Southwest Detroit On The Rise
One community in Detroit is thriving, and it’s the most diverse part of the area.
Southwest Detroit has a population that is mostly Latino.
As part of Detroit 2020′s current focus on race and multiculturalism, Channel 7′s Carolyn Clifford has more on the success of Southwest Detroit.
Hector Hernandez of Southwest Solutions and Lydia Gutierrez, the President & CEO of Hacienda Foods talked about Southwest Detroit in a Detroit 2020 interview with Channel 7′s Carolyn Clifford on Action News At 7 pm.
Want to learn more about Southwest Detroit?
What a crock! Southwest Detroit is not booming; it is sinking!!! Perhaps there is still a hand full of businesses such as Mexican town doing well, but the residents don’t get any type of police response, gang crime is horrendous, sewers don’t work, street lights don’t work, and forget about getting anyone from the city to help. We can’t get help here! The only residents that stay are trapped and cannot afford to be a part of the mass exodus that the non-”booming” portions of the city are experiencing. You want to see booming? The rat population; the gang population; the drug dealers, the gross neglect by law enforcement or city officials, yes they are thriving. It is time of a reality check and not a 2 minute spot by a couple of people who have lost touch with the reality that most of us live with on a daily basis. It is one thing to look for hopeful signs, it is just delusional to pull a pollyanna attitude to look good on a news feed.
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LadyBeth Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Chris, I wholeheartly agree with you. I grew up in S.W. but was forced to move out 7 years ago for the safety of my family. Southwest will always be home in my heart but there is no way I could bring myself to move back. I’d like to see a reporter and crew roam the streets of S.W. in the middle of the night and report what truely happens in this area. There are many, many good people who are there by either by choice or by lack of means to leave, I praise the strong that have survived and for those that are fighting for this area to become productive again. Please tell the true story of S.W. and not just the hyped up story.
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Latina328 Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:18 pm
How true,how true.
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Great report! Sounds like a vibrant community. Give that Angie Reyes some funding and watch a bunch of transformed kids! It sounds like a sound investment for Detroit and a model for troubled inner cities. Looks good from Hawaii. Sure would be cool to see that center. Keep up the positive reporting. Aloha from Kaua’i
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Latina328 Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:22 pm
Really? I dont think so.
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I am surprised at how Chris feels if ya cant change along with your community and support it you dont derserve to be there..I am From S.w Detroit but moved away at 23 yrs of age and i love to see how my Town has Flourished and looks MARV..All citys have those types of problems Chris i know here in Jacksonville we do too but ya gotta be willing to change it make it better to live in Dont give up..
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Latina328 Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Listen I am SouthWest all day. The fact of the matter is this area needs to be sprayed down, dusted off, and truly loved.We are melting pot here in SouthWest. Mexican,Black,White,Puerto Rican, the list of cultures could go on for a while. My point is start focusing on this money thriving International gateway and lets get this community to its full potential. Tear down all these nasty a– buildings,homes,store fronts that have been left by there GROSS owners.
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I agree with Soylaquemanda!
…and to Chris, I live in Southwest Detroit by CHOICE not because I’m stuck! Our neighborhood definitely has its issues but there is SO MUCH GOOD going on that I refuse to let the bad things drag me down. The news story DOES mention the continuing gang problems and drop out rates, it doesn’t gloss them over. The glass will always be half empty if that’s the way you choose to see it. A positive attitude is an active choice and it is necessary for the survival of our community. When hope dies a community dies. Detroit gets ENOUGH bad press! Don’t shoot down the GOOD press! Good press brings more money that people are willing to invest!
The moral of my story I guess….I believe in Southwest. I love Southwest. I love the smell of the Brown Bun Bakery in the morning on my bike ride to work. I love the ice cream bikes and the taco trucks. I love Cafe Con Leche. I love La Gloria Bakery. I love the guy selling papers at the corner of Junction on Sundays. I love the rose bushes on Bagley. I love the lunch special at Lupita’s. I love the bells of Holy Redeemer.
This is home.
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Rene Tavarez Reply:
July 26th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Well written Grace! Agree with everything you wrote!
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This folk wisdom of Southwest Detroit being some sort of booming paradise is simply not backed up by the census numbers. Yes, these are still easily among the most densely populated tracts in the city of Detroit, but they are hemorrhaging, like other previously stable places. The numbers are right there (census.gov) for anyone who’s interested — you can see a clear pattern of Southwest Detroit emptying out. Using the word “flourished” is absurd — then again, it’s hard to know the real truth if you’re in Jacksonville, Fla. and drunk on nostalgia for the old neighborhood, isn’t it, Soylaquemanda.
I’m not saying its dead, or even close to dying, I’m just saying that anyone who thinks Southwest is not in trouble needs to wake up, and quickly. Sure, there may be some cool things going on, absolutely, but Chris is also pretty much bang on — with property prices in better-served suburbs so low, many families are fleeing, leaving lots of previously stable blocks in this part of town in serious peril. The longer that gets ignored, the worse Southwest is going to get. That’s not negativity. It’s the God’s honest truth.
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Southwest Detroit has had it’s ups and downs. It the almost 50 years I’ve lived here I’ve seen it all. Good and bad. There are still more bad elements and bad neighbors here then good ones. Don’t get me wrong. Southwest Detroit is a survivor. We have long since been forgot by the city of Detroit. That is where most of our problems stem from. There are still areas of Southwest Detroit you will not here about on the news or in the papers. The area from Livernois to Wyoming John Kronk to Jefferson. The daily crimes and tragedy are not reported by the news. The Police use Patton Park to explode bombs, but you’ll never here it on the news. Crime is a daily part of this area of Southwest Detroit. We will overcome it, we have done it in the past and we will do it again in the future. But please don’t look at one small part of the Whole and say how great it all is. Be more honest in your reporting. We have blight, burned out and abandoned houses. Homeless people with out hope or help. Neighbors who literally shoot at each other, some on a daily basis. Gunfire is the norm at night here. With soccer games at Patton Park every weekend. So I urge the news, both Television and Print, to be more honest in your reporting on Southwest Detrroit. It’s the right thing to do and maybe, just maybe it won’t take years to get a response from the city to our needs.
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Hopefully Detroit will move to a district-based system as soon as possible. Also with a ward-based system there would be more direct representation from Detroit’s disparate neighborhoods. Southwest Detroit and all of Detroit’s neighborhoods need more spokespersons with a direct line to city hall. Increasing the ethnic diversity on City Council should be a goal.
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