Downtown Detroit or Royal Oak/ Ferndale--Help! (Canton, Romulus: wood floors, crime rate, buying a house)

[Guardian]

Originally Posted by nickbii

There are a couple of nice grocery stores in the WSU area, which is less than 5 minutes from downtown driving. On surface streets. At rush hour.

There's also Eastern Market.

[Jake1256]

Originally Posted by and the

Without kids, downtown. With kids, Royal Oak. It would be nice to live downtown if you're working downtown. Still, there are areas downtown where I wouldn't go running too late at night. The new Riverwalk looks OK to run on. I wouldn't run up Gratiot.....

I wouldn't totally agree on the running thing, I have heard about alot of people running up and down downtown and have seen nothing dangerous, alot of the kids from the WSU campus.

[tina3219]

move to Wixom, its safe.

[Cato the Elder]

Eventually, downtown will hopefully connect with midtown and offer a safe corridor. WSU is making a concerted effort to expand southward past Forest Ave. Another good thing would be for WSU to expand more extensively beyond the Ford Freeway to the north so that the campus would sit right next to the train stop and make it safer and more utilized. Hopefully revitalization around the Fisher Building would push south and meet there. Then...start the commuter trains back up from Pontiac down to the city. Then...have some type of convenient transit from the train station to downtown with perhaps a stop at Warren. This would be much wiser money spent than expanding the people mover or Cobo Hall, IMHO.

If people want to make a difference, they should pour money into WSU, DIA, and other public institutions. Downtown is great, but companies come and go. WSU and the DIA aren't going anywhere anytime soon so they make ideal anchors to spread revitalization. It's also one of the few places where you have a consistent stream of non-Detroit Michiganders connect with the city. Yet the state has never funded WSU as well as UMich and MSU (especially ignoring the impact of part-time/commuting students).

[berrymist27]

Originally Posted by bem629

Okay, I'm sold on Royal Oak and I put my deposit down on a place. Quick question--the job that I have (working for the federal government in downtown Detroit) will pay for my bus pass. Does anyone take the bus that goes along Woodward? How long is it from R.O. to Downtown Detroit? Is it reliable/ safe etc.? Would save lots of money and be good for the environment!

I wish you could change your mind because you would save on gas and time alone if you already work there. Don't listen to those people who says that downtown isn't safe I bet you that haven't been down here in 10 years. I can start with the misconception of no grocery stores there are to name a few Harbortown market,Honeybee market, Indian village Market, University Foods near WSU, and the best of all Eastern Market an open air market that has people from the burbs coming and have 30,000 visitors on the weekends its an event when you go there. We have the beautiful riverfront that you can relax and read a book. All of the festivals that we have here, it is truly a beauty when you see all of the architectural buildings we have surrounding the area that you just can't get in the burbs. If you are into Art, Culture,Nightlife,and fine dining then you choose Detroit!

[Tiger Beer]

Bumping up an old thread, but great discussion on downtown Detroit vs Royal Oak/Ferndale.

Since 2007...and upheavel of everything real estate between then and now...curious if financially things have changed (lower prices) etc. Also curious if condos are losing out (as they are in many other cities in the U.S. now)...as it seemed like condos was the way downtown Detroit was going...and Royal Oak as well, for that matter.

[kreddy05]

Going to be relocating to MI to work in Grosse Pointe. Thinking about either Downtown Detroit or Downtown Royal Oak.

Young, single, no kids. How are things in those areas these days?

[Coldjensens]

Things are ok. Obviously the economy is crushing every place, but Royal Oak is not worse off than other places. It is still a fun happeneing place for young single or no kid types. You will probably like it. The only other places that you would not likely find to be boring are Ferndale, Hamtramak or downtown. Grosse pointe is a really nice community, but not an exciting place for a young person.

[Hoarfrost]

Originally Posted by Cato the Elder

Eventually, downtown will hopefully connect with midtown and offer a safe corridor. WSU is making a concerted effort to expand southward past Forest Ave. Another good thing would be for WSU to expand more extensively beyond the Ford Freeway to the north so that the campus would sit right next to the train stop and make it safer and more utilized. Hopefully revitalization around the Fisher Building would push south and meet there. Then...start the commuter trains back up from Pontiac down to the city. Then...have some type of convenient transit from the train station to downtown with perhaps a stop at Warren. This would be much wiser money spent than expanding the people mover or Cobo Hall, IMHO.

If people want to make a difference, they should pour money into WSU, DIA, and other public institutions. Downtown is great, but companies come and go. WSU and the DIA aren't going anywhere anytime soon so they make ideal anchors to spread revitalization. It's also one of the few places where you have a consistent stream of non-Detroit Michiganders connect with the city. Yet the state has never funded WSU as well as UMich and MSU (especially ignoring the impact of part-time/commuting students).

Yeah, that's what happened in uptown Manhattan with Columbia University buying up property in Harlem, or "Morningside Heights", as the developers and agents call it now...

Also check out University City Philadelphia. Basically, Drexel brought expansion into that area and boom, University City. I guess "Harlem" and "West Philadelphia" invoke scary images in people's minds. Ditto Bushwick. Ever since Williamsburg got hot, they started calling Bushwick "East Williamsburg" to trick hipsters and yuppies into paying triple the rent. Maybe if we rename Detroit we could trick people into moving here. Call it "East Royal Oak"....

[MarissaInMichigan]

I think you made the best choice in deciding on Royal Oak. You'll be glad you did as time goes on. I lived there for awhile right after college and enjoyed it. I had a great location (right at the junction of South Main, 696, and 11 Mile. I'd walk to Ferndale sometimes it was so close. I could also literally walk/bike/rollerblade to downtown R.O. I always felt safe to do so and know it would NEVER be that way in downtown Detroit. I should warn you to know your "spots" in R.O. though, especially being a bit older than the bar-hopping college crowd. For me it was Gusoline Alley, Tom's Oyster Bar, and a million years ago the Brazillian coffeehouse. Barnes & Noble also has a nice cafe on the second floor where you can go and steal a huge sofa and enjoy a gorgeous view (I would always grab my laptop and go there). Trader Joe's is a great place to do your grocery shopping. The biggest irritation for me was sometimes getting sick of all these kids from Rochester Hills, Troy, etc. coming down there and being so obnoxious with their wannabe personalities. Also, trying to live amongst the Woodward Dream Cruise (it would take me FOREVER to get to my driveway). I also found there to be a snob factor... but NOTHING nearly as bad as Birmingham.