Recommend Suburb Please

[DTWflyer]

Originally Posted by Arthur Digby Sellers

The suburb that best meets your needs and provides the most tolerable commute is Plymouth. Very good schools, varied and charming homes (including quite a few historical homes downtown), access to plenty of shopping and a 20-30 minute commute to Dearborn. Quite a few Ford employees live in Plymouth because of the schools combined with the easy access to Dearborn.

I would also recommend Northville. It is very similar to Plymouth, but more upscale with better schools. Outside of downtown, it has more of what would be considered "cookie cutter" subs.

A lot of the places mentioned - Beverly Hills, Birmingham, Grosse Pointes, Farmington Hills, Novi, etc. - are very nice but would be nightmare commutes to Dearborn, IMO.

I would at least look at the rest of those places. I wouldn't consider them "nightmare" commutes, as there are a lot of people who work in Dearborn who do commute daily from those places.

Plymouth is going to offer the shortest commute as said. All of the others are still within the tolerable commuting range under normal/average conditions. In snow, heavy rain, and the occasional day with a bad accident they will all creep upward.

I would reserve "nightmare" commute for places like Troy, Rochester Hills, Clarkston, Oakland Township, Shelby Township, and pretty much anywhere in Macomb County for that matter. Those places are all upwards of 45 minutes in good conditions.

Again, the worst traffic for commuting to/from Dearborn is actually right around Dearborn itself. Northbound Southfield Fwy from Michigan Ave to I-96 is a parking lot every afternoon from about 4pm-6pm. Its only about a 5 mile stretch, but it creeps slowly. This adds 10-15 minutes on every day, but after that everything generally moves.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Originally Posted by DTWflyer

I would at least look at the rest of those places. I wouldn't consider them "nightmare" commutes, as there are a lot of people who work in Dearborn who do commute daily from those places.

Plymouth is going to offer the shortest commute as said. All of the others are still within the tolerable commuting range under normal/average conditions. In snow, heavy rain, and the occasional day with a bad accident they will all creep upward.

I would reserve "nightmare" commute for places like Troy, Rochester Hills, Clarkston, Oakland Township, Shelby Township, and pretty much anywhere in Macomb County for that matter. Those places are all upwards of 45 minutes in good conditions.

Again, the worst traffic for commuting to/from Dearborn is actually right around Dearborn itself. Northbound Southfield Fwy from Michigan Ave to I-96 is a parking lot every afternoon from about 4pm-6pm. Its only about a 5 mile stretch, but it creeps slowly. This adds 10-15 minutes on every day, but after that everything generally moves.

This is true. It all comes down to what you can tolerate. I commuted from Dearborn to Farmington Hills for a year and wanted to die. However, I once worked for someone who commuted from TOLEDO and didn't have a problem with it.

[DTWflyer]

There was a guy for awhile on our floor that was commuting DAILY from Owosso to Dearborn.

[mgkeith]

Originally Posted by Arthur Digby Sellers

This is true. It all comes down to what you can tolerate. I commuted from Dearborn to Farmington Hills for a year and wanted to die. However, I once worked for someone who commuted from TOLEDO and didn't have a problem with it.

Arthur, regarding the Dearborn to Farmington Hills commute, I just passed this info to my husband. He says it's 40 to 45 minutes and "traffic flows well for the most part." We would have moved a long time ago if it was that bad!

[DaniellaG]

OP parts of West Bloomfield and Bloomfield Hills also goes to Birmingham schools. I went to Birmingham schools growing up and if I had kids I would like them to go to that district. I am not saying there are not other districts that are good just my thoughts around Birmingham schools.

[szoket22]

Originally Posted by DTWflyer

Welcome!

... Western Dearborn has some pockets of nice older homes, but the public schools are mediocre at best.

I disagree...

[FONT=&quot]I have lived in Dearborn for almost 20 years, and the schools on the West side of Dearborn are not “mediocre at best.” They are actually very good. I might agree if you are referring to the East side of Dearborn (they are much more crowded on that end of town too). If you look in the Dearborn Hills area (south of Cherry Hill/east or west of Telegraph, and right around the golf course), you can find a beautiful home for right around your budget with great schools (Haigh, Howard or Lindbergh Elementary, Bryant Middle School, and Dearborn High School). There are also some wonderful Catholic schools in that same area if you are of that faith and want to look into private schooling (St. Anselm, Sacred Heart, St. Sebastian elementary schools (grades K-8) and Divine Child High School). Another beautiful area of Dearborn is by Ford Field (no, it’s not the Ford Field that is in Downtown Detroit where the Detroit Lions play - LOL) (north of Michigan Avenue; east of Military Street; west of Brady Street). The homes in that area are much older, but most are well-kept and updated. That area is within walking distance to Ford Field (where our annual Homecoming festival is held, which includes the best fireworks display around – no lie) and also within walking distance to the "Westborn" shopping area of Dearborn, and only minutes from Ford's World Headquarters. Dearborn is a great place to live and a great place to bring up your children.[/FONT]

I know a few good realtors if you are interested.
Good luck in your search!