North Corktown
The neighborhood of Briggs, a.k.a. North Corktown, lies to the west of Grand River Avenue and Highway 10. Grand River, one of five major avenues extending outward from downtown Detroit, runs northwesterly from the city center into the West Side and continues well out into the suburbs. The neighborhood's other rough boundaries are Martin Luther King Boulevard to the north, I-75 to the south, and I-96 to the west.
The west side of this neighborhood is almost completely barren, with old deteriorating houses scattered throughout. On the eastern side, particularly between Temple and Ash Streets, there is less open space--although here and there a burned out home or empty lot can be found and several rows stand completely empty. Considering the many empty lots, a number of streets look more like urban farmland than residential districts, as people create community gardens in between the houses that remain. Several stretches of empty lots have been completely overgrown, forming ungroomed park-like oases in the wasteland.
While this is primarily a residential area, few neighborhoods have escaped Detroit's decay and decline. West Side Detroit is plagued by violence, drugs and crime. Police sweeps are a regular sight, and raids into crime-ridden apartment complexes take place several times a week.
- 1337 Temple Street
- 1562 Temple Street
- 1579 Temple Street
- Stand of Trees
- Harms Elementary
- Nancy Whiskey
