Royal Oak vs Birmingham? (Troy, Wayne: house, transfer, to buy)

[Coldjensens]

Just what we saw and were shown by our Realtor when we went to look at Birmingham and a couple of visits with friends since then.

Everyone seems to have different perspectives. I asked a young associate who lives on the edge of Birmingham what he thinks of it. He said "It is a bunch of older rich businessmen driving around in fancy sports cars with much younger really hot wives with lots of plastic enhancements and either a child in designer baby clothing or a dog named muffy in designer dog clothing."' (Paraphrased).

I did not get that perception at all when we looked into Birmingham. In fact I cannot recall seeing one such person. However he has lived there fore years. I guess it is all in what you happen to encounter. The city itself is really nice, but the housing that we saw was not appealing. It does have a bit of a pretentious atmosphere in my opinion.

Some people seem to think that it is nirvana. Perhaps if we get time, we will look at Birmingham more closely. It seems to draw a lot of very different perceptions. However I would rather get to know Royal Oak and Ferndale better, especially Royal Oak.

No question that I like Royal Oak a lot better. I do not like pretentiousness, snobbery, trendiness, or conformity of any kind. We had enough of that in Orange County. Other than that, I have no problem with the northern Woodward area.

[detshen]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Just what we saw and were shown by our Realtor when we went to look at Birmingham and a couple of visits with friends since then.

Everyone seems to have different perspectives. I asked a young associate who lives on the edge of Birmingham what he thinks of it. He said "It is a bunch of older rich businessmen driving around in fancy sports cars with much younger really hot wives with lots of plastic enhancements and either a child in designer baby clothing or a dog named muffy in designer dog clothing."' (Paraphrased).

I did not get that perception at all when we looked into Birmingham. In fact I cannot recall seeing one such person. However he has lived there fore years. I guess it is all in what you happen to encounter. The city itself is really nice, but the housing that we saw was not appealing. It does have a bit of a pretentious atmosphere in my opinion.

Some people seem to think that it is nirvana. Perhaps if we get time, we will look at Birmingham more closely. It seems to draw a lot of very different perceptions. However I would rather get to know Royal Oak and Ferndale better, especially Royal Oak.

No question that I like Royal Oak a lot better. I do not like pretentiousness, snobbery, trendiness, or conformity of any kind. We had enough of that in Orange County. Other than that, I have no problem with the northern Woodward area.

I completely agree with that Birmingham reminds me of the CA money obnoxiousness I came back here to get away from. That look and attitude is so boring.

[khfar]

I love Birmingham. I love the rail district area, too. CUTE, cute, cute houses. Not McMansions.

I moved here from a city that is pretty darned pretentious. So, when I go to Birmingham, it is NOTHING compared to what I used to see! I go to downtown Birmingham at least once a week. There are all types of people.

I live in West Bloomfield. I like it. My neighbors are nice. However, when we bought here, we had a very short time to find a place to live. We chose WB because of all the lakes and trees. I still like that. But, I call Birmingham and Royal Oak my "Happy places". There is just simply more to do.

[Cato the Elder]

Good to hear from you again, khfar!

Another anecdote about how B'ham and RO kind of blend together in culture:
We took our toddler son to the Cranbrook Science Institute this past Sunday and he LOVED it. We were in the "toyland" section of the museum and sat around with a dozen parents while our kids played. Almost everyone was from B or RO - many grew up in the area and returned as adults after studying/living on the Coasts. It was the first visit to the museum for almost everyone in recent memory and we all had similar stories - kids sick of being cooped up in the house during winter so we all had the same epiphany about going to the museum. None of us were fabulously wealthy, but solidly middle-class. Most of us considered B'ham/RO or Ann Arbor for a place to live. Sorry, ColdJensens, no Grosse Ile!

My sister lives in Tiburon which is THE definition of CA snobbery. B'ham might attract some Paris Hilton wannabes who show off their Ferraris, but it does not even approach the day-to-day pretense radiated by Tiburon by a longshot. Go visit Mollie Stones in Sausalito and tell me with a straight face that Papa Joe's in Birmingham is even close to having the same elitist clientele.

[detshen]

I don't think anyone would ever argue that anywhere in MI can compare to the ostentatiousness of many areas in CA, it just has enough of it for me to find it less appealing and rather bland, but I like edge, that's just me, to each his own.

[nycjefftrain]

the description of B'ham is quite accurate. I went to HS a few miles west of here and I always looked at it and its people as pretentious and snobby. I grew up in Farmington Hills and for the first time, I felt on the other side of the nose with B'ham people..the same way us Farmington Hills people look at people that live in Canton(PLEASE take this all in jest..I am attempting humor here..I dont really feel this way..I did at 17 though!!) Everytime I'm back in the area, I always meet up with friends at Dick O'Dows in B'ham...it truly is a great little town that I have trouble referring to as a "suburb" leave the "suburb" tag for Troy or Farmington Hills. Though if I move back, I would prob look at Ferndale, RO, or (gasp) downtown Detroit(all Detroit haters enter now)

[girlsonthemove]

I raised my daughter (born 1985) in Royal Oak but now we live in Birmingham (she's 22) and there is a difference. B'ham is safer and classier. RO is fine if that's what you can afford but if you can afford B'ham, I highly recommend it. The schools are better, it's safe to go out at night and the people are more professional. RO is great but if you can afford B'ham, it's worth it.

[dieselthedog]

In my opinion, Royal oak is a dump besides the downtown area. My parents moved out of there before I was born and I lived in Birmingham all my life. The schools are amazing and the homes are fab. For someone to compare RO to Bham that is not even on the same level. The lofts in RO are 3-400G's and Birmingham has million dollar ones. Please. Oh and the RO school district is a pile. If you care about your kids, don't send them there. My dad worked for the district for over 35 years and OMG that is all I have to say and also their district was open to other areas (not sure if it still is) and you would get hazel park and other areas that were coming in. Yikes. In all fairness, the lofts in RO have helped the area I think look better and bring in people with more $, but then a few of them like off of 11 mile you look off your balcony into small homes that are run down. What a view! RO does have some good places to eat and fun shops, but Bham is more upper class. We have Cameron's and Big Rock and Chen Chow.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by dieselthedog

In my opinion, Royal oak is a dump besides the downtown area. My parents moved out of there before I was born and I lived in Birmingham all my life. The schools are amazing and the homes are fab. For someone to compare RO to Bham that is not even on the same level. The lofts in RO are 3-400G's and Birmingham has million dollar ones. Please. Oh and the RO school district is a pile. If you care about your kids, don't send them there. My dad worked for the district for over 35 years and OMG that is all I have to say and also their district was open to other areas (not sure if it still is) and you would get hazel park and other areas that were coming in. Yikes. In all fairness, the lofts in RO have helped the area I think look better and bring in people with more $, but then a few of them like off of 11 mile you look off your balcony into small homes that are run down. What a view! RO does have some good places to eat and fun shops, but Bham is more upper class. We have Cameron's and Big Rock and Chen Chow.

Diesel, Buffy, Biff, or whoever, I know daddy and mommy-ums gave you $700k to go out and try to buy a house in CA, AZ, or wherever, but you *really* know a lot less than you think. "RO is a dump besides downtown?" Do you go to Trader Joe's or Westborn Market? What, you only shop at Papa Joe's, LOL? Well, in case you lower yourself enough to shop at TJ's and Westborn, they're in RO. Your pampered @$& was probably born in Beaumont like most Brahmins in the area would demand. Yep, it's in RO. Is Birmingham's farmer's market much better also? In the parking lot of a strip mall?

Yes, there are more elitist institutions in Birmingham, but it doesn't mean it's necessarily better. Cameron's and Big Rock is your idea of what makes a place swanky? Give me a friggin' break. Go live life a bit out of your cocoon and earn some real coin yourself before you make elitist statements like this. God, please don't tell me you went to U of M to earn your *communications* degree. I would tell you my office address so I could do a conference call with your daddy warbucks, but it just ain't worth it. Send me a message in several years once life crushes you with your communications degree and maybe we'll talk then.

[nycjefftrain]

Cato....I don't think I could've said it better myself.