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urban_izzy

By urban_izzy
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urban_izzy Unincorporated Area

urban_izzy

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Well I found out today that I got my first job out of college and it is in Detroit. I'm happy as hell to be working here, although my newly adopted planning values will have me uprooting my Ypsilanti home of six years and moving to the dirty D. I know there have been posts on here about places to live before but for some reason I couldn't find them. Therefore, here is a new one.

My office is located in Corktown, I am looking for places near there. The Griswald is awesome and in the most ideal location, but the 1800 a month is about 5 times more then I can afford to spend. Downtown I have seen places online like The Town and Kales buildings. I do have a car but I would like to use it as little as possible. Also there were a lot of affordable places in the SW area through SW Solutions but I'm not sure if I qualify for those places.

Anyways, just looking for some tips and leads, possibly a roomy if any one is also looking to move into the Motor City. Let me hear what you all think.

If I don't find anything I might just make home in MCS... :blink:

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jsmyers Unincorporated Area

jsmyers

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Congrats!

Can I ask who you are working for? I'm presuming your a planner, so I thought maybe you have a job with:

http://www.corktowndetroit.org/

The Greater Corktown Development Corp.

They had in the past a list of rental properties in the neighborhood. Contact them to see what they have. I'm sure they'd love to help if they can.

In 2005, in Corktown, I looked at flat in a historic house and a small historic house that was just renovated, as well as a Boydell loft and a couple of small inexpensive walkups. I ended up in the north Cass Corridor, but that wouldn't be a great commute for you (no direct walking routes or 2 buses).

Here is a good starting point to learn about neighborhoods and housing options.

http://www.modeldmedia.com/neighborhoods/Default.aspx (If you click on any of the neighborhoods, there is a city map at the bottom of that page.)

I'm sure you can find something suitable in Corktown, that would be the best bet. Downtown is another good one, and if you are a biker, consider Woodbridge, Eastern Market, or Lafayette Park.

DDOT bus 29 runs through Woodbridge to Corktown about every half hour during commute times. DDOT bus 37 runs from Downtown through Corktown and has somewhat better service, but still only half hour frequency.

(http://www.detroitmi.gov/ddot/businfo/schedules.html)

Rentals downtown are generally going to be more expensive than those in Corktown. And there is a lot wider range of places in Corktown. If you have your heart set on downtown, I've heard good things about the Kales (firsthand) as well as Lofts and Woodward Place and Merchants Row (via the net). Boydell has a number of properties around the central city. You will hear a lot of bad things about them, but they're not all bad (you get what you pay for). A lot of their buildings are month to month leases, so you can always move in and spend time finding the perfect place. They have one building in Corktown. I lived in the John R apartments for a month as I was preparing to move down south.

Boydell: http://www.loftplace.com/ and http://www.loftplace.net/ (They're not the most organized bunch.)

The Washington Square (formerly Trolley Plaza) is a decent high rise on the west side of downtown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_Plaza

There are other smaller-scale options throughout downtown and Corktown.

Craig's list, Metrotimes, and the SouthEnd (WSU's paper) might be good places to start.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/

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urban_izzy Unincorporated Area

urban_izzy

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I am working for YouthBuild Detroit. It is a non-profit that takes high school drop outs and teaches them to build, do community service, and strengthen neighborhoods while earning their GEDs. I am a planner but this one year job is perfect for me to set up some networking and what not to get a better position like the one you mentioned. Also I dont really feel ready to be an office planner that gives out fence permits and such quite yet. If their website worked I would post the link here. If you want to know more just let me know.

Oh and about biking... my bike isn't cheap, how worried should I be about Debo (Friday Reference) taking it?

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hudkina Burg

hudkina

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There isn't a place at your work where you can securely store your bike?

In any case, I'm sure you can find lots of stuff in the Corktown area.

You can check this website out for a listing of rental properties throughout the Greater Downtown area:

http://detroitmidtown.com/05/midtown.php?o...t_id=&msub=

You can also search through "for sale" listings.

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Michi Burg

Michi

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ui, my bike is my mode of transportation. I live in Midtown, work Downtown. My bike stays in the apartment when at home and is parked on a bike rack in the parking garage at work, w/ a security man's hut and camera right next to it. I've had the seat and back tire stolen from it when it was parked out in the open at WSU, just as I had my car stolen when parked in Midtown as well.

My lesson learned as a resident to be passed along to new ones like yourself is, if it's not in your possession, it's fair game to become someone elses' stolen property. My bike is outside at WSU right now, and I'm certain it will be there when I get back, but for instance, my bike seat comes w/ me whenever I lock up my bike (since the seat is easily detachable).

Also, get the club for your car if you don't already have it.

By the way, the Griswold doesn't exist anymore, so I'm afraid you don't have that as a choice anyway. :)

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illmatic774 Unincorporated Area

illmatic774

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Perhaps that's why no one has taken mine yet.

I understand Henderson, NV is no Detroit, MI but I don't even bother locking mine up. I can leave it in the middle of everything and no one will even touch it. However, in Detroit it didn't matter what shape my bike was in; I double-chained it.

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RustTown City

RustTown

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I don't care where someone lives. I never get why people don't lock their cars and bikes. These are the same people who are absolutely distraught when they get stolen. lol I love it when you see the news crews describing the story and they end with "he/she did not lock their doors".

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tapezord Hamlet

tapezord

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I don't care where someone lives. I never get why people don't lock their cars and bikes. These are the same people who are absolutely distraught when they get stolen. lol I love it when you see the news crews describing the story and they end with "he/she did not lock their doors".
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urban_izzy Unincorporated Area

urban_izzy

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So what price range are you looking at again? I think there is quite of range of units you can get for different prices downtown. I remember looking at some small loft apartments on Woodward that were around $700/month. (This was about 2 years ago)
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Michi Burg

Michi

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Also after reading some of the other posts I should prolly get my door locks to work on my car huh? I usually keep anything of value in the trunk if needed but in the GTA capital of the US I should be more cautious.
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wolverine Town

wolverine

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Hearing that you paid 525/month in Ypsi makes me want to cancel my lease in Ann Arbor. I hate living with 4 other people in a tiny house built in the late 1800's and paying $680 for a closet sized bedroom. Sure beats the 900 i was paying for tenement housing off South U. Detroit is worth it, and the urban experience is worth it. I'm sure you'll find something in that range, although I'm not sure you'll find anything of good quality living by yourself and paying only mid 300's.

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jbr12 Hamlet

jbr12

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About half of my friends from my Arch days lived in Ypsi instead of AA because of the rent difference. I got extremely lucky and found an old lady with an apartment off the back whom had no need to rape students (and the apartment was HUGE for a one bedroom)

When we move back to AA in the next few years for school, we're definitely going to be house/apartment hunting for a long time

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