Detroit Real Estate

About two years ago I was interviewed by an out of state reporter that was writing about City of Detroit Urban farming.  I almost had to laugh back then and still am firm in my belief that urban farming would never work in the City of Detroit.  There is only one way it would work and that is if the neighborhood residents had their own block to urban farm.

Some of the reasons why urban farming would not work.

1. Theft people steal everything in Detroit.  Detroit has a high crime rate.  Higher than any Metro Detroit city. They steal furnaces, copper plumbing, and  hot water heaters out of homes.  They will steal the crop.  You have to remember the demographics of Detroit is low income people.  I have friends in the suburbs that steal corn out of the farmers fields behind them.  They would do it in Detroit too.  Some people's morals.....
2. How and where would they put the tractors?  Storage would be an issue because of the theft issue.
3. The trash in Detroit city blocks that are vacant.  There is so much trash on vacant land in the City of Detroit.  It would take a lot of manpower and dollars to haul away the trash.  A clean plowed field would be a magnet for people to dump trash there.  It would be a re-occuring problem

I wish Detroit urban farming would work as 1/3 of the City of Detroit is now vacant.  But I am realistic it wouldn't work at this point in time.  If I was a farmer I would farm the country side rather than the City of Detroit.

But I think Detroit urban farming would work for a resident/residents of a neighborhood that lived nearby to protect their crop from thieves.

Just my thoughts as a Metro Detroit realtor - Russ Ravary