Neighbors on Detroit's East Side Want to Shut Down Motel Because of Drugs, Prostitution

Travel Inn (Google maps photo)

Residents of the Ravendale community on Detroit's east side have had enough of the Travel Inn on Harper, a 120-unit motel they say is a magnet for drugs and prostitution.

"We pay our taxes—we shouldn't have to tolerate this," says resident Wendeline Adolph, 70, speaking to George Hunter of The Detroit News. "Our kids shouldn't have to live with it. The streetwalkers come up and down my block. They deal drugs out in the open. I have to pick up condoms and needles in my front and backyard. These are the things we're not going to tolerate anymore."

Late last month, Toni McIlwain, president of the Ravendale Community neighborhood group, asked the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners to shut the motel down, The News reports. She also said she plans to petition the Detroit City Council to take action.

Police told The News that the new owners have worked with the department to address the issues. The motel managers says he calls police if prostitutes don't move on when asked.