Moving from CA to MI. Job in Farmington Hills. Single early 30s. Where to live?

[ttiguy]

Plymouth!! FANTASTIC TOWN with a walkable downtown (with lofts) and plenty of younger people without being too crazy. It's an easy 20 min drive to FH.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Jwo85

Don't move anywhere north of 15 mile rd if working in farmington or Novi. Traffic is a nightmare. I don't know why the city officals thought it be a good idea to build millions of subdivisions and not update the roads from two lanes to multi-lanes or install a center turn lane on some roads.

It's really a funding issue:
Oakland county (who maintains the roads) gets funding from the state (gas taxes, etc.), and then that funding is used on the county roads. In areas of sprawling suburban growth (such as Metro Detroit), there's a massive lag time from when a township is developed to when they actually get the funds to upgrade the roads needed to cope with the increase in traffic. Added to the delay is the fact that they can only do a couple of roads every year or so across the whole county.

[TidyAtac]

Michigan doesn't have much diversity and it's cold.
I would suggest living in Novi or Royal Oak. AnnArbor may be a little too far.

Novi- new bars and such at a plaza there.
Royal Oak- a few bars for young professionals and nice places to eat You will be able to get to work in under 30.
Farmington Hills- Don't live there if you are a young professional.

Yeah, I'm an engineer too and I use to live in MI for most of my life.. Moved down to Dallas and may move to OC, CA.. I'm doing the opposite of you.

Most nice apartments in MI are under 1K for a single. It's very cheap to live in MI.

[DaniellaG]

I am from the area of Farmington Hills and live in So Cal now. I agree you will be amazed at what you will get for the money in terms of living in MI. I understand the worry of being isolated but if you join a gym or go to local sports type bars which there are in Novi area even it will help to meet people.
The traffic in MI is way less then in CA. I feel in CA rush hour is basically all the time but the issue in MI is winter and then in the summer you get construction but for me I am not a fan of winter driving. You have to leave early and worry about getting hit etc. Everyone is different but I would rather live near work where you spend long days and then on the weekends drive to areas that may have more going on. Especially since working in FHs you have a lot of shopping,restaurants,movies,and bars. The diversity in the areas are getting better but I will agree it is not like California. I think though if you can keep an open mind and you never know who you may meet.
In the area there are a lot of apartment complexes but I would rather rent a small home though you would probably be responsible for lawn and snow. Important items for me anyhow you may not think of is central air which some homes that are older may not have and a garage or covered parking very key between the snow and or ice.
Good lucj

[mangofacee]

Originally Posted by snoopygirlmi

Stick to Oakland County - if your work is in Farmington Hills.

Rent something close to work, then look for something more permanent. There are a lot of great neighborhoods in Metro Detroit, but you need to spend time getting to know the area before making a more permanent decision about where to live.

Also, you probably don't want to go north of Birmingham or Troy.

I really can't believe that someone actually recommended Waterford? Seriously?

It's one thing to go clubbing in Pontiac on the weekend, but I don't know of anyone up here who would willingly drive from Waterford to Farmington Hills everyday for work.

We've got some nice areas up here (I really don't mean to sound like I'm anti-Waterford because I'm not), but after a certain point rickla is gonna wanna have a life outside of driving - especially since he's talking about wanting to find a lady and going clubbing.

Just getting to Waterford from Rochester Hills is a hassle because M-59 isn't a 'highway' once you hit Pontiac, so you have to deal with traffic lights and regular traffic all up and down that stretch.

I'm in Rochester Hills and I dread the idea of driving out to Farmington Hills because it's 45 minutes to an hour one way.

I get why my mommy friends from Royal Oak/Madison Heights find Farmington Hills a nice alternative to some of our other play date locations because it's about 20-30 minutes for them to drive there. However, I'm not in those areas and it's not appealing to me to spend 2 hours in a car (total trip).

I definitely wouldn't want to drive from Waterford to Farmington Hills everyday (add about 10-15 minutes to the estimated drive times above).

Finding non-white girls isn't a problem.

Couldn't agree more! I grew up in Waterford and it is not only inconvenient (takes 20 minutes to reach the nearest freeway), but BORING as hell. The thought of living there as a young, single adult is too much for me to deal with, LOL!

If I worked in Farmington Hills, I would probably live in Royal Oak (or the surrounding areas) or Birmingham. Places where you can go to a local bar/restaurant after work.