West Bloomfield or Farmington Hills.....or Troy? (Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills: diverse, nightlife)

[gilesjp]

I raised an interracial family in Bloomfield Township. You should check it out for 200-300k you get a nice selection of homes. We were whites and blacks on same block good neighbors and a great school system. Everyone got along fine never any problems great people, also Bloomfield Twp/Bloomfield Hills folks are not pretentious and are down to earth. Stop in any diner or pub and people strike up a nice friendly conversation. Unfortunately I am out of a job and lost my home there to foreclosure after 10 years of never missing a mortgage, but definitely a great place to live. Skip Farmington for sure too much racism there also W. Bloomfield is extremely over priced 200k doesn't buy much there. Troy is has more hustle and bustle than the others more of a mini city than a residential area, but the people are cool.

[dakwilk]

I just got back from those areas. We are a mixed race family and we fell in love with Troy. The school that we visited had a nice mix of kids. The neighborhoods were really nice. The library and community center are amazing. Hey, maybe we will end up being neighbors!

[Augustmoon]

Personally from living here I would say Troy would be your best option. It has a fabulous library and community centre, great schools, is very culturally diverse and very safe. Housing is well priced and to a high standard with lots of new developments going up in the area, so choice is good.
There are also lots of 'international' supermarkets and a good shopping complex at Somerset Mall.
It also comes up in Forbes ' best places to live' for 2007.

[rainbowlady]

I am keeping looking, but haven't found "the home".

But Bloomfield, Beverly Hills, and Troy are where I have found things.

I think we have ruled Farmington out.

[Prncssmn7]

Did you mean Bloomfield Hills? I just found a GORGROUS house online in West Bloomfield. It's not huge, but it's in a great (looking) neighborhood. On Walce Dr between Woodrow Wilson and St Joseph St., not far from Hammond Lake. Is that area actually as nice as it looks? I know it's not the equivalent of Beverly Hills, I am still looking...

[lovindfw]

So, are you all saying there is not much racial diversity in Troy? We are moving to Michigan and working in Warren but was looking at Troy due to the short commute and good schools for the kids.

[cardwellave]

I would have to say there isn't. There seems to be a decent amount of Indian people, specifically near that Kmart on Maple and Livernois. Troy is pretty white.

[illmatic774]

apparently they pride themselves on having a large Asian population, but yeah it is pretty white.

[zakian]

Originally Posted by rainbowlady

Looking into purchasing a home in W. Bloomfield or Farmington Hills.....or Troy.

Mixed race family, looking for a home in the 200s, wanting a good library, safety, and a decent home.

Which area is better, and why?

Thx!@

Troy area for one reason. That's where the growth has been and has the only chance of sustaining it.

[rivkadr]

I'm from Bloomfield, so I may be biased, but it's a very nice area. Safe, clean, generally nice people, although the richer ones can get snotty. Regarding the libraries -- my GFIL is on the board of directors for Bloomfield Township library. They've made huge changes to the library over the years; it's grown a TON, and my understanding is that they're currently doing construction to expand it even more. Look at it this way -- the community has the money to make it one of the best public libraries around...and it is. I live in California now, and the libraries out here don't even come close to the ones that we had in Bloomfield and Birmingham I really, really miss having a good public library.

Let me add -- the schools in the Bloomfield school district are excellent (or they were 15 years ago when I was a product of them, and my niece and nephew are going through them right now, and my sister seems very happy). Again...the higher income of the general residents contributes to a really good school system, and the fact that many of the parents are really involved helps as well. I may have been a somewhat indifferent student, but I did get an excellent education even with the limited effort on my part, which has helped me immensely through the years. Got me into UofM largely because of the good reputation of my high school (my GPA was only so-so), too, which springboarded me into a better grad school, etc.