Detroit. One House at a Time | Episode 2 | This Old House

Soon after setting foot in the front door, the Polks decided that this old house would become their home. As family friend Jamal Johnson recalls their first visit, “We didn’t even make it upstairs, and I said, ‘This is the one.’” 

This Russell Woods-area home is one of several options the Polks had to choose from. A 2016 report showed that Detroit had 52,947 vacant properties at the time, which equates to nearly one in five houses. That’s a lot to comb through when you’re looking for a place to call home, but the Polks are certain that’s what they have.
 
The Detroit Land Bank auctions homes to Detroit families (the median price for the 926 homes auctioned so far is $3,700). The Polks’ home came with roof damage and missing copper plumbing – fairly common problems with these houses that were largely abandoned during the housing market crash a decade ago–but also had lots of fixer-upper potential.

About This Old House TV:
This Old House is the No. 1 multimedia home enthusiast brand, offering trusted information and expert advice through award-winning television, a highly regarded magazine, and an information-driven website. This Old House and Ask This Old House are produced by This Old House Ventures, LLC and are presented on PBS by WETA Washington, DC.

Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House:

Detroit. One House at a Time | Episode 2 | This Old House

[pigoff]

I am so proud that you are saving them

[actthree]

The distinction between "house" and "Home" is an interesting one and one made very well by the person in your video. One other you might consider: We think we own these old houses but if they are well made and have a history, we are only renting them from history. They will live on after we have gone if he have taken care of them.

I look forward to seeing the TV series.

[johnnyluck]

You need to work on a larger section at once to make a difference. One house in the middle of 200 home is not going to make much of an impact to the problem. Good luck with the project.

[henryostman]

As a 'reformed' urban planner, I for years attended conferences that always started with "when the great march back into the cities I just don't see it happening. Families who buy houses are looking for good schools, low crime, and resale value. Even after you've fixed up the house you still have the rest of the neighborhood, the dilapidated streets, the leaky sewers, and the overage schools with leaky roofs and unreliable heat. City leaders even in Detroit, have not accepted the auto as something that will be around for a while, i.e. you need to park them. I saw small towns paper their down-towns with parking meters, the ultimate tool in undoing of the shopping district. How many small to mid sized cities don't have a department store or supermarket within their boundaries? Manhattan, a borough in NYC, has a population of over 1 million, I believe it has ONE supermarket, lots of folks there will rent a car and drive to NJ to do a big grocery event every month or so. Mayor Bloomberg had his butler handle this chore. The leadership of most of our cities is clueless as to the needs of the average citizen. The government is tilted to those with special needs and not to taxpaying workers who they need to pay the bills.

[BuzzMashy]

I wish that they would disclose the cost of the projects on TOH. The last one, Arlington Arts and Crafts project must have cost hundreds of thousands, with the amount of work they've done. It's not a project any "normal" family income can support (it's obvious that they were pretty well off) - it was great, but just not relateable. That is to say, is this something that i can get done to my home.

If they're gonna say rebuild Detroit, that's great and all, but let's be REAL, real and put the cost on the project so the audience can relate to what they're trying to get done.

[sizzling_rozes]

Little telltale signs that let you know that whoever lived here, cared. ❤️

[johnnyluck]

I know of people buying properties the Detroit for under $10, 000. Some people has bought hundreds of properties just waiting for things to turn around. That why it's that many houses vacant and looking abandoned.

[genxmurse]

Renovating classic homes is a beautiful thing; but seriously, is there anything going on in Detroit that's worth moving back to?

[redneckbryon]

I fully agree with the statement they made in this video a lot of beautiful homes in Detroit.
the unfortunate part is if these homes were in just about any other city state or country referring to Canada or the UK, in a lot of cases these would-be million dollar homes.
But due to the situations in Detroit these homes are going for next to nothing in so many cases the Government and Corporate Greed are to blame in past years, hopefully with the New Administration meaning Donald Trump, he will fulfill his campaign promises and help bring people and jobs back to cities like Detroit.
In so many cases people will be able to get very good deals on historic homes and potentially in the Future Turn Around a significant profit, I personally hope Detroit can make a turnaround and gift cities like New York a good run for their money.

[reijerlincoln]

Nice sentiment but - this being Detroit - curious to hear what the business case is.

[adamtheheavyequipmentmechanic]

those houses are soooo close together, i'd buy three houses tear too of them down and build a garage and have enough room for a yard and a dog.

[mickeyt]

When are they going to start fixing stuff? 2 episodes, nothing done.

[caddyguy]

This is all well and good, but don't people moving back into those houses kind of need jobs?

[henryostman]

Cities occur for a reason, NY is a port city, Chicago is a rail center, DC is a center of government. Detroit was a center for manufacturing cars, before that it was a moderate sized city that did other things but the growth into a larger city was primarily fueled by the auto industry. The auto industry has to a large extent moved on, noting that we still manufacture a large number of autos in the US but just not in Detroit, many of the new plants are in the right to work states in the South. Another factor is changes in the industry, the old Chrysler plant in Detroit recently reopened to great fanfare, yet if you look at it, the plant in its heyday employed 2000 men who with hammer and tongs beat Chryslers out of metal, today, 2000 droids do that, 200 workers (not all men) basically pick up droid droppings and oil their joints. So if Detroit wants to return to being a big city it needs to find a new sponsor, autos are effectively gone as a core source of employment.

What is left? After bankruptcy the city is left with a smaller government that might be sustainable but it still has the urban problems of a very high crime rate, a failing school system, lots of unemployed folks and a lot of them are functionally unemployable, to have a job you have to bring some kind of a skill set to the workplace (breathing is not an employment skill). Add to this the city's infrastructure (water, sewers, streets) are all old and in disrepair. There are undoubtedly gems in the available housing stock but who wants to live there? Middle class folks with the financial ability to fix things up just ain't there. There just isn't a source of energy that will draw them in, jobs, educational resources, healthcare facilities are all lacking. The destruction to the downtown core of the city is unbelievable and cannot be reversed at this point in time. Sorry to be the prophet of doom but doom has arrived, the ship is on the rocks and no longer responds to rudder commands.

[bmich]

Why do you take these season breaks. Its annoying for those that watch every episode to have reruns mid season.

[mcinkyt]

When Detroit crashed, where did everyone go?

[RobertLeBlancPhoto]

99% of the homes that were abandoned because the mortgage could no longer be paid, were bought by people who weren’t in the position to responsibly buy them to begin with.
Banks and real estate agents will always be unscrupulous. It’s up to the consumer to learn and know what they can and can’t afford.

[wealthyblackman]

Today on "this old crack shack!"

[AdamAwesomeAdventure]

took all their videos down that were worth watching. so they can push the stupid paid for subscription crap. pretty sad coming from a show I used to watch on PBS.