Osborn is a community in northeast Detroit, Michigan. The Skillman Foundation selected Osborn to be one of the neighborhoods covered by the Good Neighborhoods Initiative.[1]
In 2012, Jeff Siedel of the Detroit Free Press said "The neighborhood surrounding Osborn High School looks like a cracked, empty shell. Everywhere you look, there are broken windows, overgrown weeds, barbed wire fences and abandoned homes."[2]
History
An April 2011 report from the office of Mayor of DetroitDave Bing said that gangs, "especially transient gangs that are less organized — and often, randomly violent — terrorize some of our neighborhoods including … Osborn,"[3]
In 2012, as part of the 100 Houses project, volunteers boarded up various vacant houses in Osborn.[4]
As of 2012, according to the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy the median family income was $32,421. Single parents are the heads of over 30% of Osborne families, while in the U.S. the national percentage is 9.1%. Of children born to parents living in Osborn, 22.4% were born to teenage parents. 35.7% of Osborn residents are children who live in poverty, while 13.9% of all Michigan residents are children in poverty.[1]
A 2010 report from Data Driven Detroit, City Connect Detroit, stated that Osborn had 27,166 residents.[5] The community was 91.3% black, 4.3% white, 2.1% Asian (mostly Hmong people), 1.4% reporting more than one race, and .7% Hispanic and Latino.[6]
According to the 2000 U.S. Census Osborn had 37,358 people,[5] with 84.1% being black, and 8.6% white. There were 1,700 Hmong people in Osborn.[6] Between the 2000 census and the 2010 U.S. Census the population experienced a 27.3% decline. The number of children and youth in Osborn decreased by 5,912, a 39.3% decline.[5] The number of African-Americans decreased by 21.1%, but proportionately became a higher percentage of the community. The numbers of White, multiethnic, and Asian/Hmong groups had the most severe declines. The white population declined by 64%. The Asian population declined by 66%, with most moving from Osborn settled in Macomb County.[6]
Education
Osborn is within the Detroit Public Schools. The Pulaski, Brenda Scott, and Trix K-8 schools in Osborn and Law K-8 School outside Osborn serve Osborn for elementary and middle school.[7][8] Most of Osborn is zoned to Osborn High School while a portion is zoned to Pershing High School.[9]
Elementary schools formerly serving Osborn within Osborne included Fleming, Genesis EL/MS, Richard, and Von Steuben. Schools outside of Osborn formerly serving it included Grant EL/MS.[10] Middle schools formerly serving Fleming included Genesis EL/MS and Farwell; Farwell was outside of Osborn.[11]
Fleming is now the Fleming Administration Building. The Early Childhood / Pre-Kindergarten Office is based out of the Fleming Administration Building.[12] Other than that, it now is only used for Head Start Program and Great Start Readiness Program classrooms, as well as the headquarters of the GSRP in DPS.[citation needed]
Parks and recreation
Parks in Osborn include Bessy Playfield, Wish Egan Playfield, Marruso Playground, Calimera Park and the Lipke Recreation Center.[13] Bessy Playfield is adjacent to Brenda Scott School.[14]
Calimera Park is the home of the Edible Hut Edible Hut. The Edible Hut is a community gathering space in Calimera Park on the eastside of Detroit with a living, edible roof and oculus to the sky. The Edible Hut combines elements of a traditional hut, an outdoor sculpture, a neighborhood garage and an edible garden. The roof is a garden of edible perennial plants such as sage, thyme, lavender and oregano. The inside of the space incorporates peaceful colors to create an enchanting space for gathering, rest and pleasure.[15]
^Hunter, George and Mike Wilkinson. "Detroit's deadliest neighborhood" (Archived 2015-07-02 at the Wayback Machine). The Detroit News. September 2, 2011. Retrieved on November 8, 2012. "Gangs, especially transient gangs that are less organized — and often, randomly violent — terrorize some of our neighborhoods including … Osborn,"
