[muslima]

Hello Folks,

My son and I will be moving to Sterling Heights in August of 2008 as he will be attending school there and being only 17, I will be accompanying him for at least a couple years. We will not be selling our home in Indiana just living here temporarily.

I'm a Muslim Mom in my 40's and would like to know more about the community, as far as safety, diversity, activities, best areas to rent from, things to avoid.

We are looking for a 2 bedroom condo in the price range of $700-900 in a nice neighborhood, is this realistic or are we going to end up in "trailer trash heaven" at this price?

Any help will be greatly appreciated and I promise my fellow Sterling Heights neighbors we hope to be a great asset to your community during our stay.

[jrmontag]

Sterling Heights is very diverse. Next to Dearborn, I believe it has the 2nd largest Arabic population in the US...or maybe that was Chaldean. There are also large Eastern European populations. Also Caucasian, Black, Latino, East Asian.

There's a ton of stuff to do...not sure what you're looking for. I had never really felt unsafe living there till I was 14.

[kimba01]

I love living in SH. As far as things to do, it would depend on what you or your son are into. They have lots of parks, community programs, music in the park, a big festival in August, they have Freedom Hill, which has concerts and ethnic festivals. It is very diverse here and I love the schools. What school will he be attending?

Not sure what the rent is for apts/condos here but they do have some nice ones and I am pretty sure that you can find something in your price range. Even the trailer parks aren't bad! Good luck!

[Paddington]

Trailer trash is proper suburban Detroit though. All the great people to hail from North of 8 Mile were trailer trash: Eminem, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Iggy Pop, etc.

[windfarmer]

I lived in Dearborn (on and off) for a few years.. It's got a sizeable muslim population. They are mostly of lebanese, iraqi and yemeni descent, however there are a few pakistanis/indians and some african-american. The housing prices in Dearborn are relatively stable, however they are much more affordable now than they were five years ago. The schools are good, but they could be better.. the problem is that many of the children are first generation americans and therefore their parents neither speak much english, nor put too much emphasis on education as the majority are from lower middle class backgrounds. Eventually I believe, as every other ethnicity has done so, they too will assimilate much better after a generation or two. Some of the neighbors I've had have been extremely generous, giving me platefuls of barbecued lamb/beef, rice and salad after having known me for all of five minutes.. true stories too.

Sterling Heights probably does have residents of the same faith as yourself, however I would say that the majority of middle easterners there are Chaldean who are all Christian Orthodox (i believe).

The best city in my humble opinion to move to around there, is Ann Arbor. It's got diversity – and educated diversity at that, several good colleges including U of M, not terribly expensive to live in, cultural haven for that part of Michigan, good food, EXCELLENT schools, well run city, etc.

[muslima]

Thanks so much to those who have replied thus far. It's been very helpful and I really appreciate everyones time.

[dada19]

Hi,

You will want to contact Utica Community Schools at 586-797-1000 to register your son for High school. It is a great school district with a diverse student population and lots of extracurricular activities for students. As for housing, you can find an apartment for rent between 900-1200 monthly in a pretty decent complex. Most of your high end people buy houses and do not rent. Condos are going for 160K-250K brand new. For your budget of 700-900K YOU CAN BUY A MANSION! and probably would not want to remain in Sterling Heights.

Good Luck!

[jrmontag]

Note that part of the city lies in the Warren Consolidated School District.

[muslima]

how is the warren school district?

[jrmontag]

Hmmm....well, that's what I attended up until 8th grade and I'm doing pretty good! That's a very subjective viewpoint, but really, I don't have any major complaints.