Littlefield

Many potential investors are finding that they can get a lot for a little here. You can get a great house that doesn't need much in the way of updates for very little money. That's the good news....but the bad is that this is in a less than desirable area.

Though there are some homes that are intact and apparently cared for, they are in the minority. Many of the homes here have become rundown or have just become abandoned over time. What used to be a thriving area running along Fenkel is now just not a great area of town.

There are some stores and restaurants nearby so it's not as if you are without what you need. You are in a pretty decent part of town witha playground nearby but overall many people aren't drawn here. If you have the money to invest and are indifferent to the neighborhood as a whole then this could be a good match.

The problem is that it's really truly hit or miss. If you are okay with not knowing what surrounds you then you can take a gamble. If however you are worried about your surroundings or have children that you want a good area for, then this may not be the best area of town. It has some good points but it also has some bad points too.

When I went to Cooley High summer school, I met a very influential teacher there who really cared about her students, and she lived in this area. I think she had a bungalow or something on Ward Street, and she used to invite students to her house! In fact me and my friends still keep up with her on Facebook and visit her occasionally.

Of course her home was nice, quaint and kept up, and so was most of the street in general. But like so many neighborhoods in Detroit, you can have one nice street and a rundown one the next block over. This was not the greatest part of town, but you didn't have a lot of the locals giving you the evil eye like they do in some places. In general, what you had here was a lot of one-story and two-story brick houses.

One of the major streets that border this neighborhood is Fenkell. Yes, you have public transit and some retail outlets, but overall the level of traffic and noise over here is a bit disconcerting. And you also have your share of boarded up storefronts. There are also schools in this area, a plus for young families.

Schaeffer, Lyndon St, and Meyers are the other major roads close to this neighborhood, and the buses run on Schaeffer and Lyndon. The closest major freeway is probably the Lodge two or three miles away. Overall if you are familiar with the area and your neighbors, this can be an OK neighborhood by Detroit standards.