Moving from Dallas to Detroit (Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor: housing, rent, job)

[spatino96]

Hello,

My wife and I are planning to move from Dallas to Detroit by mid July 2008. I have a job offer from Ford Motor Company and that is why we are moving to Detroit. A month ago, I had the opportunity to visit Dearborn and some areas around the Detroit Metro Airport. But now I am starting to look for places to rent or buy.

During my visit, I noticed that there are not so many inter-racial couples. In my case my wife is white and I am Hispanic from Mexico. We never experienced any look from people at the mall or any place. I have been reading some threads that there are still racial tensions in the Detroit.
I have been working in very diverse environments in the last six years as a school teacher and I have good impression and respect for all races and cultures. Reading those posting made me wonder if it is really a place to move and raise a family.

Anyway, I just want to know about some areas to live in and any other recommendation for us.

Thank you

[fallingwater]

Wow, you got a job here in Michigan? Consider yourself very lucky, the economy is terrible here. What sort of job for Ford's? They are laying off like crazy. You will be fine, lots of inter racial couples. I think most tensions are between blacks and whites or vice versa before someone gets pissed off. Dearborn is decent. It has a large arab population, the largest in the country. The public schools will close for arab celebrations etc. As far as housing goes, you have your choice of everything. We are one of the highest foreclosure states. I would rent for a while because home values drop by the month. What you pay now, might be considered high in a month or two. Also Ford is not that stable so I would rent in case they decide to do lay offs.

[fallingwater]

PM me if you want to know about certain cities. North Detroit burbs are nice.

[MIEng]

You are very fortunate, Ford is laying off people but they are also trying to hire the RIGHT people. GM too. I do not think you guys will have any problems been an interracial couple. There are lots of those here. I think most of the racial tension is between white and blacks, unfortunately. Dearborn, Troy, Sterling Heights and Rochester Hills are all diverse and safe cities with reasonably priced homes. You will not find as many hispanics and Latinos as you may find in Texas, but there are some. In my street alone there are two hispanics families. They are both automotive engineers. Be sure to rent first (since our economy is in the dump) to get a real feeling of where you want to live.
Good Luck

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by fallingwater

PM me if you want to know about certain cities. North Detroit burbs are nice.

Problem is commuting from the North Detroit Burbs to Dearborn is a major pain in the....

95% of non-UAW Ford Employees live in the following towns:

Novi
Northville
Farmington Hills
Livonia
Plymouth
Canton
Van Buren
Ann Arbor Area
Dearborn

The drive from the west-side burbs like Plymouth & Canton is much easier than coming from Oakland county.

[spatino96]

Originally Posted by fallingwater

Wow, you got a job here in Michigan? Consider yourself very lucky, the economy is terrible here. What sort of job for Ford's? They are laying off like crazy. You will be fine, lots of inter racial couples. I think most tensions are between blacks and whites or vice versa before someone gets pissed off. Dearborn is decent. It has a large arab population, the largest in the country. The public schools will close for arab celebrations etc. As far as housing goes, you have your choice of everything. We are one of the highest foreclosure states. I would rent for a while because home values drop by the month. What you pay now, might be considered high in a month or two. Also Ford is not that stable so I would rent in case they decide to do lay offs.

It is call Ford Graduate Program and I would be part of an IT department. It is a 3 year rotation program.

[fallingwater]

Originally Posted by spatino96

It is call Ford Graduate Program and I would be part of an IT department. It is a 3 year rotation program.

Kudos on the job! As much as I complain about Michigan, this is a state that doesnt mind new comers. From my experience, its like the new kid in class. Everyone is interested. I realize this more and more as I read posts on this site. The people in the south dont like the north, Oregon dont like people from California, yada yada. Michigan is a melting pot of all sorts of people. If anything you might get "why in the world would you move here?" Best luck to you and keep us posted.

[spatino96]

How is the regular guy over there?
Are they friendly? or Is it hard to make friends?

[Coldjensens]

Nice towns with good schools:

Plymouth.
Northville.
South Lyon.
Birmingham.
Grosse Ile.
Grosse Pointe(s).
Royal Oak (best for the younger crowd).
Ferndale (not sure about the schools, but very accepting, this is the home of the openly gay community).

There are a dozen more. These are my favorites within a reasonable commute of Detroit. The best City is Ann Arbor but it is long commute to Detroit. About 1.3 hours.

There are dozens of "nice" communities with decent schools, but many are bland in my opinion.

Some parts of Detroit are really cool, but you have to work a bit for schools and the shopping and dining options may be a bit limited.

Strongly recommend that you rent first and decide later. There are lots of extremely different communities here and once you buy, selling and moving is not a realistic option in the near future. Nothing sells.

Good luck.

[Coldjensens]

By the way. We are kind of new here. (2 years). It is hard to meet people because people tend to be very closed and private. However once you meet them, they are very friendly. People here seem to be willing to really knock themselves out to help you. Best way to meet people is through your kids or at church.