[skumar814]

Hi,
My husband and I along with our 2 kids (ages 2 and 8) want to move back up to Michigan this spring. We are originally from Niles/Buchanan, Michigan area but have been living in South Bend, Indiana for the past 4 years. I am 28 and have my BA in Accounting. My husband typically does alot of manufacturing/warehouse work but wants to go back to school and pursue an art career. I wanted to find a town that's not too small or too big. I wouldn't mind living in a smaller town that's not too far from the AA. South Bend has a population of roughly 120,000 I believe and that's fine with me. I also wanted to be near the Univ of Mich hospital and somewhat close to Riley's Children's hospital in Detroit. Good schools for the kids are important. My 8 year old daughter needs special instruction. She is behind her peers in learning and my son, that's almost 3, needs speech therapy because he isn't talking yet. From your experience, is Ann Arbor the type of town that would best suit my family? I know its a college town, but is it for families too? Does it have good schools and availability of jobs in our fields? South Bend has terrible unemployment and the crime is horrendous. I want a better place for my children to grow up. Any advice/input. Any areas nearby that I should look at? We are thinking of renting for a year until we get a feel for the area and then hopefully can buy a house. Thanks.

[MittenDweller82]

Originally Posted by skumar814

Hi,
My husband and I along with our 2 kids (ages 2 and 8) want to move back up to Michigan this spring. We are originally from Niles/Buchanan, Michigan area but have been living in South Bend, Indiana for the past 4 years. I am 28 and have my BA in Accounting. My husband typically does alot of manufacturing/warehouse work but wants to go back to school and pursue an art career. I wanted to find a town that's not too small or too big. I wouldn't mind living in a smaller town that's not too far from the AA. South Bend has a population of roughly 120,000 I believe and that's fine with me. I also wanted to be near the Univ of Mich hospital and somewhat close to Riley's Children's hospital in Detroit. Good schools for the kids are important. My 8 year old daughter needs special instruction. She is behind her peers in learning and my son, that's almost 3, needs speech therapy because he isn't talking yet. From your experience, is Ann Arbor the type of town that would best suit my family? I know its a college town, but is it for families too? Does it have good schools and availability of jobs in our fields? South Bend has terrible unemployment and the crime is horrendous. I want a better place for my children to grow up. Any advice/input. Any areas nearby that I should look at? We are thinking of renting for a year until we get a feel for the area and then hopefully can buy a house. Thanks.

Coming from someone who has lived in the A2 area for years I'll give you a unbiased opinion. (I also have a 3yo daughter). Schools here are incredible, education is the communities top priority and nothing is left out, if there is a millage for improvements, it is passed without question. The UM hospital has a world recognized program for speech therapy, along with Motts children hospital. The nationally recognized school system, public trans, and the lowest unemployment rate in the state has attracted many young families like yours. There is a long list of elementary schools both public and private, I would consult the chamber of commerce to find out what is best for you.

My wife and I currently reside on the west end of town,(Huron &7th Street) which is made up of young single professionals, young families, and a few PhD, professional students. If your looking to spend less than $1000 per month for rent, its your best bet. There are however some brand new condos that just were finished near downtown that start out around 225K. If your not looking for condos then I would suggest some neighborhoods near the west end of town, with most houses selling from 250K and up, there are some historic homes that will be near 400K. Beyond that, anything closer to downtown and the UM campus will be much more expensive. I would suggest looking for something in between Ann Arbor and Dexter (smaller town 10 min from A2) for a home under 200K.

The important thing is, with your education you'll be employed quickly, UM is always hiring and they are expanding, along with city and public schools having many openings. I think you'll be hard pressed to find a city of similar size that has the employment opportunities, and quality of life.

Good Luck

[Giesela]

I lived in A2 in the 80s and its very nice. Be prepared though, cost of living is high for this area of the Midwest, wages do not necessarily correspond. I'm sure its not really true but the joke used to be that PhD's were often found to be doing manual labor.

[SpaceGhost79]

Is there a reason you would want to be close to Riley's Children's Hospital in Detroit? I agree with the previous post... C.S. Mott's Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor is well recognized.

Home prices, like everywhere else, have taken a hit. My parents live on the southwest side of town near Dicken Elementary School and looking at Zillow.com right now, there's a 3 bed, 2 bath 1200 sq. ft. house listed a block over from them asking $180K and another one not too far away asking $155K, so the deals are out there. A few years ago houses in the neighborhood were asking upward of $230-250K (and it appears there's still a few houses in the 'hood trying to sell in that range). In fact, if I remember correctly, my parents' neighbor had her house originally listed for $235K last year and ended up selling for like $180K. And it's a nice neighborhood; crime is rare there.

If you're going to look at a small town outcity the city, I'd look at either Dexter (west of A2) or Saline (south of A2...Saturday morning pretzels at Benny's Bakery rule!).

The school systems are very good and in fact they just built a brand new high school, which is great because Pioneer and Huron High Schools were getting overcrowded (heck, they were overcrowded when I was in school a decade ago).

As for things for kids to do, its been a long time and I don't live there anymore, so I can't really say. When I grew up I was always playing sports, but one place I remember going to was the Hands-on Museum.

I'm actually heading back to Ann Arbor for a few weeks later this month. It has definitely grown over the past 10-15 years...like everywhere else, the housing boom created a lot of urban sprawl (I think the population increased about 10,000 or so), which in turn brought in much more traffic and unfortunately some additional crime (which is going to happen and there are a few spots I'd avoid living in). But on a whole, what can I say, I grew up there, my family has deep roots in the area, and I love it.

[Dexterguy]

Ann Arbor is one of the areas in SE Michigan that has not gotten hit with unemployment to hard, at least not like the areas such as Detroit, Flint, Saginaw.

If you are looking into moving to A2 look into the north-west district where the new skyline high school is, it is one amazing beautiful school.

[Cliffie]

Near AA but less expensive to live in: Chelsea, Dundee, Brighton/Howell.

[SunsetSky]

Your dollars will stretch a little further by living in a surrounding township. I live a few steps outside the A2 city limits in Scio township and pay property taxes around 30 mills (versus 46 mills for A2 city). I have a condo now, but if I were in the market for a single family home I'd start in Scio and Pittsfield townships. I'm also fond of Dexter with its small town charm. Overall, Ann Arbor is a nice area that offers events, services and amenities to suit families. I also think you'll have success finding a job with an accounting degree. Good luck!

[skumar814]

Is there a reason you would want to be close to Riley's Children's Hospital in Detroit?

Yes, my son was run over by an SUV last October. He has ongoing surgeries and monthly visits to Riley's in Indianapolis. Right now it's a 4 hour drive for us down there. I heard there's one in Detroit so if I move farther up in Michigan, I would like to see about going to the Riley's in Detroit instead of making the drive to Indie.

[Cliffie]

Then I would be looking for someplace close to the hospital of your choice, period. Commuting from AA to Detroit is no joke, especially with the price of gas seesawing up and down the way it is. I never heard of Riley's but UofM and Mott Children's Hospital are two of the best in the country. The only downside to either one is that they are teaching hospitals, and you have to do some advocacy to keep your child from being trapped in a sort of vortex of trainees. I just did an intake on a kid who was getting therapy at UofM for years, and they only had time to see him once every six months, and every two sessions he would be given a new shrink and have to start all over again.

[mtusarah]

Ann Arbor has a population of about 114,000 currently. The hospitals are some of the most desired in the state as well. I attended grade school K-12 in Ann Arbor and I think it was a good experience, all of the advanced classes are available, most every sport, music etc.

If you want to look for somewhere cheaper to live and be able to commute to Ann Arbor check out Ypsilanti, Dexter, Chealsea, Manchester, Whitmorelake, Pinkney, Hamburg, Saline etc. The schools might not be as good though but they are all smaller towns and cheaper to live in.

The commute to Detroit without much traffic is 40 minutes to an hour I guess depending on where you are going (at least it is 40 minutes to the Joe!).

Stuff to do for kids? There are numerous parks with playgrounds all over the city, we always walked to the close ones or our parents took us to the other ones. I think that from my parents house alone there are 5 or six parks walking distance. There are a couple bowling alleys, 3 indoor ice arenas, a roller rink, museums, pin ball petes, metro parks where you can roller blade or rent paddle boats or skis in the winter. sledding hills all sorts of little leagues for tee ball soccer and more. the YMCA is huge and has a brand new facility. We always did gymnastics lessons there.

I think that there is plenty for anybody to do in ann arbor if you look around and you would probably enjoy it there.