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Old 04-04-2018, 08:18 PM
 
13 posts, read 11,318 times
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Will be moving from northern Virginia to complete medical training at Dearborn hospital. Need rental for 2-3 years.
Kids are under 5 and will go to preschool. Not to be snobby but even though schools not a factor would still like to live in neighborhood with other professionals with kids.
Looking for safe area. Spouse will be working from home and we would love to rent single family house or large townhouse with garage...budget $1500-2000/month. Have searched these threads extensively and so far have come up with Farmington and West Bloomfield but feel like I might be missing something. Would prefer newer construction—-not a fan of the older although charming homes.
Nearby parks and playgrounds a bonus! As well as shops—strip mall ok, just need nearby grocery and coffee shop.
I don’t mind commuting up to 30 min from hospital as I will have 9-5 work schedule.
Thank you!
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Old 04-05-2018, 03:57 AM
 
Location: Ann Arbor MI
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I know several folks who came to Ann Arbor to complete their medical training. You are the first I ever knew with 9-5 hours.
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Old 04-05-2018, 05:02 AM
 
13 posts, read 11,318 times
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Medicine is a very vast field. The specifics of my training aren’t really pertinent. If you have housing reccomendations as per my original post please share them.
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Old 04-05-2018, 06:42 AM
 
Location: Metro Detroit
1,786 posts, read 2,650,288 times
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You sound like someone who lives in my neighborhood. Actually you sound like me, except I'm in a science field rather than medical. I live in Berkley and recently lived in Royal Oak - I have nothing but positive to say about both places. Both have good schools, lots of younger kids, walkable downtown sectors with family restaurants, ice cream, stuff like that, tons of sidewalk-accessible neighborhood parks, coffee shops, quirky stores, you get the idea. Our main difference is that I've sort of grown to like older homes simply because they are in better neighborhoods. Housing stock here is mixed as a lot of older homes are torn down and replaced, but the new stuff is quite expensive. There are some more affordable newer condos though. Berkley has lots of parents in their 30s, Royal Oak does as well, but a few more DINK types and a higher pub to family establishment ratio. Huntington Woods is another good option if you have the budget for it.

Other somewhat similar options would be Plymouth and Northville, but I would suggest being near their respective downtown cores and not out in the "township" as Plymouth TWP and Northville TWP get pretty blah, once you get a mile or two out of their little downtown cores.

The Grosse Pointes may also be worth consideration. Lots of families, great communities, walkable districts, parks, good schools. A mix of younger and older parents, but mostly older homes.

Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield are fine, but incredibly boring, and you'll drive everywhere. Much of these cities don't have sidewalks. That's okay for some, but not really my thing. Chain and big-box everything, seas of parking lots, sprawling, winding, soulless subdivisions with HOAs - basically every stereotype of late 20th century suburbia. Again, if that what you like, then you won't go wrong with either. I'd also consider Livonia if that was what I were looking for. I like Livonia better than FH or WB. Also worth nothing is that these areas will be demographically older - more parents in their 40s/50s than parents in their 30s. Canton is also an option, it allows you relatively easy access too Ann Arbor while not being far from Dearborn, but Canton's one of those places that's so pedestrian that it's claim to fame is that it has an Ikea. It basically makes West Bloomfield feel hip. Also, Ford Road traffic is the stuff of nightmares.

As an aside, I moved from a newer metro where most homes were 1980s or newer. I lived in a 1990s house. At the time, I would've never considered something older. Then I rented a house from the 1920s. On one hand it was beautiful and amazing, but on the other it was .. well, old. Narrow driveway, one bathroom, weird shaped rooms, stuff like that, but I loved the neighborhood and can't afford the 2010s new-builds that are replacing all the old tear-down homes, so I resigned to buying something older.

Fortunately, as I shopped around the area I discovered there is a massive difference between pre-war and post-war homes. The pre-war homes are... old, like my rental. The post-war ones.. aren't.. most of them feel every bit as modern as something from the 1990s or 2000s. In fact I like my 1940s home much more than the 1990s one I owned in another state. The post-war homes have two car garages, functional living areas, copper plumbing, forced air heating/cooling, etc. So I guess my point is as a former hater of old homes - I would say that you should open your options up to at least anything newer than 1945. It really increases your options in Metro Detroit and you'll end up in a much better neighborhood by doing so. Detroit has some incredible areas that developed from 1900-1960, but most of our 1970+ neighborhoods are rather uninspiring.

Last edited by Geo-Aggie; 04-05-2018 at 06:59 AM.. Reason: Added info about old vs. new
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Old 04-05-2018, 07:29 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,707 posts, read 79,502,588 times
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There are a lot of nice options. Here is a list and a little bit of description:

Plymouth - active small older city with a cute downtown - live in walking distance of the downtown or don't bother.

Canton - upscale suburbia. Big box stores and chain restaurants. Trafficy.

Livonia. Aging suburbia, but reasonably nice. More middle class with nicer homes in the north. Nothing special about the City, just basically housing.

Novi. Shoppers heaven. Malls galore. Every imaginable chain store or restaurant is probably here someplace. Tends to be trafficy. Nicer suburban sprawl.

Farmington/Farmington Hills. Cute little former farming town surrounded by 1960s -1970s suburbia. There are newer places around as well, but it was mostly built out between 1965 and 1985.

South Lyon. The Horse capital of the USA turned into the the McMansion Capital of Michigan. Still a little bit of the cute small town left, but mostly butchered and ruined. Pushing it for half an hour to Dearborn. It is still a nice place, especially if you like suburban sprawl. Often the second safest community in Michigan. Lyon township still has some rural and semi Rural areas.

Northville. Cute little factory town from the 1800s - early 1900s. They kept a lot of the butchery at bay and the McMansions on the outskirts, so the town is still cute and charming. Pricy largely because the schools are top notch. A very nice place to live.

Huron Township. Rural. Nice area but hard to find a rental.

Wyandotte. Cool small city on the water. Some awesome places available. Active downtown. Not great public schools. Very medical oriented because a large Henry Ford Hospital branch is there and surrounded my medical specialty and support businesses. One of the best little downtowns we have. Find a place in walking distance to downtown, or do not bother.

Trenton. Wyandotte's sleepy neighbor. They have a cute downtown, but it has very few worthwhile businesses in it. Best thing is it is sandwiched between Wyandotte and a nice park. It is a little nicer than Wyandotte because it has better schools.

Grosse Ile. Pushing a little past your half hour, but such a marvelous place it is worth looking at. Not a lot of rentals, but some. It is a tightly clustered group of 14 islands with 10,000 people living there. Small town atmosphere. Super family oriented. Lots of open space, with woods and bike trails. Pricy. Great public schools. Safest Place in Michigan.

Dearborn itself is not a terrible choice. If you are 5-10 minutes away you can pop home for lunch and see the kids. Some areas are heavily middle eastern people, some are not. Areas very close to the Detroit border are not as nice as the areas further away from the Detroit border.

I will leave others to discuss the Northern suburbs that are decent. I am not sure which of them are within half an hour of Dearborn. (Possibly Royal Oak, Ferndale, Franklin Villiage. and some others.).

You might also consider downtown or midtown Detroit if you like the urban lifestyle and have a lot of money to spend. Ann Arbor is also a possible option once you learn to drive Michigan fast. Some days will be more than half an hour though due to traffic or snow. You cannot make 90 - 100 mph except in dry weather. Ann Arbor is an awesome college town/city. It is our liberal extremist headquarters downtown and you need to watch what you say, drive and wear or you may get verbally attacked by strangers (not that likely but it happens). Still it is a really awesome little place, usually considered one of the greatest college towns in the USA. Game days are crazy. The stadium holds almost the equivalent of the entire population of the City and it is usually packs with even more people at tailgates etc. Still it would likely be a great option for you if you can afford it.

Last edited by Coldjensens; 04-05-2018 at 07:43 AM..
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Old 04-05-2018, 02:12 PM
 
5,681 posts, read 5,099,197 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
Pushing it for half an hour to Dearborn.
Won't happen for traditional commute times. Absolutely 0% chance. Ann Arbor has better odds despite being farther away (though not in the evening, either). Even Canton is going to be a tough commute after work.

OP, take my advice with a grain of salt because I know next to nothing about schools, but if 30 minutes is your true absolute maximum, give Dearborn proper a very good look. I lived there for about a year six years ago and found it to be a bit boring, but my priorities were different from yours. There have been some decent changes made recently, between new restaurants and businesses opening up and the Ford campus expanding, which naturally brings about change. I hear iffy things about Livonia schools, but it's another affordable option nearby and Edward Hines Drive is a decent option that lacks street lights and so tends to flow a bit better. Same true for Plymouth, as well.

As northern suburbs go, Royal Oak, Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge are all nice in their own right (to say nothing of Berkley and Lathrup Village), but they all suffer from the same traffic issues.

If you do consider Ann Arbor, PM me. We are about to leave the U.S. for 18+ months and so our 3+2.5 house will be available for rent.

Last edited by highlanderfil; 04-05-2018 at 02:21 PM..
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Old 04-06-2018, 06:54 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,707 posts, read 79,502,588 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by highlanderfil View Post
Won't happen for traditional commute times. Absolutely 0% chance. Ann Arbor has better odds despite being farther away (though not in the evening, either). Even Canton is going to be a tough commute after work.

.
Depends on where to where. My daughter lived with my Dad just outside of South Lyon (Lyon Township). The worked at the Henry Ford. when things went well (green lights, light traffic) it took her 35 minutes. O the other hand if you were out towards silver lake - no chance. Even downtown south lyon you could not make half an hour but 40 - 45 minutes it reasonably practical.
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Old 04-06-2018, 07:10 AM
 
2,210 posts, read 3,478,377 times
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Northville or Plymouth would check all of your boxes for nice neighborhoods populated with professionals with kids. Both have newer housing subdivisions and plenty of shopping. I'm not sure how far your budget will go in either of those areas, but certainly enough for a 3 bedroom. However, that will be harder to find in Northville as the homes skew larger.

Novi checks all of your boxes as well but is closer to a 40-50 minute commute time depending on time of day and where in Dearborn you are headed. However, it would be easier to find an affordable rental home in Novi than it would Northville. Most of Novi borders Northville so you have all the downtown amenities within a 5 minute drive at a lower cost.

I would avoid Canton and Livonia -- they're not going to have the type of neighborhood mix you're looking for. Farmington/Farmington Hills is a mixed bag depending on where you are. I'm not as familiar with W Bloomfield.

Last edited by Arthur Digby Sellers; 04-06-2018 at 07:18 AM..
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Old 04-06-2018, 07:43 AM
 
5,681 posts, read 5,099,197 times
Reputation: 5149
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
Depends on where to where. My daughter lived with my Dad just outside of South Lyon (Lyon Township). The worked at the Henry Ford. when things went well (green lights, light traffic) it took her 35 minutes. O the other hand if you were out towards silver lake - no chance. Even downtown south lyon you could not make half an hour but 40 - 45 minutes it reasonably practical.
So...in the best and mostly edge case scenario (light traffic and all green lights are never going to happen on a consistent basis during the time OP will be driving), she went from "just outside" (on what side?) of South Lyon to Henry Ford (close enough to serve as a proxy for pretty much any hospital in Dearborn) in MORE than the 30 minutes outlined by OP as his maximum. Good job disproving what I said. I'm not even going to ask how long it took her to get back home, having done that very drive for a year myself.
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Old 04-06-2018, 08:18 AM
 
Location: Ann Arbor MI
2,221 posts, read 2,228,601 times
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I was talking to a peep at the dog park this morning who works at Ford Hq. He says it typically takes him close to 45 minutes from his house in Ann Arbor. (I'm not sure where in town he lives). He said if it was a 5 am on a Sunday it would take him 25-30 minutes.
Point being commuting during prime commuting hours has an impact.
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