Is Grosse Pointe stable, long-term? Still a U-M feeder?
When I was growing up The Pointes were one of the premier suburbs in the US. Even five years ago, U-M accepted nearly 75 Grosse Pointe South High School students per year (source: http://www.michigandaily.com/content/feeder-schools). But a buddy of mine at work said The Pointes remind him a lot of Cleveland's Shaker Heights, a formerly tony suburb that turned pretty average twenty-five or so years ago. I looked up the latest high school rankings for the state:
1-3 International Academies of Macomb, Bloomfield Hills, Washtenaw
4 City High, Grand Rapids
5 Seaholm, Birmingham
6 Saginaw Arts & Sciences
7 Okemos
8 Community, Ann Arbor
9 Adams, Rochester
10 East Grand Rapids
11 Northville
12 Troy
13 Forest Hills Central
13 Saline
15 Chelsea
16 Pioneer, Ann Arbor
17 Washtenaw Tech
18 Skyline, Ann Arbor
19 Athens, Troy
19 Novi
21 Houghton Central
22 Stoney Creek, Rochester
23 Black River (Public Charter), Holland
23 Harbor Springs
25 Forest Hills East
25 Grosse Pointe South
...
86 Grosse Pointe North
source: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/MI/schoolrank.aspx?level=3
With public schools being one method to gauge long-term appeal, it would seem in and around Ann Arbor is the star of the show. Northville, eastern burbs of Grand Rapids, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham and Rochester/Oakland Township also seem to be investment worthy.
January 26th, 2015 at 11:51 AM ^
but it makes for a good movie.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
Grosse Pointe Blank is one of my all-time favorite movies.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
but I guess you can shop there.
January 26th, 2015 at 11:53 AM ^
January 26th, 2015 at 12:00 PM ^
Name me one city in SE Michigan that doesn't have subtle racism.
I'll wait.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
He just did. He doesn't like it because of its 'NOT so subtle racism.' He'd prefer the subtle version.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:13 PM ^
Although personally I prefer bigotry to be right out in the open where I can see it.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
Then you probably love GP. Other than Howell, I don't know if there's a more historically bigoted city in Michigan. While some below have pointed out treatment of blacks in GP, let's not forget how poorly GP treated Jews and immigrants in general. There are some beautiful homes in GP, but it's not a city with a great history of goodness.
January 26th, 2015 at 1:49 PM ^
Poor treatment of Jews in GP? First off, you could count the Jewish families in the Pointes on one hand. At least when I grew up there.
Second, the ones that were there had no problems at all and were in fact upstanding members of the community quite well treated. Perhaps you've heard of the Kricksteins?
January 26th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
You realize that GP screened prospective property owners to avoid sales to Jews and blacks, right? That likely explains why you didn't have a lot of Jewish families in the area when you grew up there. Dude, thinking that GP is/was welcoming to Jews is like thinking that a fried chicken diet is good for weight loss.
It was probably that great treatment you describe that led my father and his friends (all Jewish) to be rounded up by the cops (1950's) and removed from GP...for being Jewish. While Jews can now buy property in GP (oh, such an honor), not many of us would ever want to live there.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
You're dinging the Pointes for something that happened in the *50's*? Really?
I grew up there. I have personal knowledge. I can tell you Jews were not mistreated nor slandered.
January 26th, 2015 at 3:36 PM ^
January 26th, 2015 at 7:40 PM ^
If by "lately" you mean since the 1960's you might have a point. I can't speak to a time earlier than that.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^
on the being removed from GP for being Jewish point. I've never heard anything of the sort.
The practice you're referring to was/is called redlining, and it happened everywhere, not just GP. Although it may have been worse in GP than in other areas, as GP is the only wealthy suburb that directly shares a border with Detroit.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:22 PM ^
None of the cities had laws doing that, at least not as far back as 1970. Also, you're father's recollection of the incident might be a little different than the cops' version.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^
The comments showing blissful ignorance of GP's past are crazy. I won't get too deep into what seems to be some serious head-in-the-sand action, but my 12-year old dad and his nerdy buddies weren't exactly what you'd call a security threat.
Reading these comments, you'd think GP was a model city...holy shit. I now have a number of friends from GP, most of whom are pretty ashamed of its (recent) past. It's pretty sad to see anyone defend rather than apologize for GP's past.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:47 PM ^
No head in the sand. I grew up there. I know damn well what I'm talking about. You're a BS artist with chip on his shoulder.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:59 PM ^
Shitty things happened 50 years ago to all sorts of different groups of people. Half my family was killed by the German army. Does that mean that everyone currently alive there is a Nazi?
Time to let it go.
January 26th, 2015 at 5:57 PM ^
Telling people to "let it go" won't help your case.
January 26th, 2015 at 3:01 PM ^
It's pretty sad to see that people think that if it happened in the '50s it must still be exactly the same today.
January 26th, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^
My comments are based on personal knowledge. Yours seem to be based on the 60 year old recollections of someone who was twelve at the time.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:31 PM ^
You do realize when my parents bought a house in Bloomfield Township in 1960 both the deed and the subdivision rules precluded selling the house to any non-Aryans? People pick on GP all lthe time for things that were common in all suburbs ( and even the city of Detroit) at the time. Not defending discrimination against Jews and blacks but I never read anything about the racist history of Bloomfield Township. That's fine. But I live in Grosse Pointe Park and if I had even a slightly better throwing arm I could easily put a baseball onto Alter Road from my back yard. I invite all of you judges of the racism of GPP to buy the house next door to me and live with that lawless failed state that is eastside Detroit 100 yards from your fence line. You might find barriers to keep the thieves and their guns out of your house not so unreasonable.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:38 PM ^
Let's try this again...because in 1960 your parents (unless they were proper, white folk) could NOT have bought a house in GP. They were, clearly, able to buy a house in Bloomfield. Restrictive convenants in deeds were indeed common (despite their shittiness) and ignored all over the country. Former Chief Justice Rehnquist even had restrictive convenants in his home's deed....though that guy should have had it removed just for the sake of decent appearance.
There is a difference between restrictive convenants (as much as they suck; they're also ignored) and banning sales to minorities.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:59 PM ^
Let's try this again. I grew up in GP ('82 grad), my family stayed after I left and I still have family there.
Not once, not a single solitary time did I *ever* hear a Jewish slur or see someone mistreated.
In fact as a youngster the rotating presidency at Lochmoor was held for a year by a Jewish guy. Big hitting lefty.
January 26th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
Hard to mistreat someone who isn't there.
January 26th, 2015 at 3:16 PM ^
The Pointes also banned Poles during that time as well. I'm well over half Polish and never had a problem while growing up. People know the history, and the vast majority put it behind them because it just doesn't matter as much anymore. It is nowhere near as prevalent as it used to be. Those days are dead. Is there still a sense of entitlement? Absolutely. Are you going to be run out of town for being Jewish/Black/etc.? No.
January 26th, 2015 at 3:43 PM ^
OK smarty, would it change your mind to know that growing up in GP, I had some very good friends who were Jewish, moved there over 30 years ago, are still there, and are awfully far to the left side of the political spectrum? The latter, meaning that they would be the kind of people who'd be loud and vocal about any discrimination they noticed and assuredly wouldn't have stuck around if there were any of it directed at them.
It probably wouldn't change your mind, which is sort of the definition of an intractible stereotype, but keep on stereotyping in a way you feel is acceptable.
January 26th, 2015 at 5:30 PM ^
My folks were proper WASPs and could have bought in GP and Bloomfield. My point is that in 1960 there was little difference between Bloomfield Twp (where I grew up) and Grosse Pointe where I now live. Yet, all you hear is how racist GP was and no one ever says that about Bloomfield. I had one afro american classmate from K-12 in Bloomfield Hills schools. 1. Total. For all years. Why no stories about how racist Bloomfield Hills Schools were and how the real estate brokers kept blacks out? People love to stereotype Grosse Pointers and make fun of things like the farmer's market, barriers, cul de sacs, etc. To which I say, come on down and live next to a lawless, crime-ridden, and really dangerous city and see whether you might not support some barriers to try to keep that stuff (whatever race happens to be perpetrating it) out of your community. Easy to pontificate from miles away. Harder when its in your backyard. (almost literally)
January 26th, 2015 at 7:54 PM ^
Your ability and willingness to fabricate nonsense is astonishing. Restrictive covenants based on race were unenforcable in courts since Shelley v. Kraemer in 1948. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibited similar state action, as the US Supreme Court made clear in Hurd v. Hodge the same year.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:08 PM ^
You couldn't get more bigoted than Dearborn under Orville Hubbard. The guy was pure racist.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
January 26th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
may be more out in the open in GP, due to their proximity to Detroit, but if you think that there is more racism there than elsewhere in SE Michigan, you are seriously mistaken.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^
January 26th, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
I love that comment. I think it's funny regardless of which side of the bananas you stand on.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
To be fair, the Pointes are in an awkward situation, being a wealthy area immediately bordering some of Detroit's worst neighborhoods. Most of the other suburbs that border Detroit are not particularly wealthy and aren't going to be potential targets for thieves the way the Pointes are. It's not surprising that they have a heavy police presence.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:45 PM ^
pretty egregious of them. But if my million dollar houses were next to that burned out shell of a neighborhood on Alter Rd, I'd put up a wall too.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^
We just FORM A FUCKING WALL here to keep out the poor folk
January 26th, 2015 at 1:26 PM ^
January 26th, 2015 at 1:52 PM ^
Yes, we could ask the family of Dr Benjamin Gravel just how quickly society deteriorates past Windmill Pointe.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:07 PM ^
You can tell the race of the shooter from listening to their gunshots? Do tell.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
see a mention of race until you brought it up.
January 26th, 2015 at 2:26 PM ^
Poster said he doesn't care about the color of a shooter, not that he can tell it from hearing a gunshot.
January 26th, 2015 at 1:55 PM ^
Crime in Grosse Pointe consists almost entirely of thieves from Detroit (and drunk drivers on Lakeshore.) The most recent murder to actually take place in GP was perpetrated by some guy from Detroit via Louisiana who was illegally living in the attic of the flat he shared with the victim. A high school kid from GP was recently gunned down just a couple blocks from the border and that crime will never be solved because snitches get stitches. Another resident of GP was recently beaten up in the same neighborhood after taking a wrong turn home from a bar, not long after the Utash incident. Every road leading into and out of GP from Detroit is a potholed moonscape and there are more vacant lots than buildings, and more vacant buildings than occupied ones.
But it's a couple racist sheds, which formed a visual barrier but not a real one because a bypass was set up through the alley, that are the REAL problem in relations between GP and Detroit.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 26th, 2015 at 4:15 PM ^
Name me one city in the world that doesn't have subtle racism
Fixed it.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^
Maybe it's me, but I didn't find it all that subtle, though honestly name a place in America that doesn't have some pretty bad racism. Hell, Gizmodo had an interesting story about the history of Portland, Oregon basically being created on racism. I won't make this too political, but disliking a city because it's kinda racist is going to severely limit where anyone can live.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
Since human beings are tribal creatures, every community on earth can probably be found to demonstrate "subtle racism". Id suggest not going around to look hard for it.
January 26th, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
Now that is a completely ignorant statement. You obviously have no clue as to what you are talking about. Do you get your information from the News and Free Press' comments section?
I'm glad you don't 'like the area' - that way, we won't have to worry about uninformed idiots like yourself moving here.
January 26th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
January 26th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
I had never really heard of the school, yet in my first week on campus, I wondered how the two guys who lived one door down in the dorm already knew all these people! They from Troy Athens and it seemed like close to 100 kids from their class had come to U of M.