[firecracker123]

My husband is being reolcated via a promotion to the Detroit area (automotive).... with 3 kids (pre-school to high school) and being used to the clean and family oriented community we live in we are nervous about where to settle. Though his company will pay for lodging until we settle on an area, I do not want to move my family twice and would rather take mroe trips there and do more research....my question is, based on the info below, where would we be best to settle out of Troy, Bloomfield, Sterling Heights, or Birmingham (I think Rochester is far from the North/East area of Detroit??)

- great schools - A MUST
- Recreation - we are huge into parks, trails, hiking, soccer, hockey etc
- community - though we love bigger lots, I will be moving to a new country, I need to be able to know my neighbours without driving there lol
- commute -- as I can be a single parent at times, it is important that we not be too far for him to work --- to be able to drive to downtown Detriot (the east area) which town is worse?

We will be living in the states indefintely and therefore need to have the best of everything.....

[sugarbeet]

I just made another post about this, but Sterling Heights is generally considered to be in a completely different realm than Troy/Birmingham/Bloomfield. The Detroit suburbs seem to have more of a defined "prestige ranking" than other metro areas in which I've lived. The cities on your list would go something like this:
Birmingham
Bloomfield
Troy
(several other cities - Rochester among them and yes, it's far to Detroit from there)
then Sterling Heights

It's a nice community, but even if you don't care about the prestige factor, the schools are widely considered to be better in the other cities you mentioned.

Depending on your budget, I think you can get a similar home in Troy for not much more than Sterling Heights. Birmingham is v. pricey and Bloomfield depends on the area - the Township will have less expensive homes.

[firecracker123]

Thank you so much for your help! As my answer suggests in the previous post (ok, I am a teeny bit anxious) we are settled more and more on Troy, Birmingham, and Bloomfield....more toward Troy but are opened.

[suydam]

If you can afford it Birmingham has the best schools of the three according to schoolmatters.com

Having grown up near there (Bloomfield) can say that I would most prefer to live in Birmingham if possible. Great little city at the center of the area, cohesive neighborhoods, incredible schools and nice central location. You cannot go wrong with Birmingham.

[firecracker123]

THanks for this info --- I have been looing at Brimingham as well....my husband will be travelling there several times in the coming weeks for meetings and such and i believe we will put aside a a few weekends to join him...I need to visit to get a sense of the towns....on line has been a saviour but nothing IMO can substitue for personal viewings.....our range in homes goes up to around the 600,000 (up to 700,000 IF WE REALLY REALLY REALLY like a place REALLY lol)

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by suydam

If you can afford it Birmingham has the best schools of the three according to schoolmatters.com

Having grown up near there (Bloomfield) can say that I would most prefer to live in Birmingham if possible. Great little city at the center of the area, cohesive neighborhoods, incredible schools and nice central location. You cannot go wrong with Birmingham.

Suydam speaks the truth.

[Coldjensens]

The areas that you are considering are the most popular and thus somewhat crowded and trafficy (my own word). Housing bargians abound. Lots of foreclosures are driving prices of traditional sales down. You will mostly be seeing newer houses in subdivisions (mostly McMansions) rather than neighborhoods. All of these areas have good public schools, some great. If you have the money, you would also be in range of Cranbrook (one of the best private schools in the country, but majorly expensive).

You may want to add Grosse Pointe and its sister cities to your list the schools are outstanding, the community is very family oriented. It is high end, but within your price range except for waterfront homes. It has a reputation for being a bit snobby, but so do the other areas you are considering. Besides, reputation is a generalization. There are wonderful people in all of these places. The Grosse Pointe cities are basically surrounded by Detroit. Shopping takes some traveling because you want to get away from Detroit (but wait until you see the schools!). The commute from there would be quick.

If you want quieter living with woods and wildlife, but still have immediate neighbors, consider Grosse Ile. This is on the opposite side of the City and the commute to downtown Detroit is 32 minutes. The Northeast side will be a bit longer (roughly 5-10 minutes more). Grosse Ile also has terrific schools. Although very small, it is very safe and, being a confined island community, it is extremely community oriented. The high school has about 700 kids total (four grades) so people get to know each other very quickly. Again plenty of houses in your price range, even with water frontage and a dock. There are some incredible bargains right now because nothing much has sold in years. No real city here though. Just a small town. Big shopping trips require you to cross the bridge and go to Wyandotte, Woodhaven or Southgate. Most things you need are within 5-10 miles. If you get time, go and look, if you do not, you may later wish that you had. (Incidentally, if you look at Grosse Ile homes, get a local Realtor, others do not know where the best areas are or why. If looking at waterfront, you need to know things like how deep the water is, where bridges are, etc).

[sugarbeet]

With a $600k+ budget, you will not have a problem finding a nice home, even in Birmingham. A couple of years ago it would've been hard, but there are desperate sellers and you should have no problem.

[sharkdesign]

I stumbled across your post on the relocating from Toronto. Congratulations on your move. I hope you enjoy Michigan.

I read through the posts and replies from other people on your topic. One are that is overlooked and very affordable now is west of Detroit. You can look at whitmore lake, Novi, Walled Lake, BRIGHTON, salem twp. all of these. Northville is another good one. there are nice state parks and lakes near Brighton.

Other factors to consider are traffic patterns.

Good luck and happy house hunting.

[Coldjensens]

If you go out that far, include South Lyon, Lyon Township, Milford, Wixom, and New Hudson (really part of Lyon Twp.).

The nicest park in the area in my opinion is Kensington Metropark in Milford. It is huge with a large (1200 acre) lake. However it is a developed park, not a wilderness park. There are less developed state parks all through this area.

You are looking at an hour plus commute each way(especially from Brighton). That is with normal traffic and good driving conditions.


These communities are very different. Look at them carfully and get as much information on the schools as you can.