Novi? (Detroit, Livonia, Farmington Hills: houses, travel, job)

[khfar]

What can you guys tell me about the Novi area? Are there lots of families? Are the schools good? What are the people like around there? Anything else you have to add is welcome!

Thanks,

K

[sundancer]

Novi is a wonderful city, its about 45 mins west of downtown detroit. It has a great shopping mall, the novi schools are very highly rated. The new homes in the area are $300,000 plus, but you can find cheaper homes in the older areas.

[cksh]

I definitely agree with Sundancer. I am not sure about the schools though but I have never heard anything bad about them. The mall is great and there are some nice neighborhoods.

Would move there myself if the houses were a bit cheaper. But you can find them as cheap as 150 in the older parts (at least you could a couple of years ago). But that is for a small ranch with almost no yard. As far as location it is pretty much close to everything. If you want more bang for your buck though you will need to move farther out. Possibly Milford or maybe South Lyon if you want a huge yard and big house without spedning a fortune.

[khfar]

Originally Posted by sundancer

Novi is a wonderful city, its about 45 mins west of downtown detroit. It has a great shopping mall, the novi schools are very highly rated. The new homes in the area are $300,000 plus, but you can find cheaper homes in the older areas.

Thanks for the feedback. Can you tell me if it has a lot of families, or is it more young singles or older people? Also, about how far is it from Livonia (my husband's office) and Troy? (where I'll likely enjoy shopping!)

Thank you!

[cksh]

Livonia is right next store so to speak. Wish I had that commute to my office!

However Troy is not. Maybe 25-35 minutes in Non-rush hour to the outskirts. But maybe somebody else who drives out that way more often can enlighten you. The way home during peak hours is probably 45 minutes minimum and I would not recommened it! But thats me and I hate to drive.

P.S. Lots of young families in Novi thats for sure. Probably a toss-up between young and old since there are a lot of older neighborhoods there with empty nesters who have lived there for many years I would imagine

[Bhaalspawn]

Novi would be a great place--if you can afford it. It's an upper middle class suburb named after railroad stop No. VI. Consequently, the schools are probably excellent. It has a huge shopping district entered at the intersection of Novi Rd. and I-696. The commute to Livonia shouldn't be too bad, but it could exceed 10 miles depending on where you live and where your husband's job is located. The two cities are more or less kitty-korner to each other. Farmington Hills is the 6 mile x 6 mile block directly to the east of Novi and Livonia is directly south of Farmington Hills.

Consequently, you might also want to consider Farmington Hills, which is a combination of middle class and upper middle class. The southeast corner (closer to Detroit) is more of a middle class area and the northwest corner is upper middle class.

The city immediately north of Farmington Hills is West Bloomfield, which has upper middle class and the wealthy. As you move North from Novi, you'll start to get into the very nice lakes country.

All of these locations are a good 20 miles away from Troy. To get to Troy you would get on I-696 and take it to I-75 North, which could be a nasty commute both coming and going during the rush hours. Taking that into consideration, perhaps Farmington Hills would be a better location. Southfield would be a more central location, but it has a mix of middle class and lower class, and it more or less stays that way as you continue east on I-696. West Bloomfield might work (if you can afford it), and then you would take the mile roads (say Maple) across town to get to Troy. The commute to Livonia wouldn't be too bad. If you go a little further east you end up in Bloomfield Hills, which is a little ritzier than West Bloomfield and probably even more expensive.

[jpoole52]

I grew up right next to Novi, and I'd definitely recommend it as a place to relocate. It's a lot of families, but there are lots of young people as well from local areas with all the the commercial opprotunities, restraunts, and bars. It's close to Livonia, not so much to Troy, but I don't see why you would need to go there too often to shop when Novi has a fantastic mall all its own. You'd only need to go to Sommerset Mall in Troy if you wanted to shop REALLY more upscale.

I'm a teacher from the area, and Novi Schools, are, in my opinion, excellent. You would also do well in Northville, where the schools are also great, which is right nextdoor to Novi. I'd recommend for both schools and quality of living, Northville, Milford (not too far from Novi, but more rural), Farmington Hills.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Bhaalspawn

named after railroad stop No. VI.

Wow! I learn something new every day.

My hometown (Rochester Hills) is closer to Troy. I suggest you try there.

West Bloomfield is really not much more upscale than Farmington Hills, Rochester Hills, or Novi. Bloomfield Hills is real nice, if you are looking for that and can afford it.

If I had been able to stay in Michigan and work in Troy, I would have wanted to live in Birmingham. [Single, 24 year old guy here]

[Alltaurus]

On the expressway (I96) you can be to Livonia in about 10 minutes. Longer during rush hour as Novi has become a hot spot and there is only one or two exits to the expressway.

Troy by expressway is about a half hour if you are not traveling during rush hour. (I96 to 696) I'm assuming you are talking about shopping at Somerset as that's the only thing Troy has that Novi doesn't. You may want to check out Twelve Oaks mall in Novi. It has a lot of nice high end shops with a Nordstroms (my fav) coming soon.

[TrippingJay]

Novi would be a great area to live. A mjority of the residents are young families and as previous posters have mentioned, the schools are excellent. The only negatives is that there is a lot of sprawl in the area with a lot of cookie-cutter subdivisions and some traffic. Commuting to Livonia would be easy, and you wouldn't need to go to the Somerset Collection in Troy that much as you have 12 Oaks which offers a lot of the same stores as Somerset.

Good Luck!