Need help on cheap safe area's (in Oakland County) (Detroit: apartments, rental market)

[cle2gone]

I'm need some help. I'm planning on moving from Cleveland up to the Detroit area in Mid-August.

I need some ideas for nice area with cheap housing for rent. Ive seen some in Southfield on craigslist, but i dont know any area's other then Southfield.

The area needs to be safe, I'm use too some crime(I've lived in Warrensville Heights, Ohio).

I know to stay away from Pontiac, but other then that i know nothing. i only want to spend less then $550 a month.

[Remisc]

Look into cities in the Southeastern area of the county. Madison Heights, Hazel Park, Oak Park, Clawson, Ferndale, southern Troy, and parts of Royal Oak. These areas are fairly safe, and are full of affordable, post-war bungalows, as pictured below. Southfield is a nice city. Filled with a mix of larger 1960's and 1970's homes. But, it is starting to look a little rough around the edges in some areas.

These are are the homes that you may want to look into. They're all over in the areas I listed, and depending on where you look, they run $20,000 - $130,000 in the above communities.

[cle2gone]

whats the area around 10 mile in hazel park like? i found a 1 bedroom for $475, is that to much for the area? (this will be my first place, so i dont know whats too much or a good deal)

[us66]

As long as the square footage is okay, that's not bad. You'll be hard pressed to find anything not disgusting for under $550 a month. The rental market is strong.

[cle2gone]

does anyone know how the schools are like hazel park, i dont have any kid, but you never know. also is better to live farther away from I-75 or doesn't it matter?

[us66]

Hazel Park schools are nothing special. Distance to 75 is a personal choice, it doesn't matter much; proximity to Eight Mile is more important, and in many cases, the further the better.

[Vikki1]

Maybe downtown Farmington,Livonia,or Canton. You may be able to find a 1 bedroom apartment. It won't have probably a pool or upgrades but should be safe. I would go on craigslist and look for smaller companies or the local paper. Many parts of Southfield are not desirable. I am not sure of Royal Oak in that price range but you could try that or Ferndale or Troy.

[us66]

Now that I think about it, there's some apartments on North Main just north of 12 Mile that may be worth a look. Weren't going for much, either, last time I heard about them.

[Ohio248]

I would not move to Hazel Park or Oak Park. Yes, both are cheap, but neither are super-safe. Neither are dangerous like Detroit, but they do both have street crime.

Also forget about Pontiac or Royal Oak Township.

Outside of those four cities (maybe throw in Madison Heights and parts of Waterford), everything else in Oakland County is relatively safe.

[Northsider 248]

Hazel Park isn't really very dangerous. Car theft is absolutely a very large problem but otherwise Hazel Park is actually kinda safe. I'd be a whole lot more scared living in Oak Park.

Hazel Park schools aren't anything special, but they're not bad either.

$475 is low for rent in Hazel Park, it's usually around $600. The 10 Mile area is a very nice neighborhood, as long as you steer clear of Mahan Street (the northernmost one). It's not an unsafe street or anything, it's just kinda ghetto. The other streets in that neighborhood are nice. Mostly well-maintained 50s/60s ranches, and alot of good mannered church-going people.

Madison Heights definitely isn't a nice city, except the Red Run subdivision.

Also, I agree that proximity from 8 Mile is the further out the better, but in between Woodward and Dequindre it really doesn't matter much. That whole area is patchy between good and bad neighborhoods no matter what city you're in. Ferndale and Hazel Park are decently nice places along 8 Mile, but in the same token there are bad neighborhoods further out from there such as the Lincoln area of Madison Heights, or the Whittier Park neighborhood of Royal Oak