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Old 07-19-2006, 10:59 AM
 
Location: Rio de Janeiro
3 posts, read 17,671 times
Reputation: 11

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Hi,everybody!
Last year I spent 3 weeks attending computer classes in a company located in Sterling Heights and stayed in a hotel not very far, in Utica. I enjoyed it very much! The people were so kind, friendly and helpful. There are fantastic Malls around it! But, 3 weeks is not enough time to really "feel" the city, its problems and its difficulties. Someone could give me a permanent resident point of view of living in Sterling Heights or Utica? I am not intending to move there though, just curiosity. They seemed to me good places to live.
Thanks in advance.
P.S. It it true that winter is so bad there? brrr....I was there at the end of Spring and I live in a tropical country...
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Old 07-19-2006, 01:28 PM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,154,604 times
Reputation: 10355
I don't live there, but do quite a bit of work in the area. And, a good friend lives in Utica so I do spend time around there.
Lots of shopping and malls, yes. If you like that sort of thing, just about every mall and chain store in creation is along Hall Rd/53. There is a big Italian population in that whole area, there are also plenty of nice smaller stores, good food markets and restaurants. The old "downtown" part of Utica is nice in a sort of dated, shabby way. Traffic is horrible through that entire area and there is lots of home building going on. Farmland is making way for subdivisions at a fairly fast pace. There are some nice city parks, but really for the most part it's just suburbs, malls, big commercial strips and subdivisions for miles around. A few small farms remain but I imagine they'll all be gone within 20 years...
There's not a whole lot in the way of "culture" around there, unless you count shopping and sports events.
Michigan winters, yep - long, grey and cold!
I'd stay in Brazil if I were you....
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Old 07-19-2006, 02:48 PM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC
976 posts, read 3,860,210 times
Reputation: 269
Coming from Brazil i would go to Florida. Just a thought. Have you ever been to Florida? Its a really nice tropical place, warm all year round. If you want friendly people there are alot around Melbourne and Titusville.
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Old 07-19-2006, 03:01 PM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,154,604 times
Reputation: 10355
Quote:
Originally Posted by paintballer1708
Coming from Brazil i would go to Florida. Just a thought. Have you ever been to Florida? Its a really nice tropical place, warm all year round. If you want friendly people there are alot around Melbourne and Titusville.
And during winter months, it seems half of Michigan vacations down there...!
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Old 07-21-2006, 08:12 AM
 
Location: Working on relocating
800 posts, read 4,297,252 times
Reputation: 508
Hi,

I live in Utica area I have lived here 6 years, going on seven. We moved here to be closer to hubby's job.

It's not a bad place to live really...Very convenient for errands and shopping. It's a great place to raise a family (we don't have kids, but moved here 'cause the schools are supposedly very excellent so we were thinking of house resale value, etc.). The taxes are supposed to be lower out here, but they have been going up, but not like other Metro Detroit towns.

It's very ethnically diverse...Lots of European enclaves as well as Arabic and Chaldean population. We have awesome food

Brr...yes, it's very cold in winter. I myself am looking to move someplace warmer soon
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Old 07-21-2006, 10:10 AM
 
1,608 posts, read 9,744,309 times
Reputation: 974
I'm a Detroit area native. People in the area call Sterling Heights "starving whites"... I'm not joking, it's just a knickname that it's acquired over the years. It's not a bad place but it has a very high middle eastern population. If you don't mind that then you will like it there. Utica is better than Sterling Heights but it is an older community. If you want a really good place, with great schools and low crime check out Troy. It's just across the road from Sterling Heights but much much nicer. Michigan winters are cold but not intolerable.
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Old 07-21-2006, 01:09 PM
 
Location: Rio de Janeiro
3 posts, read 17,671 times
Reputation: 11
Thank you all! Unfortunatelly i didn't have the opportunity to visit old downtown of Utica or libraries. I noticed there are good schools and excellent restaurants. What I liked the most was the michigan hospitality. And about the winter, if you have good friends, your family around and a glass of wine, who cares about the weather?
Once more, thank you.
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Old 07-21-2006, 03:40 PM
 
Location: Working on relocating
800 posts, read 4,297,252 times
Reputation: 508
Quote:
People in the area call Sterling Heights "starving whites"... I'm not joking, it's just a knickname that it's acquired over the years.
My address is Sterling Heights, but I'm a stone's throw from Utica. Have to say that there are many big, beautiful homes being built in this area. Actually, if you look around, you'll see a lot of wealth and money. Macomb County is actually pretty wealthy nowadays.

For me, it's all about priorities I could live in Troy or Rochester if I wanted to, but I enjoy being able to travel, take classes, and see the world I can easily afford my mortgage payment each month--I'm only 34 and it will be nice to have my mortgage paid in its entirety when I'm less than 40 years old

Skohl, so glad you like the Michigan hospitality So true...It is the people that matter most in our lives, not the weather
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Old 07-28-2006, 08:44 PM
 
2 posts, read 10,943 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedWingsFan
I'm a Detroit area native. People in the area call Sterling Heights "starving whites"... I'm not joking,'


hmmm.... I've been here in area since '69 (Mount Clemens) and have never heard Sterling Heights called Starving Whites..... the Name that everyone uses for it is "Sterling Whites"

P.S. It it true that winter is so bad there? brrr....I was there at the end of Spring and I live in a tropical country...
Utica is a nice old town ... was more like a farming village until the later 60's and early '70s.

Utica was known as the "Rhubarb Capital of the World" ... seriously... look it up. M-59, which is the main "east-west" thru-way for Macomb-Oakland county contains one of the largest shopping areas in the Detroit metro area. When I moved here from Key West in 1969, it was a 2 lane farm road, and the only traffic that you would encounter would be getting caught behind someone making a left turn into one of the many local farmer's fruit/vegitable stand. A drive westward from I-94 in Mount Clemens to I-75 just east of Pontiac was a nice country drive of corn fields, pumpkin patches and LOTS and LOTS of rhubarb. In the fall there were massive mountains of pumpkins for sale along the roadway at the many farm stands. Macomb Community College Performing Arts Center was just a red barn on the corner of Garfield and Hall (M-59). There is only one remaining original farmer's stand on M-59 just west of Hayes across from the Meijer.

I remember us all laughing in the mid '70s when they started building Lakeside Mall in the middle of the corn fields .... we couldn't figure out what they had in mind since no one lived in the area. Now that area is the fastest growing area in Michigan. It's where all the "new money" lives... Macomb Township. The "big money" people of "Automation Alley" moved there when they found out that if they jumped just across Dequindre into Macomb Township in Macomb county that the housing and land.... and taxes were cheaper then what Oakland county was getting. Just north of M-59 was many thousands of acres of sod farms....the biggest green lawns that you''ve ever seen. They're all gone now. Now it's just sub divisions, stores, strip malls, and narrow congested roads that developers didn't keep up with improvements. The people that live in this area now are a varied mixture of everything you can imagine. Great people.

Now... weather... it's great here... everyone complains...but they're still here... I grew up in Florida... not fun.... too hot... humid, bugs, storms... and everyone there is from somewhere else... not too many people from Florida in Floirda.... LOL.

And besides, I really do love the 4 seasons that Michigan has to offer.... June, July, August and Winter.... <wink>

Last edited by Marka; 07-29-2006 at 12:29 PM.. Reason: merged
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Old 08-08-2006, 10:28 AM
 
Location: Rio de Janeiro
3 posts, read 17,671 times
Reputation: 11
Default Thanks!

Thank you for the information, EastsideSarge. It's funny to think Lakeside Mall sorrounded by corn fields. With all that parking space! By the way, how I miss all that space to park. Whetever I went there (Utica or Sterling Heights) there was always a place to park my car easily, without to wait.
As someone who knew the area since 60's maybe you miss the pace and the tranquility of that times but, to me, a first-time visitor, it is still a lovely place to live. And, as I said before in this topic, the best part in my visit was to meet Michigan hospitality. People there are kind and friendly.
Thanks once more.

P.S. In Rio de Janeiro we have Winter too! This year it was last Wednesday.
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