ChrisSED

Randolph Street is actually decent. It can take you right down to both Hart Plaza and the Renaissance Center with no problems, but good luck with traffic while trying to get across East Jefferson Avenue - the lights there are ungodly slow. There's actually a nice restaurant right off Randolph called Lori's. They got the best wines in the world in my opinion so that's worth a shot. City Hall isn't that far away either; maybe less then a block from East Larned and Randolph. At least there you can see the infamous Spirit of Detroit statue. You can in theory cut down Cadillac Square too, which will take you over to Woodward Avenue and Campus Martius Park. While there, check out that nice little confectionary shop right in Campus Martius. It's a bit expensive but worth the visit. There's a few good bars up and down Randolph Street too, particulary one right by East Congress that I thought had an "Irish" feel to it. It's a nice street overall and safe.

I did get to see Comerica Park and Ford Field from behind, but Montcalm Street isn't much to brag about. Most of the street contains parking lots for both Comerica Park and Ford Field, and on top of that it's right alongside I-75. There's really no restaurants or any other businesses to speak of either; most of them are located either on Adams Ave, Brush Street, Madison, or Woodward Avenue. I guess if you're looking for a parking spot then Montcalm will help you get there, but good luck on game day.

Trumbull Street has gone downhill ever since Tiger Stadium was closed. Not many buildings on Trumbull looked like they'd be worth living in except for the immediate area surrounding Wayne State University, but at least the residents seem nice. I didn't find any bars or clubs worth writing about, other then a few which are located off Trumbull down on Michigan Avenue, and with restaurants there wasn't much worth remembering. I ran across maybe one park too, and that was Scripps Park. It was very rundown. It's badly in need of a renovation of some sort. I only found a few convenience stores too, and I can say I really wouldn't care to do business with any single one of them again - the owners seemed almost kind of aloof and ignorant. I guess if you're a sports buff though then Trumbull might be a good spot even though they've been tearing down old Tiger Stadium for months. It's kind of a shame because I liked walking by there every day too.

Congress Street isn't too bad. While I can't make any valid arguments for the outlying parts of Congress Street, the downtown section of it is actually nice. You can see Cadillac Square, get to Campus Martius Park, Hart Plaza, or other various landmarks within minutes on Congress, and the train service they run throughout the downtown area is rather nice if you're a tourist. It's been a while for me too but I do believe that Congress also takes you past St. Andrew's Hall in downtown Detroit, a must-see place for any person who's a concert fanatic. Congress only runs so far though, maybe out to Third Avenue at best but it can get you around to places. There's a few decent restaurants that are sort of tucked away in hiding too but that's pretty much it as far as this street goes. It's been a while since I've been on it so I got a bit of a rusty memory but I hope this helps someone out.

The downtown portion of Fort Street is ok. It runs through Wayne County Community College's downtown campus and brings you close to the Renaissance Center, Joe Louis Arena, and Cobo Arena but the rest of Fort Street isn't anything to jump up and down over. A lot of it passes through smog infested industrial zones located close to the Detroit River, and it goes through some questionable neighborhoods too. I'm glad I only rode down Fort Street on the bus...I wouldn't care to walk through any of the neighborhoods I passed through. I'd honestly feel unsafe in all of them.

For the most part, Bagley Street is ok. There's not much to do as far as the nightlife goes, but if you look carefully enough there is an actually awesome goth/industrial rock club called "City Club" inside of the Leland Hotel on Bagley and First Street, a good small concert venue called The Labyrinth on the Cass Avenue side of the hotel, a decent diner (for those on a tight budget), and the Leland Hotel itself has reasonable rates. For the rest of Bagley though it's not an ideal street. There's a lot of run down buildings and the residents in the area seem depressed and unfriendly. That's pretty much all I can say.

I really hated living here. I actually stayed on Lawton for 3 months right by the freeway and wouldn't care to do so again. While the residents in the adjoining apartment complex seemed nice (to an extent), it just wasn't my type of area to live in. It's clear the city doesn't keep the street in good condition either. I almost dislocated my ankle on several occasions while walking out to Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. I couldn't live there again. And it seemed like the cops were being called at least 3 times a night out to various parts of the neighborhood. There's a skunk infestation that pops up over and over again too. I'm glad I moved off that street.

I'm going to be blunt: this street sucks. It's the worse one I've been on outside of Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. There are no good restaurants to speak of (practically very few in all reality), there's very few stores, dozens of abandoned factories and warehouses, dozens of abandoned business buildings, and run-down or abandoned houses. This just screams "slums" to me. The few restaurants I did find were in very poor condition, as were the stores. I'd be appalled if I were any given county or city health inspector going into these places. There's a lot of seemingly drug addicted individuals that I saw wandering up and down Livernois Avenue itself, and if you're out at night? Well just watch your back. Avoid this avenue at all costs unless absolutely necessary.

There's only maybe 2 or 3 good things about W Grand Blvd. On one hand, it runs through portions of Wayne State University which can be somewhat of a benefit if you're a college student, but if you're dependent on bus transportation, you're stuck with either SMART or DDOT, the latter of which only goes by each separate designated spot on an hourly basis. Not good if you're trying to get anywhere. The Henry Ford Hospital is right off of W. Grand Blvd too which is a good thing I guess, considering that Henry Ford Hospital has an excellent reputation for their healthcare services there. And you can also find the Fisher Theater too. That is, if you enjoy Broadway plays. Otherwise I wouldn't want to live on this street, although it might be good if you're out having a night on the town so to speak.

I used to go up and down Michigan Avenue all the time on Route 200 (SMART bus route). From what I've seen, the part of Michigan Avenue that runs through Detroit would not be an area I'd want to live in. For one thing, it goes through several bad neighborhoods (as far as crime activity is concerned). There were far too many instances where I saw one or more police cars and an ambulance or two at various spots along the street. There's not very many stores other then seemingly second hand shops which I think number in the range of about two dozen. There's a few bars from what I've seen and maybe one or two adult gentleman's clubs but those aren't exactly family friendly. There's a lot of vacant stores up and down the section of Michigan Avenue that extends through Detroit too. All of them plus the few dozen empty houses I could spot all made the area appear dirty to me. There's a lot of construction that seems to go on almost year round on Michigan Avenue too. The only real good sections of Michigan Avenue run through Wayne, Westland, Dearborn Heights and Dearborn itself. I'd avoid the stretch of Michigan Avenue that runs from about 6th Street out to the city limits if at all possible. I wouldn't recommend anyone try living along this strip either. And also on a side note, don't expect to see much on the part of Michigan Avenue that runs through Inkster either. There's a run down strip mall right on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Inkster Road, maybe one or two shops, 2 gas stations, and a few questionable restaurants as well. It's not my type of road to go down at all.

Gratiot Avenue sucks! Many structures up and down Gratiot are in poorly kept condition. There's always a high threat of crime too. I think the only highlight from being on Gratiot is that it takes you up to better outlying areas of Detroit (Roseville and Mt. Clemens for example) and Faygo's HQ. You're better off taking the freeway to get anywhere.

I love Madison Street! It's one of the few cleanest streets in Detroit! You'll find a lot to do on this street. You can find Cheli's Chili on one end of the street, and on the other you'll go by Ford Field (though I necessarily can't recommend going to see the Lions play). Comerica Park is in extremely close proximity, and there's some decent restaurants scattered up and down Madison Street. The Detroit Opera House is close to Madison Street too. It's worth a look if you're a visitor. I don't know anything about living opportunities though.

I would never want to live on this street again. I lived here for about 2 years and hated every second of it. Many of the houses where I lived by were poorly kept and...well, a bunch of eyesores. The crime rate for Cass Avenue is ridiculously high, with most of it being drugs and break-ins. There's always the threat of being caught in the crossfire of drive-bys too. The street itself is maintained decently by the city, but the volume of traffic is ridiculous even on weekends. I always thought I was going to get run over any day. The nightlife is nonexistent too. The few stores I knew of were literally run down dumps with clear signs of insect infestation. Avoid this street if possible.

W. Warren Avenue is nice for maybe a few reasons. It runs through Wayne State University's campus. There's tons of restaurants and little stores so you got a good variety when it comes to eating out or shopping. The housing there isn't bad at all, though most of it is aimed at students. It's one of the few actually safe and secure parts of Detroit, and the apartments around there appear nice from just the outside. There's never really a dull moment either - Wayne State University holds a lot of festivals and other various cultural festivals throughout the year. It's not bad to live there at all but I can't recommend the area for families, couples, or retirees.

Monroe Street to me is an excellent place to go to for anyone who wants to experience a rather good time in downtown Detroit. At the start of Monroe Street is Compuware's headquarters, which includes several rather decent small stores, the Detroit Hard Rock Cafe, and Borders Books which is expensive but nice. Monroe Street itself ends up in Greektown, one of the best parts of Detroit. As far as living is concerned, there are the Greektown lofts but they're expensive from what few ads I saw while visiting this area. For restaurants in this area, I can recommend Plaka's (fast service and it's convenient), Pizza Papalis, and for those with a higher budget, the Pegasus Taverna (inside Greektown Casino), Mosaic (across the street) and for fans of cajun food, there's Fishbone's Rhythm Cafe. For outer appearances, Monroe Street itself is well kept. It's also, by far, the safest street in all of Detroit seeing as how Detroit Police Department's headquarters are close by.

West Lafayette for the most part is ok. The section that extends from around Michigan Avenue, Griswold Street and Lafayette is by far the best section of this entire avenue mainly for one reason: the existence of American Coney Island, by far the best thing Detroit offers aside from the Wings, Pistons and Tigers. For the most part, there are sections of West Lafayette Avenue that are ok, mainly the part that extends from Griswold and Michigan down to about 3rd Avenue (which puts you in close proximity to MGM Casino), and the section running from around 6th Street to Rosa Parks Boulevard. For the rest of Lafayette within Detroit, avoid it. A lot of the remaining run for West Lafayette looked extremely rundown and unsafe to me. However, check out John King's Used Books if you're a die hard reader. I saw literally millions of books in there, many of which fit my various lines of interest.

While I can't say much about the outlying sections of Woodward Avenue, I can say that there's a few decent sections of it that I like, all of which are either close to downtown or in it. Rent-wise Woodward Avenue is nowhere near cheap. It does take you up to Wayne State University's campus if you're a person who plans on going to that school though. The nightlife in the downtown section is great depending on where you go. You can easily locate the Hard Rock Cafe inside the Compuware Center, part of which is centered on a large portion of Woodward Avenue itself. For sports enthusiasts, you can very easily locate Comerica Park on the outskirts of downtown, located just next door to the Ford Field House. For concert-goers, there is the Magic Stick/Bag right on Woodward, the Fillmore, and the Fox Theater, all within a 5 to 6 minute drive along a mile and a half stretch of Woodward Avenue. All venues offer varying rock, country, pop, hip/hop and alternative acts throughout the year. You can find tons of restaurants around Woodward Avenue, the most famous of which includes Hockeytown Bar & Grill across from Comerica Park, Cheli's Chili (both within a block of each other), and many other decent restaurants outside of those two. For parks, there isn't much aside from Grand Circus Park and Campus Martius, but Campus Martius I will say is a great place to go see free concerts during the summer and also to get involved in winter-time activities there too. Overall if you're looking for a seemingly decent area to live in, I'd try living on the section of Woodward Avenue between Warren Avenue and downtown Detroit itself.

I couldn't be paid enough to live on this street again. The physical condition of this street is not good. There's a lot of eyesores in the way of abandoned buildings and overgrown empty lots. Recreational activities in this area are sorely lacking and there's painfully few valuable stores around. The crime rate from what I saw is high too. Most of the problems affecting the area don't help matters any. Most of it is drug issues and some signs of gang activity. As far as schools go I've only seen maybe 2 or 3 schools around there. Most, if not all the houses, look just from their outer appearances as if they're owned by careless slum lords. Traffic is horrible too. The only bright spot is that this street is close to downtown Detroit. Don't live here or visit at all!