Moving to Troy? (Detroit, Warren, Birmingham: cul-de-sac, houses, neighborhoods)

[ktyprsn]

If I had a young family (elementary age) and was considering a move to Troy, where should I look neighborhood wise? Is there any walk-ability to parks or a grocery?

[animatedmartian]

Not really. Most of Troy is your standard auto-centric suburban sprawl. There's at least 1 or 2 small parks in every subdivision and a large park every few miles, but most if not all grocery stores are going to be within strip malls.

[lpranger467]

We just moved from southern Troy which was very walkable. While I do agree with the other poster who said its typically very suburban; southern Troy between Adams & Coolidge Rd south of Big Beaver is very walkable as that its right next to Birmingham which is a upscale, quaint town.

We lived on Derby St which is primarily small 1100-1200 sq foot ranches that are in the 180-210 price range. Just north of Derby (by 1 block) are larger (2500 sq ft plus) homes on wider lots which naturally are more expensive (upwards of 300).

We loved Troy and only moved because of work. Its a very safe city and has excellent (award winning actually) schools, parks and city services.

The smaller house we had on Derby fit our family nicely, and frankly for the cost of the houses in that Troy/Birmingham area many people have been tearing down the small houses and building mini-mansions just to have a larger home next to Birmingham (but with lower Troy taxes).

[ktyprsn]

Thank you. That will be something to look into.

What else in the area, with a minimum commute, would have walkable areas?

[lpranger467]

There are award winning schools within a 2-3 block walk from the sub I'm speaking of. There are also small coffee shops 1/2 mile away in the "rail district" of Birmingham. In southern Troy (most of it) you get Birmingham schools which have some of the highest MEAP scores in the state. When we lived on Derby St (address was 2401 if you need a Zillow starting point) we were 2 blocks from Pembroke elementary, 3 from Derby middle school and 2 blocks from a large park called Pemroke Park (was actually in Birmingham). You would be less than 1/2 mile from metro Detroits finest shopping mall (Somerset) and 1-1.5 miles (easy walk) to downtown Birmingham. A gym (LA Fitness) and another upscale strip mall also borders the sub I lived in.

[DTWflyer]

Overall, Troy is a great community to raise family. Troy School District is continually rated one of the best in the state. The city does have a good parts, a good parks & rec programs for kids, a great library, nature center, great community center with gyms, fitness center and pools, and aquatic center.

Troy really developed between the 1960s - 1990s. There is a broad range of both type, age, and price of housing stock in the city. You will find anything from 1950s ranch homes on sprawling lots, 1960s tri-levels, 1970/1980s era colonials, 1990/2000s Mc-Mansions. The city was pretty much build-out by the late 90s, so anything since has really been in-fill/cul-de-sacs when an old home on a large lot was sold and subdivided into smaller lots.

One thing to keep in mind is that the school district boundaries do not align with the city limits. Troy was originally a township until the 1950s so portions of city along the edges go to other districts. Part of western/northern Troy goes to Bloomfield Hills Schools. Part of northern Troy goes to Avondale schools. Part of southeastern Troy goes to Warren Consolidated schools, and part of southwestern Troy goes to Birmingham Schools. Birmingham and Bloomfield are both excellent school districts too.

One nice thing about the Troy School District is that many of the elementary schools are neighborhood schools and hidden back inside the middle of the neighborhood, not on main roads. This allows many of the students to walk to school. Troy inside many of the neighborhoods are nice and walkable. Many of the neighborhoods may also have a small park. Troy isn't walkable in the sense of a downtown area, but as neighborhoods and surburbia go they aren't bad.

Troy is auto-centric and the traffic on the main roads can be a litte crazy during rush hour. In most areas there is usually a grocery store within 1-2 miles, and it seems like there is a drug store or gas station in close proximity too.

Really it would come down to price range and type/size of home you are considering.

I know the area that lpranger is talking about as I used to live near there too. You will generally want to be looking in areas north of Big Beaver / 16 Mile Road (except for the small area west of Coolidge near Birmingham which is decent too)

[lasonia]

we moved to troy in September with two small children. I looooove our area. north of 16 so we are in troy school district. our elementary school is buried in a sub so no main roads. The middle school is at end of block and the high school is at north end of sub. There is a Kroger within walking distance. I have rode my bike to get a few things before. we are exactly 5 minutes to 75 from our driveway so it's easy to scoot around town.