Transferring to Detroit area (Wayne: how much, houses, school district)

[ckhthankgod]

If her husband goes to the Auburn Hills facility, what about places like Clarkston, Clawson, Waterford or Troy? To compare syrnative, Clawson might be more like say East Syracuse(in and around the village). I think Clarkston is more like say Baldwinsville. Troy and Waterford are more like Clay and Cicero-ish.

If he goes to Trenton. Grosse Ile is probably like the Baldwinsville area, but on an island. Trenton is probably more like the town of Salina, as are many of the Downriver communities. Meaning, still mostly nice, but more blue collar in character.

[syrnative]

Ok, the wife went to the store. More about what I'm looking for boating and fishing!
What about fishing around Grosse Ile? I hear the water quality is not the best.
What about lake Orion? Are there boat slips to rent.

[jeanniepep]

As for Lake Orion, I know there is a marina right off M-24, it looks like rentable slips but I've never tried to rent anything so I'm not sure. Apparently there is an Orion Marine Center and one called Snug Harbor, maybe there's some info out on the interwebz somewhere, a phone number at least! I don't know if the fishing is great because it is a sporting lake, there always seem to be jet skis and waterskiing going on, plus of course the requisite pontoon parties.

[syrnative]

Thank you everyone for your replies. This info will definitely come in handy in making our decision. I should clear one thing up - the hubby is very proud of working for Chrysler and will transfer anywhere to stay with the company. When they were going through bankruptcy and all those stories about "union workers" were being thrown around, we dealt with alot of rude comments and accusations from people who didn't understand the situation. After a while you don't pay any attention to it but it's tough to have to be around people everyday who want to see the company fall apart. Sorry - enough of my soapbox. I really am looking forward to moving to Michigan - keep the info coming!

[scolls]

Originally Posted by syrnative

Thank you everyone for your replies. This info will definitely come in handy in making our decision. I should clear one thing up - the hubby is very proud of working for Chrysler and will transfer anywhere to stay with the company. When they were going through bankruptcy and all those stories about "union workers" were being thrown around, we dealt with alot of rude comments and accusations from people who didn't understand the situation. After a while you don't pay any attention to it but it's tough to have to be around people everyday who want to see the company fall apart. Sorry - enough of my soapbox. I really am looking forward to moving to Michigan - keep the info coming!

Sadly, it doesn't get much better in Michigan as Michiganders ***** and moan about the UAW and wanted them to fail.

If transferring to Auburn Hills, why not live in Auburn Hills? The east part along the Troy border is nice and is in the Avondale school district IIRC.

[jeanniepep]

There are some REALLY nice areas over there, east of I-75 and south of Silverbell Road - I took a detour through there one time (trying to avoid Taylor Swift traffic near the Palace of Auburn Hills) and the neighborhoods were just gorgeous. There were a ton of park areas and walking paths too. The houses looked expensive though!

[Cliffie]

Just a tip -- Grosse Ile is NOT cheap. Everyone I know there is a grillionaire.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Cliffie

Just a tip -- Grosse Ile is NOT cheap. Everyone I know there is a grillionaire.

Not me.

Not a Gazillionaire at all. With the depreciation in home values, my current net worth is probably right about $0. Maybe a little bit better than that if I throw in my retirmeent savings (401K). If my kids did not have a lot of scholarships, they would not be going to college. We cannot afford to instal air conditioning in our house, so we are hot. We do not own a car that is less than 7 years old. We are far from the poorest people living on Grosse Ile. In fact, I think that we are fairly typical, or perhaps on the wealthier side of average for the Township.

Pretty much all of our kids' friends are the same way. There are a couple of their friends whose parents are paying for their college, but most are getting a few thousand from their parents and have to figure out the rest on their own. No question, there are some very well to do folks here, but they are a plurality, not a majority.

Thinking about our friends and our kids friends. Household incomes that we know of range from $80,000/year to - a lot (both parents are doctors). I would guess $300,000 to $400,000/ a year.

The only truly ultra rich people that we know are retired. There is one couple that was building a 30,000 s.f. house, but they seem to have stopped construction. Rumor is that they lost their $, but I do not know what is really going on. Some are lower than $80K/year, but we do not know what their income is. Several friends or kid's friend's parents work for Chrysler and just got laid off, so their income is whatever unemployment pays. Most newcomers to Gross Ile are BASF engineers. They recently expanded and are addiing about 300 employees, mostly chemical engineers. They are not rich, but they are middle to upper middle class.

Real estate is slightly more expensive than nearby areas, especially if you want to be on the water. However inland, there are houses and condos that are pretty affordable. There is little or nothing under $100,000; but there is a lot under $200,000. You can find anthing from under $200,000 to over $10,000,000 and everything in between. It is a mix. Since we are all on these islands together, our eperience that no one really cares how much money you have/make. There are a few exceptions whom most people ignore. A congregation of snobs and spoiled kids infest the high school, but again they are not the majority. One thing that is neat is that you can go to the bakery in the morning and find a retired multimillionaire chatting with a retiree who is living on a union pension and social security. It is really a mix master.

Taxes are somewhat higher than other places downriver. However they are on par or maybe lower (not sure) than the Oakland County nice suburbs.

Compared to Trenton or Wyandotte, Grosse Ile is pricey. That is not a rational comparison. They are diffent concepts. However comparing Grosse Ile to Rochester Hills, it is no tthat different. Grosse Ile has a higher average income and home value, but that is probably because a few mega wealthy families and their homes skew the averages. Plus the abundance of waterfront properties boosts the values. In 2000, the average income in Grosse Ile was $87K, while the average in RH was $74K. Not a huge difference when you factor in the few hundred-millionairs who live in Grosse Ile (and probably none in R.H.).

Right now $200,000 to $250,000 will get you a very nice house in Grosse Ile. $300,000 to $400,000 (and up) will get you a place on the water. There are smaller houses and condos for under $200,000 I am pretty sure that some of them are under $100,000. (including waterfront condos).

[MTUCache]

I've worked on Gross Isle before (surveying), and it is definitely a GREAT place. Compared to the rest of the down-river area it is most definitely a unique place that's well-worth looking at. Island living is something that I hadn't really considered before going there.

But, I'm most familiar with the northern-suburban scene. I grew up in Troy, my wife in Lake Orion, and we know everyplace inbetween pretty well. No reason to limit yourself just to those areas though. Depending on what you're looking for, you can find just about anything within a half-hour drive of the Chrysler headquarters in AH.

I'm not sure what your priorities are (or your budget for that matter), but there's boating and fishing galore around Oakland county. For the most part the schools in this area are top-notch. I personally don't think you can go wrong anywhere in northern Oakland county, but RH would definitely be towards even the top of that list. It may take some time to get the feel of the land, but I think you're starting in the right direction looking at RH/LO. Don't be afraid to venture a bit further out though... If I had my choice I'd probably end up a bit further north and/or east, out in real farm-country (Oxford, Metamora, Oakland Twp., Addison Twp., etc).

[syrnative]

Now I have a question concerning property taxes. How can I find out how much the property taxes are for houses in either Oakland or Wayne counties? In New York, we have a county web site where we put in the street address and all the info about that property is available including county and school tax, assessed value of the house, values of houses in the same area, etc. I don't want to be caught in a situation where I can easily afford the house but the taxes are astronomical (this happened in NY). By astronomical I mean over $10,000 a year for a house valued at $240,000. Good old Camillus (ckhthankgod will understand this). Also, a question for coldjensen - are there any public boat slips that can be rented? Hubby enjoys fishing and boating and right now we keep our boat at a local marina for the season. Is there anything like this available there? Thanks again for all the comments. Don't know how things are going for Chrysler in Detroit but here in Kenosha we're getting the feeling this plant will not be open as long as they have said. Things might be moving quicker than we thought.