Detroit

[gradeAfailure]

So, work might be shipping me out to Detroit for a few days (Highland Park area) and everyone I know is giving me all the horror stories about the place - Top Gear having to have an armed escort when filming the Ford GT piece and so on...

Is it really that bad?

[Nobody You Know]

Robocop will make sure you are o.k....

[Rawwr]

Yes.

Based on population of 914,000

Detroit Murders: 418
Detroit Rapes: 593
Detroit Robberies: 7240
Detroit Aggravated Assaults: 13143
Detroit Burglaries: 18134
Detroit Larceny/Thefts: 21287
Detroit Motor Vehicle Thefts: 22917
Detroit Arsons: 859

[Hedders]

Rawwr said:

Yes.

Based on population of 914,000

Detroit Murders: 418
Detroit Rapes: 593
Detroit Robberies: 7240
Detroit Aggravated Assaults: 13143
Detroit Burglaries: 18134
Detroit Larceny/Thefts: 21287
Detroit Motor Vehicle Thefts: 22917
Detroit Arsons: 859

And that wasn't even a particularly bad day.

[gradeAfailure]

Joy...

How does that compare to, say, London?

Daft question, but would it be feasible to stay over the river in Windsor?

[Rawwr]

Hedders said:

And that wasn't even a particularly bad day.

Sorry, forgot to include a timescale.

That was my lunch hour.

[M3CHA-MONK3Y]

Best bet is to only go out at night, swear in a funny british way and generally insult the natives......wait, you are trying to get raped aren't you?

Opposite then. Don't go out to late at night, ask a friendly waitress or something where to steer clear of and travel by taxi. Should be okay, its America, not Bosnia.

[gradeAfailure]

M3CHA-MONK3Y said:

Don't go out to late at night, ask a friendly waitress or something where to steer clear of and travel by taxi.

That was pretty much my plan...!

Anyone have any direct experience?

[Spiritual_Beggar]

Look on the bright side though......

...at least it aint Philly

[Slikk]

Spiritual_Beggar said:

...at least it aint Philly

Thats a fact. Dairylea is much nicer

[Podie]

gradeAfailure said:

Is it really that bad?

Yeah, it's a hole.

Inner city is a hole, outer ring a bit better, then the section outside that is a hole again.

[GCH]

Spiritual_Beggar said:

Look on the bright side though......

...at least it aint Philly

Even the worst part of west philly is a hell of a lot safer than most of detroit.
Philly isn't that bad..

Detroit on the other hand- be very careful where you go, and when.

Edited by GCH on Tuesday 27th January 16:20

[130R]

Detroit is flat-out the worst big city in the whole of America. Very high crime, abandoned buildings everywhere, a lot of racial tension, and just one economic disaster after another.

[A1GOY]

I went there in the Summer. We had a million people tell us that we were garuanteed to be killed and the weaker of the four would be raped, etc...
We stayed in a really grotty motel in a nasty bit of town and guess what? We saw no crime and people were polite. We walked into the middle of town and there was noone there, aside from a few homeless guys.
If you can go see the Ford and Motown Museums. You'll be fine.

[Dai Capp]

Worked out of Detroit for 4 weeks a number of years ago as part of a longer stint in US.

I did Detriot, Philidelphia, Boston and St Louis. Detriot was no worse that St Louis and better sgnificantly than Philidelphia in my experience. Felt far more exposed in Philidelphia - just plain scarey...

As long as you follow some simple rules such as if you suddenly notice more police turn around and leave the area you'll be fine. Also in my experience the company you stay with take good care of you and they don't tend to think it would be funny to send you to the bad areas just for a laugh, so listen to them and any advice they give.

DC