[eiram21]

Hi All,
I've been living in Philadelphia or its suburbs (S. Jersey) for my entire life. My family and I are considering relocating to Michigan for a few years (up to 3 years). We must be near major medical centers, which I'm assuming would be either near Detroit or near Ann Arbor. We also want very good public schools, low crime, and of course, we want to spend as little as possible. Another important factor is that I'd like to be sure that the house will not be terribly difficult to sell a few years from now, although we expect we will get a full buyout from hubby's company again down the road.

The CNN best city survey mentions Plymouth, MI, which looks very nice...

Thanks in advance for all your suggestions.

[beegan]

Hey EirM21-
This all could work out briliantly. We live in Royal Oak-which is a perfect city for many reasons.
1.)Centrally located to all major highways (roughly 5 min to I75& 696)
2.)10 minutes from Beaumont Hospital, 15 from Macomb Hospital 15 from Henry Ford (Im in the medical field as well and it has been the perfect location for my job)
3.)Small knit communities to raise your family
4.)The neighborhoods have a historical feel to them, beautiful homes with a variety of price ranges.Tons of parks too!
5.)An indepenant downtown shopping/restaurant area

Need I go on
The reason why this could all be brillant is my husband and I are hoping to move within the next 6 months.We own a beautiful 3 bedroom home.Very modern,brand new kitchen,partially finished basement,extended deck off the back room. Move in condition! Is walking distance to 3 parks, and the downtown area. If you decide that Royal Oak might be a good fit for you and your family, we'd be more than happy to send you some pics of our home and neighborhood. Also, if you werent intested in buying, we wouldnt mind renting it to you,or renting to own.

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns-id love to help out if i could.
good luck, and you'll love Michigan! Especially this area!

[ladolcevitabella]

Rochester and Troy.. both close to Beaumont and Crittenton. Lots of foreclosures, fantastic schools great cities.. worth checking out

[eiram21]

Thank you both so much for your replies!!! I am soooo nervous about this - Michigan seems so beautiful, but I have been in my area for more than 40 years!

Beegan - I will definitely let you know about the pix - we would be participating in corporate relo, so we would definitely be working with a realtor. I need all the help I can get!!

What do you all think of AA? The town seems very attractive for a number of reasons....

[JGatti]

I think it boils down to what exactly you want in an area. The way our freeways are set up you can live in the northern suburbs and still have a good selection of good hospitals. If you like homes stacked on top of one another with a BIG downtown and a lot of people, the above mentioned cities would suite you just fine. I grew up in Southfield. I would never want to live in that area or any of the others mentioned because I prefer more open space, cleaner air, less traffic and people. Where I live there is nothing that is too far to enjoy with little effort or drive time. But when I come home and want to sit on my deck out back there are few other places I'd rather be. I drive past 3 lakes while taking my son to school, we often see wild turkeys, deer and other animals. I have a pond across the street from my house and the orchestra of frogs sing me to sleep every night. Next city down has a very nice downtown area, with festivals, bars and night life. 10 minutes clear uncrowded drive to get there. But then again some people feel they have to have those cookie cutter neighborhoods with sidewalks and people on top of one another. Yuck! Not for me. Our schools are terrific, low to almost no crime and compared to a lot of other area's our taxes are livable. Think about what your needs and desires are exactly and post them. You'll get better input. Good luck and welcome to Michigan. ( when you get here)

[Coldjensens]

Plymouth is awesome with great schools. Plymouth has a quaint downtown with a small town atmosphere. Loads of community events and festivals. Very close to Ann Arbor (best Hospitals IMO).

Royal Oak will not meet your needs. The schools are not good and it is not a very nice place for children. It is too crazy and too adult. (Want ot explain what a nipple clip is after walking past a store?). It is a fun hip place for 20 somethings. Not so much for families.

It heavily depends on where you will be working. If in Ann Arbor, Ann arbor is great (not my choice for children, but lots of peopel do it). Chelsea, Dexter Saline, Plymouth, Tecumseh are all near Ann Arbor and have good to great schools and are really neat old fashioned small towns. If you want modern cookie cutter subdivision life (which many people seem to prefer) Canton is a decent choice,

Northville is farily quaint, not far from Ann Arbor or Detroit and has great schools. South Lyon the same but less quaint. Milfrod is also quaint but getting a bit remote and schools are less outstanding.

As you get in closer to Detroit, my favorites are Grosse Ile (island community wooded lots of wildlife) Grosse Points (the oldest upscale community around). Brimingham is very nice and very upscale. All of these communities have really great schools. Rochester fits this mold too but is a bit of a drive from Detroit or Ann Arbor.

If you like the subdivision/suburbia lifestyle, look at Troy, Utica, West Bloomfield, and, if you like to drive Rochester Hills.

Hunt around this and the Detroit areas and you will find a lot of information about these communities. There is a post under "Detroit" entitled something like "What are the best Detroit Suburbs" that has discussions of loads of communities. Several other threads have lots of inormation too. Just browse.


By the wya. Plymouth has a webcam in the center of town. It is pretty moring most of the time, but it can give you a peep. they also have a virtual tour of town on their website.

You probably do nto want ot buy a house. Just rent. Lots of houses sit ont he market for three or four years without selling right now. Unless things change, it will be difficult to sell a house. Of course the advantage is that real estate is dirt cheap right now.

[eiram21]

thanks again for your replies!!! This is so tremendously helpful.
JGatti - you are funny - I hear you about living on top of one another, etc. BUT, I am from a big city (Philadelphia) and so I loooovvve seeing lots and lots of people around. We live on about 1 acre now in a very popular subdivision near Philly that is chock full of kids and great neighbors who play Bunco, go on cruises, have ladies night out, etc. I very much like being part of a "neighborhood" if you know what I mean, but I can appreciate what you are saying!! It's kind of upsetting to think about leaving here, but....

ColdJensens - thanks so much for all the information!! I am going to print this thread out and take it with us if/when we come to look. It looks like I have a lot of homework to do!! I want to let you know and the others how much I appreciate your help. This is so scarey for me. I will post more about what we are looking for. I'm going to check out the web cam in Plymouth! My husband's coworker is from the Detroit area and he recommended Gross Points too - hmmmmm....

All the negative talk about Detroit scares me, although I was born and raised in Philly, so I can relate somewhat I guess...

My husband will be working out of the house, and commuting to various medical centers throughout the state, I'm assuming the largest hospitals will be the most important ones to visit. I also work out of the house, so proximity to major medical is the only concern along with great schools for my 6 and 7 year old kids. I am from a big city, so I love the TOTAL convenience of being a 5-minute drive to the Walmart, supermarket, etc. Twenty minutes or less to the mall. It is all what you are used to. And I don't mind the cookie cutter homes, because I've found that with them comes a number of families who also have young kids. Top-notch schools is one of my bigger concerns and convenience to shopping, post office, dry cleaners, etc. I'd also love a community that has a few decent swim clubs for the kids to enjoy in the summer.

Thanks to everyone!!!

[eiram21]

So, in a nutshell I'm looking for:

Great schools
Proximity to one of the major medical centers (AA or Detroit)
Convenience to mall, stores, supermarket (walking distance would be GREAT or 5 minute car ride....I'm spoiled, I guess?)
Lots and lots of young kids in the area
Swim clubs in the area would be great
Newer homes (we do not want to have to update anything and enjoy the modern conveniences of our 7 year old home) (not a deal breaker though)

Thank you !

[beachmouse]

If the kids are serious swimmers, the Ann Arbor area has a long and great reputation for the sport. Club Wolverine/AASC was producing Olympians and All Americans long before Michael Phelps stopped over in the area for a couple years, and the high school programs in the city are very strong. The people I knew who sent their kids to Ann Arbor public schools were generally happy with the quality of education there.

It's also a relatively compact city by Michigan standards and you never seem too far from a small shopping center.

[sunshineann]

eiram...i too am from Pa. lived there for 31 years...and although we just recently moved here to Michigan...i must say it feels so much like home to us than all my years in Pa. Now this is just our experience..everyones are different. We are located in northwest michigan, and i believe your looking more southeast...i hope it all works out for you..michigan is a wonderful place to live..okay so a bunch will get on here and say about the economy ect...but since i lived in other areas before here...its not just here in michigan...again...best of luck to you and your family..