Young family moving from MA to MI- help with neighborhoods needed (Detroit: 2015, apartment)

[jc_dc117]

Hi,

My family and i will be relocating to michigan in january 2015 and could use some help with finding family friendly areas somewhere in and around ann arbor or between ann arbor and detroit. We're a 30 something young biracial family with 2 young children, ages 3 and 1, coming from jamaica plain in boston. We love the eclectic and progressive vibe with tons of young families and green space and would like to find an area that's comparable or at least within driving distance. Any info you can provide that would help us in our search would be greatly appreciated. I've answered the sticky on moving preferences below. Hope this helps.

Thank you!

Regards,
Jen

1. Budget: $2500-3000/ month - rent
2. House/Condo/Townhome? House, 4 bdr +, 2+ bath, basement, backyard.
3. Employment Status(commute/work from home): both commute to work. 1 in detroit metro and 1 in ann arbor. Prefer area in the middle so commute isn't bad for either spouse OR in ann arbor.
4. Children(public school vs. private): private but if the area has great public schools great. looking for areas with really good elementary schools since eldest child will start kindergarten in 2 years.
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two: mix of two first preference and suburban second.
6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? Not important
7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood. Cultural diversity, liberal, young families and somewhat close to cultural/family resources (e.g. Kids museum, science museum, parks and Ymca) and parks.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by jc_dc117

1. Budget: $2500-3000/ month - rent

HA!

Your not in Boston anymore! You'd be hard pressed to find much in your range. Most houses won't top $2000. You can rent a house for what a triple decker apartment in Cambridge goes for.

When you say one of you commutes to Detroit Metro, do you mean DTW or somewhere in metro Detroit? Metro Detroit covers 2,000 square miles, so you'd have to narrow it down some.

Ann Arbor has very good public schools, is kinda urban - but it's only half as dense as Arlington. It's got just about the same population as Cambridge, in 4x the area. It's almost equal in density to Worcester. It's got a nice downtown area, and a lot of post war housing. Similar to the nicer, west side of Worcester. Just a whole lot flatter!

Public transit in Michigan is almost non existent. There is the AATA (Ann Arbor Transit Authority), and it's decent, but it doesn't get much outside of Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority > Home

As to your #7: Ann Arbor is almost the only single area in SE Michigan that hits all those. It's the most liberal part of MI (a more west coast liberal though, as opposed to the blue-collar, union liberal that's more prevalent in Mass). Lots of parks. Lots of museums from the University, and most are free. Most permanent residents are white (73% are, 14% Asian, ~8% black), but people from all over the world live in town 9 months of the year - sure, a lot of them are drunk college kids lol.

[snoopygirlmi]

Yeah - it really depends on where the other job is in the Metro area before anyone can give better advice.

If you are talking about Downtown Detroit, then I'd look at some of the suburbs in Western Wayne County or Southern Oakland.

However, if you are talking about having a job elsewhere in the Metro area, then you'd get other advice. Everything is really spread out here.

You'll get a lot for your housing dollars here. You can easily get the kind of house you are looking for in any of the highly desirable areas around town.

The public schools really depend on what area you are in. Given how much you say you are willing to spend on housing, it would put you in any of the wealthier districts in the area. At that point, the only reasons to send your kid to private is

1) because you have a religious preference (the kids have to go to Catholic/Jewish/Muslim private school),
2) the elitist in you needs the label "Roper" or "Cranbrook" or "Country Day" on your kid's resume (the fancy private schools in the area),
3) you have absolutely no faith in the public school system whatsoever,
4) the desire to homeschool your kids

Most people in wealthier districts send their kids to the public schools w/out any concerns or issues about the quality of education the kids will receive. It's not like other areas where private is automatically equated with a better education because the public schools are just horrible.

[theruffian]

Sounds like you'd prefer a more affluent city. If you're looking right in-between Ann Arbor and Detroit, Plymouth and Canton are great options. If you go north of that, the towns are even more wealthy i.e. Novi, Northville, Troy. If you go south of that, it starts getting poorer and the schools are worse i.e. Ypsilanti, Taylor, Belleville.

[jc_dc117]

Thank you so much for the feedback. In terms of where in detroit my partner will be working for detroit receiving hospital. This helps us in our search. Thanks so much!

[belleislerunner]

Dearborn sounds like the best place for you. Easy commute on 94 to each.

[JJski]

Northvillle or Plymouth! A2 is awesome but too far in your case...

[hhwtm]

Pretty far between Ann Arbor and Detroit; probably close to an hour. Oakland county has lakes, but is also very crowded and heavily populated; Washtenaw County and Western Wayne county less so. Michigan is a great state, lots of variety. Ann Arbor IS a really great town, lots to do and many mixed race families, mostly a non-issue. It's kind of expensive to buy a house - maybe not by Boston standards though.

[kelseylatelyyy]

jc_dc117

i'm in a very similar situation! we are moving from southern california. we're a mixed family with 3 (almost 4) small children (5, 3, 1 and baby due in Jan)

id love to know where you end up and how you like it! we are looking for lots of similar things that you are looking for, so i'd love the advice from someone thats made the move and gotten their feet wet we move in June 2015!

[MI-Roger]

Ann Arbor is the only city that meets your needs. Most of the area between Ann Arbor and Detroit is an industrial wasteland punctuated with Detroit Metropolitan Airport and some smaller cities that I would not recommend to any one.

Allen Park and half of Dearborn are both OK but don't meet your other requirements. The western fringes of the Ypsilanti mailing address (less expensive) have Ann Arbor schools(very good). Like others have said, there is nearly no public transportation anywhere in Michigan. Ann Arbor is one (the sole?) exception but the AATA buses don't venture far outside the city limits.

The drive from Ann Arbor to the Detroit Medical Center requires 45 minutes - provided you can avoid the busiest times of the daily work commute - and is an easy shot straight down I-94 at 75-80MPH. Provided you don't live too far off the expressway. Buying in the wrong area could require 45 minutes of traffic to get to the expressway