



Detroit and the Myth of the $100 House | Uprooted, an eco/travel
blog



 America's Rust Belt is a swath of cities and towns that boomed during the
Industrial Era and now lie -- well, rusting -- as empty remainders of glory days
past.
Chief among these is Detroit, Motor City. The longtime center of American
automotive manufacturing was gutted when the Big Three car companies
simultaneously failed.

Detroit, already plagued by corruption and crime, saw its unemployment rate
skyrocket in 2009.

What's left behind when an economy collapses? Cheap real estate, that's what.

I'd read a New
York Times article about some forward-thinking artist-types who bought a house in Detroit for $1,900 . $1,900! Some of us
(and lots of New Yorkers) pay that much in rent every month!
In fact, the article went on, soon a nearby house went on the market for $100.
The artist types notified their buddies, who moved in post haste.
I was intrigued. Really? A $100 house? Even if it was a real
fixer-upper, even if you really were better off tearing it down than living in
it, that'd still be a hell of a deal. Why, out in New Mexico, where you can
still buy unincorporated land with no water or roads, you'd pay at least $1,000
for a house-sized plot of dust. So how can you buy an actual home for $100? That's literally cheaper than dirt.

The possibilities of this were fascinating. I had visions of hipsters from coast
to coast converging in Detroit, building a new city on rock&roll. I pictured
young artists owning homes, fixing up neighborhoods. I saw community gardens,
art parks, a grassroots transformation of a city. We could take that oil-stained
soil and those rusted factories, and create something new and beautiful. With
houses going for $100, I thought,  what would you have to lose
by moving to Detroit?
And so Quiet Earp and I did some research, and came up with a list of houses
selling for under a grand. We had plenty to choose from: there were more cheap
houses than we would have time to visit. We picked two neighborhoods to cruise,
and dove in.
But once we entered Detroit, the truth hit fast: this is a modern American ghost
town. The place is practically deserted. Its streets, built wide to accommodate
heavy traffic, are mostly empty. Houses and businesses are boarded up, painted
up, bombed out and falling down. Even in the center of the business district,
there's no traffic and hardly any people.
Don't believe me? I videotaped it:

It got worse as we drove into residential areas, looking for those cheap houses.
In fact, I've never felt so out of place in all my life .
Even in Chicago's South Side, where we counted five white people in an hour, I
felt fine just driving around; not so in Detroit. Truthfully, it wasn't about
race: it was about being naive. It was about driving down streets where we truly
did not belong and were not welcome.

Detroit is a ghost town, and it's inhabited by ghosts: the only people left here
are those who can't or won't leave. They live in deserted neighborhoods, in
houses with collapsed front steps and missing windows. They sit on the porch and
watch the cars go by, watch the deals go down, watch their neighborhoods
crumble. And we, driving through slowly and reading house numbers in a
late-model Honda, stuck out like a couple of thumbs.
So we sped up, and went straight to the houses. Sometimes we stopped to take a
photo, but mostly we didn't. Earp and I have each lived happily in the wilds of
West Oakland, but the danger I felt in Detroit was like nothing I'd experienced
before. I was actually afraid for my life.

The New York Times correspondent wrote that his friend Mitch's $1,900 home "had
already been stripped of its appliances and wiring ... But for Mitch that only
added to its appeal, because he now had the opportunity to renovate it with
solar heating, solar electricity and low-cost, high-efficiency appliances."
As for the $100 house? It "needed some work, a hole patched, some windows
replaced."
Well, I don't know what part of Detroit these folks live in, but the $100 houses
I saw looked more like this:

You see, abandoned houses in this town get set on fire. No exceptions. Wherever
we went in those neighborhoods, one in four houses had been torched. On one
corner, we saw a giant banner hung across a charred front porch. We didn't slow
down to take a photo, but I'll paraphrase: DON'T BURN
HOUSES DOWN! DETROIT POLICE ARE WATCHING YOU!
Except that they obviously aren't. People who live in this part of town are on
their own. And although I and many others would love to own even a fire-scarred,
condemned building, the fact is that we wouldn't last a week here. Buy a $100
house in Detroit, and you get a lifetime supply of sleepless nights: you'll
spend the next several years waiting for burglars and arsonists, murderers and
crackheads to break in the windows.
It's like the Wild West without the scenery, the gold, and the hope. It's the
Rust Belt.

Ultimately, I do believe that change will come to Detroit. There
will be a green movement here ; in fact it's already being cultivated by
forward-thinking
groups and 
intrepid locals . One day, this place will be reborn.
But right now, the NYT's story reeks of Shinola.
Truth is, any artist-type who moves into this part of Detroit is
probably pretty handy with a pistol or a shotgun . Anyone who takes this
plunge is risking their life every day, betting on a future that may take a long
time to arrive.


Long story short: Yes, you can buy a house in Detroit
for $100. And you will get what you pay for.

Cheers to Toby Barlow , who inspired my trek to Detroit, and who believes in a
happier, greener future. May your every dream come true, sir, and your book
sell fabulously. 








16 Responses to "Detroit and the Myth of the $100 House"


bisnis 16. Sep, 2009 at 9:46 pm 
Great post. Thank you for this info. I need that


 Myself 19. Sep, 2009 at 10:06 am 

Please track down and watch a movie called "Detroit: A City to Yourself", by
Nicole MacDonald. It's full of this imagery, and talks about the 1805 fire
and rebuilding, and the post-industrial devastation that's ravaged the city
since.
Most poignantly, it talks about Hurricane Katrina, which focused attention on
rebuilding another city with this level of devastation, and how without a
single catastrophic event to blame for it, Detroit's decay has gone
unsympathetically ignored.
The movie wraps up by observing this, how abandoned buildings and spaces are
being reclaimed by nature. About the pop fiction which explores the concept
of a post-human world, and how it already exists now. And about how, if
you're a pheasant, that's not such a bad thing.
HOWEVER ... 
There's a lot more to Detroit than that. There are industrial spaces being
turned into low-rent artist lofts and business incubators. (Look at the
Russell Industrial Complex, for one example.) There are neighborhoods that
refuse to cave. (west of Livernois around McNichols). There's a whole bunch
of nice stuff happening along the riverfront, from downtown up towards Stroh
Place.
And there's always Belle Isle. When friends come to Detroit, I take them
there. It's our in-the-river park, 982 acres of green space, with a zoo, a
botanical garden and conservatory, rentable paddle boats, and tons of other
neat stuff. Next time you're in Detroit, please head over. Oh, and entry is
free, so it's available to anyone regardless of economic status. You're
liable to see families picnicking, bums gathering bottles and cans, geese
foraging, and deer cautiously wandering the edge of the woods. Within a
hundred yards of each other.
Some of that cheap real estate isn't too horrible, either. There's a whole
street being taken over by artists, Farnsworth between Moran and McDougall.
Some of the things they've done down there are amazing, and the community
garden is a great bridge to the surrounding neighborhood. A few weeks ago,
someone broke into their shed to steal their garden tools. Think about that
for a moment, hoes and shovels don't have enough pawn value to be worth
carrying out. Whoever took that stuff is probably using it in their own
garden.
Yes, Detroit's got more than its share of bad spots, you're right. I've lived
in the metro area my whole life, and there are areas (I can't call them
neighborhoods) down there where I don't feel safe in daytime, much less at
night. But there are bright spots, and behind every one of them is a person,
or a bunch of people, who refuse to give up.


 Jessica 19. Sep, 2009 at 10:30 am

Myself -- Thanks for the comment and the great information. You are exactly
the kind of person who gives me back the hope I lost on my way into town.
Seems there's a pretty solid group of Detroit residents who are truly
committed to restoring the city, and that's beautiful to see.
Love the fact that people are stealing garden implements (though it's still
sad that they need to).
I will absolutely watch A City To Yourself, thank you for the recommendation.
And when I'm in the area again, I'll go out to Belle Isle and think
long&hard about the future of American cities--as I'm sure you do
occasionally too.


 Reader Not Writer 20. Sep, 2009 at 10:17 pm

Well, growing up not far from Detroit myself, I would point out a few
things:
1. Driving a Honda in Detroit right now probably isn't really going to get
you welcomed with open arms. See, there's a wee bit of loyalty to the Big 3
and driving a foreign car doesn't really scream "solidarity" to those
struggling to survive. Most of the funny looks you got were less about your
color than about your ride. You think I'm kidding, but I couldn't be more
serious -- that Honda is a visceral reminder for people of how the American
consumer has left Detroit in the dust.
2. Detroit (proper) has been dying for a long time -- before the 1968 riots,
even. Its going to take some pioneering individuals to start creating those
pockets of innovation, creativity, and vision. But its not going to happen
with the investment of $100 into a single house. Someone will need to begin
by creating an urban "oasis" that mitigates some of the fears that you had
while driving through the city -- where to buy groceries, a place where you
can feel safe on your own front porch, the freedom to sleep soundly without
worrying about your copper wiring.
3. For all that is wrong with Detroit -- and that's nearly everything --
you'd be astonished by the pride that Detroiters have for their city. They
lack the means to build her back to her former glory, but she won't be
abandoned. For all of those who are trapped there by their circumstances,
there are just as many who insist that they wouldn't live anywhere else.


 Raggedy Anarchy 21. Sep, 2009 at 7:21 pm 
Thank you for the opportunity to see post-BushCo era Detroit through the
prism of your vision.
I've never been there, but ever since that mad, possessed American History
Professor I had, I've been haunted by Detroit. No, even before that -- 
The Dollmaker  has often been called 'America's least pretentious
masterpiece'. (Joyce Carol Oates in the NYTBR)
When folks like Gertie Nevels, and Levon Helm and John Hiatt and my favorite,
John Henry, left the mountains to go wrestle with the Industrial leviathan
in Detroit, they were in it to the death. Detroit won't be the death of the
courage of those early Detroit pioneers; it looks like Nature will prevail
after all. Everybody wins.
I love what you are doing.


 Uncle B 18. Oct, 2009 at 7:53 am 
Is this the monument left behind for the world to witness, by Corporatism,
Capitalism? Is this the greatness they built on earth? Is this the proof
that all countries deserve democracy and its inevitable cancers, corporatism
and capitalism? We die in war to bring this to other countries? This,
American Glory? In a class-less society? This is the final phase, the
crowning glory of America's greatness? Does this show our system's
superiority over the commies in China? The old Soviet Guard? Europe's
follies? Have we really built a "Great Society" or is that all propaganda --
Bull Shiite to hush free thought, eyes to the flag, while our pockets and
resources were raided by shysters, spin-meisters, schmucks and banksters?
Did we build sane, sustainable, survival shelter homes? Do we still have
fertile backyard gardens, filled with the composting of the age? Can any of
what we built be recovered, restored, renovated, into useful shelter? Did
the tools of production really get sold, to the shareholders benefit,
leaving the worker without means to defend himself? Have the great fortunes
earned in trust as "American" for American investment here in America,
really migrated to the Beijing, Shanghai, and Hang-Seng markets, converted
to safer "Yuan" and invested in China's wealth? Did this really happen to
American patriots? Do you still love democracy, corporatism, capitalism and
all it has done for you? Are you really "Free"? Is Conscription just around
the corner, to serve Halliburton(Dubai) in attaining pipeline clearance
through Afghanistan, to Turkmenistan and the oil field there? Are American
lives well spent in thei "Middle East" endevor? Are we just mercenaries for
big oil, not liberators spreading "Freedom"? Is this really just flag-waving
propaganda? What, exactly did we win in Iraq? Cheaper Oil? I think not!
Gratitude of a Free nation? I think not! Why has the "Rust Belt" come into
being? What were we doing? Where did the great society for all, the one we
were told we were building go? Japan? China? To the Uber-Rich? As we sink
into our own ruins, the dark horse rides on America! The dark horse rides
on! Sad.


 Lumpy 22. Oct, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Green movement? You gotta be kidding me! Earth to Jessica: Democrats caused
this. They have the unmidas touch. Every decaying city in America has D's
firmly in control, and has forever.
When you said you were naive, you weren't kidding.


 Jessica Reeder 22. Oct, 2009 at 3:36 pm 
Nope, I wasn't kidding. Put it in writing, didn't I?
Lumpy, I'm not a Democrat and I don't much approve of the Democratic Party.
Just so we're clear on that. I don't think you present a fully-informed
argument on the causes of urban decay, but I don't disagree with you.
I'm not particularly interested in whose fault this mess is; rather, I choose
to focus on how we're going to clean it up. That's where the green movement
comes in, and when I say "green" I'm talking plants not politics.
If you've got some fancy new technology at Boeing that can do more for
people's health and happiness (and for less cost) than a victory garden can
do, please let me know.


 Raggedy Anarchy 24. Oct, 2009 at 6:17 pm

Last I checked, greed, sloth, hubris and waste were all pretty universally
human traits, and I see no halos around either Libertarians, Dems or even
anarchically green-at-heart.
I agree -- Democrats, like country music, have disappointed me too many times
in the past for me to keep on listening. But here's the thing -- frogs are
mutating due to the planet trying to kill itself. Salmon have forgot how to
screw. Otters in post-Valdez Alaska are clawing their own
petro-chemical-burned eyes out in pain.
The patient is earth, and it's not getting better. You want to yell at which
insurance company fucked up, or change a bedpan, so to speak? During times
of crisis (which this is), the ones who will create positive change are
those who accept the hand they are dealt and act. The ones who are educated
and informed and attached to delegating moral judgements will be perfectly
equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. Just ask the
Palestinians who left after the first war to cry over the past. Or ask my
Paiute grandfather. *Or even Friend Salmon, who still haunts my dreams and
tells me not to let us blow each other's asses off the earth until we clean
up the mess we have made.
*That was for Lumpy. Nobody gets laughed at alone in my presence.


 Raggedy Anarchy 24. Oct, 2009 at 6:21 pm 
" ... when I say “green” I’m talking plants not politics."
Wall-E.


 Eric 01. Nov, 2009 at 10:33 pm 
There is now a house for $10 listed on realtor.com


 Helena 19. Nov, 2009 at 1:06 pm 
You told me about this, but it has to be seen to be believed (not that I
didn't believe you!). The richest country in the world ... ?!


 Fred E. 18. Jan, 2010 at 8:09 pm 
Don't forget about the back taxes!


 Parker 15. May, 2010 at 6:56 am 
I find this topic fascinating. I was born in a suburb of Detroit and most of
family still lives there. I will be going back to visit in June. I plan to
take a (Daytime) tour of these decaying areas especially the old factories.
I have the urban explorer fascination. However, the main reason I wanted to
post was to say to "Lumpy", "the democrats have the unmidas touch", LMAO,
that is classic. and I must agree with Lumpy. Freaking hillarious and so
true. Thanks Lump-man. BTW, great blog and great info. Peace.


 Brad 14. Oct, 2010 at 7:02 pm 
I, too checked out a few listings for under $1,000 and was absolutely shocked
at the property taxes. A $1,000 house, which could be fixed up into maybe a
$30-40,000 house comes with a tax bill of $4-6K per year! The taxes on my
$140K house in an urban area of Mississippi are only $1500/year.
Additionally, even if you paid cash for the house, you'd probably want to
carry some homeowner's insurance with all the inherent risks to the property
(arson, vandalism), and I'm sure it's sky-high, given those risks.




