Moving from SF Bay Area to Detroit Suburbs - Advice on Troy vs. Grosse Pointe? (Novi: 2014, houses)

[gizmo84]

My significant other just accepted a job at Wayne State and we will be moving from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Detroit suburbs in a few months. We are looking to buy a house. We have two toddlers.

We've narrowed our search to either Troy or Grosse Pointe, and we're trying to decide between them. There are suitable houses in our price range in both places.

This is what we've gathered from online research -

Troy - safe, excellent schools, kind of a boring suburb, long commute (30-45 minutes) to Wayne State

Grosse Pointe - shorter commute to Wayne State, good schools (but maybe not quite as good as Troy schools), safe unless you cross the border into Detroit, a super fancy-pants wealthy area.

What are Troy and Grosse Pointe really like? Can anyone offer any advice or insider info to help us decide? Thank you!

[reppin_the_847]

I think you should expand your search to more suburbs. There are a plethora of suburbs with character north of Detroit and northwest of Detroit that may fall within your budget.

Near Troy, I would suggest Birmingham but I'm guessing the pricepoint may be considerably higher here. Out west you should consider places like Plymouth & Northville as well. Perhaps Novi could be in play additionally.

Then don't forget all the lake-ish suburbs in and around the whole Bloomfield area. For proximity to Detroit, Oakland County suburbs such as Franklin & Beverly Hills should be considered as well.

By avoiding residing in Troy, you'd avoid the most congested corridor to Detroit. That is highway 75!

[animatedmartian]

Both are fairly similar. The fancier parts of Grosse Pointe pretty much hug the shoreline. Troy has some hillier parts on the west and northern sides of the city, but coming from the west coast, they'll probably seem more like ant-hills. But on the plus side it's pretty green and leafy.

Both school districts are the top of the best schools in the area, though Troy schools (and the city itself) has more diversity. More Indians and East Asians reside in Troy and nearby suburbs. Grosse Pointe tends to be more WASP-y.

Grosse Pointe will have the most direct route to WSU, but pretty much most other desirable suburbs are going to have traffic leading into downtown. At worst is probably a 45-50 minute drive during rush hour.

[belleislerunner]

If you're used to seeing water coming from the Bay - Grosse Pointe would have a much better vibe. It's schools are in the top 10 in the state, not sure where you think they're subpar - and it has a very New England/CT/Newport vibe.

Troy is very landlocked and aside from upscale malls/chains is largely devoid of any character. Perfectly fine place to be if you like the cookie cutter/surburban office complexes around you feel.

[jonnynonos]

Troy is boring. Grosse Pointe is also boring but it's near the city. I. Would also look at Birmingham, Plymouth, Northville and possibly a few cities along the Woodward corridor like Huntington Woods, Berkley etc.

[Bimmerfanboy]

I definitely concur with the others that you should expand your search.

Personally I would go with Troy since it's closer to the major shopping/retail in the metro Detroit area. Overall it's just in a more central location. I also don't reckon driving from your home to the closest freeway (I-94) would be a "pleasurable" drive.

[e130478]

I wouldn't live in either. Both are full of stuffy, insufferable people. But if you're coming from the Bay Area, I suppose that is something you're accustomed to.

[MS313]

Between those 2 I would say Grosse Pointe area just because it's closer to where he will be working. The drawback of that area is that it is kind of far from any decent malls. For good shopping you will have to drive a little bit, there are malls around there but not as good/upscale. However, the GP area is beautiful.

[Hans64]

I grew up in Oakland County and lived in SF for 8 years. You don't detail where in the Bay Area you live but Troy is equivalent to living in someplace like Walnut Creek--suburban, with an office park "center" and a big, upscale mall. Grosse Pointe has more in common with Burlingame or Piedmont--proximity to the city, older, charming neighborhoods. If you live in SF proper or Berkeley neither Troy or Grosse Pointe will deliver a similar experience but GP is much closer to downtown Detroit and urban amenities (though this is Detroit so don't expect too much--the city is improving but this follows decades of decline).

If I were moving back to the Detroit area I would definitely consider GP but never Troy. If Detroit continues to slowly improve I think GP has a lot of upside due to its proximity and solid schools. At least part of the young Downtown/Midtown crowd is going to leave the city proper when they have school aged children and I think GP will be a lot more appealing than someplace like Troy or West Bloomfield. GP has a sense of place--Troy could be anywhere USA. I think the WASP-y rep of GP is somewhat of a relic of another time. GP is not the same place it was in the 50-80s, nor does it carry the same prestige.

I should add that I would never spend my Saturdays in a shopping mall, so the familiar (and true) comment that GP doesn't have a good shopping mall is not especially meaningful in my case. I realize to others it might be. GP is starting to get some better restaurants and the restaurant scene in (nearby) downtown /midtown Detroit seems to be lively.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by Hans64

I grew up in Oakland County and lived in SF for 8 years. You don't detail where in the Bay Area you live but Troy is equivalent to living in someplace like Walnut Creek--suburban, with an office park "center" and a big, upscale mall. Grosse Pointe has more in common with Burlingame or Piedmont--proximity to the city, older, charming neighborhoods. If you live in SF proper or Berkeley neither Troy or Grosse Pointe will deliver a similar experience but GP is much closer to downtown Detroit and urban amenities (though this is Detroit so don't expect too much--the city is improving but this follows decades of decline).

If I were moving back to the Detroit area I would definitely consider GP but never Troy. If Detroit continues to slowly improve I think GP has a lot of upside due to its proximity and solid schools. At least part of the young Downtown/Midtown crowd is going to leave the city proper when they have school aged children and I think GP will be a lot more appealing than someplace like Troy or West Bloomfield. GP has a sense of place--Troy could be anywhere USA. I think the WASP-y rep of GP is somewhat of a relic of another time. GP is not the same place it was in the 50-80s, nor does it carry the same prestige.

I should add that I would never spend my Saturdays in a shopping mall, so the familiar (and true) comment that GP doesn't have a good shopping mall is not especially meaningful in my case. I realize to others it might be. GP is starting to get some better restaurants and the restaurant scene in (nearby) downtown /midtown Detroit seems to be lively.

You bring up some great points about GP. It is very scenic & picturesque with Lake St. Clair as its backdrop.

That being said, its proximity to Detroit is a bit of a negative in some senses right now because it's not as if it borders the hip & happening downtown & midtown areas of Detroit. It borders Detroit's East Side which is almost like a warzone. Folks should be aware of incidents such as the Paige Stalker murder that took place recently in December 2014. These types of incidents along with the decreasing funding in GP public schools are not helping the area. Demographic changes and spillover from Detroit and Harper Woods (particularly Harper Woods into GP North) are alarming some of the residents in the area. Burglaries have not been uncommon in the area either.