Moving to Dearborn - Need advice!

[trinkit]

Originally Posted by and the

I wouldn't call Dearborn a "small" community. Population is right around 100,000. That more than doubles during the day. The city says "triples" but that's probably a little optimistic.

There are very few Chaldeans in Dearborn, most are Lebanese. The Arab population is large, but certainly not "predominant", or "primary". There are more people of Polish and Italian heritage in Dearborn than Arab. I also wouldn't say there are "often" incidents that are "racially charged". Dearborn has a segregationist and even racist reputation due to its mayor of 40 years, Orville Hubbard, who has been gone for 25 years. The racial hucksters try to capitalize on this reputation when it suits their agenda. That's all there is to it.

There are far more nicer areas in Dearborn than Dearborn Heights, and there always have been. The only area's of Dearborn Heights that could reasonably be considered "nicer" than some areas of Dearborn are bounded by Cherry Hill, Inkster, Ford Road and Gulley. There are two other subs that MAYBE fit that bill. The River Oaks area off of Evergreen/Ann Arbor Trail and Ford Road, which is pretty much surrounded by Detroit, and the University sub, off of Ann Arbor Trail. Dearborn is generally more desirable. The rest of Dearborn Heights is comparable or lower end than Dearborn. The "nicer" areas of Dearborn Heights are probably populated by as many, or more people of Arab heritage per capita than Dearborn if that makes a difference to you.

The city has been historically divided geographically and culturally, by the Southfield Freeway, which cuts the city in half. The east side has always been more blue-collar and immigrant than the west side. Dearborn was the only city in Wayne County besides Canton to have increased in population in the last census. You will have relatively no worries living there with your husband while attending U of M Dearborn.

Thank you, and the, I read the previous post earlier today and didn't have time to respond to it. You said it much more eloquently than I would have.

[graffiti]

Dearborn is an extremely safe area. I've left my house unlocked for hours (by accident) more than once and came back to a completely untouched home. West Dearborn is a nicer and newer area and only slightly more expensive than east Dearborn... but the whole experience is much better. During the holidays there are trees decorated in the streets, great little new restaurants for get togethers with friends, and many shops. Stay out of the "south end" and east side because there is just a bunch of factories and mediocre restaurants. They are also older and more run down sections of the city. Fairlane is a good mall directly across the street from U of M. Personally it doesn't appeal to me much any more because I've been there so many times, but it has a nice food court and a sufficient amount of stores. Also Henry Ford Estate has nice gardens and a small walking trail which is a lovely place for a date in the spring/summer or even fall months. Dearborn is a nice place to live temporarily, but after that it becomes an extremely boring place to live. After college I'd run the other way.

[Motorvilleboy]

I take exception to Graffiti's characterization of the east side of Dearborn. I work in East Downtown (the Michigan/Schaefer area) and can walk to GOOD Indian, Arabic, Chinese, Thai, Polish, Italian, American, Greek and other restaurants, along with City Hall, and can shop for staples at the Kroger and several smaller groceries plus other retailers from Radio Shack to boutique ethnic places. A lot of times, I'll stick around for world music concerts at the Arab American Museum, which are always top notch.

It's walkable, SAFE (Dearborn cops are legendarily fast, city-wide), historic and finally coming back to life. Despite the local economy, people are still building new homes on vacant lots around the downtown. People complain that West Downtown is all restaurants now, but East Downtown is a real live functional downtown with just about one of everything if you're a little adventurous.

I live in Detroit, but if I had to live in a local suburb, Dearborn is one of the few I'd seriously consider. If you want lily-white/white collar, stick to the west side. But the east side has stuff going on and housing bargains for those who want to get in on it.

[trinkit]

Originally Posted by Motorvilleboy

Dearborn cops are legendarily fast, city-wide

And you can thank the late Mayor Orville Hubbard for that. If there is one thing he demanded from his employees (cops, firefighters, trashmen, etc.) was SERVICE to the public, and QUICK. I remember a time when an elderly lady called the mayor's office and complained that her trash had not been picked up in quite some time. He promptly drove TO her house, picked up her trash, drove to the director of the DPW and dumped it on his desk with the statement "don't ever let this happen again".

See, Hubbard wasn't such a BAD guy.

[and the]

I would hardly consider the West Dearborn of 2007 to be "lily white". Those days are gone. One of the best neighborhoods in west Dearborn is now largely Arab. I consider Arabs to be "white", racially speaking, but if you're contrasting mostly Arab east Dearborn with west Dearborn and describing west Dearborn as "lily white", you'd be wrong.

There are more residents of African heritage moving in all the time and there is even a busy African-American church as well as a mosque right down the street from it in west Dearborn. Lily white? Not anymore.

Also, I hardly think you can credit Orvie for top notch civil service anymore. He's been gone long enough to give credit to the politicians who followed for the good and the bad now. Nor can you fairly categorize Dearborn as institutionally racist or segregationist anymore based on Orivie's ways. Good civil service is a no brainer for any politician. They typically do as well as their resources will allow in that department and Dearborn homeowners are typically willing to spend what they feel they need to spend to maintain decent to excellent public service. They know they're living in an inner ring suburb of Detroit and they know what they need to do to maintain a good quality of life as an inner ring suburb.

[mdalbano]

If you use your web browser and enter in "City Crime Comparisons", it will allow you to compare Dearborn to many other cities in the area. The crime rate in Dearborn is relatively low and even though the statistics don't break Dearborn crime down into East, West and Fairlane, because the two latter areas are in close proximity to Detroit, the burglary and auto theft rates there are higher than the national average, which affects the entire crime rate of Dearborn. All other crime rates are below the nationwide average.
West Dearborn is not in close proximity to Detroit and the crime rate is very low.

While the housing stock in Dearborn is older than many cities, therefore many homes are small, you will find some of the most charming, well kept, tree-lined streets around. People take pride in their communities in all of Dearborn and the neighbors are some of the friendliest folk you will meet. We have many historic, well preserved home districts. There are bigger houses and lots in some areas of Dearborn, but you will pay the price to live in these richer areas.

Dearborn has many of the amenities that large cities have and in some cases more than most large cities. It has 4 museums, the unique, Ford Community Performing Arts Center, 8 outdoor swimming pools, 2 indoor hockey and ice arenas, Camp Dearborn a 626 acre resort 35 miles from the city, 3 golf courses, a 4th golf course in Camp Dearborn, 43 parks with 23 having daytime supervised activities for children, running tracks in many parks, lighted baseball diamonds, soccer fields and tennis courts and more.

It is the town Henry Ford built and the home and headquarters of Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford's Fairlane Estate is a huge visitor attraction that sits in the city on the Rouge River. We have Henry Ford Community College and Univeristy of Michigan - Dearborn. There is plenty of shopping all over the city and the main shopping areas are Michigan Avenue's West, East and Fairlane shopping centers. There's more shopping in Dearborn per square mile than any other suburb in the vicinity. Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum also include the I-Max Theater and Benson Ford Automotive Center.

Dearborn has far more services than any other city around. We are one of few that has our sidestreets plowed in the winter, a city owned drivers license bureau and housing department and more. Rates for recreational activities, other than all the free ones, are very affordable. We have the Hyatt Regency, Ritz Carlton and Historic Dearborn Inn and many other hotel and motel's that will accomodate any room and amenity need.

We have more police officers per resident than most other cities and our fire department is modern, well staffed and has one of the best response times around. We have over 85 nationalities calling Dearborn home and every type of restaurant and ethnic food one could ever imagine. Although there are now more elitist, richer cities in the Wayne-Oakland-Macomb area, Dearborn offers far more than any of them. There is not a city that even comes close to what Dearborn offers and if you don't believe me, look it up on the internet.

[nycjefftrain]

well said mdalbano-

I'd like to add that I've always loved Dearborn. I think its a great community. My family has lived there for many years and I always get a friendly confortable vibe about the town. This is coming from a native Oakland County guy too

Keep in mind Dearborn has great city services due to the fact that Ford pays an unbelievable amount of taxes to the city. When you have a Fortune 100 company in a suburb, it can be a good thing!! The city is safe, clean, and overall very pleasant.

[cardwellave]

I've lived near Dearborn all my life. I go to school in Dearborn. I would definitely call it a city on the decline. Most people are leaving Dearborn or Dearborn Heights and heading north or west to bigger and better things. There is a lot of snobbishness in Dearborn, especially amongst being in a school there. There are some pretty rich areas, specifically near the golf course south of Cherry Hill, and then there are some pretty nasty areas along Dix or parts of East Dearborn. I think the homes are much more interesting in East Dearborn, though it's a little run down in places. (I've always thought the divide between East and West Dearborn was pretty strong, they should have formed seperate cities or something, but today everything about East Dearborn is moving to West. They are really sort of becoming one entity.) Businesses on Telegraph and Ford are increasingly getting empty and or becoming decrepit buildings. I welcome cultural advantages, but honestly the only cultural kind of aspect you're going to find now in Dearborn is arabic. Maybe that is your style, but everything non-Arabic, except along Michigan Ave, is moving out of the stores, and out of the houses in West Dearborn. It's certainly better than vacant buildings, but if you're looking for a cultural mixing pot, you're not really going to find it.

I will say that there are some beautiful homes, boulevard style streets with lots of nice trees (think Outer Dr, Oakwood Blvd, Military St, Brady St, Monroe St) in the city, but it is wrong to say the entire city is wonderbul, because it just plain isn't. Granted, homes in Dearborn still bring in good amounts of money for modest homes, and districts like the Ford Homes District, could I afford it, would make me move to Dearborn. West Dearborn has tons of vacant houses from the state of the economy, so the neighborhoods are getting a little beat up. It is sad to see.

[mdalbano]

Yes, like many Wayne County cities, Dearborn has seen somewhat of a decline. The heyday's of Ford paying 80% of the taxes are over and Hubbard the genius who build the infrastructure is dead. I'd say it started declining in the late 70's. But Guido and now O'Reilly following in his footsteps have made many improvements in Dearborn. East Dearborn looks better than it ever has along Michigan Avenue and Warren. Despite what some say about our Arab citizens, they are hard working people and we should give most of the credit for the rebuild of East Dearborn to them. They are pleasant when I run into them and when I go into their businesses and they speak English and I feel as safe in East as I do in West Dearborn.

Although the 2 West Dearborn paid parkings are an issue, as are some decaying buildings on Michigan Avenue, these are all being torn down and rebuilt. In a few years West Dearborn's Michigan Avenue will be back up and looking good. Yes, there are housing issues, but that is nationwide, so we cannot just say it's only in Dearborn. Yes, many residents have moved to other cities, primarily Canton and ones in Oakland County. But they do not receive anywhere near the services, nor have anywhere near the recreational facitilies Dearborn offers. Most other cities have ditches for water run off, little if any sidewalks in subdivisions and traffic galore because they didn't build out the main roads they build their super box stores on. Dearborn was a well planned city with roads, sidewalks in all subdivisions and business parks, water runs off into sewers, there are curbs and no ditches. It's easy to get in and out of Dearborn and it's centrally located to most freeways and major cities and events.

The Ford Community Performing Arts Center is world renowned, comparable to Carnegie Hall in sound quality and it has more amenities in it than any other in the world. It was the largest, most expensive municipal recreational project ever built in North America and still is. Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village are the largest tourist attraction in Michigan and only 2nd to the Smithsonian in yearly visitors. The Museum at 12 acres is the largest museum in size in America. There is no museum nor village like the Henry Ford anywhere in the world. Millions of yearly visitors prove that.

Dearborn has more parks per square mile than any other city around with 43, while most cities are lucky to have 1 municipal pool for as many or more residents, Dearborn has 8 outdoor and 2 indoor at the Ford Arts Center. It has a campground no other city has, Camp Dearborn, which is more of a resort than a campground. It has some of the most well maintained neighbhoods and homes due to proud owners and the strictest buildling code in the nation. Unlike some richer cities, you'll rarely see motor homes, boats, trailers parked in driveways, you won't see trash cans lined up in the front of the house, no junked cars are left in the streets and cars are not parked on lawns in the front of the house.

Despite people moving out of Dearborn, many more are moving in, as the population is now approaching 100,000 again, which is a healthy sign for a city. Neighborhoods that had families move out, now have families moving in. Our neighbrhood hit a peak of 50 kids on our block in the 50's and 60's and dropped to 3 kids by 1983. Today there are 50 children on our block, a healthy sign for any city. We have wonderful Arab neighbors, black neighbors, Asian neighbors and more and they're all involved, wonderful neighbors. I love living in a melting pot and so do many others.

Like I said, while Dearborn has it's issues due to it's age and proximity to Detroit, myself and many others would take it over most other cities hands down. Only problem with other cities is the taxes are higher and the services are remote, next to none.