received several more lucrative offers for her home, including a Montana couple who offered Flake her choice of one of their four vehicles. And a man who recently moved back to Detroit from Las Vegas offered in trade his 1996 Bentley Brooklands luxury sedan, valued at about $20,000. A third trade offer was for a 1996 Corvette.

"I said, Oh wow! What am I going to do with a Corvette? I can't do anything practical with a Corvette," Flake said.

Of course, with the current state of property values in Detroit, it sounds like Flake could have traded in one of those cars for another two or three houses.

Story originally posted by yahoo... http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/mother-six-trades-98k-house-used-minivan-152424777.html

Detroit On The Verge Of Bankruptcy

2011-11-17T14:53:00.000-05:00

Thursday November 17th, 2011The city of Detroit has found itself in a $200M+ hole. The city has reported that it will literally "run out of money" in 2012. Watch the video to see mayor Bing's plan to save the city, which essentially is to cut wages and raise taxes. Not really giving the people more reason to stay, huh?

Packard Plant On Fire Yet Again

2011-11-14T15:01:00.000-05:00

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Fire Breaks Out at Detroit's Packard Plant: MyFoxDETROIT.com

I turned on the news this morning to see the old Packard Plant is on fire again. The Aron Unit of the Detroit Fire Department were at this scene this morning.

The fire, reported at 6:45am today, began on the 3rd floor of the building on East Grand Boulevard, according to Detroit Fire Department Arson Capt. Steve Varnas. The blaze appears to be intentionally set and the investigation continues.

The fire was still going at about 11am this morning, one of many blazes that firefighters respond to monthly at the plant.

"When they’re over there with 30 firefighters, that leaves holes in the city," said Varnas. "That is why we must stop these fires."

Arson Capt. Patrick McNulty said firefighters are only allowed to spray the blaze from outside the ruins of the old plant.

"There's standing orders not to go in there," McNulty said. "It's just too dangerous for the firefighters."

In the summer of 2010, firefighters discovered a car on fire with a body inside, McNulty said. The case was turned over to the Detroit Police homicide division.

Detroit Tops Forbes' List Of Most Dangerous Cities For 2010

2011-11-08T10:14:00.024-05:00

Tuesday November 8th, 2011

Sorry Detroit, but here's yet another dismal statistic... Most dangerous city based on 2010 statistics from the FBI. 1,111 violent crimes per 100,000 residents! Read the full article on the Huffington here:

Detroit - 2010 Most Dangerous City

Devil's Night In Detroit - 2011

2011-11-02T17:11:00.003-04:00

Saturday November 5th, 2011

Another Devil's Night in Detroit brings another round of arson, although fire were reported to be down in numbers this year. Only 18 fires were reported according to the Detroit News, down form 169 last year. Wow, what a huge decrease in fires, right? Some might say it was the 50,000 volunteers patrolling the streets that night. Me, I say they've already burned everything! Had to say it. But seriously, that's great to hear. It's just a shame what great efforts the city must go through just to keep people from burning shit.

Here's a couple of videos to watch showing the action of Devil's Night 2011:

A Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto: Part 4 Is Out Now, Watch It Here!

2011-11-01T22:06:00.002-04:00

Wednesday November 2nd, 2011

It's officially done and posted on youtube. Enjoy!

A Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto: Part 4 Is Almost Here!

2011-10-31T20:21:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 31st, 2011
Finally, nearly 2 years after most of it was filmed, I have gotten around to getting this video done. As mentioned before, I had some issues with my new computer, and was not able to transfer the footage from my ancient camcorder on to my hard drive. Well, I could transfer it, but the quality was shit. A few weeks ago I visited a buddy of mine who transferred the footage onto an external HDD using his computer and this worked, the quality of the footage was completely intact.

I have just finished editing the whole video and it looks great, I think you will all like it. One thing I did this time around was try to pack in as many clips as possible, and minimize time that is wasted from excessively long scenes, and sped up slow moving shots. I have a few final touches to make, and then it will be uploaded to youtube and posted here. So keep an eye out for it in the next day or two!

1 Million Views For My Youtube Video, "A Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto"

2011-04-03T20:43:00.001-04:00

Sunday, April 3rd 2011

I just logged into my youtube account and realized that my original Detroit ghetto video, "A Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto", has reached 1 million views! To be honest, I haven't been keeping up with my youtube videos or this blog as much as I used to, but I thought that 1 million views is worthy of an update here.

Detroit has the 6th Largest Abandoned Structure On Earth!

2011-01-06T19:19:00.001-05:00

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

I recently heard that Detroit had one of the largest abandoned buildings on the planet, and after a quick google search, I confirmed it. The Broderick Tower ranks as the 6th largest abandoned structure on Earth at 35 floors, or 369 ft. Resead the rest here:

The Tallest Abandoned Structures on Earth

Inside Detroit's 911 Call Center

2010-09-06T09:49:00.000-04:00

Monday, September 6th, 2010

I was watching the news last night when an interesting story about Detroit's 911 call center came on. The following was taken from myfoxdetroit.com:

Inside Detroit's 911 Call Center

By SIMON SHAYKHET
myFOXDetroit.com

DETROIT - Most people will never get to see the inside of the Detroit 911 call center. So, what really happens when you call 911 from your phone? We're asking the tough questions.

It can feel like a roller coaster. Thousands of calls for help pouring in every day.

"In 45 minutes, I've gotten a hundred calls," said Annette Day.

She is one of the best. Day is also one of 16 to 20 working during a typical shift at the call center, which averages 1.7-million calls each year.

"I believe we have made several improvements over the past couple years, and we'll continue to," said Detroit Police Commander Russell Decrease.

The improvements, such as quality monitoring, come at a time of tough criticism; citizen reports of hour long waits and being placed on hold.

However, ask these workers and you get a different story. Their numbers show only 30-percent of the calls they get are actual emergencies. As for the rest...

"Of those 70-percent, over half of them are prank calls," Decrease said.

Also, factor in the false alarms coming from businesses. Then consider a call on a stolen car competing with danger to human life.

"Every time another run comes in where somebody's life or safety is in danger, that run is going to wait longer," said Decrease. "If somebody gets the recording, they will hang up. When they hang up, they don't realize that they instantly go to the back of the line again."

"We do care about them. We are working hard here to help service them and get them the help they need," Day said.

However, she admits they need more hands on deck.

"We don't have enough operators. We don't have enough police or EMS (techs)," said Day.

The city is hiring 15 more operators this month. They still claim a two to three minute dispatch time for life threatening calls, and less than ten minutes from that to a unit on scene anywhere.

3-30-2010 Update

2010-03-30T19:53:00.003-04:00

Wednesday March 30th, 2010
I just wanted to give you guys an update on the next Detroit Ghetto video. The truth is, I haven't even transferred the video from my camcorder to my computer yet. The last few months have been a blur with the death of my mother and now a cross-country move is fast approaching. I am in the process of selling my house in Florida and will be moving back to the Detroit area in mid April of this year. Hopefully this move will be as temporary as possible, I don't want to have to be up there any longer than I have to. I love the Michigan summers but the rest of the year I personally find very dismal and depressing... cold weather and gray skies for 8 months out of the year just doesn't do it for me.

This video will get done eventually, it just hasn't been a priority for me lately.

I will leave you with this though:

That's right... Obama Gas". I took these pictures while filming part 4 this past December. Only in Detroit!

A Tour OF Detoit's Ghetto: Part 4 Update

2010-01-07T17:36:00.001-05:00

Thursday, January 7th, 2010
I just wanted to give everyone an update on the next Detroit ghetto video. I filmed it last week and got some great footage, and also tracked the route on my GPS which will hopefully (providing I am able to figure it out, editing KML files is new to me) be turned into a google earth tour so that you can see where exactly I went. I got some footage in the Packard plant as well as an abandoned high school, in addition to the usual residential devastation.

I really don't know when I will be able to find the time and motivation to edit it all as I lost my mother on New Year's Day, just hours before I was supposed to fly back home to Florida. It's been an incredibly tough time for me this past week and to be honest, editing this video is not ranking real high on my list of priorities at the moment, I'm sure you all understand. I just wanted to say that it has been filmed and I will get it up here as soon as I can.

Detroit Statistics That Will Shock You!

2009-12-26T12:57:00.002-05:00

Saturday, December 26th, 2009
Believe it or not, there are a few people out there who actually think Detroit is a great place to live. I'm not talking about the metro area, but the actual city of Detroit itself... crazy, right? They tell me what a great history the city has, and how it's got lots of culture and life... that may be, I don't argue that. Heck, every major city on the planet his it's own culture and way of life, that's how big cities work. But, I can tell you what most major cities in America DON'T have:

80,000 abandoned buildings
75 out of Detroit's 135 square miles are abandoned, and area larger than the entire city of Vancouver
1 in 47 are homeless
Median home price is $6,000
Unemployment is officially 29%, but is estimated at near 50%
Unsolved murder rate 70%
Lowest high school graduation rate in he country, only 21%

Are these the kind of things that define a great city? Would you want to raise your family in this type of environment? Of course not. That's why everyone who can afford to do so is leaving the city and not looking back. And don't blame this on jobs, there were plenty of jobs available in the 60's during the riots. People didn't flee Detroit in record numbers because they didn't have a job, they left because they no longer felt safe.

FYI, I am not going to bother listing the sources of this information... a simple google search on any of the above FACTS will provide all the proof you need. Feel free to post your crazy Detroit statistics as a comment and I will add them to this post, as there are undoubtedly tons more.

Getting Ready To Film "A Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto: Part 4"... Suggestions?

2009-12-11T18:01:00.000-05:00

Only 2 weeks until Christmas, and for me, that means a trip back to Detroit to see friends and family for the first time in 2 years. That also means that I will be filing A Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto: Part 4, and I wanted to know if anyone has any suggestions for the next film. One thing I will NOT be doing is filming the "nice" areas of Detroit, so you can just forget about that right now... it's called A Tour Of Detroit's GHETTO for a reason. I would think that the title would give that away, but some are not so quick to grasp the concept.

Now that we have that out of the way, I am open to suggestions as to certain things you would like to see in part 4. If you know of a particularly ghetto area, street, building, etc, I want to know about it.

Accompanying part 4 will be a playable google earth tour that will take you down every street that I drive down so that you can see exactly where I have been. This should be a pretty cool feature, I have been fooling around with it for a while now and I think you will like it.

Shoot me a comment if you would like to see something in particular this time around.

Man accused of arson that killed Detroit firefighter faces murder trial

2009-11-27T16:11:00.000-05:00

Friday, November 27th, 2009
The 27-year-old businessman accused of paying a handyman $20 to burn a vacant house — a blaze that claimed the life of a Detroit firefighter — has been bound over for trial, the county Prosecutor’s Office said today.

Mario Willis is charged with felony murder and arson of a dwelling in the death last November of Walter Harris, a 17-year veteran of the Detroit Fire Department.

The handyman who set the fire, Darian Dove, 40, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a deal to testify against Willis.

Source: By ZLATI MEYER (Free Press staff writer)

Ok, I have to flat out disagree with MURDER charges here. The house was vacant when the fire was set, they did not intend to hurt anyone. Should they be punished? Yes, of course. But murder charges? Really? If they knew someone was in the house or weren't sure and set the fire anyways, then yeah, murder charges. But this firefighter responded to the scene and died doing his job, I don't see how that warrants a charge of murder.

What do YOU think?

Truck Pushed Out Of 4th Floor Window At The Packard Plant

2009-11-22T16:07:00.003-05:00

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
A friend of mine recently told me about this story and I just had to share it with everyone here. Basically, some guys pushed a dump truck out of a window on the 4th floor of the Packard plant. No one really knows how a dump truck ended up on the 4th floor, but you can see below how it made it's way out!

Crazy huh? Ghetto Detroit at it's finest. It's just amazing that people can spend so much time trying to push this truck out of the window without getting in trouble. You would think think that at some point a cop would drive by, see this happening and arrest them, but it just goes to show how little they care. Anther odd thing about the video is that it's posted on the Wall Street Journal's website... what does this video have to do with stocks? It really makes you think.

Here's another video of the truck on the ground after it was pushed out:

Man Found Frozen In Ice At Bottom Of Elevator Shaft

2009-11-17T17:57:00.004-05:00

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

In January 2009, a man in his mid 50s named Johnnie Redding was found frozen in several feet of ice at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the Detroit Public School Warehouse (also known as the Roosevelt Warehouse). This is the building next to Michigan Central Train Depot. The River Rouge resident was discovered by some kids playing hockey on the floor in the basement which had flooded and frozen over. The police thought it was a hoax and never responded to the first call.

Apparently, the body had been just sitting in the bottom of the shaft for weeks. None of the numerous homeless people living inside the warehouse bothered to call the police. Even after the authorities were notified(multiple times), it was several days before anyone came out. It took a jackhammer to remove the body, who was later identified by his wallet.

Officials say that Johnnie killed himself. His autopsy revealed no broken bones, no wounds and no water in his lungs, which means he did not fall into the flooded shaft and drown. Most likely, Johnnie was smoking cocaine with somebody and died, coroners suspect. Johnnie's party pal may have panicked and tossed his body down the water-filled shaft.

Forbes Magazone Calls Detroit "America's Most Miserable City"

2009-11-15T16:06:00.001-05:00

Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Another dismal statistic for Detroit. In 2008, Forbes Magazine has labeled Detroit the most miserable city in America, read about it HERE. How Detroit was only ranked #7 in 2009 is beyond me. All I know is, 2009 was a rough year for the city, with an unemployment rate closing in on 30% and home prices falling faster than ever, it's a shoe-in for the 2010 ranking when they come out.

Submit Your Photos NOW! Detroit's Ghetto Needs You.

2009-11-15T12:56:00.004-05:00

Sunday, November 15th, 2009
I am trying to get a user submitted photo gallery going, but I can't do it without you! Submit your photos, videos, stories, anything Detroit related to detroitsghetto@gmail.com.

Half A Million Views!

2009-11-10T09:44:00.003-05:00

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
My original "A Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto" video just hit 500k views! Thank you to all those who support me, and I want to let you all know that I will be working on Part 4 very soon, so check back often! I will be filming another Detroit ghetto video this winter, so look for it sometime early 2010. Detroit's ghetto is so vast, I could probably film 20 more of these videos and still not run out of new and original footage.

Coming Soon To Detroit's Ghetto

2009-11-08T21:44:00.004-05:00

Sunday, November 8th, 2009
In the near future I will be making some additions to the site, including a photo gallery of my personal Detroit pictures, as well as a gallery with user submitted photos, and I would like to set up a section where you can submit your stories about Detroit, good or bad, for everyone to read. If you have any photos, stories, suggestions, comments, or anything you'd like to share, please submit it to detroitsghetto@gmail.com

New Info Regarding The Manoogian Mansion Party

2009-11-08T21:26:00.001-05:00

Sunday, November 8th, 2009
I Read an Interesting article earlier today about some new information regarding the Manoogian Mansion party, you can read it HERE. What do you think of the whole thing? Personally, I don't doubt one bit that Kwame had the tapes destroyed and Tamara Green murdered.

Foreclosure Rates In Metro Detroit

2009-11-07T10:07:00.004-05:00

Saturday, November 7th, 2009
We all know how shitty the housing market is doing and that foreclosure rates are off the charts, and if you want to exactly how many foreclosures there are within a specific metro Detroit zip code click HERE.

Get a Local Foreclosure Report

Trash In The Streets

2009-11-06T11:17:00.001-05:00

Friday, November 6th, 2009
If you've ever driven through Detroit, surely you've seen a mountain of old tires blocking your way, a boat or 2 on the sidewalk, and bags of burnt garbage on every corner. Many blame the city for having inadequate municipal services such as garbage pick up and recycling centers, but the city does have designated days for trash pick up and will remove bulk debris weight up to 1,000 pounds 4 times a year from the same residence. Any illegal dumping can be reported by calling the DPW Solid Waste Division at 313-224-4636.

People have been saying that things are being cleaned up in the city, but from what I can tell in my last visit to Detroit 2 years ago, nothing has changed outside of the immediate downtown area. I have noticed that some landmark trash heaps had been removed since my last visit, but new ones also popped up, so really, it seems they aren't getting anywhere. I will be visiting Detroit later this year and filming "a Tour Of Detroit's Ghetto: Part 4", and I suspect it will look just as it did on my last visit.

I will say that the Detroit's recycling centers seem very inadequate to serve a population it's size. Here is a map of the entire city's recycling facilities:

Note that there is only one facility to take hazardous household waste for the entire city! Unbelievable.