With award-winning restaurants and lofts going for half-a-million dollars, Detroit's midtown and downtown areas are hot right now. But the view is different out in the neighborhoods.
For this week's State of Opportunity radio story, we're hanging out in the Osborn neighborhood on Detroit’s east side, one of the poorest parts of the city, to see what’s on the mind of residents there.
This is one of those stories you'll want to listen to, not just read.
Below are excerpts from some of the people we spoke to at Matrix Human Service's annual neighborhood breakfast.
On the breakfast
"I’m coming here to enjoy the breakfast and get a little praying in, you know, we all need prayer, so I can come right here and get it all: a full stomach and a full heart, it’s a double whammy, baby." -- Johnny Brannon, Osborn resident
On the need
I mean just the top of my brain right now, really around just more housing, quality housing around rehab because of the mortgage crisis, a lot of homes were left abandoned, so we need quality homes for families to move in. -- Quincy Jones, Osborn Neighborhood Alliance executive director
On the neighborhood
"It’s really going better than it was because we were going through a lot but there’s not as many killings that’s been happening lately. So I’m just thankful we didn’t lose nobody right now. ... I lost, like, my godbrother, that was my sister’s best friend since I was one, and he died when I was 12. He was shot going to pick up his friend from the airport. But it’s not as bad as it used to." -- Jayla, student at Osborn High School
"It’s a rough neighborhood, but me and my neighbors, I cook, they cook, we share food, we hold neighborhood BBQs, we stick together." -- Tiffany Watson, Osborn resident
