A good job for Christmas - but in Detroit??? A Detroit travel story... (Ann Arbor: renters, condos)

[ForStarters]

Here's the link the YMCA: Boll Family YMCA - YMCA of Metro Detroit

[UnemployedFinanceGuy]

Originally Posted by ForStarters

Here's the link the YMCA: Boll Family YMCA - YMCA of Metro Detroit

Thanks, ForStarters. I checked out the video on their website - they really look like an awesome gym. Would you happen to know what the average gas/electric utility bills run to in the Detroit Metro area. I heard that they tend to be pretty high since the utility companies have lost a significant chunk of their consumer base and they need to spread the expenses among the remaining folks in the metro area?

[ForStarters]

In summer and winter, my DTE bill hovers around $60/mo for ~1,000 sq. ft. apartment. I run my AC and furnace pretty hard during the hot and cold months. When the weather is mild in spring and fall, I keep the windows open and can get my bill to around $50/mo. I'm not sure if that is expensive compared to other cities. When I lived in the southwest this past summer, my bill was around $125/mo for a similarly-sized apartment. I had to run the AC non-stop to make the place bearable...

[glennvannone]

I had to befriend a fellow NY-er to SC-er now possibly a Detroit-er. I am looking to move, I found your info helpful, but still so much more research to do before I pull the trigger- Thanks for your insight.

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by ForStarters

In summer and winter, my DTE bill hovers around $60/mo for ~1,000 sq. ft. apartment. I run my AC and furnace pretty hard during the hot and cold months. When the weather is mild in spring and fall, I keep the windows open and can get my bill to around $50/mo. I'm not sure if that is expensive compared to other cities. When I lived in the southwest this past summer, my bill was around $125/mo for a similarly-sized apartment. I had to run the AC non-stop to make the place bearable...

Interesting, DTE is an "integrated" company. Outstate here we have Mich. Gas Utilities for gas and Consumers Energy for electric.

[ForStarters]

Originally Posted by detwahDJ

Interesting, DTE is an "integrated" company. Outstate here we have Mich. Gas Utilities for gas and Consumers Energy for electric.

Yeah, that's the truth. I never paid a gas bill before until I left Detroit. I've always been a renter though, so I never really gave much thought to it until I had to turn on gas and electric separately when I moved out-of-state.

[tigerfan3]

Originally Posted by UnemployedFinanceGuy

Happy Holidays All,

This past week I received a rather good job offer from a major loan/mortgage company that is moving to a brand new office building in downtown Detroit.

I am a former New Yorker but have been living in South Carolina for the past almost year and a half where I have been really spoiled by the low cost of living and the gorgeous year round weather (well...except for a few weeks in summer when it gets hotter than hell).

The job I have been offered is a senior executive position and the company is willing to pay all relocation costs to the Detroit area. I have been researching Detroit here on CD and other sites and while the overwhelming majority of the posts are negative, there quite a few posts that have brilliantly argued that Detroit is going through a revival of sorts.

When I was in Detroit for the job interview in November, I observed the following:

Pros:

1. Excellent Airport - One of the most ultra modern airports in the US (and quite possibly the world)
2. Phenomenal location - Location on the lake gives Detroit a very unique look and geography that few other cities can match (except perhaps Chicago and Toronto)
3. Friendly people (but with weird accents) - Almost everybody is friendly and helpful but speak with vaguely flinty Canadian accents...took me a while to get used to it
4. Downtown is nice (but clearly has seen better days)
5. Low costs - comparable to the south - Restaurant meals, drinks etc. are similar to what I pay in South Carolina (and way way cheaper than New York)
6. Fair amount of trees, parks and greenery even in downtown

Cons:

1. Awful roads - I cannot believe that in Motor city the roads can be this bad. How on earth do people drive on this obstacle course everyday?
2. Very little diversity - I am not quite sure how to put this delicately without causing any offense - almost everybody seemed to be African American - and this is great but surely a big city needs some diversity ( I am Jewish).
3. Neighborhoods that look like they may belong in Baghdad - My first reaction in seeing some neighborhoods driving around just outside downtown was - wow, when did the bomb go off?\

As you can see good people of Detroit, I am trying to weigh the pros and cons (notice, I did not put weather as a con) of moving to Detroit - the job is great......but its in Detroit!! Please help me make a decision - should I move up North to the big D?

If it's a good job, take it. But based on your list of pros and cons, I'd say you should move to Ann Arbor and commute. It has great neighborhoods, an excellent downtown and more diversity than most cities of it's size.

[ForStarters]

Originally Posted by tigerfan3

If it's a good job, take it. But based on your list of pros and cons, I'd say you should move to Ann Arbor and commute. It has great neighborhoods, an excellent downtown and more diversity than most cities of it's size.

A2 is definitely a cool town, but his commute to downtown Detroit would be 45 minutes at least. Lest we forget, the Michigan legislature recently canned the high-speed rail line that would have made such things possible.

Stick to Ferndale. If you dig that, move to the city. It's what all the cool kids are doing...

[snoopygirlmi]

I think you have the right idea - moving to Ferndale for a year and then checking out the city to find out where you fit.

My experience has been that you really have to search out "diversity" in the Metro area, but once you find it, you can't believe that you've never noticed it before.

For instance, I read an article in one of the papers about a shul in downtown that younger Jews are trying to revive because they want it known that Jewish people worship and live in Detroit. I didn't even realize there was a synagogue left in Detroit because it isn't as prominent as other places of worship in the area between the mega-churches and the traditional black churches and you don't typically think of Detroit as being "Jewish". However, I was pleasantly surprised when I learned about this effort. Detroit does that - it keeps surprising you and gets you hooked on finding what's around the next corner.

And I definitely agree w/forstarters - don't bother commuting from A2 if you are working in Detroit.

Good luck on your new job and have a good New Years.

[tigerfan3]

The commute from Ann Arbor to Detroit is one that thousands make daily, and compared to other metro areas it's not that bad. When you include walk and waiting time, how long does it take someone living in Queens to get to Manhatten using the subway, for example? All I'm saying is that based on the OP's original post, A2 is the town for him, especially if he is working on the west or south side.