What are the benefits of living in suburbon Detroit?

[cardwellave]

Most home a round here go for 150K-200K. Though areas of Oakland county could certainly get to 700K.

Wayne County has plenty of nice areas to offer including Wyandotte, Plymouth, and even parts of Dearborn (I'm thinking in terms of your price range). The best place with that kind of a budget is probably Plymouth or Northville. I do like Dearborn Heights, but there's some areas that just bother me and the city government is awful along with the city services.

[movingfromwestcoast]

Thank you for all your info.

We have read reports of poor air quality in Detroit. Is this true for the Suburbs? Burning trash - Is this the cause. Are there any reports of suburban air quality that anyone knows of? CNN city data rates Detroit close to LA in air quality.

[cardwellave]

No I've never heard that. I think they burn some trash in Detroit (the city). I think there's an incinerator you can see from I-94. But the air here is generally pretty clean, above average I'd say. It's not crisp mountain air, but not at ALL close to LA. That's CNN for ya. I've never had a problem or heard of any problem with it.

[Cato the Elder]

The air in Detroit (when not next to an incinerator) is better in my experience than the Northeast Corridor and SoCal. It's not as clean as the Pacific Northwest and NoCal, but you also don't get constant rain and fog in MI. The only thing worse than the haze and pollution of LA and Philadelphia is the pollution bowl called Athens.

[saraht]

I found Grosse Pointe to be the most family oriented community not only in the Detoit area, but other areas that we have lived in the past. We moved here from Atlanta a few years ago. We considered Novi, Northville, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Rochester. After spending over a month looking at those areas, we found Grosse Pointe and could not choose anything else! The schools here are fabulous. Small schools with small class sizes and the teachers are a part of the community. The kids can ride their bikes to school, parks, church and the village. The lake parks are wonderful and FREE!! A bonus that you will not find anywhere else in the area. I think Lake St. Clair is the largest lake in the area! The city services and Police Officers are outstanding. It is a REAL community. I would never have believed that a community existed like this one a few years ago. I know better now. If you are looking for a family oriented community with excellent city services, friendly people, lakes, parks, city pools and great schools, I believe this is the only choice in the Detroit area. The streets are beautiful and the houses are so gorgeous and have so much character. You really must check it out!

[saraht]

You can find a very nice house in Grosse Pointe in that price range. The prices have really fallen in the past few years and Grosse Pointe is now one of the most affordable areas in the vicinity of Detroit. It is hard to compare though, because none of the other cities have the services, parks, lake and community that is here In Grosse Pointe.

I am pretty sure that basement space is not included in the square footage quotes in GP. I think the house prices here sell for quite a bit below asking price now. That won't last forever though!!

Good luck!!

[Brooke Wood]

Grosse Pointe is charming. I looked at many homes there recently, with prices still too high in most cases. Very dated kitchens and baths, even with upgrades made 10 years ago being insufficient.

[LORebecca]

Home listings will not include the basement or garage as part of the square footage. We moved from Royal Oak to Lake Orion and have been very happy with our choice. One thing that was high on our list was that our neighborhood have sidewalks. We have two kids and I like them being able to ride their bikes and play on the sidewalk, not in the street. We moved because we wanted a bigger home and could not afford that in Royal Oak. Lake Orion is about a 45-50 minute drive into downtown Detroit. You've gotten some good advice here on the board and there are a lot of great suburbs in Oakland County.

[Coldjensens]

Pricing depends on where you live, but $700K will buy you a pretty nice house.

We have a 3600 s.f. house with another 1300 s.f. finshed basement (2 bedrooms a bath and a large play room). Counting the basement (which realtors do not count) we have 6 bedrooms and four bathrooms. We are on one acre of land that faces the Detroit River. We can walk accross the street and drop a fishing line in one of the better fishing areas around. We do not have a dock (don't own the waterfront), but we can keep a boat at a neighbors dock for next to nothing. We are surrounded by woods and cannot see our neighbors except in the winter. We also have a lot of upgrades - Tankless water heater, high efficiency boiler, a large pool with a year round enclosure, a large carriage house (garage) with space for three to four cars and a huge loft/storage area that is insualted and heated, three fireplaces, some higher end plumbing fixtures, etc. We live in one of the safest communities in the state and have absolutely outstanding schools. Our house appraised for $480,000. We think that the appraisal is faulty, but it will not appraise for any more than $550,000 - $600,000 with a more reasonable appraiser. In California, our house would cost several million. If you have $700,000 to spend, you can basically buy a palace (compared to West coast housing) on acreage and/or waterfront. You may lose money in comparative value for a while, but everyine seems to agree that real estate here is pretty much at or very near the bottom of the market. If you are staying long term, you cannot find a better value.


If you choose one of the more trendy areas (Birmingham, Bloomfield, Rochester Hills) you can find a very large McMansion (5,000 plus s.f.) in a newer subdivision in a city with great schools and very low crime. You might even get half an acre of land.


Oh I forgot to mention, the people in Michigan are wonderful. A bit more uptight than out west, but far more friendly and supportive on a deep level. There is not much traffic to speak of (a bit in the "trendy" areas), great sprots and other entertainment opportunities, even better outdoor activity opportunities and loads of clean water, air and land.