[ema113]

Originally Posted by mariatherese

You know my heart belongs to northern Michigan! But, my pick out of your choices would be:

1) Berkley. Hands down best area around Detroit IMO. My favorite place is Ferndale, but if I had kids, it would be Berkley. Near enough to Royal Oak for interesting restaurants, art, culture, but Berkley is cheaper and more residential/family oriented. Plus still close enough to Detroit for a halfway decent commute.

2) Brighton. Though I've never been to Brighton, I hear its nice. From the impressions I've gotten about the place, I've always wanted to check it out. The reason why I picked it is because it is near a lot more nature than other places around SE MI.

3) Ann Arbor. I know you said this one wasn't really on top of your list, but it's one of the few places I would live in lower MI, for obvious reasons which I'm sure you've heard before. Although I think it's overhyped a bit.

I'm not really familiar with western lower MI, thumb area, or Lansing area (Yooper here). But as far as Detroit suburbs go, I would definitely pick Berkley, Royal Oak, and Wyandotte over the others. Also would throw in Ferndale (it's such a cool place!). Why? Those places have much more character than the others you mentioned (I'm familiar with your posts, and I know how much you hate urban sprawl).

Hope this helps. Good luck! *crossing my fingers*

We just moved here from MA and all the doom and gloom I am reading about is really starting to stress me out! Anyway, you had mentioned that you would move to Ann Arbor for OBVIOUS reasons but being from out of state those reasons aren't so obvious to me. Could you please elaborate a little on this and tell me the Pro's and Con's of living in Ann Arbor. We are currently in corporate housing in Novi, MI and we just don't know enough about Michigan to know whether we should look to purchase a home here (Novi, Northville, Plymouth) or Ann Arbor. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

[mike jones]

As a life long Cantonite this is a good area to live in.
Very family friendly with a huge variety of recreational activities.
We have a wide variety of homes for sale in all price ranges.

Great schools and not as pretentious or politcally correct as Ann Arbor.

Traffic jams are bad but thats common almost anywhere unless you live out in the boondocks.

Keep in mind that this state is a economic wasteland
If you have a steady job like in the medical field than you are in good shape and will like it here.

However if you are not sure about your job security I recommend keeping your resume up to date.

Do not mean to stress you out more, just keeping it real.

[Blue Grass Fever]

The thumb area is a good place to live in Michigan. Plenty of rural communities that are tight-knit! An hour, give or take from Downtown Detroit, an half-hour, give or take from Flint and Port Huron. Plenty of homes with acreage!

[deeme]

Good luck, finding work in Grand Rapids, unless you're a doctor or a dentist, that is. There isn't any work there! We just relocated from MI & found good jobs & better benefits than we ever had in the Grand Rapids area. Life is good ... but not in MI!
If, you move there ... don't listen to the news! Shootings & violence is all you'll hear!

[Exile InEuphoria]

Originally Posted by deeme

Good luck, finding work in Grand Rapids, unless you're a doctor or a dentist, that is. There isn't any work there! We just relocated from MI & found good jobs & better benefits than we ever had in the Grand Rapids area. Life is good ... but not in MI!
If, you move there ... don't listen to the news! Shootings & violence is all you'll hear!

You're alittle *****, this is all i see you posting, shut it. I live in ROckford, love it. How many kids do you know who love where they live? It's almost NEVER shootings OR violence, unless i vandalize something, or again that's neither. SEriously thoug, quite your bitching.

[Southernboy3721]

Originally Posted by InGA

I really think MI will turn around. It doesn't help that everybody just wants to abandon it and run away to wherever they believe the easy money is. But eventually people will realize what a treasure they are leaving and start trying to make it work. It will be rough until the economy fully transitions, but it will happen.

You think MI is bad, move to one of the 'super fast growing', 'tons of jobs', cities in the SW or SE, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Miami, etc., and you will really see how sorry things can be!

Where did you relocate to?

OK...OK... (trying to calm down). Now your are just not playing fair or you don't know what you are talking about. Charlotte is one of the cleanest and most beautiful cities I have come to know. Everything is new and growing. Invest in whatever property you want. It will make money. Enough progressive northern influence to keep things highly efficient but Charlotte still has the flare of southern hospitatility. It is a beautiful thing.

I will be relocating from Raleigh to Detroit in the next couple of months. Does everyone have the uneducated (a truly "Hollywood" education) view of the south that is as dated as the Pinto.

[cassy1]

I lived in Rockford, MI and loved it! Low crime, wonderful neighbors, small town feel in the downtown area, lots of things to do.......on and on! Also, I worked with people who lived in Forest Hills and the Ada areas great schools and same kind of feel as Rockford (who by the way has a wonderful school system). Western Michigan is by far the best of Michigan, Lake Michigan is 30minutes away and the country is just a drive away. Good luck!

[usbound]

I must say as someone in discussions with a firm based in MI, outside Detroit and thinking of relocaing to work there from UK, the high level of doom and gloom expressed in this and other threads is rather frightening.

I thought that the outlying area of detroit (outside of automotive manufacture) was on the up ? and I mistaken

[magellan]

Originally Posted by usbound

I must say as someone in discussions with a firm based in MI, outside Detroit and thinking of relocaing to work there from UK, the high level of doom and gloom expressed in this and other threads is rather frightening.

I thought that the outlying area of detroit (outside of automotive manufacture) was on the up ? and I mistaken

I think it's this website. It seems to have attracted a lot of trolls and doom-n-gloomers, and from people who have moved away and can't seem to move on (maybe they work for United Van Lines or something). I've even checked other areas on this website (city-data) and it seems to be the same kind of triteness. I think I'm going to follow wabbit's lead and say goodbye to city-data until they get a Grand Rapids section (or maybe not even then).

Moderator cut: ... Take care!

[loser_user]

Well face it (if you're still reading this) Grand Rapids, as nice of a city it is, probably won't be a preeminent city anytime soon Sure the metro population may be big(some 700,000+), but how much can a CITY population of about 197,800(give or take) based on more or less on furniture makings do?

Hear that? It's the sound of your Grand Rapids board not coming...