Moving to Detroit Suburbs (Troy, Kalamazoo: crime, home, neighborhoods)

[AZtoMI]

Hello! My husband and I currently live in the Phoenix metro area. Hubby grew up in Kalamazoo/Portage, and we've been thinking about moving to Michigan. His family is still in western MI, but he has been offered a position by Chrysler in Troy.

I'm not at all familiar with the Detroit suburbs. His grandparents lived in Redford Township and that's all I know.

I found one message about Troy being a nice place to live. Any other areas around Troy that are nice? What about the school districts? We don't have any children right now, but soon. We are 29 and 32, so having fun, young stuff to do is a must, along with great shopping.

Any help is appreciated!

[msjbrent]

Troy is located in Oakland County. Macomb County is the neighboring suburban county. Oakland is one of the wealthiest countys in the country. Very, very nice. Other then Troy it includes Auburn Hills (home to the NBA), Rochester Hills, Bloomfields Hills. Lot of hills! More expensive housing. If you are looking to spend... say.. around $500,000 or more I would look there. If you want something under then go to Macomb County. You will get much more for your money. With the market the way it is you could get a fantastic deal.

As far as shopping Troy has The Somerset Collection. Honestly one of the nicest malls I have ever seen. Boasts Neiman Marcus, Saks, and other upscale stores. Nearby Auburn Hills has Great Lakes Crossing. A large indoor outlet mall with discount upscale stores. Off 5th Ave, Neiman Marcus Clearance, BeBe's outlet.

I do not know about school districts so hopefully someone else can help you out on that one. Sounds like Oakland County might be for you though.

Good luck!

[RedWingsFan]

Most of my family lives in Troy. It's very nice there. They have some of the best schools in the state there. I have relatives that attend them and they are great schools. Troy also has a great hospital (Beaumont). Good shopping and dining and it's a great place to live. The city year after year is ranked as one of the safest cities in the country...not the state, but the country! It's a great place to live.

You can get a nice home there for around $200k - $250k depending on what you want to spend and what you are looking for. Taxes vary by area of the city.

Other good areas around there include Rochester Hills and Bloomfiled Hills.

Be prepared for the cold winters though!! I'm a Michigan native, family all lives in Troy and Clarkston... but we moved to Las Vegas almost 10 years ago and then recently to Florida. The winters are hard to take, but some people (including some in my family) love them. And the economy is on hard times in the state, hopefully it recovers soon.

[MotownLowdown]

Troy is fine-- lots of office towers and great shopping abound. It is a little "soulless" I would say. It is your typical very large, upscale U.S. suburb.

You are about my age-- and I would recommend the Woodward Ave. corridor. Birmingham (if you can afford it), Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge and Ferndale are awesome communities. Lots of restaurants and nightlife that cater to people our age, especially in Royal Oak and Ferndale. Birmingham is cool, but much more upscale and a little older (Think executives with their much younger wives).

We always had a lot of fun in Royal Oak and Ferndale.

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by MotownLowdown

Troy is fine-- lots of office towers and great shopping abound. It is a little "soulless" I would say. It is your typical very large, upscale U.S. suburb.

You are about my age-- and I would recommend the Woodward Ave. corridor. Birmingham (if you can afford it), Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge and Ferndale are awesome communities. Lots of restaurants and nightlife that cater to people our age, especially in Royal Oak and Ferndale. Birmingham is cool, but much more upscale and a little older (Think executives with their much younger wives).

We always had a lot of fun in Royal Oak and Ferndale.

I just moved here from Southern California last summer. I am a 31 year old married white male with 3 small children. I live in Royal Oak and work in Troy.
I STRONGLY agree with this poster. Troy is fine, as far as schools and crime goes. But it has zero personality. What I have seen of Phoenix is that it is like Cali-mostly strip malls and subdivisions, which is EXACTLY what Troy consists of. It's nice enough, but....BLAH. If you are like me and my wife, we FELL IN LOVE with all the cute neighborhoods around here, and the walkable, hip and diverse feeling of the downtown areas of the towns mentioned above. The schools and safety are on par with Troy, and the nightlife is WAY better than Troy, especially in Royal Oak and Ferndale.
To me, part of the appeal of living here is that it is NOT a soul-less strip mall town. Do yourself a favor and stay along the Woodward corridor in Oakland county, you'll like it just fine.
Good luck!

[cardwellave]

You want an affordable, tight knit suburb, take a look at Wyandotte and the downriver area.

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by cardwellave

You want an affordable, tight knit suburb, take a look at Wyandotte and the downriver area.

Are you nuts? The commute from there to DCX in Troy would be miserable.

[jeffncandace]

I think Cardwellave missed that this person will be north of Detroit. Wyandotte is nice enough, but you don't want that commute, as it's south of Detroit.

[cardwellave]

Yeah I did miss that.

For your case it would be best to live in Oakland or Macomb county, but in general I think people forget Wayne county too much.

[saraht]

I lived in Troy for a few years and it was nice for shopping and restaurants, but the traffic was really bad and there didn't seem to be a community there. It is all very new and lots of strip malls. I prefer the Eastside (Grosse Pointe) and it is only a 30 minute commute. The lake parks here are fabulous and free!!