Royal Oak vs. Grosse Pointe and IT Jobs (Warren, Troy: houses, community college)

[jarohr]

Hi All,

Based on my previous forum, it looks like Royal Oak is a better option that West Bloomfield.

I am also a little intrigued by Grosse Pointe. I love the style of houses from my search on Realtor.com. It seems like you can get a lot of house in Grosse Pointe.

I am interested in getting some perspectives on these two communities.

Here are some topics of interest.

-Diversity - My wife and I are an interacial couple. Would be feel welcome in bother communities?
-Overall Friendiness
-Cost of housing
-Commute to Macomb Community College in Warren
-Jobs - My wife is a computer programmer. Would she have luck finding a job within a 20 minute commute of either city? If so, which one might be more strategically located for IT jobs?

Last Question. Do you think my wife could find an IT job with the economy being so bad in Michigan?

Thanks so much. Your input is extremely helpful!

JR

[Cato the Elder]

RO and GP were our two finalists. We have family near RO so that played a factor for us, but we love prewar houses so GP was in the running.

We are an interracial couple. I think both would be friendly and welcoming, with a possible nod to RO since it's a bit less gated in feel with proximity to areas with more non-whites like Southfield, Troy and Madison Heights.

Houses are comparable in price with perhaps the average price slightly higher in GP. Both have a variety of houses from smaller bungalows to larger mansions, but GP definitely has a higher percentage of the latter.

I would think the commute would be slightly better from RO to Warren.

My wife works out of the Monster.com office in Troy as a web producer. I would think there are more IT companies in the vicinity of Troy than in the city. From GP, you're pretty much stuck with the city for jobs if you want an easy commute. Otherwise, it might not be worth it to drive from the east side to Troy.

In the end, we chose RO for it's proximity to everything - it's location in the middle of a vibrant area. You can still get to the city easily and you have all the nearby amenities. In GP, you're even closer to the city, but getting to everything else is a bit more of a pain, IMHO. After living in SF proper, it was a bit hard for us to live in the 'burbs after walking to everything and taking Muni/BART, but the transition was much easier living in a place like RO.

Good luck!