Looking for a suburb of Detroit - good place to raise kids, semi-upscale but not snobby (Ann Arbor: sales, real estate)

[MichiVegas]

Originally Posted by Republic of Michigan

Waterford has many nice parts and it is surrounded by so many lakes. People there are not snobby.

Waterford has crappy schools, though. Not a good option if you have school-age children and want them in public schools.

Also, maybe this will have me labeled as a snob, but Waterford feels red-necky to me. Especially closer to Pontiac, I think trashy when I think Waterford. Obviously there are exceptions, and most people in Waterford are regular middle class folks, but there is a trashy element, IMO.

[xfactor85]

Try the east side of Troy. Nice school district but away from the "rich" snobby kids on the west side of town.

[EastBoundandDownChick]

Romeo is a nice place to live if you are looking for open land and privacy from neighbors. It can still be found there but it's roughly a 45 minute commute. They have farmers' markets there year-round and the parks and nature are great for young kids. It's definitely not snobby, more of a small-town feel although it's become more built-up in recent years. I believe you could find something moderately upscale there on your budget. Another option would be simply to buy land and construct what you want. My cousin and her family did just that and have a small lake and forest in their backyard. Their closest neighbors are 1/8th of a mile down the road and they seem to be happy. I have no idea what they bought for and know it took them over a year to build. They complained at the time but now say it was worth it. They were opposed to living in an open-tract subdivision and wanted lots of land so it was a trade-off. She's a SAHM and loves that the kids can learn about farming. You could put whatever you wanted in your driveway and no one would give two hoots!

[Coldjensens]

There are a ton of places the fit the bill. Get outside the cities and small towns and into the various townships all over the place and you can still find land, especially in the smaller large lot range (1-3 acres). Good school systems are abundant as well. The further out you go, the more land/house your $350,000 will buy. So if you want a shorter commute, go for a smaller lot/smaller house.

Age is also a trade off. Most new and newer homes are mass produced homes in subdivisions on small lots or on larger lots but where the house is so large there is very little open land left over. There is also a quality curve that may (should) have a substantial impact on choosing a home if you will keep it for any length of time. Craftsmanship and architecturally meaningful design became gradually less and less important from the 1960s through the 2000s. While craftsmanship has not returned, lawsuits have forced the builders to turn somewhat more and more attention to quality over size/savings/profit since about the mid 1990s. Thus there has been a gradual increase. Similarly there has been a very gradual increase in the consumers interest in better architecture. It certainly is not a shift in the trend towards cheap, big and blingy, but there is a trickle.

Custom builds can be problematic because you will pay more for the build than the house will initially be worth. You have to do it because you really really want a custom house, not because it is a good investment. Then if you want quality construction/materials instead of least expensive largest blingiest construction, you will increase that divide.

[craig11152]

I wonder what the OP decided? It was 3 1/2 years ago. Wish folks would offer updates

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by Tekkie

Given the info you provided, I'd say the following cities would be worth checking out (in no particular order):

Southfield
Farmington Hills
Beverly Hills
Lathrup Village
Troy
Novi
Canton
Plymouth
Northville
Rochester Hills

Wow, just toss the snobby part right under the bus eh?

Depending where in Southfield (guessing along the 696 corridor?) I would look west towards Livingston County maybe Green Oaks, or even Brighton proper or western Oakland like New Hudson or Wixom area.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Wow, just toss the snobby part right under the bus eh?

I wouldn't call any of those towns snobby. Really only Birmingham-Bloomfield, maybe Franklin are snobby in metro Detroit. Even Northville is pretty low-key.

[MS313]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

I wouldn't call any of those towns snobby. Really only Birmingham-Bloomfield, maybe Franklin are snobby in metro Detroit. Even Northville is pretty low-key.

GP seems pretty snobby to me.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by MS313

GP seems pretty snobby to me.

I mean, it's all relative. Compared to Birmingham, or really any fancy Oakland County community, GP has like zero snob factor. You walk into the GP Trader Joes and people dressed like they just climbed out of bed. You walk into the Bloomfield Plum Market and women are wearing Louboutins and full makeup.

[mgkeith]

Well, I certainly don't wear fancy clothes and usually skip the makeup for casual purposes, but I wouldn't automatically consider someone a snob if they did. Seems that it's more of a matter of values and personality. I've had to stop at the market on my way home from a dressy event, though. It's called "needing to eat." ;D