Good Suburbs... your opinion please? (Detroit, Ann Arbor: real estate, houses, work)

[Dexterguy]

Originally Posted by Detroiteratheart

I would suggest Commerce Twp., Novi, West Bloomfield, Milford... these are close to Walled Lake but a little bit of a notch up the scale. Tons of lakes in the area, beautiful neighborhoods, In one tiny area alone are several sport lakes - Union Lake, Elizabeth Lake, Cass Lake, Crescent Lake... and more! I drive past each one to and from work. If it's shopping you're looking for, along with a booming economy - for Michigan, anyway - check out Novi. Great downtown, beautiful mall with a brand-new Nordstrom's and new wing (Twelve Oaks). Milford is an adorable village, with great little shops and restaurants. They all have good highway access too!

I would suggest you stick with the northwestern part of Oakland County. At least check it out...

These are good suggestions for what you asked for. Like posted, I would look into Novi, great safe community, with tons of shopping, and beautiful neighborhoods, the schools are also very highly rated. If you really have your heart set on Walled Lake you can most likely find a smaller home for your budget in the community, but as others have posted, Walled Lake is a bit more upscale and the taxes are higher than most of the connected cities around it. If you are interested in the eastside of the metro area, I would look into the Grosse Pointes, and St. Clair Shores, great boating communities, that also have great shopping near by.

[stock66]

1. As others have said skip Ypsi, most of the schools that serve that area are not very good and it isn't considered upscale. In general "downriver" (Gibraltar) and Macomb Co. (Chesterfield) are not considered particularly "prestigious." Maybe Walled Lake since it is in Oakland County.
2. The commute to downtown won't be great from any of them. MI has two seasons...one of which has the potential for snow and ice and one of which is filled with road repairs. That can mean either way you are going to get jammed up.
3. It is a great time to buy in MI. Selling might be hard. Depends how big of a gambler you are.
4. Lake St. Clair doesn't tend to be the best for water skiing. There is a lot of chop, never really smooth. It is great for boating in general since you don't have to be crowded on to a small patch of water with loads of other boats. It is also good for jet skis, fishing, and places to hang out with other boaters.
Smaller lakes are better for skiing but can get super crowded, making them more dangerous. Also they often fill up meaning you need to get there early before they close off access.
5. Plenty of shopping both Chesterfield and Walled Lake have large malls nearby.

Of the cities you have listed Walled Lake probably has the best schools. If you go with Chesterfield, Anchor Bay is a decent district.
Someone else mentioned Grosse Pointe. For quality of schools, prestige, and commute to downtown it comes out above the cities you have mentioned. The Pointes are on the lake so you can enjoy the water easy enough (each city has a resident only park on the lake). You will have less shopping opportunities and a smaller house for the money though.

[Bayzing]

Does anyone know much about SOUTHFIELD? It seems like a nice suburb... not too horrible of a commute... and the homes in Southfield seem affordable... a nice 4 bedroom can be purchased for around $225,000.

Does anyone know of some particularly good or bad parts of the Southfield area? Do I want to stay North of 10 mile road... or perhaps 12 mile road? How are the neighborhoods near the confluence of the 696? What about the area near Lathrup village... or near the Holy Sepulchre cemetery... does anyone know about the schools in this area? Thanks.

[cardwellave]

Southfield is OK in the Northern parts particularly near Franklin and Beverly Hills (check these cities (actually villages) too). Southfield has a lot of well to do/wealthy African-Americans. In fact 54% of Southfield is black. Now if you don't mind this, it could be a nice place to live, depends on the individual.

[Detroiteratheart]

If you're looking for lakes and water fun, northwest Oakland County is where you want to be. Southfield is grid. All streets run N/S, E/W. But yes, Cardwellave is right about the Southfield area. It's nice and is a great location. Especially if there's a commute to Detroit. Plus it's near Birmingham which has great shopping, very trendy, very upscale.

BTW, Southfield also has a large Jewish community. I could care less, but I know everyone has their own tastes.

Here's a link to the area's map on Google.

orchard lake township, mi - Google Maps

You'll see what I'm talking about if you check that out.

[dieselthedog]

The best places to live are in Oakland County. I would avoid Macomb county in my opinion. Don't hate. Oakland Township is nice, Birmingham, Troy, Bloomfield Hills and West Bloomfield are the best, but I don't know if they are in your price range, but maybe you could find something in these places. I live in Birmingham. It is amazing. I would say you pay for what you get and this includes school districts for kids.

[cardwellave]

I do think Wayne County gets a bad rep. There are also many great areas here. There are lots of nice new neighborhoods in Taylor, Trenton, and lots of beautiful homes in Wyandotte, which has a great, walkable downtown and lots of nice riverfront. Livonia also has some very nice mid-range neighborhoods. Downriver areas are near Southland Mall also, which is prosperous, and Livonia areas are commutable to Twelve Oaks.

[Tom2]

South of Det. dirty industry (smells) Oakland County high dollar near the water lots of people cars. Southfield not bad but traffic. I live in Chesterfield great place, on Lake St. Clair great places to go, near any major store, food great schools, dance studios, hockey arenas, 30 minutes for downtown 3 from the country. Nice people! Comming from downtown up I 94 thier are other communities that are good and have alot to offer!!

[Bayzing]

Thank you for all the information... I've been looking at a lot of different areas.... there seem to be a whole lot of nice suburbs... but I'm really worried about commute. I'll be working at the Renaissance Center... and it looks like I'll just have to live with a 30-40 minute commute regardless of where I live. A couple of followup questions....

Of all the nice suburbs... what (in your opinion) might have the best combination of UPSCALE - SAFE - GOOD SCHOOLS and have the EASIEST COMMUTE? Is it at all possible to live within 20 minutes of downtown? If I wanted to sacrafice my triple combo (upscale, safe, good schools) in order to get closer in... where would you recommend?

Also... how would you compare the commute to downtown from...

Chesterfield
West Bloomfield
Novi/Northville

I am guessing it will be about 30-40 minutes each way.... possibly an hour in bad traffic. Is it better or worse going to anyone of these locations?

[cardwellave]

A commute from Chesterfield would be fairly cut and dry down 94. From Northville A commute from Novi would involve something to do with M-5 or 275 or 696 and 96. West Bloomfield would again involve M-5 or 275 or 696 to 96. On an interesting note the only place you can get on or off 696 between Telegraph and M-5 is Orchard Lake Rd, and traffic gets a little thick. Also when getting onto 275 the first opportunity south of 696/Grand River Ave is 8 Mile, so it's a little annoying.

Both 96 and 94 are fairly simple commutes to downtown, though some communities might involve more freeways. You also might need to use 75 or the Lodge (M-10) depending on where you work. Not a bad commute.

Please note these are from city/township center. Your mileage may vary.
Novi, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
West Bloomfield Township, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
Northville, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
Chesterfield Township, MI to Detroit MI - Google Maps

The only idea I have to get you closer is a place maybe like Royal Oak, Ferndale, Birmingham (close to 20 min commute), or somewhere in Wayne County like Plymouth/Canton or sacrificing surroundings a little to be in Garden City/Westland (they do have some newer, nice neighborhoods and homes, but surrounded by older smaller places) or somewhere like Trenton or Wyandotte (about 25 min) downriver, which a straight shot up 75.

Birmingham, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
Royal Oak, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
Ferndale, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
Garden City, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
Plymouth, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
Canton, MI to Detroit MI - Google Maps
Trenton, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps
Wyandotte, MI to Detroit, MI - Google Maps

Hope the maps help give you a visual of the areas.