Where to move to Royal Oak or Birmingham? (Detroit, Troy: sales, foreclosure)

[SCRUMPIES]

YOU WONT GET MUCH OF A HOUSE IN BIRMINGHAM. iF YOU WANT ANYTHING OVER 1200 SQ FT EXPECT TO PAY 400 GRAND OR MORE. nOT WORTH IT. YOU WILL GET MORE IN ROYAL RAK ( I LIVE THERE) BUT WITH THE SCHOOLS CLOSING YOUR RESALE VALUES WILL BE LOW. tOO MANY GAYS HERE AND IN FERNDALE. IN ROYAL OAK YOU HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THE GAY PARADES. NOT A VERY FAMILY ORIENTED PLACE ANYMORE. CONSIDER TROY OR AUBURN HILLS AS AN OPTION. DEPENED ON WHERE YOU WILL BE WORKING LAKE ORION WOULD BE NICE AS WELL.

[SCRUMPIES]

Originally Posted by movingfromboston

Thanks for all the helpful comments. We do have 2 school-age kids, middle school and kindergarten, so the schools are pretty important to us. I fear we may be a bit old for RO (in our 40s...) but will definitely take a look when we come out to check out possible homes. Thanks!!

Dont pay attention to those who say the age group in RO is 20s and 30s. What crap! No twentysomething could afford a home here unless they still live with their parents. Im 42 and i can tell you there is only one family on our block who is in the 30s and none in their 20s. Most are 40s or older. the younger folks tend to stick close to the downtown area which is a small section on the south end. The only thing i dont like about RO is their are too many gay oriented events. Not exactly a family freindly time! RO has a great farmers market and the library is outstanding. My daughters and I go there several times a week. Birminghams public library doesnt even compare. I guess it all depends on what is important. Birmingham is overblown and over priced, you wont get much for your hard earned money there. RO has its share of over priced homes but the downtown is nicer in my opinion and if libraries are something you use often then Royal Oaks is whereto go. There is a street here called Vinsetta if you are lucky enough to find something on the market there. Huge mansions and very beautiful. I live close to I75 and 696 and love the convenience of the close freeways. Its give and take

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by SCRUMPIES

Dont pay attention to those who say the age group in RO is 20s and 30s. What crap! No twentysomething could afford a home here unless they still live with their parents. Im 42 and i can tell you there is only one family on our block who is in the 30s and none in their 20s. Most are 40s or older. the younger folks tend to stick close to the downtown area which is a small section on the south end. The only thing i dont like about RO is their are too many gay oriented events. Not exactly a family freindly time! RO has a great farmers market and the library is outstanding. My daughters and I go there several times a week. Birminghams public library doesnt even compare. I guess it all depends on what is important. Birmingham is overblown and over priced, you wont get much for your hard earned money there. RO has its share of over priced homes but the downtown is nicer in my opinion and if libraries are something you use often then Royal Oaks is whereto go. There is a street here called Vinsetta if you are lucky enough to find something on the market there. Huge mansions and very beautiful. I live close to I75 and 696 and love the convenience of the close freeways. Its give and take

I agree with alot of this and live in Royal Oak myself. I have to say though that ALOT of my neighbors are 20 and 30 somethings, inlcuding my wife and myself. Our neighbor behind us is a young gay man, early 20's. Also, while I love downtown RO it's really apples and oranges to compare it to B'ham's downtown. Both are great but B'ham's is definately the more upscale of the 2.

Vinsetta is beautiful. As far as RO being overpriced, well I guess for Michigan it is, but then again, you get what you pay for...this is a great area to live in. I'm from California myself, so the whole state of Michigan is a bargain compared to what I'm used to!

[Detroiteratheart]

I agree with an earlier poster about Farmington Hills. Also, you might want to check out Novi.

My thoughts on B'ham vs. RO are:

B'ham - yuppie, upscale, pretentious, overpriced
R.O. - More accepted alternative lifestyle, trendy, great downtown, still overpriced.

I'm not saying either are bad, just that you might want to take these things into consideration when deciding what is right for you.

I'd mentioned Novi - wonderful shopping, lots of great eateries, good nightlife, good schools, upperscale homes, very trendy in its own right, low crime... I would suggest you at least check it out.

[NYD_Central]

Does Novi have a downtown? And if so, what is the main street and major crossroad?

[Cato the Elder]

In my observation, RO is larger and less homogenous than B'ham. You'll find the large houses near Vinsetta and other places, even some new monstrosities built after knocking down two older homes, but you'll also find craftsmans, colonials, and everything else in between a mansion and bungalow ranch. For this reason, I would hesitate to make too many blanket statements about RO - it's a pretty big town! I live in an area of RO that is very similar to Beverly Hills and the "poorer" areas of B'ham south of Lincoln and east of Woodward - 14 Mile and Woodward area. My block has almost no 40 and 50 somethings - half the block is in their late 20s or 30s while the other half is over 60. We do have one bachelor who is 24, so it's not impossible to buy these houses out of college - some run less than $150k. Basically, the neighborhood is transitioning, which is a good thing. It remains to be seen whether the young families stay. Our house is 1700sq. ft. and we sit on a double lot, so it would be easy for us to add on if we want more room. The vast majority of the other houses are less than 1500 sq. ft., and many families today will move on to a bigger house once they have another kid or two. I know Beverly Hills east of Southfield Rd. is like this since the houses are relatively small and not cheap - people move on to Troy, Sterling Heights, or whatnot.

[Detroiteratheart]

Originally Posted by NYD_Central

Does Novi have a downtown? And if so, what is the main street and major crossroad?

It sure does - Meadowbrook/Ten Mile Road. Plus it's got a wonderful mall that is currently adding on a Neiman-Marcus, along with a new wing of stores.

Twelve Oaks

Loads of other shopping centers as well in that area. The crossroads for that are 12 Mile Road and Novi Road.

[TroyMI]

Birmingham schools in Detroit are the best, but living in Birmingham can be VERY expensive because the housing prices are too high as others have posted.

If you want a good deal, look in the west side of Troy, MI where they have access to Birmingham schools. The housing is less expensive, you still get to go to Birmingham schools, you pay lower taxes and Troy is a great place to live.

Most houses in west Troy are $80-$100k less than a similar house in Birmingham.

[BCORLEONE]

Both areas Royal Oak and Birmingham are full of life. But for your situation I would pick Birmingham over Royal Oak because Birmingham is a little more mature. Royal Oak is a 10 minute drive from Birmingham, so you could still go out to dinner there and not commute far.

The best thing about both these towns are that they are very central to everywhere in the metro Detroit area. I would also suggest looking at Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, and Troy.

[stevesadlov]

I am of the ancien regime. Lived there for a few years as a child, 40 years ago. Here is all you need to know. They demolished Longfellow.

They said it was because the Boomers all grew up. But the thing is, that school was built in the early 20th century. So that means, there are even fewer kids now than there were back then nearly 100 years ago.

The childless epicureans have taken over. If that's what you want, go for it. Of course, the weather out here in the San Francisco area is better and the GLBT stuff is way more prolific than Royal Oak. If that's what you want.

I call 'em like I see 'em.