I want to move our family from Royal Oak to Indian Village

[Ddrizzle]

[quote=Charlotte P.;61347589]

Originally Posted by usroute10

Well, thank you for giving Detroit a try, if we had more people like you Detroit would become a much better place. Thanks for giving the city a try. It didn't work out, but Detroit isn't for most UOTE]

Coldjensens-There will always be Detroit cheerleaders and boosters. Cheer on. That is fine by me. Please do not make the assumption that just because I am moving, somehow Detroit "didn't work out." I am just leaving INDIAN VILLAGE.

The poster gmc--- is absolutely correct about the issues that IV homeowners constantly have to deal with. Anyone moving here must be prepared to spend tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in updates and upkeep. That is non-negotiable.

In modern times, Indian Village has never been a uniformly wealthy neighborhood. It remains firmly middle to upper middle class. That could be considered a positive, but the result is that not everybody keeps these wildly expensive to maintain houses up properly. The IVA makes a lot of noise and rattles their rusty saber, but there is little they can really do to enforce property upkeep. I do think that this problem is improving as houses pass the million dollar mark in sales. Gmc---was wrong about property values, though. There has never, ever, been a better time to sell than now. I'm not foolish enough to get emotionally attached to a house or a neighborhood, and even if I did love IV, I would never have a problem leaving.

As younger, more transient families move in, I have seen much more property turnover. Somebody gets an out of town transfer or promotion, or their kids reach school age, and off they go, sometimes in as little as six months. This transient generation FUNDAMENTALLY changes neighborhoods, and of course it's not exclusive to IV.

On a side note, IV really began to change around 2012, when a GHASTLY, troublemaking, and uniformly despised person moved in. It's been downhill in terms of neighborhood warmth and cohesiveness ever since. If they are determined enough, ONE person can ruin the entire vibe of a neighborhood.

There are downsides to living in every neighborhood. Unfortunately, most new homeowners do not discover the downsides of living in IV until AFTER they have bought and moved in. Wide, leafy streets and temptingly cheap, grand old houses can do that to you.

Positives? 1. Big, fancy, relatively cheap houses. There are a handful of spectacular showstoppers, (and a lot of mehh to butt ugly houses, too. Most fall somewhere in the middle.) 2. After years of paying way more than our fair share, property tax rates have come way down. (Unfortunately, home and auto insurance rates remain usuriously high.) 3. If you are a joiner who likes to get involved, there are all sorts of neighborhood clubs and organizations to join. If you are not, keep a low profile and don't list your contact info in the IVA directory. Just. Don't. 4. Proximity to downtown Detroit and The Pointes. A somewhat strong neighborhood association, that would be much stronger and result in a much safer neighborhood if EVERYONE paid their voluntary dues. IMO, that's about it for positives.

The transient-ness is a symptom of very few areas in MI offering everything a community and especially a family needs:

- Safety
- Great schools
- Affordable homes
- Exciting downtown close enough nearby
- Parks or other extracurricular activies close enough nearby

The only thing that comes close is Ann Arbor and it has the downside of being a college town to some people. Even though that is the sole reason it exists as it does today. Ann arbor gives a glimpse of what other areas in the country are like when education and healthy communities are a priority. And I mean really, it's like a portal out of MI if you haven't experienced any other state before.

Other areas of MI have bits and pieces but not everything. Royal oak and Ferndale misses the greenspace and some of its schools are 6/10. If you had a kid starting school, would you stay there or move to Novi which has the best rated schools in the state, smaller price per sq ft, and lots of green nearby?

Hate the Novi aesthetic and sub divisions? Too bad. That's what MI offers for good schools and affordable bigger houses for a family.

This needs to change to stop the transient-ness. Lock in people and taxes, and grow more areas.

[HarryAleman]

[quote=Ddrizzle;62446431]

Originally Posted by Charlotte P.

The transient-ness is a symptom of very few areas in MI offering everything a community and especially a family needs:

- Safety
- Great schools
- Affordable homes
- Exciting downtown close enough nearby
- Parks or other extracurricular activies close enough nearby

The only thing that comes close is Ann Arbor and it has the downside of being a college town to some people. Even though that is the sole reason it exists as it does today. Ann arbor gives a glimpse of what other areas in the country are like when education and healthy communities are a priority. And I mean really, it's like a portal out of MI if you haven't experienced any other state before.

Other areas of MI have bits and pieces but not everything. Royal oak and Ferndale misses the greenspace and some of its schools are 6/10. If you had a kid starting school, would you stay there or move to Novi which has the best rated schools in the state, smaller price per sq ft, and lots of green nearby?

Hate the Novi aesthetic and sub divisions? Too bad. That's what MI offers for good schools and affordable bigger houses for a family.

This needs to change to stop the transient-ness. Lock in people and taxes, and grow more areas.

She was talking about the “transient-ness” of Indian Village, which is probably one of the more unique neighborhoods in the entire country and has as much in common with the rest of metro Detroit as Berlin.

Didn’t you just post a question in another thread asking for baseline information about metro Detroit suburbs?

[usroute10]

[quote=Ddrizzle;62446431]

Originally Posted by Charlotte P.

The transient-ness is a symptom of very few areas in MI offering everything a community and especially a family needs:

- Safety
- Great schools
- Affordable homes
- Exciting downtown close enough nearby
- Parks or other extracurricular activies close enough nearby

The only thing that comes close is Ann Arbor and it has the downside of being a college town to some people. Even though that is the sole reason it exists as it does today. Ann arbor gives a glimpse of what other areas in the country are like when education and healthy communities are a priority. And I mean really, it's like a portal out of MI if you haven't experienced any other state before.

I think Plymouth, Northville, Rochester, and to a lesser extent Birmingham and the Grosse Pointes (not as much access to nature) fit that description. It's not all stagnation around here. Those 5 communities are very desirable and offer alot. Plymouth not only has a very charming downtown, but also a secondary Main Street called Old Village. The Grosse Pointes have multiple walkable main street areas and are only 7 miles from downtown Detroit.

Also, you can't make a blanket statement about the whole state of Michigan. In the Grand Rapids Metro/West Michigan, East Grand Rapids and Rockford offer all 5 of those; Holland as well. Nature is more intertwined in the core of that metro area than in Detroit.