Which Detroit suburbs are in the BEST shape? (Troy, Birmingham: home, neighborhoods)

[Bhaalspawn]

Originally Posted by fmax

I spin the wheel..... Farmington Hills is for you. Straight shot down Grand River to Downtown Detroit.

It would probably be faster to take the Lodge Freeway (M-10), though I haven't taken it for a morning commute into the city for years.

Originally Posted by Dexterguy

Farmington Hills is a nice city, for better schools look into Novi, Northville, Plymouth-Canton.

Aren't Farmington schools still first-rate and at least on par if not better than these other districts?

[Dexterguy]

Originally Posted by Bhaalspawn

Aren't Farmington schools still first-rate and at least on par if not better than these other districts?

I don't think the Farmington schools are better than Novi, Northville, Plymouth, Canton.

But I am NOT saying that Farmington schools are bad, I just know a few people that have moved from Farmington (Hills) because they say that the schools just are not what they once were.

[Bhaalspawn]

Originally Posted by Dexterguy

I don't think the Farmington schools are better than Novi, Northville, Plymouth, Canton.

But I am NOT saying that Farmington schools are bad, I just know a few people that have moved from Farmington (Hills) because they say that the schools just are not what they once were.

Thanks for the insight.

[usroute10]

Dexterguy wrote:

"But I am NOT saying that Farmington schools are bad, I just know a few people that have moved from Farmington (Hills) because they say that the schools just are not what they once were."

They probably said that because BLACK people are moving into Farmington Hills.

Hemmie,

The entire region is guilty of depending on the auto industry. The vast majority of auto suppliers and dealerships are based and located in the suburbs.

Nevertheless, I am thinking maybe the city of Plymouth, Plymouth Township, and Canton Township might be what you are looking for. The reason why is that they are close to Ann Arbor, which is a vibrant college town of over 100,000 (not including students) that has a very diversified economy due to the University of Michigan, a GREAT research university. Google just opened up a big facility there a couple years back. I know of a few people who work in Ann Arbor, but live in these suburbs.

In addition, the University of Michigan just built a huge biomedical/"life sciences" center a couple years back, and I am sure spin-off businesses have and will continue to pop up. I am certain some of the people employed in these companies will live in Detroit's far western suburbs, like Plymouth.

The City of Plymouth has excellent schools, great older housing stock, and a sweet little downtown area that has a nice public square. Plymouth and Canton Townships lack the vintage housing stock, but share the same school district and affluence, and are close to the City of Plymouth downtown area.

Also, I don't think you can go wrong with the Grosse Pointes. If they can border the big, bad city of Detroit for all these years, and not see decline, then I believe they will weather this storm.

[hemmie]

usroute... Thanks - very interesting about Plymouth, and that is the kind of information I was seeking on a conceptual level. On a personal level, unfortunately, it may be just a bit too far of a commute... I'll test it out when I visit in March, but it seems as though it may be about an hour on average on a regular basis during rush hour? We're looking for about half that, but it all goes into a formula, of course, and there are always trade offs. I'll certainly visit, and I've marked Plymouth on my Google map. Thanks!

As for the Grosse Pointes, though... that's just it. I don't think they're poised to weather this storm very well. They've bordered the "big, bad city of Detroit for all these years" and done so because they've had the wealth of the auto industry to buffer and protect, i.e. the tax revenue of the execs. Now that the tax revenue is diminishing (see all the foreclosures and plummeting housing values in the Grosse Pointes), I'm uneasy about their ability to maintain the high quality of the schools and the safety of the neighborhoods. They'll HAVE to cut services at some point, no?

[Coldjensens]

Plymouth is one hour from Detroit. My brother lives in Downtown plymouth and works in Detroit. He can sometimes beat an hour, but one hour is a good average.

[Dexterguy]

Originally Posted by hemmie

As for the Grosse Pointes, though... that's just it. I don't think they're poised to weather this storm very well. They've bordered the "big, bad city of Detroit for all these years" and done so because they've had the wealth of the auto industry to buffer and protect, i.e. the tax revenue of the execs. Now that the tax revenue is diminishing (see all the foreclosures and plummeting housing values in the Grosse Pointes), I'm uneasy about their ability to maintain the high quality of the schools and the safety of the neighborhoods. They'll HAVE to cut services at some point, no?

This is true, but not all the people who live in Grosse Pointe work for the big three. But what you said, is for sure true, if the GM white collars cannot afford to live in the Pointes anymore if they lose their jobs then that will for sure hit the Pointes hard.

[usroute10]

You might want to try Troy in Oakland County. It is an affluent community. It has TONS of Michigan offices of out-of-state, non-auto-related Fortune 500 companies that are scared to locate in the big, bad city of Detroit. It lack charms and is typical suburban sprawl, however, but the schools are great, and you are pretty near to Downtown Rochester and Birmingham if you want some culture.

[hemmie]

usroute... I do appreciate you weighing in... but I just want to say, for the record, that though I haven't actually been to visit Detroit myself yet, I am actually looking forward to moving to the "big, bad" city. I just can't live within the city limits and put my kids in school there. I wish I could be that person, but I just am not there, especially being completely unfamiliar with the city - the whole region, in fact. Sorry. And I don't want to live there and "go private." However, I've lived in cities for a long time (not suburbs), so actually, the suburban life will be new to us.

We are leaning most towards Birmingham. I just wanted to get some longer-term economic perspective on various towns/townships to see what thoughts people had on what are now points of pride (safety, school rankings) that may shift in the next ten years when my kids actually get to high school. It would be ironic if we move to Birmingham for the high schools if in 10 years the high schools plummet below neighboring communities that were much more forward thinking in 2009. See where I'm coming from?

However, we definitely plan to go into Detroit to take advantage of what the city does have to offer... and to all the nay-sayers, I know it DOES have much to offer, and I'm looking forward to it and to the city seeing better days. [pssst, also plan to figure out how to contribute/give back/get involved].

[Cato the Elder]

I don't think the Birmingham school district will go down the tubes that fast, at least not in 10 years. I see this more likely in GP. On the other hand, I don't see Birmingham getting all that more diverse (economic, ethnic, socio-cultural, etc.) than it is now. There is *some* economic diversity, but you're generally talking about a middle-upper class demographic. As mentioned, Troy has great schools, if not quite as good as Birmingham and GP, but it's loads more diverse and will only become more so down the line. The only problem is the mind-numbing sprawl you have to live in.