Red Car Diaries 2007 09 23 Gratiot Ave in Detroit

[DshowzU]

ha go down clemens or court st. if yu wanna c wats bangin

[314fox413]

my dad had a shop on gratiot called fox steel treating, he worked deep in the ghetto, you really dont know what you're messing with on gratiot, he and his business partner found a dead man with a bullet in his chest right down the street on gratiot.

i wouldn't "cruise" down gratiot...

[anitafixx666]

Poor old white man . It mest break his heart to see what niggers and crack, have done to his neighborhood!

[Pandas4270]

damn looks crappy but i miss livin down ther

[wildbill1911A1]

It's not the best neighborhood now, but it can be again. Thanks for watching.

[1k9e8n1]

oh snap that's my street, he passed my cousin's house.

[hamiltonbroecker]

my father was born 03-23-1906. he moved to the home on concord st in 1919 . he was about 12 that house was built by his father a carpenter he was germin. and may have built many of the homes in detroit . my father started work at packard`s in his twenties.

[hamiltonbroecker]

my father was born in a house on meldrum st. my ant lived mcdugel

[wildbill1911A1]

I suppose that means our fathers were neighbors of sorts. When did he live there? Mine lived there in the 1930's.

[gordyt99]

2 words - urban prairie

[wildbill1911A1]

2 words - "well said"

[Phophorousbronze]

McDougall? Yeah I think I remember that...was that in the Connor/Gratiot area? I have some friends that used to live on the streets Willshire/Racine/Dresden/Prome­nade. I was in a band and we used to practice in a building down from a bar called Guys and Dolls. Thanks for the good memory Bill. I used to live on Beniteau...I think Chrysler brought that street up. Thanks again.

[wildbill1911A1]

Thanks for watching and your comments.

[katty2trips]

Fascinating video. My mom grew up in that area (first Concord, then Baldwin) and graduated from Eastern HS in 1943. I wish I had Bill Gates' money and could do something for the old neighborhood.

[wildbill1911A1]

Some of the houses there are just as they were in 1943. I don't know which schools my father attended, but he was about the same age as your mother, but he moved back to South Carolina in 1939.

[hamiltonbroecker]

my grandfather and grandmother and father lived at 4731 concord st in the 20`s and 40`s. my father worked at packard moters for 27 years. I was born in a small hospital on east grand blv . my parents also lived at 4760 concord st . that was where I was raised in 1943. I live in CA since 55

[wildbill1911A1]

thanks for watching.

[aquasprite230]

After watching and listening closely to your video I went to map quest and found the streets that you mentioned and looked them up. It looks as if your grandfather and father only lived about 8 blocks from my mother and her parents. They were closer to the City at the corner of Gratiot and Arndt. I think my mother and her siblings went to Eastern High School. My mother was born in 1911 and passed away in 1997. Her brother Frank Martin is still alive at 92yrs old. Anyone out there have any info?

[aquasprite230]

My grandfather lived and had a business on Gratiot Ave. back in the 20's and 30's. In a Census back then,they have them living at 2650 Gratiot Ave. The building is still there. We aren't sure if his business was directly downstairs or not. He was a shoemaker and was from Austria. He was good at his trade, and made orthapedic shoes for the doctors in the area. His name was Antone (Tony) Martin. Is your father still living?

[wildbill1911A1]

My father is still living ... the good life in Southern California. I will point out your comments to him.

[aquasprite230]

My 92 yr old Uncle reports that the building that he lived in as a child at 2650 Gratiot Ave was called the Arndt Building. The Arndt Bros. had a pharmacy on the street floor. Upstairs a dentist office and several doctors offices. Dr Arndt used one office. Dr. DiTomasi another. One Arndt brother was a pharmacist. The land surrounding that area was their farm at one time. Also on the street level were several stores, a chinese restaurant and post office (gratiot station)

[wildbill1911A1]

it is amazing how much this has changed in just a hundred years. It makes you wonder what set of circumstances would make it attractive to build factories and create jobs here now.

[blackbottom1229]

my grandparents moved to this area from the south in the 20s in the 30 the lived on arndt at elmwood,my grandmother's brother still lives on meldrum in a big nice house he bought from some germans in the 30's for 8,000from what i hear it was a reall nice area back then

[youngmassacre]

a white guy with a video camera riding through detroit, im surprised your still alive.

[wildbill1911A1]

honestly, I think you underestimate the good people of Detroit.

[BitterCycle]

I think you over estimate them.

[wildbill1911A1]

and yet, I'm still alive.

[Search4Truth4ever]

Thats The Black Bottom baby! Eastside forever!

[detroitchuckie]

I used to work at the plumbing supply store at 00:14 in this videoin 1976. Atlas plumbing supply. I lived around the corner at 2276 Mack. Which is now a vacant lot. I was a white boy in a dark dark world.

[threedaysgrace07]

okay i will love you forever if you post a video going down the street Stephans Drive. its in between 9 and 10 mile....please please please i will love you forever!!!!

[wildbill1911A1]

Had I only known!! I'm sorry now that I'm not in Detroit, but if I get back there, I'll remember the offer.

[BeHappy2day]

Thank you for posting this video. It brings back a lot of memories. I grew up in Detroit, and traveled these same streets many times. I still remember many Gratiot ladmarks, from the Helin Tackle Company, to the London Chop House, to the Stroh's Brewery, to the Sears store at Gratiot and Van Dyke.