High taxes equal great city services? (Detroit, Flint: living in, cost of, homeowner)

[makeitagreatday]

Ann Arbor Homeowners: Do you feel that your city satisfies all or most of your needs as residents who pay a bit more in taxes than in some other areas? (i.e. as in snow removal, police response, political climate, etc.) As Californians, we are used to high taxes but considering returning to the quality of living in Michigan that we so enjoyed on our lake home.

[animatedmartian]

Michigan in general tends to have pretty good services except for road funding. In many parts of Michigan, Ann Arbor included, roads are often bumpy and full of potholes or too narrow to accommodate traffic in a growing suburban area. Only cities like Detroit or Flint are ever usually said to have bad services for the cost of taxes (or just bad services in general). Oh, and education has been a bit of an issue in Michigan as funding has been up and down in recent years. Many districts could be a lot better than they currently are.

The biggest issue in Ann Arbor specifically is that many homeowners are against new development in the city. Residents have been very vocal about the high-rises built downtown and the growing sprawl that's choking roads with traffic and taking up wetlands.