Seeking advice on living in Ann Arbor or other suburbs in the DTW area (Detroit: relocate)

[pmsocc17]

I am currently living in Portland, OR and planning to relocate to Southeast MI. I am 28 year old single gay guy. Well-educated full-time working professional here.

My workplace is in Auburn Hills. I have been to Auburn Hills before (for short duration business) and I am familiar with some of the suburbs here (Troy, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills etc). But since I have not lived here for a long period of time, I am not sure which place would be good for living for a year or two. I would be renting an apartment for a year. I am currently based in Portland, OR and I liked it here (Before Portland, I used to live in DC). I like a place with an eclectic and interesting mix of well-informed people. I like to keep myself fit. I am a pretty good runner and I work out. I would like to live somewhere close to a few good running routes.

From what I saw of Royal Oak and Troy two years ago, they seemed okay-ish to me. But they were defintely better than Rochester Hills or Auburn Hills.
One of my friends who lived in the Detroit area a few years ago (he was a PhD student at UMich Ann Arbor) told me that he really loved Ann Arbor and he found the rest of the Detroit suburbs very dull and uninspiring. He knows me well enough to know my tastes. He also told me that AA is the only town in the Detroit area where I would find good enough places to run outside. Apparently he was a member of some running club in Ann Arbor.

One of my colleagues who also works at Auburn Hills has his house in Ann Arbor (He has lived there for 10plus years with his family and his reasons for living there are primarily related to his kids education). He commutes everyday from Auburn Hills to Ann Arbor and he told me that it takes anywhere from 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 mins depending upon which part of Ann Arbor you are living in.

I still have three to four weeks to figure out the apartment etc. I have no plans to buy a house at this stage in my life. I am quite clear in my mind that I will be staying here for a year (or two max). I plan to go for further studies after this. So, it doesn't make sense for me to buy a house.

I just needed any opinions about living in Ann Arbor or any other suburbs in the area. Please feel free to give any advice that your may have.

[Big BT]

Ann Arbor sounds like the best choice for what you are looking for but I wouldn't want to commute that far. That would be a deal-breaker for me.

I'd look more toward Ferndale/Royal Oak. It won't have the recreational opportunities of Ann Arbor but it is a good mix of people with good nightlife spots.

[cardwellave]

Ferndale is the gay hotspot in Detroit. Royal Oak is a little bigger, and has more of a wide appeal. Ferndale to me is a little grittier, which I like.

Ann Arbor is much bigger, but also a further commute, and in a lot of places, a bonafied college town.

[JHTEW]

There is NO WAY you want to live in Ann Arbor if your job will stay in Auburn Hills. Yes, it is probably right up your alley, but the distance would do you in, I'd imagine. In addition to the distance problem I can tell you that It is one of the most frequent tow-away zones in the western hemisphere. Parking is non-existent there. Not sure what you didn't like about the Auburn Hills/Rochester area in particular. It definitely has a lot to offer for a runner. You can take your pick of recreational parks with great trails in that area, from remote to highly frequented. You would not get that in the Royal Oak/Ferndale neighborhoods, definitely. Rochester has a pleasant downtown, and if you want something more diverse, visit Birmingham or Royal Oak - neither are far down the road. I've lived in Auburn Hills and Berkley, and I would take the more outdoorsy Rochester area over this suburb any day. And since it is near Oakland University, there is a wider range of cultural activities available.

[Paddington]

Ann Arbor is overrated.

[jrmontag]

Ann Arbor is NOT Detroit. Ann Arbor is not the Detroit metro area. Ann Arbor is in a whole other county outside of the Detroit metro area.

Having gone to grad school and living in Auburn Hills, and now currently living and interning in A2, I think you'd have to be psychotic to want to travel that amount of distance everyday (reason i moved). You're looking at about a minimum of an hour drive with light traffic/no accidents/no construction delays/etc. In this part of the state, those conditions are a rare treat.

So that's a minimum of 2 hours a day driving back and forth. Gas has been $4.25 in most of Ann Arbor for at least 3 weeks now (bull$hit). Do you really want to put that investment of time and money into your life just so you have a couple extra nice parks to run in. I can tell you from experience there's plenty of room in Oakland County to run. Try the Clinton River Trail for starters.

Ann Arbor is a great place but despite what it may look like on a map, you really are living in a whole different area of the state and I don't think it would be very wise from a financial or time aspect to make that big of a commitment. Just my 2 cents, thanks for your time.... - Jeff

[A2Mich]

I would have to agree. The drive from Ann Arbor to Auburn Hills may end up breaking you financially. I used to live in Jackson, and my wife and I both commuted to Ann Arbor daily (38 miles one way, each of us). We were spending well over $750 a month in GAS ALONE. The commute from A2 to Auburn Hills is even further still.....you may very well end up spending $400 or more a month in gas alone, not to mention wear and tear, and your valuable time. Also, Ann Arbor is not a suburb of Detroit, not at all. Some A2 residents do work in Detroit, but I would say that most don't. You will never hear A2 residents say they are Detroit suburbanites, as the way of life in A2 is different than Detroit---A2 is a completely different animal than Detroit.

[Ann_Arbor]

If you're from Portland, you probably have a healthy respect for urbanism- I'm a big fan of the urban boundary that city has implemented to halt suburban sprawl.

In that case, I would highly recommend the city of Ann Arbor. Don't be afraid to look into pockets of Detroit- there are actually nice neighborhoods. Its a shame that their is such bad stigma about living in cities in Michigan- with a few exceptions (Grosse Pointes, Royal Oak), the suburbs of Detroit are pretty lame and are very isolated.

[Ann_Arbor]

Also, Ann Arbor is not a suburb of Detroit- though it is steadily is becoming more suburban.

[bepperoo]

I went to UM and I love Ann Arbor. As far as I'm concerned there is nothing else like it in southeastern MI... As a successful gay man I think this is definately an area you would enjoy. Birmingham is also pretty eclectic and would be a great place to live for a single professional but Im not sure how "gay friendly" it is. Haven't been there for awhile. I'm surprised that Royal Oak didn't interest you at all. Great night life, very diverse and very tolerant. Best of luck. I am sure you will find a place you love.

I do have to agree that the commute would be murder but I used to have an hour commute (Detroit to Clarkston) and it was much more pleasant when I stopped off at the gym or restaurant before driving all the way home. Once rush hour is over it was a pleasant drive.