A $500 House in Detroit : : Rebuilding an Abandoned Home and an American City

Locations
Call Number: 921 Philp, Drew, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Philp, Drew
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Philp, Drew	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Philp, Drew	4-week checkout	Due 05-16-2024
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Philp, Drew	4-week checkout	Due 05-16-2024

Prologue: best bid -- Raw material -- Clapboard siding -- Someone else's trash -- Windows and doors and airplanes -- A fence between me and the world -- Load bearing walls -- The furnace -- A knock on the door -- A chimney to the sky -- Progress gallops -- The years roll by -- Someone else's home.
"A young writer's sincere search (with his dog) for an authentic life--buying a ruined house in Detroit for $500, fixing it up nail by nail, and, in the process, participating in the grassroots rebirth of the city itself."--Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Truth about Detroit submitted by lswatts42 on July 21, 2017, 8:32pm Put yourself in the shoes of the people who live in the slums of Detroit. You know, the place where the statistics are made. The place where abandoned houses dot the landscape like freckles on a red-head. To those of you who think Detroit is not worth saving: read this. To those of you who think you know how to "save" Detroit: read this. Drew will make you re-think everything. And that is a promise.

Fascinating view of Detroit’s neighborhoods submitted by jimander on July 12, 2018, 8:33pm Enjoyed a different perspective of Detroit’s neighborhoods, history, culture and diverse residents through the young and altruistic narrator.

Not what I thought it was submitted by downing on August 6, 2022, 2:02pm I thought this was more of a how-to.

From a person living it submitted by JTreadwell on July 14, 2023, 10:13pm It's easy to hear people on the news or internet or statisticians or politicians talk about Detroit. It's totally different to hear about Detroit from someone living there. From the point of view of an educated white guy who was fed up with 'the man' and wanted to be part of the solution, this books takes you to Detroit early in the 2000s. Drew is sometimes a little preachy on social justice and how awful affluent white people are, but he's aware of his own biases. He will make you realize Detroit doesn't need a savior, it needs people who are willing to form a community and keep growing the new, better version of the city its current residents are already at work on.