[ladykuch]

Hi,
I'm still waiting to see some suggestions. Can anyone tell me anything about Livonia?
Thanks

[tessmick]

Hi there!

I saw your post about moving to Michigan while searching for vacation properties for this Summer. I have lived in MI all my life, in the Livonia/Redford area. You asked about Livonia, so here goes:

Located in northwest Wayne County, Livonia, Michigan, encompasses an area of 36 square miles and has as its boundaries Inkster Road on the east, Eight Mile Road on the north, Eckles Road and Haggerty Road on the west and Joy Road on the south.

Livonia enjoys unmatched accessibility. The City’s strategic location offers easy east-west access via the Jeffries Expressway (I-96) and north-south transportation on the I-275 expressway. Major highways and interstates fan out in every direction providing convenient drive times.

With a population of over 100,000, Livonia is the 2nd Largest City in Wayne County, the 8th Largest City in Michigan and the 242nd Largest City in the United States.

At $5.121 billion, Livonia has the 3rd highest S.E.V.(State Equalized Value) in the State. At the same time, Livonia’s property tax rate is the lowest tax rate among cities in Wayne County, at $34.57 per $1,000 taxable value.

Livonia is a carefully planned community of residential, industrial, commercial and civic development. As the City’s motto proclaims, "People Come First" in Livonia. The community has successfully maintained its friendly, hometown atmosphere in the midst of unprecedented urban growth.

Livonia has been recognized by the FBI as the 7th Safest City in the Country. It has also been named the 2nd Best Kid Friendly Place in the Nation by Population Connection. The City of Livonia has also been rated the 2nd Least Economic Stressful by the City American City Business Journals . This is a great place to live, work, learn and play!

Livonia’s students benefit from two fine public school systems – Livonia Public Schools and the Clarenceville School District -- as well as 6 parochial elementary and 1 parochial senior high school. The City is home to two institutions of higher education, Madonna University and Schoolcraft Community College. Livonia has three municipal libraries.

A superior education system produces a skilled workforce. There are some 5,000 businesses in Livonia. Major local employers include Ford Motor Company, General Motors, United Parcel Services and St. Mary Mercy Hospital.

Livonia’s industry is concentrated in a six square mile corridor combining major railroad and highway access to all sections of the metropolitan region.

Livonia offers an array of recreational opportunities. The Livonia Parks and Recreation Department now oversees 46 developed municipal parks that encompass nearly 1,800 acres. Livonia takes pride in its 3 city owned and operated golf courses, twenty-two playgrounds, forty-two baseball diamonds, thirty-three tennis courts, and twenty-seven soccer fields. The City also owns two indoor ice arenas with three sheets of ice. Livonia's state of the art Community Recreation Center is a 130,000 square-foot facility with two pools, four gyms, gymnastics center, climbing wall, indoor soft playground and fitness center with indoor track. Outside features at this new facility include four soccer fields, in-lined skate rink, skateboard park, sand volleyball courts and water spray ground.

Most homes in Livonia were built in the 1950-60's, and the brick ranch w/3 bedrooms is very popular. Prices currently range from $150,000 to $300,000. We also have some new construction that can get more pricey.

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Tess Mickelsen

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[paintballer1708]

Livonia is a nice city. But being in metro Detroit takes away from that. In SE Michigan you will find the unemployment rate souring. And urban decay fills Detroit and some of its suburbs. Thousands leave Detroit and the metro and head south. But the new 2000-2004 for population census shows that Livonia is declining in popultation too. From just over 100,000 to now 98,281. Im not telling you where you should move to or even telling you not to move to Livonia. I just thought you would like to know what is going on around metro Detroit and its a shame that Livonia has to be in the Detroit metro. Good luck with what you plan to do.

[PackLeader]

[quote=ladykuch]Hi,
I'm still waiting to see some suggestions. Can anyone tell me anything about Livonia?
Thanks[/QUOTE

I have lived in Michigan my whole life and never found a reason to look for a home in Livonia. There is just nothing there but houses, and concrete and it is too snugggled up to areas of lesser entheusiasm. I would describe it as a ver generic area of Suburbia. Which is fine if you like that. I want a little more variety. You can find out a whole lot about different areas bu looking at the census information. I am looking for some property and am using the census data to give me clues as to the economics of the different areas.

PackLeader

[MonaLisaVito]

Please describe specifically what type of town and type of home you are looking for and I can help you better. Also, please let me know what city are you moving from. Hopefully you are moving here with a job already lined up because the economy here is declining.

[sarepta]

I grew up there as a child and loved it

[MusicNote]

paintballer1708 makes it seems as if the the fault of the residents in Metro Detroit that the City of Livonia as well as other cities are suffering...when MI is suffering as a whole. Livonia, which is 99% caucasian is declining for many reasons not just it's locality to Detroit. To put it simply the people of color aren't bringing Livonia down, because people of color don't live there. Livonia is still a "new" city if you based it on real estate terms. It was one of the cities created when white flight began to occur in Detroit. As stated, there's alot of cement and the homes vary, but most are 1940-50's construction. The schools have received high ratings. True...there's nothing much to do in Livonia, except live. But, the term Metro Detroit is significant, because the entire Metro area can be entertaining. Nothing is really too far out of they way. You will never have a lack of nice malls and good food if you don't mind a short ride. The zip codes for Livonia are 48150, 48151, 48152, 48153, 48154. Outdoor activities for MI as a whole pale in comparison to southern states, but there are some nice recreation facilities.

[pearl]

I worked in Livonia and chose to commute from Ann Arbor and Brighton...if that's any help.

[mariatherese]

I agree that Livonia is stale and boring, but IMO all of SE Michigan fits into that category. That is why I am moving.

Its all relative- depends on what you are looking for.

[Kellygerl]

Boy oh Boy between Painballer1708 & Mariaatherese they sure paint a bleak picture of Livonia. We may not have a downtown area but we dont lack for shopping areas and eating areas close by. I think you two need to move to Blue Hair Haven in Florida. I have lived in Livonia for the past 22 years and never regreted moving here.