[Coldjensens]

The Grosse Pointes are very close for you, have an execellent school (GP south I think), and great community parks.

Royal Oak is exciting, but the schools are not so good. Ferndale is an up and coming gentrification area that is quite pleasant, but the schools are not top notch. I think that they are less than 40 minutes.

Berkley has very good schools and is a pleasant community, but I am not sure it is in the 30 - 40 minute range, especially in traffic.

Farmington Hills is fairly pleasant. I am not sure about their schools.

Walled Lake is another good option for you. It gets a bit trafficy, but otherwise probably meets your goals.

Do not overlook downriver. It is a very nice area and more down to earth than much of Oakland County (unless you like playing keep up with the Joneses then stick to the newer areas of Oakland County). A lot less crowded and trafficy. Not as much shopping and dining, but we can always readily find what we need. Your commute woudl be long, possibly 40 - 60 minutes, but his would be reasonable.


Grosse Ile is a wonderful community with awesome schools. It is small and close knit. Housing prices run the gamut from as low as $150,000 to tens of millions. Taxes are somewhat higher than surrounding communities, but you are paying for absolutely execellent schools and public services (police, fire, etc.) Most houses have views or access to water and probably half of the residents have boats (if you do not have one, it is easy to latch onto someone who does). It is very pretty with lots of trees and open space, great bike trails and community ameneties (a farm, airport, country club/pool, viewing dock, playscape all belong ot the township, also private tennis, boating golf clubs and an Alpaca farm, Azelea farm) It is about 37 minutes from my door to my office door in the Ren Cen. (unless I have a long wait for the elevator)

It is quiet and nice rather than exciting. It is also very safe in part becasue it is somewhat secluded. They have a nice website, just google Grosse Ile Michigan and watch the little video.


Other downriver cities are shorter commute wise becuase they are right ont he freeway and you do not have to get to and across the bridge and then down a bunch of surface streets to get freeway access.

Wyandotte is a nice lively downtown, but the schools are mediochre. Nearby Trenton has better schools and you can bike to downtown Wyandotte. Trenton has a neat downtown, but it does not have a whole lot in it. There are some great homes on the edge of Elizabeth park adjoining downtown and right by the frozen custard stand (Yum!).

Woodhaven, Riverview, Southgate are all solid standard subrubia living communities. Clean, safe decent schools and a short commute to downtown.

Most of the rest of my favorite communites are just outside of your range (Northville, South Lyon, Plymouth, Milford, Salem, Dixbourough) However if you end up expanding your commute range, take a look at those cities, especially Plymouth and Northville.



If you do not have kids, it owuld be pretty neat to live right downtown Detroit, especially in the summer. There is a lot going on along the Riverfront.

[us66]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Do not overlook downriver. It is a very nice area and more down to earth than much of Oakland County (unless you like playing keep up with the Joneses then stick to the newer areas of Oakland County). A lot less crowded and trafficy. Not as much shopping and dining, but we can always readily find what we need. Your commute woudl be long, possibly 40 - 60 minutes, but his would be reasonable.


It is about 37 minutes from my door to my office door in the Ren Cen. (unless I have a long wait for the elevator)

Does Interstate 75 have a lot of tie-ups in the morning coming from downriver? When I listen to the traffic reports in the morning, there seems to be something going on fairly often. It's always something down there, or else on 96 out west of Farmington. The freeways from 275 on west also seem to have ice problems in the morning when the roads on my "Shoreline" commute on 94 are dry as a bone.

[Lindseyup67]

I live in the U.P, and my drive is 12 minutes on a good day, maybe 20 during a blizzard! I LOVE it! We grew up in Warren downstate and I remember my dad driving an hour each way to the GM techcenter in Centerline, and thought, NOT me!!!

[us66]

That couldn't have been an hour. The Tech Center is in Warren (but it is a mile north of Center Line).

[Lindseyup67]

Well, he left an hour before he needed to......that's all I know! Driving in Troy last summer, I know it took a half hour to get from my brothers to my Aunts in Rochester Hills.....5 miles away!!!!!!!!It's all about the traffic!!!!!!!!

[Jazzy Cat Daddy]

Wow! That's Not Bad. If you check out the commute times of other major cities like Chicago, NYC, Philly, etc., you might find a huge difference.

Southfield is about as good as it gets. If you want to cut down on driving time, the only other place that seems to be even slightly better would be one of the western suburbs near I-96 or I-94 (Dearborn or Redford) maybe. And as far as moving all the way to the east side (the Grosse Pointes) on the other end of I-94 seems a bit extreme. The only other option would be to look near I-75 (Madison Hgts).