Grosse Ile

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by babigyrl5

Do you know how much is the pay bridge and can you get a pass that gives you a discount if you use it often? (Kinda like iPass in Chicago, you dont stop, you drive under these "cameras" that snap your iPass box and deduct the fees or just note that you paid)

$1.50 each way. That is a lot for a 1/3 mile bridge. You can get a pass and that reduces the cost to $1 each way. Getting the pass is complicated and requires a deposit. You can also buy tokens. I think you get some discount if you buy a lot fo tokens at a time. Right now, with gas so cheap, we usually just use the free bridge unless our destination is near the toll bridge.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

Cold I tried to give you a reputation thingy but they said I've given you too many already ! Great info that you're giving out. Any differences between the east side of the island and the west?

I understand why Grosse Isle costs more than say DelRay lol -but perhaps in 6 months everything will be cheap.

Here are some of the forfeited properties on Grosse Ile- any bargains ? if the answer is yes - Write "FALLING APART" next to it lol so that only I can get it .

30019 EAST RIVER
25450 SIXTH
27680 ELBA ( ELBA good name that was where they exiled Napolean to)
26061 WEST RIVER
26219 JAMES
20423 CANAL
21212 SHURLEY

I want two stories and a water view and it has to be cheap and wait till I sell some excess property over here.


My little girl wants to know if they have wild rabbits in the lawns there like they do in Colorado.

The East side is the high end side. It has better views (by far), and generally nicer homes. It is the only place with regular views of the big freighters going by. The water is wide, and pretty Canada is ont he other side. It also has more traffic in most areas. The West side is more varied. The water is narrow (less than 1/2 mile). The michgian side is mostly industrial, except along Elizabeth Park in Trenton. Traffic is lighter. Some homes are cheap, some are really expensive. We bought property ont he West Side becuase it was much cheaper for waterview property. Although the view is not as nice, we really like being on the West side becuase it is not so busy and less developed. (We moved a house from the East side to the West side 0 the house was free because the owner of the property did not want the house, just the land).

There are other areas that you need to consider as well. Hickory Island, Elba Island and the south West side of the airport all have their own character. The northern end of the main Island is less developed and has generally larger homes, Especially on the East side.

The East side of Hickory Island is absolutely wonderful. A perfect place for kids. Really expensive, but worth it. It is private. They have a playground, community center, and a small golf practice course. There are only about 20 - 30 homes on the east side. Super quiet, safe and private. However it does add about 10 to 15 minutes to your daily drive. I do not know a lot about the West side of Hickory. It is more Livonia-ish (middle class homes from the 50s - 70s). It is bigger and somewhat more crowded. West Siders are not supposed to use the park/playground on the East side (they do not pay for it). East siders pay association dues.

Elba Island is another really nice part of the island. The few people that I know who live there are very wealthy. That is the location of the R.E. Olds (Oldsmobile) summer home. That home is divided into Condos now, but the condos are big (like 3,000 sq. ft.).

The Least nice area is down near the airport. Particularly along Groh Road. Also anything on Grays Drive is going to be noisey and busy. THe high school is on Grays. INland subdivisions with no wate access are considerably cheaper. they are nice for subdivisions, but not as exciting as most other homes.

There is a very old subdivision called Jewell Colony (formed in the 1920s). I hate subdivisions personally, but Jewell Colony is nice even to me. They ahve a mix of homes ranging in age fromthe 1920s through current.

We lived on Macomb in the business district for a while. It was wonderful. You can walk to everything. It is less quiet and less private than other parts of the island, but we really miss living there. Some of the Macomb Street houses are a bit run down. THe one that we rented needs complete renovation. (Probably $100,000 of work).

Water View is not cheap anywhere. The houses with water views are mostly large very nice houses. Price ranges from $350,000 to 38,000,000 (Seriously), but there amy be some bargains at lower prices. When we were looking for land in later 2005, an acre on East River ran from $450,000 to $750,000. Now it is probably half that much. Houses on the canal are cheaper. The view of the canal is not that great (but it is still pretty neat) but you can access the River and Lake Erie from the canal (small boats or jetskis only).

You may find some cheaper waterview homes. Prices have really fallen. Our house appraised at over $800,000 in early 2006 (before we compelted the move and restoration- appraisal was based on the property and the plans). It appraised at $350,000 this summer. We have a waterview, but no dock/access. Our view is marred by an abandoned factory accross the river, but it really does not bother us (trees hide it most of the year) . The thing is most people would not sell their house for the current prices. Many people (like us) could not do so if we wanted to.

There are a lot of really neat houses for sale. Some are not officially on the market. There is one on West River that is fabulous, we almost bought it three years ago and it is still for sale, but not currently in the MLS as far as I know.

Yes bunnies do come into your yard sometimes. We see a lot more deer in our yard than bunnies. Bunnies have to be careful. Two thanksgivings ago I was just starting to point out a bunny hopping around our back yard when a bald eagle (I think) bolted down and removed the bunny. It was pretty gruesome so I was glad that I had not yet yelled to the kids. We had a nest of them living under our porch at one house and another nest living in a woodpile behind our current house. Something killed the mom of the second nest so we had some babies to care for for a few days before we took them to the "Squirrel Lady" (An older lady who knows how to care for hurt or abandoned wild animals. We have brought her a few babies in the past three years).

Bunnies are cautious. In additioan to eagles and hawks, there are some foxes, coyotes, raccoons, and lots of dogs and cats that might eat bunnies. They keep a low profile.

I will look these houses up when I get a chance and let you know what I know about them. Obviously Elba is on Elba Island. Canal is on the Canal. East and West River are obvious. Sixth may be near the Centennial farm - a neat place to be if you are inland.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit

An ego is a turrible thing to waste.

What's the nature of law enforcement, is there a township PD?

The township PD is outstanding. Sometimes they get bored and go overboard a little bit. They do not get many exciting calls (once in a while, but not often). I have occasionally reminded the younger officers that we are in need of Barney Phyffe, not Rambo. Rambo belongs in Detroit. The police are excellent, but they also excell at enforcing the very low speed limits, so be careful. Some people have arrangements with certain officers where they leave a certain light on at their home if the officers are welcome to stop by for Cider and muffins. I thought that sounded neat, but I do not know any of the officers that well.

I will say that they come through when you need them. I was rushing my wife to the hospital late one night and they pulled me over. I waved them up yelled "hospital" and had an instant high speed escort to the bridge. No questions asked.

Fire protection is also execellent. They have some equipment that almost no one else has. Some of the stuff that they have is a bit of overkill. They have a huge hook and ladder truck. However If there is anything on the island over three storeis high, I am not sure where it is. I guess they use laterally it to get out onto the ice or extend over the roof of a house.

[Coldjensens]

I looked at the locations Online. Here is what I can tell you. These are extremely different locations.

30019 EAST RIVER This is on the good part of Hickory Island. One of the best places in the world to raise a child. I do not know which house. All of the houses on this side are former summer cottages for very wealthy people. Some have been torn down and replaced with more modern homes. Some have bene remodeled. One of them in this approximate location needs quite a bit of work. It would be hard to even make up a better place to raise children from your imagination. Pricey area though. Looks out on Lake erie. Has some sort of association dues. There is a private park/golf course just accross the street. The caretaker is paid by the association and lives in a house on the park. If I were to make a list of the top 20 places that I would like to live, this would be on it.


25450 SIXTH This is North of Centennial farm. A decent inland area. Dead end road - very little traffic. Surrounded by woods. This might be a friend of our's house. These are mostly nice older middle class homes. A nice place to live.


27680 ELBA ( ELBA good name that was where they exiled Napolean to) I cannot tell which side of Elba Island this is on. The East side has beautiful views and is extraordinary. The west side looks out on a slightly swampy canal/bay. It is still nice on the West sdie, but nowhere near as nice as the East side of Elba. All of Elba is nice. Pretty private. I might know the guy who owns this house.

26061 WEST RIVER this is accross from the Edison plant. You will get some noise and some people dislike the look of the edison plant. I think it looks cool. Probably has a dock. Close to the free bridge. Close to the Township Country Club and pool. (and one of the better resturuants)

26219 JAMES This appears to be a part of the Hawthorne Glen Townhomes. A neat development. It is known to have some problems with water intrusion in some units. If this is one of them, make sure that this was taken care of, or discount enough to get it fixed. Very quiet townhome devvelopment in the woods/and on a golf course. A wide mix of age ranges, income and types of people live in here. Quite a few older people live here from April through October only.

20423 CANAL Part of the HCL Jackson subdivision development. This is the largest subdivision on the island. Mostly nice homes. Great neighborliness in that sub. A substantail portion of the population of Grosse Ile lives in this sub. It is old enough to have loads of mature trees and nice sized lots. I cannot tell if this is on the canal or accross the street. Typical older subdivision lots (small but not tiny).


21212 SHURLEY Another HCL Jackson Sub home. Not near the canal. No water, but still a nice subdivision.