[hudkina]

Palmer Woods is one of the last neighborhoods along Woodward Ave before crossing over into the suburbs. The area was built up in the mid-1900's as one of the last "upper-class" neighborhoods in the city. (Detroit was mostly built-out by 1950.) It is a relatively large district and is part of the larger University Commons neighborhood that also includes Sherwood Forest, Green Acres, Bagley, and the University District.

The median income in Palmer Woods is by far the highest in the city of Detroit, and is higher than all but one suburb (Bloomfield Hillls). Though the neighborhood is still in tip-top shape, the collapse of the housing bubble, coupled with Detroit's high taxes have caused the neighborhood to struggle a bit in the last few years.

I wasn't able to get very many pictures of the neighborhood, as it started to rain. Hopefully, I'll be able to get more pictures later on.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3288/2602921752_7052b88047_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3032/2602922276_4a82c62871_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3150/2602094181_2c6fbbc30c_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2602094031_c517583378_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2602093923_5709dd0b1e_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2602921862_395c9f38c9_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2602922660_94029abaae_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2602922454_024b91200d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/2602922356_e37b733b6c_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2602922202_8a4e186f2e_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/2602922140_b9c322a2c4_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2602093219_cb803e8341_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2602093141_40a2e14d2e_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/2602921928_ec12cb7e27_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2602093857_11517cef68_o.jpg




And since I couldn't get that much of Palmer Woods, I figured I'd add in these older shots of neighboring Sherwood Forest:

http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/014.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/015.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/017.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/018.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/019.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/021.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/022.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/023.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/024.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/025.jpg
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http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/031.jpg
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http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/035.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/037.jpg
http://www.downriverdetroit.net/waynecounty/detroit/westside/sherwoodforest/038.jpg

[Evergrey]

are there any celebrities that live here?

[ColDayMan]

Isn't there a "Bishop House" in Palmer Woods?

[hudkina]

I think most celebrities live in the suburbs where they don't have to pay a personal income tax. (i.e. the Bloomfield Hills area) I think most people who live in these houses are people who have interests in the city, either through major institutions or the city government. Granted, I'm sure you could fetch a lot of these homes for less than $750,000, so you don't necessarily have to be a celebrity to live in Palmer Woods.;)

[Top Of The Park]

Is this where the past auto industry execs used to live?

[PA Pride]

Making that money green.

[LMich]

Is this where the past auto industry execs used to live?

No, that was been Boston-Edison much closer into the center of the city. Palmer Woods/Park and Sherwood Forest is more 'new money' if you can call it that, and as Hudkina made reference to, particular business people with interests within the city of Detroit. Celebrities live out in the suburbs as does the new "new money."

Yes, the old Bishop's residence is located in Palmer Woods. It was completed in 1926.

BTW, The Dorothy Turkel House (http://www.turkelhouse.com/), designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is also located in Palmer Park:

$1.2M renovation of Frank Lloyd Wright's Turkel house reveals architect's original vision (http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/turkel1608.aspx)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/76/171316650_3b69888824_b.jpg
The Javelina - http://www.flickr.com/photos/javelina_in_austin/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/111/291329984_555dda4bd9_b.jpg
string bass dave - http://www.flickr.com/photos/string_bass_dave/

[miketoronto]

Was just in Palmer Woods last Thursday driving around. I wonder if we were in Detroit at the same time???
The most interesting thing I found were the large signs as you enter the neighbourhood letting you know the area is patrolled by private security.

[hudkina]

Most well-to-do neighborhoods in the city have private security. You can't rely on the DPD to do anything about property crime...

[Chelsea Spy]

quite swanky... looks a lot like the sort of houses you see in Surrey in the South of England, real commuter to London territory - except in Surrey those houses would be a £1 million or more...

[erasercut]

I love neighborhoods that have no 2 houses that are alike - which is rare. These look alot like homes in Clayton or University City. Two inner ring suburbs here in St. Louis.

[kcexpress69]

Very nice. These pictures and the ones I saw the other day make you temporarily forget about Detroit's problems. Hopefully those problems are starting to lose their grip and like many cities, Detroit is staging a triumphant return. I hope to keep seeing more of this. Thanks Hudkina!! :D

[Coldrsx]

what would be the rough cost of some of those homes?

[miketoronto]

According to some real estate listings I saw there seem to be homes in many price points over the $300,000 mark. The thing is as nice as these hoods are I don't think I would choose to live in them even if I had the money. And there is one reason for that. You never see people outside. These high end neighbourhoods just don't have the community spirit that more middle class areas have. This neighbourhood does not have people sitting on porches. :)

[Atlantan26]

cute neighborhoods. :)

[hudkina]

The thing is as nice as these hoods are I don't think I would choose to live in them even if I had the money. And there is one reason for that. You never see people outside. These high end neighbourhoods just don't have the community spirit that more middle class areas have. This neighbourhood does not have people sitting on porches. :)

Actually Palmer Woods has a strong and active community organization. While this was taken right as a rainstorm was approaching, there were quite a few people out and about. Kids riding their bikes, people walking their dogs, people working on the yard, etc. In fact, I think there was a Jewish wedding happening in one of the houses. As I was driving through there was probably about 50 or so people hanging out in front of a couple of houses.

[10101000]

A little french twist in there, nice shots by the way.

[tjh1]

^^It's great to see a this side of inner city Detroit.

[denveraztec]

Beautiful homes!

[TinChelseaNYC]

It's not really that big a surprise that a city like Detroit would still have nabes like these. This city was very large and important in its day. Many U.S. cities have these type of "streetcar" suburbs within the City limits (this reminds me of the West End of Allentown, PA or Fieldston and Riverdale in the Bronx or many areas of Queens--there are countless others). They sure are scenic, if slightly suburban, but that's not a put-down. Very nice pictures and it is nice to see "inhabited" Detroit as opposed to the negative, abandoned stereotype. Detroit is lucky that it's been able to maintain the high quality of these types of neighborhoods. Not all American cities have been so fortunate.

[jodelli]

Well, it's not really that big a surprise that a city like Detroit would still have nabes like these. They sure are scenic, if slightly suburban. Very nice pictures and it is nice to see "inhabited" Detroit as opposed to the negative, abandoned stereotype.

Yep. Detroit never had the streets of dense tenements and multi story walkups of some of the eastern cities.
Especially in the square survey areas seen in Google aerials that were drawn from Baseline Road, known over most of its length as 8 Mile. Most homes here even in the city were of low suburban type densities, certainly west of Livernois and north of Warren Road and still inclusive of Palmer Woods.

FWIW, as some here know, the line of 8 Mile extended west also forms the boundary between Illinois and Wisconsin.
And Zero Mile is Cadillac Square and Michigan Ave. roughly to the Dearborn border, then Ford Road from there.

<g> I remember being peeved at The Crow movie, muttering to self 'That's the South Bronx maybe, but it's not Detroit'

[LMich]

It's suburban because it's so far out of the core. It's at the northern edge of a 139-square-mile city. Detroit did have block after block of tenements within the Grand Boulevard Loop, and was every bit as urban a city within the old city core. The difference with Detroit is how quick the transition from the old city core to streetcar suburb happens, and it reflects the relatively late time the city boomed in comparison to other older cities.

Near Eastside inside Loop

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/image/getimage-idx?viewid=415;cc=vmc;entryid=x-415;x=751;y=600;width=751;height=600;res=1;view=image

[Ex-Ithacan]

Wait a minute. Detroit, you say? Where the heck are the burned out hulks of old buildings? Where are the empty-lot blocks? What are you trying to feed us here?


J/K

Some real beauties in there. I like the neighborhoods with different styles of housing too. They may not be as expensive as similar homes in many cities, but I couldn't afford the furniture required to fill most of those rascals.

Nice job hud, thanks for the tour.

[whatsthepoint13]

looks kinds swanky, like the Barrigada Heights area, here in Guam.

[jodelli]

It's suburban because it's so far out of the core. It's at the northern edge of a 139-square-mile city. Detroit did have block after block of tenements within the Grand Boulevard Loop, and was every bit as urban a city within the old city core. The difference with Detroit is how quick the transition from the old city core to streetcar suburb happens, and it reflects the relatively late time the city boomed in comparison to other older cities.



Dense yes, urban yes, but nonetheless still mostly single family and duplex dwellings in that picture you posted of the lower east side.
Here are some tenements:
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/image/getimage-idx?viewid=21175;cc=vmc;entryid=x-21175;quality=1;view=image
c. Wayne State Reuther Library

This form factor appeared for the most part in a corridor several blocks wide extending between downtown and the New Center and not that much elsewhere in the city other than the east waterfront.

[WilliamTheArtist]

Very nice homes. I really like the ones that have a Tudor or Gothic influence. Gives a little extra meaning to "A mans home is his castle." lol

[hudkina]

Detroit was a city built for the middle-class, which made it so much more apparent when the middle-class left. That's why you don't see as many tenements, etc.

[Crawford]

Detroit was fairly dense, but it certainly never had many tenements.

NYC is the only American city that has a large concentration of tenements. Even places like Philly and Chicago do not have many tenements. Tenements are prewar 4-7 floor walk-up buildings.