Relocating to Detroit Metro - Rural area suggestions? (Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor: real estate, apartment)

[Bejapa]

Hello :-)

I just took a job at Wayne State University and I need to find a place to live. The main criteria for what we are looking for:

1. A rural area - My 8 years old daughter loves animals and since I am allergic to them we can only have those of the outdoor variety (horses, goats, chickens, etc.). I will have to drive into Detroit just few days a week, so distant locations are not out of the question.
2. A decent school district - My daughter will do best in a small school setting. A kind and community-oriented district means more to me than test scores.
3. Reasonable cost of living - I'm fresh out of grad school and can't afford (or want) to live "large".

For those of you who know anything about animals - are there town / township laws governing acreage and animals? Are there other things I need to be aware of regarding livestock that are local to MI?

I haven't a clue what the utilities will be like for a house in MI. Any ideas where I might look to get a general sense of what the basics of heat and electric are so I can develop a budget?

When we visited MI a few weeks ago I was struck by the sandiness of the soil. Since I like to garden I would like to know what does well in the area. Can anyone recommend good websites that might help with this kind of info?

Many thanks for helping make the hunt a bit easier!

[BurtsBees]

Check out Romeo...

[kazoopilot]

If you don't mind a long drive (2 hours), I would suggest places like Three Rivers, Colon, Athens, and Sturgis, which are great small towns in southern Michigan. Also, there's areas north of Detroit like Bad Axe, Caro, and Marlette would work. All of thee places are within 2 hours of downtown Detroit. If you want to be within an hour, then that pretty much limits you to suburban/exurban towns like Romeo and South Lyon, which are not truly rural.

[ImaMichigander]

Lots of people have large livestock in the Brownstown/ New Boston area. It actually very close to Metro airport and great for getting to all of the major high ways. Lots of homes have horses and some cows and goats, chickens here and there.... You're probably 30-45 minutes from Downtown.

There is a charter school called Summit Academy that I have heard a lot about, but don't know personally. I have heard nearly all good things-- they go k-12. Also my daughter, who is also 8, did pre-k through 1st at St. Mary's in Rockwood. There was a change in principals, and some things that I have HEARD, but not experienced for myself that I think I wouldn't like very much. But when we were there we liked it very much. ( we moved to OH at the same time the principal was leaving....)

The people Downriver are really very nice. I grew up in the area, but I really like the people a lot. I think that, in general, the people of MI are quite kind and friendly-- but this is especially true of the Downriver Communities.

I wish you luck! And feel free to ask if there is anything else that I can offer!

[Jwo85]

Originally Posted by Bejapa

Hello :-)

I just took a job at Wayne State University and I need to find a place to live. The main criteria for what we are looking for:

1. A rural area - My 8 years old daughter loves animals and since I am allergic to them we can only have those of the outdoor variety (horses, goats, chickens, etc.). I will have to drive into Detroit just few days a week, so distant locations are not out of the question.
2. A decent school district - My daughter will do best in a small school setting. A kind and community-oriented district means more to me than test scores.
3. Reasonable cost of living - I'm fresh out of grad school and can't afford (or want) to live "large".

For those of you who know anything about animals - are there town / township laws governing acreage and animals? Are there other things I need to be aware of regarding livestock that are local to MI?

I haven't a clue what the utilities will be like for a house in MI. Any ideas where I might look to get a general sense of what the basics of heat and electric are so I can develop a budget?

When we visited MI a few weeks ago I was struck by the sandiness of the soil. Since I like to garden I would like to know what does well in the area. Can anyone recommend good websites that might help with this kind of info?

Many thanks for helping make the hunt a bit easier!

If your looking to live by farm animals then Romeo, Memphis, Richmond and anywhere north of them is a good place. then over by Brooklyn and Saline is another safe bet.

With your budget, I would think owning them would be expensive no matter where you lived.

[ScottDW]

Dundee or Milan are nice, too.

They're about a 45 minute drive to downtown Detroit.

[joeinshelbyd]

I would try somewhere in northern macomb county places like Romeo,Ray Township, and Washington twp come to mind

[stockflyer]

I agree that Romeo is a great place to live, I near there. But I don't think I would like the drive everyday. That can be rather tiring. You may try to split the difference and look at Sterling Heights on the north side. Working at Wayne State puts smack in the center of the metro area and it will take a while to get to any rural area.

Just be aware, that here like other areas, some directions you can get 50 miles in an hours and in others areas you may only go 15 miles away in an hour. I worked about 13 miles from my office and it takes 30-45 minutes depending on time of day.

[Coldjensens]

You do not have to drive very far. Find a good school district and buy property in the outlying areas. The following execellent school distrcits have loads of rural areas:

South Lyon
Notrhville
Plymouth Canton
Ann Arbor

Parts of West Bloomfield, Farmington/Farmington hills, rochester, rochester hills, birmingham, troy, etc etc. have rural areas. These communities have good or great schools.

Reasonably good school districts:

Brighton
Milford.


At least in the 1970s and 1980s South Lyon was the horse capital of the united states according to the almanac. Not sure if that is still the case, but there are plenty of horse properties all over.

If you just want chckens, alpacas goats or other small animals there are parts of nearly every community where you can have those. Also some areas have community equestrian centers where you can board horses (or probably other animals). WE live on Grosse Ile, we have execellent schools. There is a community farm where you can board horses. There is an alpaca farm where you can board alpacas. Some of the residents have horses on their property. Many have chickens or domestic ducks. We are about half an hour from the airport and a little longer to Wayne State (for now, it will get shorter in about a year).

The problem that you will find is that places with good school districts generally have higher real estate values and higher taxes. However, if you are not lookijng for the top 20% of schools, you can certainly find an old farm house on some acreage that you can rent. Some friends of ours lived in an oldfarm housewith two barns and bout three or five acres for years. Their rent was next to nothing. I think that they were in the plymouth canton school district. They were about 30 minutes from the airport and maybe an hour from WSU. They paid very little in rent. The house was a bit ramshakle, but it was livable. The owner was just getting a little extra income while he waited put a deal together to tear the house down and build a commercial building. This went on for years.

These placestake a lot of looking to find. You may have to live in an apartment or a boring rental house for a year or two and spent a lot of time searching for a rental like that. However it is difficult when you want it all (cheap, rural, large property, good schools, etc). That combination is not easy to find.

[gea12345]

I would suggest doing a lot of research as you obviously are doing, but I would get an aparment or 6 month lease bring the basics, scout around for six months, then take a week off and get your self out of storage and have the movers move your stuff after you have found your ideal place!

good luck!

Originally Posted by Bejapa

Hello :-)

I just took a job at Wayne State University and I need to find a place to live. The main criteria for what we are looking for:

1. A rural area - My 8 years old daughter loves animals and since I am allergic to them we can only have those of the outdoor variety (horses, goats, chickens, etc.). I will have to drive into Detroit just few days a week, so distant locations are not out of the question.
2. A decent school district - My daughter will do best in a small school setting. A kind and community-oriented district means more to me than test scores.
3. Reasonable cost of living - I'm fresh out of grad school and can't afford (or want) to live "large".

For those of you who know anything about animals - are there town / township laws governing acreage and animals? Are there other things I need to be aware of regarding livestock that are local to MI?

I haven't a clue what the utilities will be like for a house in MI. Any ideas where I might look to get a general sense of what the basics of heat and electric are so I can develop a budget?

When we visited MI a few weeks ago I was struck by the sandiness of the soil. Since I like to garden I would like to know what does well in the area. Can anyone recommend good websites that might help with this kind of info?

Many thanks for helping make the hunt a bit easier!