The Red Zone: Inside Detroit's deadly gang wars

Jack are you a blood or a crip?

Don't be dissing my niggers, dawg.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzP4EEjM…

Thanks, didn’t really want to read that. Now I am totally not stopping for gas at 2am on 8 Mile road anymore!

Another reminder for potential visitors that Detroit can be an extremely dangerous city — the most dangerous by some studies. But keep in mind that you can avoid the dangers by being smart. The Inkster/Dearborn clubs and areas are relatively safe, and the high-end clubs should be good, too. As Shailynn joked, don’t stop ANYWHERE in the city at 2 a.m. for gas. Downtown, Midtown, and Corktown are relatively safe for visitors, but use common sense.

Thanks, didn’t really want to read that. Now I am totally not stopping for gas at 2am on 8 Mile road anymore!

Interesting story - looking forward to the next parts.

I assume every major city has these types of gang issues.

Down here in Miami shootings are reported pretty-much weekly in the black neighborhoods and most of it is suspected to be gang related.

In the small black clubs I hit I sometimes see young 20-something thug-looking tatted-up dudes driving Beemers and Benzes - def possible they have $$$ thru legit means but the eye-test makes it seem o/w

I kept trying to identify the club where they were making it rain. Any Detroit locals recognize it? We should aim to recreate that scene next time I visit. Gotta roll 20 deep wid my Tuscl crew, tho.

I've been to Detroit once. Is it true that like you can't make left turns or right turns there or something

Just no U-turns gothemyte.

Not the best vid so it doesnt look familier. Could it be Truth? I have not been there since it was Scores. It could be a small ghetto club.

I’ve never been on 8Mile Rd, but I grew up in Brooklyn NY. And I have been in many other cities like Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, even LA, and Miami, as well as smaller towns like West Palm and Hempstead NY there are very few metropolitan or urban areas that don’t have an area to avoid if possible, yet many people traverse those areas with no problems. The main thing is being aware and keep your head up.

^^^^ the old grouch is right but then again he (and me) probably haven’t been to some real shady areas in the middle of the night.

I have traveled on 8 Mile many of times in the middle of the night which is probably okay. It’s cutting down a few blocks off the beaten path where it can get real bad real fast.

Probably one of the spookiest places I’ve been (besides 8mile) is Oakland CA and San Juan PR. I havent travelled much in LA aside from the main “tourist” areas.

@shailynn
Here is a link for you, you'll notice 8Mile Road didn't make the cut but Lyndon St. @ W.Outer Drive did.
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/blog/2…

Oh yay for me I’m gonna say I’ve probsbly been through number 7 and 9 on the list!

Bet you pussies can’t brag about that!!!!

^^^ Was that going to strip clubs, because you don't have to, or was that for economic activity, I have been involved in the past with projects built in the vicinity 6 of those neighborhoods including Number 1,3, and 4 on that list and often was there past 2AM just out of necessity. Sleeping in the trailer to keep the scrap metal thieves and other neighborhood scavengers away, with a Glock, holstered and a Mossberg on my lap.

Most of the shootings seem targeted at a particular individual but not rare for innocent bystanders to get caught in the hail of bullets - in the last 2 years probably more than a half-a-dozen kids have been killed when they were targeting someone nearby.

A few months ago a lady was driving thru an intersection in Miami Gardens and a bullet went yheu her windshield and killed her - the shooting occurred about a block away.

^^^ I always hear about Miami Gardens being dangerous. But when I was there (to visit Tootsie's) it seemed safe and the houses were well-kept. Better than Detroit neighborhoods.

You win grouchy! I was just passing thru going from point A to point B and points A and B were not strip clubs.

^^^At that time it didn’t feel like a win I was fairly nervous, there was one time in particular in Jamaica, NY where a police officer who was sitting in a patrol car late at night a few blocks from our jobsite was ambushed and killed just two hours after having a cup of coffee in the trailer with me. That was in the late 1970s or early 80s when the crack cocaine epidemic was in full swing.

@jack

Muamu Gardens is mostly working class vs a ghetto - I too think it's odd there are so many shootings there - I can only assume there are gangs there involved in the drug-trade

It's been rumored that a gang in Miami Gardens is at odds with a gang in Little Haity and they go to each other's hoods and shoot them up but it seems lately that's calmed down a bit compared to years past

With all due respect 8 mile road is a border area and not that bad as much as its made out to to be. There really rough ares to the south of that where most of the trouble occurs. Its relatively safe during the day and you just need tp exercise basic precautions like not getting gas at 1am or loitering about. I felt much less safe in strip club places like East St. Louis, MO or Hammond Indiana.

Dont let the negative hype spoil your potential fun. Get in, valet and get out, no worries.

Was going to respond earlier with exactly what Uprightcitizen said above. As an out of state visitor have never felt unsafe on 8 Mile getting back and forth between Penthouse Club and Coliseum - day or night. And once you pull into the clubs feel totally safe with the valet and being inside the clubs.

Driving up and down 8 Mile glancing down the side streets is a bit interesting, but as long as you stick to going from point A to point B will be completely fine. Unless towards the very end of 8 Mile near Livonia I would never stop for gas - day or night. Did make a wrong turn one time trying to get from Coliseum to Flight Club and my GPS got me on some side streets and off the main roads which felt a bit dicey for a couple of miles. But that's any city.

Overall have never felt unsafe clubbing in Detroit at the 8 Mile clubs - day or night. My biggest fear by far with the 8 Mile clubs is getting caught up in a raid with the heavy scrutiny they have been under. That said, can't wait until my next trip up!

When I visited Penthouse in July 2014 my GPS had me get off the freeway on the exit b/f 8-mile (7 mile?) and then I proceeded to drive thru what looked like a working class neighborhood till I came up on the side of Penthouse on the side-street - did not see anything alarming when driving thru the small streets of the neighborhood but I *was* a bit uneasy

(Could have been I got off in 7-mile by mistake and my GPS may have been indicating the next exit but I think it was my GPS that told me to get off on 7-mile).

Somebody asked what club that is. It is definitely not Truth. I'm guessing it's either Erotic City or that one at 8/John R near Centerfold (former King of Diamonds).

Detroit has Project Greenlight. Fueling up at a Project Greenlight station is safe depending on how busy it is, the location, and which corporate station it is (Speedway, BP, etc). There's a Shell off of 75 North heading out of downtown that I try to avoid. Day or night - there are ALWAYS pandhandlers, "homeless", or asshole kids hanging out.