Job Assignment at Marathon Refinery (Detroit, Ann Arbor: real estate, apartment complex, to rent)

[Meyi1976]

I'll be moving with my wife to the Detroit Area in about 3 weeks and I've been in contact with a real estate agent to help me find a nice townhome to rent (since this is temporary and can range anywhere between 6 months to 3 years). We've considered some of the nice suburbs that have been mentioned in other threads....Royal Oak, Plymouth, Canton....and have quite a list to choose from in terms of townhomes.

Also, we have no kids and thought the idea of having a lively little downtown would be great so we have stuff to do on weekends close to home (although we will be doing some exploring to nearby towns too considering we are not from there and have never been).

By the way......I'll be commuting to the Marathon Refinery close to the water in Melvindale/River Rouge area and have absolutely no idea how long of a commute it would be to any of these communities.

My wife, on the other hand, will be attendng any community college that hopefully we can find close to any of these neighborhoods.

Now, we are not familiar with the areas and have heard some frightening details of some places being really nice pockets and, once you take a wrong turn, you end up in a bad place. So my concern right now is more for my wife than myself....as she'll be driving by herself while I'm at the refinery. I'd hate to live in a place that can have that risk where she unknowingly ends up in a bad spot on her daily commute to any community college.

Now....to add to the dilemma of what we're considering....today, a coworker presented me an apartment complex that other people are staying at in Dearborn off of highway 12, between highway 39 and evergreen near the Fairline Town Center. I see that close by is the Henry Ford Community College - - which makes things pretty dog-gone convenient on paper. But...I don't know anything about Dearborn. Is it boring? Is there stuff to do? Are the other communities recommended over Dearborn? Are commutes to these places from where I'll work reasonable or do they take a long time?

Again...we aren't concerned about school districts for kids....and such....just a nice place to live with community college, safe safe safe and reasonable commute to refinery.

Your help is greatly appreciated!!!

[Coldjensens]

The3 areas where you make a wrong turn and get in trouble are in Detroit. Some of them are near the refinery so learn the streets immediately.

Plymouth is a wonderful place, but you are looking at an hour drive to the refinery. Consider Grosse Ile, Maybe Grosse Pointe. If you do not have kids, look seroiusly at Wyandotte. Trenton is not bad and fairly inexpensive. A fun place (if you do nto have kids) but a bit of a drive is Royal Oak. .

Dearborn is a mix. I have not been able to put a description to it. It is quite different in differnet parts. Some are nice, some are awful. Some are boring, some are less so.

There are so many absolutely terrific suburbs in the detroit area that I cannot understand why someone would settle for something that is not absolutely terrific.

[Coldjensens]

I re-read your post. Look at Wyandotte. If Wyandotte is not nice enough, then turn to Grosse Ile (less exciting, but quiet, clean and essentially crimeless). Both are downriver and close to your work. For excitement, you will mostly go into downtown Detroit, or Ann Arbor, but if you lived in walking distance of downtown Wyandotte, you would enjoy it. Royal Oak is more hopping, but the drive would get old.

You do nto want ot tackle the coomute to the west and north west suburbs. They are very nice, but not worth the drive when you have equally good choices downriver. Remember that you will eventually be driving in snow. Closer is better.


Be really careful in the area around the refinery. There are some dead end streets there that you do not want to get caught on at night. I know this from experience. I was not harmed, but I had to rev the engine and charge my car right at a group of hoodlums who were blocking the street to get away. If they had not moved, I would either have had to hit them, or I would have probably been in serious trouble. It is not horrible, but some places near the refinery are places to avoid at night. As long as you know where you are going and stay on the main routes, you will be fine.

[Meyi1976]

Great info........thanks, coldjensens. How about colleges though....is there nice communities with a community college close by?

[Coldjensens]

Henry Ford Community College is pretty decent (In Dearborn). U-M has a Dearborn Campus. That is a prety good school. I think that U-M dearborn credits all transfer to U-M Ann Arbor. I was not much impressed with Wayne County Community COllege, but you can look into it and make your own decision it is in Taylor. Wayne State University in Detroit is not highly selective, but it still has a decent repuration. It has some very good graduate programs. I went there for undergraduate studies and did very well getting accepted into almost every law school that I applied to. All of these are an easy commute from the Downriver area. Dearborn, Wyandotte, Grosse Ile are Downriver. Grosse Ile is really nice, but quiet (not exciting) with great schools. Wyandotte has a fun downtown, but the schools are not so great. Dearborn is a mix. More of an urban suburb. Trenton is pretty nice too and the schools are good. Southgate, Riverview, and Woodhaven, are basic suburban sprawl with fairly good schools.


If you look at Oakland County Communities. (THe north West side of Detroit).
Oakland County community COllege is in Orchard Ridge (some other places too). It is a good community college. Oaklan University is a reaonably good school as well. It is growing quickly.


If you decide to commute from Plymouth, you will be very close to Ann Arbor the home of U-M. U-M is unquestioanbly the top university in Michigan. One of the best public universities in the country. Washtenaw County Community College is not bad. Schoolcraft college is kind of like a community college I think. I do not know a lot about it, it has a fair reputation to the best of my knowlege.

Michigan is packed full of really great colleges and universities for a state of this size. They are scattered abot a bit so living on campus may be a necessity. I believe that every county has a community college with one or more campuses. There are a few other community colleges like Hery Ford scattered here and there.

I shold know more, but our kids are mostly looking at universities. I wish that they would go to a community colelge for the first two years. It would be much cheaper and they can always go graduate from a bigger name university.