Moving from Montclair NJ to Detroit Michigan area

[Adr0it]

Originally Posted by craig11152

CL89 summed it up nicely. Having lived in Ann Arbor since 1985 it certainly has "diversity, culture, walk ability, lots of restaurants, shops, entertainment., and close to parks." The city is also "anything but cars" friendly with sidewalks, bike paths and a very good bus system.
As to the commute in to Detroit I will only add to what others have said that in the not to distant future there will likely be a commuter train you can take from Ann Arbor to the city. It will probably be a crap shoot as to whether that train may be an option for your husband depending on where he works.

I worked in Detroit for a few years when I first lived in the Ann Arbor area. I commuted back and forth each day by car. My commute was under an hour but for a few occasions (construction, traffic accident, etc.). I viewed it as an opportunity to listen to some good music or an audio book.

The distance (forty miles or so) sounds like it would be longer than an hour's commute, based on what traffic is like in other parts of the country, but the Interstate generally moves along near the posted speed (which is 70 MPH until you approach the City of Detroit).

Unlike many other places in southeast Michigan, Ann Arbor realizes many cultural benefits right in town because it is the home of the University of Michigan; the University population is sufficient to support many activities and institutions that are dispersed over a much larger geographic area in other parts of the state.

For example, on campus, there is an art museum, a program of musical performances of national acts, an enormous variety of libraries, and many restaurants. Here are a few related websites that I hope you will enjoy:

University Musical Society
http://www.ums.org/

University of Michigan Museum of Art
http://www.umma.umich.edu/

Libraries in town:
http://www.aadl.org/
http://www.lib.umich.edu/

You also mentioned an interest parks; I recommend that you have a look at the website for the Nichols Arboretum:

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg/

[Opie68]

Hi guys,
Thanks for all for your wonderful suggestions on areas to consider moving to. I really appreciate it. We had the opportunity to take a trip out there and we saw a lot in a short time: Ann Arbor, royal oak, ferndale, Birminigham, Plymouth, grosse point, Rochester, Farmington hills, and northville. We also got to see midtown/ downtown Detroit and I really liked that area! At this point my favorite city would be Ann Arbor especially if I could live close to the downtown area however that seems like one of the priciest area but still slightly cheaper than NJ. I also would consider Corktown, downtown, and midtown Detroit. What are your thoughts about those areas of Detroit? I also liked Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Birmingham too. Are there currently any busses or new developments for trains going into Detroit? I know someone mentioned a train from Ann Arbor to Detroit but will that include other cities too? Thanks!!!

[animatedmartian]

There is a train that goes from Ann Arbor -> Detroit -> Royal Oak -> Birmingham/Troy -> Pontiac, but it's Amtrack service and not really set up for local commuting. It's mainly to travel towards Chicago. Otherwise, you'd have to take the Ann Arbor bus that takes you to Metro Airport and then transfer to a SMART bus that takes you into Detroit (and depending on whether you're riding during peak hours, you'd have to transfer to DDOT). Very inefficient transit here. As of right now, Ann Arbor to Detroit is the only commuter service planned. The M-1 Rail in Detroit will be completed in a year I think, but that only goes up the spine of Downtown and Midtown for now. There's not yet any plans to expand it.

The Greater Downtown Detroit area is pretty great albeit not without its drawbacks.

Corktown doesn't have much in the way of available living spaces and retail for now is primarily just the businesses along Michigan Avenue. But it's slowly growing and in short time it ought to become a more full fledged self-contained neighborhood. Also, I just did a quick scan on Craigslist at Corktown rentals and most listed are north of the freeway and behind the casino. This technically is apart of Corktown, but generally not apart of the trendy part which is south of the freeway. Just a heads up.

Midtown is well developed and is still growing strong. A lot of the newer/more renovated properties are getting pretty pricey, but you can still find some good deals if you spend some time searching. It's mainly populated with college students and there's generally a lot of artsy stuff going on during the summer months. Similar to Ann Arbor with more of a big city vibe.

Downtown is pretty great, but like any downtown area, it's probably up there with the more expensive areas to live in. Not quite as expensive as Ann Arbor or even some of the suburbs, but still paying a lot to be in a hot area. Though if you've ever wanted to be in Manhattan, this is probably as close as you can get without having to sell your organs. I don't mean exactly like Manhattan, obviously, but you can get a bedroom apartment in a high-rise building for just about the same as you could get a typical house in a good suburb. Plus there's always new things happening and events going on during the spring and the summer (and of course sports if you're into that) and honestly it's a pretty great neighborhood. The only real drawback is that it might seem lacking compared to downtowns of other big cities, but of course that's why it's quite a bit cheaper than other big cities. Though personally, I've never really heard too many complaints even from those who moved from other major cities and live downtown.

[craig11152]

Originally Posted by Opie68

I know someone mentioned a train from Ann Arbor to Detroit but will that include other cities too? Thanks!!!

I mentioned on September 21st that in the not too distant future there would likely be a commuter train. If I could amend that I would now say sometime in the unknown future there may be a commuter train from A2 to Detroit.
At this point it is not anything anyone should plan on in the short term.