Taylor, or...Taylortucky? (Detroit, Dearborn, Southfield: fit in, for sale, rent)

[snopro879]

Hello,


So, long story short (recent college grad, moved around forever, loves the fun of the city but also loves privacy and my alone time), I found a great piece of property in Taylor. Born in Detroit, raised in Roseville, moved to the west side of the state (Ferris) for school, moved back for a solid career. I currently rent in Ferndale and I'm already over it. Cool town, but not into the Ferndale vibe so much. I found an amazing house with a ton of acreage in Taylor, and since I work at Telegraph and I-96, it's actually just a hair closer than my drive to work now from where I live in Ferndale.


The kicker, I know nothing about Taylor. I'd be on the brink of Dearborn Heights, so I'm barely in Taylor, but either way, I want an all around opinion of the area...if possible. I've heard nothing good about Taylor, mostly ha ha funny comments about Taylor, and the more I look - a lot of bad about Taylor. I'm seriously second thinking my offer on this place that I found. I love the house, I love the land, and I jumped on it. Now I'm looking beyond the obvious and searching things about the town and not finding a lot of good. Can I get any HONEST opinions about Taylor? I'll be travelling and living between I-94 and I-96 along Telegraph (again, a huge draw for me as my commute will be roughly 20 minutes to and from work). I just don't want to move there to find out there's not much to be desired.

Thank you all, so much.

[animatedmartian]

Taylor is a typical blue-collar suburb. Nothing remarkable about it. The Taylortucky nickname comes from the fact that it was a popular area for Southerners who moved north (and subsequently brought a little bit of that Southern charm with them). I don't know how much of that is still prevalent today, but at the very least, it's more similar to Roseville than it is to Ferndale.

Old strip malls line pretty much all the major roads and there's also a lot of industrial areas mixed in. It's mainly an area that's cheap and affordable but not much else.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Do you care about nightlife and other stuff to do that involves young people like yourself?

There are some awesome dive bars in that specific area, but they're not going to be frequented by young college grads.

[belleislerunner]

You ever read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad? Move to Taylor and you'll be set for life.

You'll have everything you need on Telegraph and Southland Mall. There are cool towns down there like Wyandotte and Grosse Isle. Even Gibraltar and Monroe are pretty amazing.

The problem with overpaying to live in a Ferndale or place you don't fit in - is you're wasting money to impress people who don't even care and/or think about you. Be wiser to move where you like, it's affordable and you can be the secret king you always wanted.

I hit up the Sears at Southfield/Allen all the time for steals. And Krispy Kreme

[snopro879]

You all so far have seriously improved my mood about this possible move. I was really starting to get worried. Funny enough, I grew up in Roseville. While at times I hated it, it was home and I look back on it now and in a weird way miss it and it's...nothingness.

I am young (going on 29) and definitely enjoy nightlife, but dive bars are my absolute favorite. The only bar I go to in Ferndale is the little divey one with cheap beer. You won't find me spending $5-$6+ for a beer in a "nice" establishment anywhere (except the casino I guess).

How are the people, law enforcement, rules and regulations? I don't plan on breaking the law by any means, but if I want to have a bon fire and a couple of friends over I don't want to worry about people complaining or an overactive (or possibly bored with nothing better to do) law enforcement hassling me when I'm not really bothering anyone else. For example, a lot of Ferndale residents are very...nosy. And the police force on 8 mile and Woodward is almost harassment like at times. If I come home after a long day at work and make myself a drink, then realize oh shoot I need something from the store for my dinner plans, I'm terrified to leave the house after taking only a sip or two. Not condoning drinking and driving, just saying that I use common sense and around here I'm still paranoid.

Thank you for the help so far. I'm still open to other comments, even if they are bad. Thank you thank you thank you!

[DTWflyer]

Agreed, people love to rip on Taylor because I guess it makes them feel better about themselves, but overall its not a bad place to be at all, especially if you can get the house/land you desire at a reasonable price point.

Taylor has all of the retail/commercial options you could ever need either like you said along Telegraph or over in Dearborn.
Plenty of cool dive parts, and downtown Dearborn is cool, along with Wyandotte, and you are a reasonable distance from downtown Detroit too. Less of the "vibe" and pressure to fit in in uber-hipster places like Ferndale.

The only caution/downside of Taylor may be proximity to the airport and/or I-94. I would check out the location of the property in relation to the airport flight paths and see if this is something you can tolerate day-in/day-out. DTW gets close to 500 departures a day and depending on the winds, flights will either be on final approach to the south right over Taylor, or taking off to the north right over Taylor. If you are east of Telegraph, you likely are out of the flight paths for the most part but if you are west of Telegraph definitely something to consider.

[EastBoundandDownChick]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDCCcxlKzDU

[snopro879]

Hahah, that was a funny video.

I'm not too worried about the airport traffic honestly. I lived on the extreme East side of Ypsi for a summer and there was a noticeable amount of plane traffic there, and it didn't really bother me. Now I'll be on the north side of Taylor (right off of Telegraph and 94 basically) so I doubt it would be any worse really.

[e130478]

If you are the type that likes to have bonfires on the weekend and party in your backyard, then you will probably like Taylor. If you are the college graduate who considers reading the New York Times with a glass of wine in the den after work to be an enjoyable evening, then living in Taylor will be about as ideal as living in southern Sudan.

[huckster]

I like the New York Times and think mullet hair do's absurd. All that junk for sale in Gibraltar
Trade Center ? There is nothing wrong with any of this , it is simply not for me. That is all.
Another local favorite is picking the big flea market just east of Telegraph about one mile on Ecorse Rd.