Moving to Detroit (Sterling Heights, Dearborn, Westland: relocating, estate, mcmansions)

[Zonamiss]

Hi...I've been reading everything on these boards about people relocating to the Detroit area, and for the exception of one, it looks as though everyone is relocating with a family. I am a recent college grad and I grew up in Minneapolis, MN and Green Bay, WI. My boyfriend lives in Windsor, ON and I have been through Detroit several times (Just on 94 from Romulus to Windsor). I have the opportunity to transfer to Farmington Hills. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions of a place to live that wouldn't be too much of a hassell driving to work and Windsor. I've driven in Detroit and think it's fine (although I've never been there during rush hour), I don't mind a commute as long as it's around 30 minutes or shorter. And I must say I always heard horrible things about Detroit, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it is not as bad as I always heard, and the downtown area is much cleaner than I remember. I just need a decent (and affordable) apartment/rental place for a young person. Any response would be greatly appreciated!

[Blue Grass Fever]

Getting to downtown Detroit/Windsor is fairly easy no matter where you live outside of Detroit! Familiarize yourself with all the free-ways near downtown! Detroit has many freeways intersect near downtown. (in case you get caught in a traffic-jam, you can skip to the next freeway heading downtown) There is I-94,I-75, Davison, Lodge(10), and I-96 to get you downtown!

The tunnel to Windsor can be packed at peak times (long wait) so the Ambassador Bridge is a good alternative! (which is about 4-5 miles south of the tunnel)

Sorry, i can't help you with suggesting/finding a place to live but i'm sure you won't have a problem finding a place to rent either in Detroit (be careful when looking into Detroit as there are nice pockets of Detroit surrounded by rough neighborhoods) or the suburbs of Detroit!

Hope this helps....B G F!

[manoswath]

Hey zonamiss. Dearborn, for one.

[dianeeileen]

Hi, Farmington Hills is nice as is livonia, plymouth, Westland, Canton, Farmington, all close to major freeways and not hard to get to windsor. Detroit has some great lofts and apartments if you want to live in the city. Depends on if you have kids, cause the school system sucks. However if you don't have kids you might really enjoy loft living in the city. Welcome to the motor city have lived in and around detroit all my life, looking to move myself but only because we want a small town. Detroit Rocks

[Simpsons]

My wife and I are planning to move to Detroit. We have a preschooler and the second on the way. My wife would need to commute to downtown so we are looking for a suburb within resonable commuting distance. It will be nice to have access to good elementary schools and daycares. Would appreciate some advice from the forum about the choice of suburbs, school district etc.

[PJohnson]

Are you looking to locate to Detroit or Suburbs?

My best,

Penny

[usroute10]

Hello, I am resident of the city of Detroit, and I wish that all those who move to the beleagured Detroit Area would give the CITY a chance, but since that ain't gonna happen, whats follow is a list and brief description of suburbs that I know of, that have excellent public schools:

Birmingham - very prestigious community with an excellent mix of stately older homes and new McMansions, with an excellent public school system and a bustling commercial and entertainment district. This community is located in Oakland County, and is 15 Miles north of Downtown Detroit

The Gross Pointes - consist of five communities: Gross Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Woods, Gross Pointe , Grosse Pointe Shores, and one other one. These are the "Old Money" communities of Metro Detroit. Very elegant, gigantic estates, and some smaller homes in well-tended, well-knit neighbhorhoods. These communities share an excellent public school system, and are about 6 - 10 Miles from Downtown, depending on which one you live in. These suburbs basically border Detroit on its eastern border.

Macomb Township - This is one of many generic sprawl suburbs in Macomb County that lack "character", but have nice newer subdivisions filled with nice houses and well-meaning families who look out for each other. The name of its fantastic school district is Chippewa Valley. It is about 25-30 miles outside of the city center, and your commute might be long though.


Some other nice suburbs with good schools, include Fraser, Chesterfield Township, and Washington Township in Macomb County (long commute for the latter two), Bloomfield Hills and West Bloomfield Township (the former is very, very ritzy, and the commute will probably be 30-45 minutes) in Oakland County, and Canton Township, Plymouth Township, and the city of Plymouth in Wayne County have very, very good schools, but are kind of far from downtown.

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by usroute10

Hello, I am resident of the city of Detroit, and I wish that all those who move to the beleagured Detroit Area would give the CITY a chance, but since that ain't gonna happen, whats follow is a list and brief description of suburbs that I know of, that have excellent public schools:

Birmingham - very prestigious community with an excellent mix of stately older homes and new McMansions, with an excellent public school system and a bustling commercial and entertainment district. This community is located in Oakland County, and is 15 Miles north of Downtown Detroit

The Gross Pointes - consist of five communities: Gross Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Woods, Gross Pointe , Grosse Pointe Shores, and one other one. These are the "Old Money" communities of Metro Detroit. Very elegant, gigantic estates, and some smaller homes in well-tended, well-knit neighbhorhoods. These communities share an excellent public school system, and are about 6 - 10 Miles from Downtown, depending on which one you live in. These suburbs basically border Detroit on its eastern border.

Macomb Township - This is one of many generic sprawl suburbs in Macomb County that lack "character", but have nice newer subdivisions filled with nice houses and well-meaning families who look out for each other. The name of its fantastic school district is Chippewa Valley. It is about 25-30 miles outside of the city center, and your commute might be long though.


Some other nice suburbs with good schools, include Fraser, Chesterfield Township, and Washington Township in Macomb County (long commute for the latter two), Bloomfield Hills and West Bloomfield Township (the former is very, very ritzy, and the commute will probably be 30-45 minutes) in Oakland County, and Canton Township, Plymouth Township, and the city of Plymouth in Wayne County have very, very good schools, but are kind of far from downtown.

This poster is pretty much right on. I just moved to Metro Detroit last July from southern California. We just moved to Royal Oak, which is just outside of Detroit.
I'm probably going to **** some people off, but my personal preference is along the Woodward Ave corridor in Oakland County. Macomb County, along with towns like Troy and Madison Heights in Oakland, have no discernable personality, rather like how this previous poster described Macomb Township. Basically very safe, good schools, strip malls and subdivisions. The schools are pretty good (not as much so in Madison Heights to very good in Troy), but you can get that AND some culture and diversity in the following towns:
Royal Oak, Ferndale, Birmingham, Berkley, and Pleasant Ridge. Trust me, look into these towns. The schools vary but basically they are generally good and overall you will be happier in this area. We are anyway.

[LADY-J]

I would have to agree with the locations mentioned, but I'd like to add the Auburn Hills, Lapeer and even Lake Orion areas. I just moved from Auburn Hills last year and it is small but near everything, especially I-75 and M-59. It is also near several colleges as well as Rochester Hills and the like. There was a huge influx there at one time, not so much anymore, but I really did like it.

Very nice parks and access to Bloomfield schools, if you move to right section of the city. Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Hills and Pontiac have a combined school district. Depending on where you are you can get to very nice schools without the high cost of a Bloomfield home.

I am currently on the cusp of Clinton Township, Sterling Heights, and Shelby Township. It is okay, lots and lots of shopping and dining, which is wonderful. The traffic can be a bear though if you have to get downtown or back again for that matter.

In all honesty, I am looking forward to moving back to Detroit. My fiance and I are looking around (well mostly me, because he doesn't care) and I would love to get one of the histroical homes, so many are vacant and they are just gorgeous. And cheap! I have found several homes that are 3,000+ sf for less than $250,000. Some need work, some don't. I am so anxious because I keep thinking that the native suburbanites will discover them before we make up our minds and some developer will buy them all up. You can't get that out here and despite the current drawbacks, to me it is still a damn good deal. They are building all those strip malls and re-surfacing the freeways for a reason. Have you seen the cost of a downtown condo? A number are more the $2,000 to rent.

P.S.
Did I mention tax abatements for the Enterprise Zones?

[saraht]

You would LOVE Grosse Pointe for proximity to the city, excellent schools, fabulous community,etc. I could go on and on about how great it is here for young families, but you must visit and see for yourself! Be sure to get a realtor to take you into the beautiful lake parks! A bonus you will not find in any other Detroit area community! I can't imagine raising my kids anywhere else in the Detroit area!