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

[Bayzing]

I could be moving to Detriot later this year for a job opportunity. I've read some posts and done a little research... I know to avoid looking for a home anywhere in Detroit itself... but I have a question about four different suburb areas.

YIPSILANTI, WALLED LAKE, CHESTERFIELD, GIBRALTAR/ROCKWOOD

Background... young family (early thirties) with two small children. Considerations:

1 Area reputation... are these areas considered a good, quality places to raise a young family.... safe neighborhoods, good schools... somewhat upscale? We want to be in an area where other young familes are located. Ideally we are looking for a home under $300,000.

2- Commute... all of these areas appear to be 30-40 minutes from downtown Detroit... possibly more in traffic. Any insight as to which of these areas might be better or worse as far as commute.

3- Real estate... seems like there are nice and affordable homes in all of these areas. Any idea about taxes? We will probably be in Detroit for 3-5 years... I assume it still makes more sense to buy then to rent... how hard will it be to sell a home in 5 years from now?

4- Recreation.... we are water sports enthusiasts... does anyone have insight about waterskiing/wakeboarding on Ford Lake, Walled Lake, or Lake St. Clair?

5- Proximity... are these areas near grocery stores... good shopping centers malls... entertainment... restaurants?

Is there any other suburb that I am missing?

[cardwellave]

Wyandotte, Garden City, Trenton. I'd add these.

[redlemon]

From my experience,

Ypsi wont be good really if you're looking for upscale, however, it's full of young people due to EMU being there. You'd be close to Ann Arbor, which has shopping and a nightlife. Traffic can be a nightmare though.

Walled Lake is pretty upscale, close to twelve oaks mall and other shopping areas. The commute is probably going to be just as bad though. (Honestly, I don't know of too many places where the commute isn't bad/long.) I don't live on Walled lake, but I live down the street from it in Novi, and I see people out on the water all the time in nice weather. However, I don't know how feesable it is to find houses under $300,000 around there, especially closer to the lake. The nightlife is pretty poor though, unless you like shopping.

Real Estate is pretty darn bad in the whole metro Detroit area overall, so you'd be taking a gamble on selling it in a couple of years. The market may rebound and it'd be good, or stay the same and be tough, or get worse. There are a lot of houses around the Walled Lake area that have been for sale for a loooooonnnnngggg time, and the prices have dropped dramatically from what they used to be.

Novi and Northville are pretty close to Walled Lake, and they have good school districts. They can be just as pricey though.

[*Danielle*]

I would skip Ypsi... What about Troy? Novi is good...Utica is another good one...

[dkf747]

Every one of those is quite a ways from Detroit, though many do commute from those places everyday. What general area will you be commuting to? Detroit is a pretty big place so knowing that info will help give better advice.

[esluv]

If you have to work in Downtown Detroit, and don't want a huge headache of a commute, I would suggest Dearborn or Grosse Point. Not Dearborn however, if you have a problem living in a immigrant community, Dearborn has the largest concentration of people of Arabic descent outside of the middle east. However, Dearborn also has a good tax base, and decent schools, it would be maybe a 15 minute drive from downtown. Grosse Pointe would be more expensive, nice area and pretty much a Caucasian community.

[cardwellave]

If you're looking into the Dearborn area, I urge you to look into Allen Park, Livonia, Garden City, etc. You can hear whatever you want from adults about how good these schools are, but trust me with first hand experience, Dearborn Schools are not great, I'd definitely say Garden City has better schools from the people I've seen come out of the schools, and all the recent renovations and improvements they have done. The city has some very nice areas and doesn't deserve the reputation it gets. Avoid Dearborn and avoid Dearborn Heights.

[nycjefftrain]

Cardwell....

I haven't been through Garden City in a few years but let's be honest, both GC and Allen Park are average working class towns filled with 2 bedroom bungalows and starter homes. It's a lovely community but I wouldn't be holding the "move here" flag unless I could only afford a certain amount. From what the poster has described as his/her range being around 300,000 and under, she could find a lovely 4 bedroom colonial with a big yard a great schools in Livonia or Famington Hills from the $250 to $275 range. Also, both Livonia and Farmington Hills offer quick commutes to any where in the metro area because both have major freeway arteries running through them. Just my 2 cents....

[cardwellave]

Sorry, didn't see his budget.

Livonia schools are good, some better than others (i.e. Churchill High vs Franklin). I do want to say how Dearborn schools aren't very good and I would urge people to put this into consideration.

[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...