Moving to Detroit Young professional (Warren, Sterling Heights: apartments, rentals, lofts)
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I will be moving up to Detroit this summer for work. Im looking for some advise on nice areas to live for someone in their mid 20's. My work will be in Sterling Heights. I dont mind a commute if I have to.
Any advise would be great! I have heard Royal Oak is a nice area. Also what about living in the city? Bad idea?
Do you want to live in an older apartment, new apartment, condo, single family house, or high-rise?
Do you desire shops, restaurants, bars, etc within walking distance, or it really doesn't matter.
Do you like urban, or suburban?
Do you want to live on the waterfront or within a short distance?
I encourage you to check out the city first, but I need to know what you are looking for. The city is going to be a little less safe and you have to use some common sense, but in those areas where young professionals are moving to, you should be fine.
Do you want to live in an older apartment, new apartment, condo, single family house, or high-rise? Do you desire shops, restaurants, bars, etc within walking distance, or it really doesn't matter.
Do you like urban, or suburban?
Do you want to live on the waterfront or within a short distance?I encourage you to check out the city first, but I need to know what you are looking for. The city is going to be a little less safe and you have to use some common sense, but in those areas where young professionals are moving to, you should be fine.
all of these would be nice except an older apartment... looking for something up to date
Walking distance doesnt so much matter but a close driving distance at least
waterfront would be nice but im sure its pricey. Trying to find a nice deal for my first year up there.
Yeah i found a nice high rise apartment in the city that i like and im going to check out. Just dont want to be in a bad area that my car gets broken into regularly etc...
If you are looking for energetic areas with other young professionals, you are going to want to look at Royal Oak or downtown Detroit.
Royal Oak has a smallish, yet walkable downtown area with quite a few bars and restaurants. The nightlife is pretty good- the scene is mostly "clubby" and yuppie and sometimes there's a hint of Jersey Shore. Royal Oak is nice and safe, but not really extraordinary. It's basically a quasi-urban area with a lot of people in their 20s and 30s. If you're single, it's a good place to mingle with other singles. Most of the housing is flats, i.e. homes that have been split up for rentals. There are a few apartment buildings and some very expensive condos along Main St. If you live close enough to downtown Royal Oak you can walk to some stuff, otherwise plan on driving for everything. The fun part of Royal Oak is basically located at Main St. and Eleven Mile Rd. and goes for a few blocks in each direction, after that it is typical suburban. Royal Oak is close to Warren and should be an easy commute for you.
Another suburb that might be worth looking at is Ferndale, which is located between Royal Oak and Detroit. It has a lot in common with Royal Oak, but far less yuppie, slightly more gritty, and is not as developed in terms of its downtown.
Downtown Detroit has a growing number of young professionals, mostly those who work downtown. Downtown is more diverse than Royal Oak, and is not quite as yuppie. To me, downtown seems to draw a more mature crowd- perhaps more eclectic as well. There are many bars and restaurants downtown- too many to list, really. There's are some good parks nearby, like Belle Isle, as well as other attractions like the casinos, the stadiums, theaters, concert venues, art galleries and museums, as well as other entertainment. The Riverwalk is also a very nice attraction in the summer. Downtown usually has an ebb and flow of energy. During events and during the workweek, it can be PACKED and jumping, or if there's nothing happening on a Tuesday night, it can be slow and quiet. In terms of housing, downtown is basically high-rise apartments and lofts. There are a lot of nice places, and you can get a nice apartment for under $1k/mo. Crime is relatively low, I've been downtown for something like 4 years now and haven't had any problems. The biggest issue is bums asking you for change and smash and grabs from cars, however, this has gotten much, much better. If you live here, most buildings have a parking garage so it's a non-issue, just don't leave valuables in plain sight.
Here are some buildings downtown: Downtown Detroit Partnership | Housing - For Lease (http://www.downtowndetroit.org/ddp/housing-lease.htm - broken link)
There are other neighborhoods in the city you could look at- I would live in any of them and feel comfortable, but they are all so different each requires separate explanation, so I'll just list them and you can research on your own and ask questions if you want:
Midtown
New Center
Lafayette Park
Eastern Market
Woodbridge
Corktown
East Riverfront
Indian Village
West Village
English Village
If you are looking for energetic areas with other young professionals, you are going to want to look at Royal Oak or downtown Detroit.
Royal Oak has a smallish, yet walkable downtown area with quite a few bars and restaurants. The nightlife is pretty good- the scene is mostly "clubby" and yuppie and sometimes there's a hint of Jersey Shore. Royal Oak is nice and safe, but not really extraordinary. It's basically a quasi-urban area with a lot of people in their 20s and 30s. If you're single, it's a good place to mingle with other singles. Most of the housing is flats, i.e. homes that have been split up for rentals. There are a few apartment buildings and some very expensive condos along Main St. If you live close enough to downtown Royal Oak you can walk to some stuff, otherwise plan on driving for everything. The fun part of Royal Oak is basically located at Main St. and Eleven Mile Rd. and goes for a few blocks in each direction, after that it is typical suburban. Royal Oak is close to Warren and should be an easy commute for you.
Another suburb that might be worth looking at is Ferndale, which is located between Royal Oak and Detroit. It has a lot in common with Royal Oak, but far less yuppie, slightly more gritty, and is not as developed in terms of its downtown.
Downtown Detroit has a growing number of young professionals, mostly those who work downtown. Downtown is more diverse than Royal Oak, and is not quite as yuppie. To me, downtown seems to draw a more mature crowd- perhaps more eclectic as well. There are many bars and restaurants downtown- too many to list, really. There's are some good parks nearby, like Belle Isle, as well as other attractions like the casinos, the stadiums, theaters, concert venues, art galleries and museums, as well as other entertainment. The Riverwalk is also a very nice attraction in the summer. Downtown usually has an ebb and flow of energy. During events and during the workweek, it can be PACKED and jumping, or if there's nothing happening on a Tuesday night, it can be slow and quiet. In terms of housing, downtown is basically high-rise apartments and lofts. There are a lot of nice places, and you can get a nice apartment for under $1k/mo. Crime is relatively low, I've been downtown for something like 4 years now and haven't had any problems. The biggest issue is bums asking you for change and smash and grabs from cars, however, this has gotten much, much better. If you live here, most buildings have a parking garage so it's a non-issue, just don't leave valuables in plain sight.
Here are some buildings downtown: Downtown Detroit Partnership | Housing - For Lease (http://www.downtowndetroit.org/ddp/housing-lease.htm - broken link)
There are other neighborhoods in the city you could look at- I would live in any of them and feel comfortable, but they are all so different each requires separate explanation, so I'll just list them and you can research on your own and ask questions if you want:
Midtown
New Center
Lafayette Park
Eastern Market
Woodbridge
Corktown
East Riverfront
Indian Village
West Village
English Village
Thank you for all the info! I may have to get a hotel for a few days and drive around and check all the places out.
Thank you for all the info! I may have to get a hotel for a few days and drive around and check all the places out.
If you want to do that, you should drive downtown Detroit and park at Greektown Casino for free. Jump on the People Mover (costs $.50), which is an elevated light rail line that circles downtown, and in about 20 minutes it will give you a pretty good visual tour of what's downtown. If you want to stay the night, just stay at Greektown Casino Hotel. They have really nice rooms for $99/night. Ask for a room with a view of the skyline- that hotel has spectacular views of the city. From there you can shoot up to Ferndale, Royal Oak, etc. If you have any time left over you can catch a Tigers game for $5.00 or see a show.
If you want to do that, you should drive downtown Detroit and park at Greektown Casino for free. Jump on the People Mover (costs $.50), which is an elevated light rail line that circles downtown, and in about 20 minutes it will give you a pretty good visual tour of what's downtown. If you want to stay the night, just stay at Greektown Casino Hotel. They have really nice rooms for $99/night. Ask for a room with a view of the skyline- that hotel has spectacular views of the city. From there you can shoot up to Ferndale, Royal Oak, etc. If you have any time left over you can catch a Tigers game for $5.00 or see a show.
Have fun, and Welcome to Detroit.
Thanks I may just have to do that! Appreciate all the feedback!
i would recommend either Royal Oak, Ferndale or Downtown Detroit.
It depends on what you're looking for. Here's a description of each place.
Royal Oak: Is a suburb of Detroit. Really close to the freeway. Downtown Royal Oak has lots of good restaurants, bars, independent movie theater. Is walkable and safe. The crowd is mostly white, yuppie to jersey shore. It has a sense of "uppity" but not as uppity as downtown Birmingham (which i don't really recommend because Birmingham is more family-oriented. It does have a nice downtown though w/ lots of bars/restaurants). Your housing options in Royal Oak are going to be older renovated homes. There are some lofts but not too many to choose from. The commute to Sterling Heights should be around 20 minutes.
Ferndale: Is another suburb of Detroit, not too far away from Royal Oak. Really close to the freeway. It is not uppity/pretentious and more diverse than Royal Oak. It is called "Fashionable Ferndale" and is gay friendly. The crowd is mixed straight and gay. There are lots of restaurants and bars to choose from. Their walkable district isn't as big as Royal Oak. The people who move here are probably more liberal and artsy. Your housing options are limited to renovated homes to rent or buy. The cost for housing here should be a bit cheaper than Royal Oak.
Downtown Detroit: There is a growing population of younger people moving downtown. The city also has a new mayor that really promotes people moving downtown. Downtown is more diverse. You'll see more diversity here than in Royal Oak or Ferndale. The population ranges from students of all kinds, artists, young professionals working for the hospitals, IT firms, banks, etc. downtown. The downtown population is not as big as other cities like New York City, Chicago, Boston but Detroit is definitely at the beginning stages of its "rebirth". There are lots of restaurants, bars, music venues, sports to go to. The only issue is there isn't really a lot walkable areas in downtown like Royal Oak (Mexican Town is walkable but it's very very small). You'll have to drive everywhere. All the bars/restaurants are scattered all over downtown. You might also have an issue with groceries--there isn't really a good neighborhood grocery like you might be used to. I think one recently opened downtown but I'm not exactly sure about this. As for housing options---you'll have lofts, renovated apartments, homes to choose from. There are a lot of options to live in a nice apt/loft for very cheap when compared to big cities like nyc, boston, chicago. Commute to sterling heights will be no problem as traffic leaving the city isn't normally that bad in the morning. Commute should be around 20 minutes. Freeways are everywhere in Downtown Detroit. As for crime--it's higher than the suburbs (of course) but the high crime rates are usually concentrated in the less desirable neighborhoods of Detroit where there are a lot of abandoned homes, questionable neighbors, etc. If you stick to Downtown Detroit, you'll be fine. You should always keep your guard up anyway whenever you are in a big city and Detroit is not any different.
Hope this helps. This all depends on what you're looking for and where you were before. It'll be tough to completely compare Detroit to other cities since it is unique in many ways. My opinion I think is pretty reliable. I grew up in the suburbs for most of my life, lived in New York City for a couple of years, and came back and worked in Detroit as a Social Worker who did home visits. I've lived in Ferndale for 6 months and have hung out around that area and Royal Oak many many times. So I have a pretty good idea of what's good and bad.
I can honestly say that Downtown Royal Oak will never be a bad area. The actual neighborhoods in Royal Oak are falling apart with the economy, but there is no doubt that Downtown Royal Oak is probably one of the better places for young people to live.
Ferndale can be a little grittier, but the urban and young environment is an element in the whole city rather than in just certain areas. The actual city of Ferndale is more urban being right next door to Hazel Park, which is one of the most densely populated cities in the state. The only reason Ferndale is sometimes grittier is because it's closer to Detroit and Oak Park, which tend to attract some scum. There are neighborhoods in Royal Oak that are just as gritty, if not grittier, though.
Also, I don't know if it's in your budget, but Birmingham is probably the best choice. It's got a mix of urban, suburban and manor neighborhoods, all with a good amount of wealthy people, artistic people and families. The downtown area is a little smaller, but it's still just as nice.
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