Best and Worst Detroit suburbs (Sterling Heights, Dearborn: home, to buy, construction)

[Daniel_T]

Thanks. I did look at the google earth view. The neighborhood and area around the neighborhood look pretty nice. I figure there would be a certain element of petty crime in the area considering it's kinda an oasis in the middle of "DETROIT". I like Detroit though. I don't complain about the city. So hamtramck is nice? I see the home is also a bit south of Highland park which is OOOHHH so bad.

[cardwellave]

Hanmtramck is also sort of an island in Detroit. It's of course surrounded by Detroit except a small corner of Highland Park.

It's sort of interesting because I was just looking at the street view of several parts of that area and it looked decent even though everyone says Hamtramck is surrounded by some of the worst parts of Detroit.

Hamtramck was once a large Polish area, about 70% of people there were Polish, now it's about 20% Polish, and a good deal Middle-Eastern as well. It has more bars per capita than any other city in America. There are tons of Polish as well as Mid-eastern stores, grocers, restaurants, and much more.

Take a look at this:
Model D - Hamtramck Visiting Guide

And this:
Model D - Central Woodward (http://www.modeldmedia.com/neighborhoods/cenwoodwrd.aspx - broken link)

[Daniel_T]

Thanks for the links. Those are very interesting. Are there other areas in Detroit besides Indian Village and Boston-Edison that are nice? I keep hearing about this place or neighborhood "Sherwood Forest"?? Where is that and it it nice? I saw a 3000 SQ ft home there for 321,000. Seems kinda low for a home that looked that nice with all that room.

Back to the suburbs, i've heard Livonia is a nice place to live. Would you agree? How about New Baltimore?

[cardwellave]

Livonia is mid-size homes, generally 1950s-1970s. It was a township before it was a city and therefore has no real central area. Has Laurel Park, a relatively small, but nice mall, and the dead Livonia Mall. The homes are nice and the people friendly, with two good high schools and one eh one. It is quiet place though, not a lot going on. And the homes are in general much smaller than those you've looked at.

I include New Baltimore in with Algonac, Marine City, and even up to St. Clair, Marysville, and Port Huron. It is a smaller, older town along the river/lakefront. There are a number of neat older homes, and I think they've built some newer generic homes there as well. I like the whole "Bluewater Area" which it is on the fringe of. A much older city than Livonia. The oldest part of Livonia is Rosedale Gardens, 40s homes around Merriman and Plymouth. DREADFULLY narrow streets, and nice charm to this neighborhood. ORGHA Site Menu and Home Page

Other nice areas in Detroit? Probably anything on Model D - Detroit News in the neighborhoods section is worth looking at. There are a number of areas with nice homes, mostly Woodbridge, Boston Edison, Rosedale Park, and a few others. Also Hamtramck, but it is much more gritty and younger.

[Daniel_T]

Wonderful. Thanks for the feedback. Livonia doesn't sound like my kinda place. Thanks for the tip for the Model D site for the neighborhoods. I will check that out.

[Dexterguy]

Originally Posted by Daniel_T

Back to the suburbs, i've heard Livonia is a nice place to live. Would you agree? How about New Baltimore?

Livonia is a nice place to live, it is mostly build up with small homes to medium size homes, if you are lookng for a larger home you will most likely not find this in Livonia. Livonia does have some of the best restaurants in all of Metro Detroit, almost anything you can think of. Italian (lots), Mexican, American fine dining, family owned small places, chains, all the way to every single type of fast food.

New Baltimore as you can see is on Lake St. Clair, it is kind of like Grosse Pointe, but is not at all close to the quality of it. I guess the easiest way to explain it is that the neighborhoods are not as well kept, and the entire area is more rural. The commute to downtown Detroit is much longer than the other areas that you are interested in (Indian Village, Boston-Edison, Bloomfield, Grosse Pointe). There are some very beautiful homes in New Baltimore, but are more expensive than the nice areas of Detroit.

There are some other areas of Detroit that are nice also, but not of the quality of Indian Village or Boston-Edison.

***Does any one know if Rosedale Park is still a nice area, I know at one time it was, but I have not been in that area for a while now??

[Daniel_T]

Thanks for the info on New Baltimore. I figured it would be a killer commute into the city. I don't want to live in a community that's not kept up. that's not attractive to me at all.

[cardwellave]

Boston Edison is pretty much surrounded by unkempt neighborhoods so keep that in mind. You will be going through some seriously blighted areas to get to your needs such as shopping, going to to restaurants, etc. In fact all of these things will probably mean a trip over to Redford or up to Royal Oak which is probably the nearest spot where you'll find any decent stores or restaurants. Bloomfield Twsp may be more up your alley. If you don't mind being in Detroit, then that's great, but it may be surprising to somehow who hasn't seen it. Also I'm sure those in Boston Edison aren't all affluent people, since a 7 bedroom house on LaSalle Blvd is listed at $36,000 right now, and a 6 bedroom on Glynn Court is listed for $24,000 (HALF of what it sold for in 2003).

My other suggestion might be Palmer Park, around McNichols and Woodward. Homes here are also large and nice and are closer to 8 Mile and shopping opportunities. The downside is, and you get this in Boston Edison too, that home values are falling FAST. I am looking at one home for sale now, 17201 Pontchartrain Blvd, which is a 4800 sq ft house, now listed for $204,900 has declined 33% since 2006 when it sold for $307,975, 65% since 2005 when it sold for $579,657, and an incredible 71% since 2004 when it sold for $700,000.

Eek!

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Cato the Elder

Yes, Bloomfield Township and a few areas of Bloomfield Hills have McMansions, but Bloomfield Hills is by and large full of mature trees and old homes, not McMansions with little foliage as shown in your picture. Your "modern typical house in BH" statement is patently false. You've been drinking way too much of the ColdJensens, Birmingham-and-Bloomfield-Hills-are-all-mcmansions koolaid. Bloomfield Hills is a tiny 5 sq. mile area of homes from the early 20th century. By 1927 it was a village and by 1932 it became a city so Birmingham couldn't gobble it up, but it had largely been bought and developed by wealthy people years before. Drive down Cranbrook or Lone Pine Road; you'll see all the grand old mansions. You will also see the Cranbrook Institute and the beautiful Christ Church, all from the early 20th century and reminiscent of an old country road in England.

For those interested in Bloomfield Hills and Oakland County, make sure you take note of the source of information. You'll find many of the blanket statements on here are made by people living miles away in places like Wayne County.

Spent the night in BH last night. Went to the musical at BH High. Beautiful huge school. Drove through a forest of McMansion subs on Maple Road to get there (among other roads, just remember Maple as being particularly filled with them). Certainly are a huge quantity of McMansions there. That is all we have seen in the 50-100 times that we have visited BH in the past 5 or 6 years. There are a few older farm houses preserved here and there at the edge of the subdivisions, and there are a few other stately older homes here and there, but pretty hard to find amongst the new subs. Where do you find entire neighborhoods or even a cluster of nice older homes in BH? Where do you find a newer sub that is not filled with McMansions?

[cardwellave]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Spent the night in BH last night. Went to the musical at BH High. Beautiful huge school. Drove through a forest of McMansion subs on Maple Road to get there (among other roads, just remember Maple as being particularly filled with them). Certainly are a huge quantity of McMansions there. That is all we have seen in the 50-100 times that we have visited BH in the past 5 or 6 years. There are a few older farm houses preserved here and there at the edge of the subdivisions, and there are a few other stately older homes here and there, but pretty hard to find amongst the new subs. Where do you find entire neighborhoods or even a cluster of nice older homes in BH? Where do you find a newer sub that is not filled with McMansions?

Take a drive down Long Lake from Telegraph to about Eastways Rd. There are lots in there, especially near Kensington Rd. Also down Lone Pine Rd. and Vaughan Rd. TONS of the old stuff down there. A lot of the area around Maple Rd is actually Birmingham (if not all of it, I thought Quarton was the dividing line in most places, though Birmingham is oddly shaped).

A NEWER sub without McMansions? Probably around Adams and South Blvd or Wattles. Those are more 1970s homes.