<e>I meant to reply to your reply further down. oh well</e>
I wonder if it's just the era of architecture. Detroit has some truly interesting looking homes. Here's a random collection from a quick trip around street view:
Homes in Detroit look awesome and are super cheap, especially for what they could be. They're going to be a ton of work and if you have kids the schools are horrible though :(
The gentrified pockets look amazing, but drive quite a premium.