Moving to Metro Detroit. need advice? (Lansing, Ann Arbor: real estate market, houses, neighborhoods)

[swim33]

hey guys!

Its actually my parents who are in the process of moving to metro detroit and not myself, but I am helping them decide on a location to live in.

They will be moving from Okemos, MI (near Lansing/East Lansing) and they really like where they live now, but my Dad has now gotten a job at Wayne State and they obviously need to move closer to that location, and thats where you guys can help us!

There are a lot of factors in deciding where they end up living, and I don't think any town is going to fit all of them but I am sure a few will.

1.) decent commute to Wayne State
--> If we are moving from the Lansing area down to Detroit it is for my father's job and therefore would be silly to have an obnoxiously long commute.

2.) in, or near an area that has cultural amenities like art galleries, cool restaurants etc. A liberal vibe is preferred but not necessary.

3.) Privacy. (not acres upon acres, or necessarily a huge yard, but an area where you are not on top of your neighbors. Cookie Cutter neighborhoods are a BIG NO.


some areas we have been considering include:

-Novi
-Northville
-Plymouth
-Farmington Hills (north of 696)
-West Bloomfield/Orchard Lake
-Bloomfield Hills/Bloomfield Township
-Clarkston (love the housing stock and the prices, but worried it is too far from Wayne State for my Dad to commute)
-the Grosse Pointes.

There are so many communities that it is hard to pick haha, and obviously we have been all over the metro area and back.

any advice on these communities? How do they fit our criteria? How is the commute to Wayne State? are there any other communities that we should be looking at instead?

Thanks for everything in advance guys

[Jimmy252]

My first thought after reading your post would be Franklin/Bingham Farms/Beverly Hills. All are very close to the theatres and restaurants of Birmingham and Royal Oak. But by being in Franklin/Beverly, etc, the houses pretty much all have unique character, and are by no means on top of one another or cookie cutter in nature. Those villages usually have some decent sized yards too. The commute would be no problem to WSU. All freeway access is only 2-4 miles away from those villages, depending on where you're at. Like you said, you could also look into southern Bloomfield Twp, which borders the 3 villages I mentioned. So basically you'd be close to the restaurants and downtowns of Birmingham, Royal Oak, and Ferndale, plus you'd get the privacy you want and homes with a little bit of character.

[DTWflyer]

You are generally looking in the right places:

Definetely Consider:

Franklin, Bingham Farms, Bloomfield Township is a good area to look, as mentioned the lots tend to a bit larger and private in those areas. Homes are a mix of anything from interesting, unique, to hideous or most-modernism from the 50-90s (primarily 50-70s era) housing styles. Franklin has a small little downtown, but this area more or less identifies with greater Birmingham/Bloomfield area. Generally a very quick commute down M-10 to Wayne State and all of the downtown amenities.

Huntington Woods & Pleasant Ridge might be worth a look, with a very reasonable commute down Woodward to Wayne State. Easy access to downtown Detroit, plus very close to everything in the Woodward corridor. The lots are smaller that what you would find in Franklin, Bingham Farms, Bloomfield, but there are some very nice and unique homes in the area.

Grosse Pointe - a good option, not sure what their price range is, but it has very easy access to Wayne State and downtown. Definetely worth a look if they have interest in being near the Lake and any interesting boating.


Maybe Consider:

West Bloomfield / Orchard Lake - similar to Farmington Hills and Bloomfield Township in many aspects, just farther out from downtown.

Farmington Hills - maybe a more economical option than the other areas above.


Not Likely to Consider:

Clarkston - bad commute to/from Wayne State during peak times. Easily could be 45-60 minutes each way with traffic

Novi - probably not worth looking at since there are better options within a better commute and Novi is very cookie-cutter 90's suburban sprawl, which does not sound like that is what they desire

[Coldjensens]

Northville is a pretty long commute to WSU. I did it during college and it was tolerable, but I was in a carpool. To me, it would depend on where in Northville you are located. From your list I would assume they would only consider in town. That is roughly where my carpool met. That commute is right on the edge of tolerable.

Grosse Pointes is probably the best bet. Very close to WSU and the cultural things in that area. Not cookie cutter. Clean, safe, pricy. Privacy is not great, but it is not terrible, you have a little space and it is not liberal.

Novi - this is the definition of Cookie cutter/McMansion central. Based on your list, this is not the place for them. It is nice enough in a soulless suburbia big box/chain strip malls kind of way. People who want subdivisions strip malls and/or McMansions find this the best place except maybe Rochester Hills.

Plymouth. Cute little town. A bit of a commute, but tolerable - right on the edge like Northville. Some decent homes (look on Peneman street and in that area). If you are not downtown, it i s not worth the cost. One big advantage of Plymouth in addition to a super cute little town, it is close to Ann Arbor and not too far from Detroit. You will pay a premium for a modicum of privacy.

Farmington Hills is a decent suburban community. Newer than many of your other choices, but no so new as to be entirely cookie cutter. Mostly suburbia, but older nicer suburbia. Farmington City has a speck of a downtown. Commute is better than the above (except Grosse Pointe). They have a community theater group.

West Bloomfield - Meh. It is ok. there is not much of interest there, a bunch of subdivisions and stores mostly. No real character. It is a very nice place, and there are some decent homes, but just does not offer a whole lot. To me, it is just a nice place with some houses in it. I would not put it on the top of your list, but not rule it out either.

Can they afford Bloomfield Hills? This is THE old money location. very nice, loads of mansions. Located right in the middle of all the trendy popular areas (North Oakland County).

Clarkston - know nothing about it. I do not usually go that far out. I may have never been there.

Other places to consider:

Grosse Ile - a group of Islands about 14 miles downriver from Detroit (but 27 - 30 miles by roads). Higher end, quiet, super safe, very natural, loads of trees and wild animals (deer foxes, eagles, swans, herons, raccoons, even a mink). Primarily familes and retirees, not many young singles or dinks. Extremely pleasant and homey, not exciting. A really neat place with loads of unusual amenities. It is not like anywhere else. If you are interested I can send you a long description. Personally I think it is the best place in the Detroit area, but there are a lot of close seconds (Chelsea, Plymouth, Northville, Grosse Pointe for examples) . 40 minute commute. Just tolerable IMO. Downsideis you are paying for excellent schools in real estate prices and taxes and your parents do not need them (other places have this issue too)

Wyandotte - Neat little city on the river. A few areas are not very nice, but along the riverfront and downtown are very cool. An assortment of different housing types, styles, ages and values. It was once a factory town, but now kind of the downtown for the downriver area. Third Fridays are fun. THe city owns its own power plant, so you are not subject to the whims of edison. Stay away form the sewer treatment center on Pensylvania and Jefferson. It stinks. A great place to live if you do nto have kids. Roughly 25 minte commute.

Dearborn. Once the nicest suburb or one of them anyway. Home to Ford. Home to the Henry Ford and Greenfield Village Michigan's world class destination (the place where all visiting usually want to go). Dearborn has two colleges, an orchestra, community theater, an Arbabic/middle eastern district, a kind of downtown. Housing varies. Nothing spectacular, but worth a look. 20-30 minute commute depending on where you start.

Trenton. Small former factory town next to Wyandotte. THe town is pretty dead althoguh it is kind of cute. There is a nice county park (Eliabeth park)

Mid-town Detroit. Right in the middle of things. Walk to WSU, walk to the DIA, the science museum. Short hop to Detroit theater district, sporting events, conventions and riverfront events. However it is in Detroit (high taxes, terrible city services, lots of bad areas nearby, limited shopping opportunities). While mid town is pretty clean and safe, surrounding areas not far away are not.

Longer Commutes:

Milford. Cute small town. Limited access.

Ann Arbor. Awesome place to live. Home to University of Michigan full of students, many of whom are full of themselves and tend to wander aimlessly into the street expecting traffic to part for them. Other than that annoyance, it is a great city. Pricy. Pushing right about an hour. Can be less if you are close to the freeway and drive fast.

Chelsea. - While your parents woudl probably adore it, the dirve will be an hour plus. It is on the other side of Ann Arbor. Has a professional theater. Nearby Dexter is pretty cute too, but Chelsea is nicer.

Rochester (city, not hills). Super cute old small town. Really pushing the commute though. Not only long, but through the North Oakland County traffic.

South Lyon. A former neat small town that exploded in the 1980s and 1990s. It did not preserve as much quaintness as some of the others like Northville, Milford, Plymouth, but it is still pretty neat in town. There are a few way cool houses. Although it did not preserve the small town appearance and layout, it did preserve the small town atmosphere. It still takes my dad hours and hours to shop for groceries because he stops to talk to everyone in the store. However he now does his shopping in a strip mall.

You might also look at Birmingham. It is a pretty neat City with some great housing opportunities. The downtown is lively and somewhat preserved. I do not care for the prevailing atmosphere (new money show offy), and the modernization of much of the downtown, but it is still pretty neat to visit.

Royal Oak. Tends to be more oriented to late 20s early 30s types. Lots of bars/clubs. Probably the second or third best nightlife area after Detroit and Ann Arbor. home to Detroit Zoo. Short commute.

Ferndale. Royal Oak Jr. More liberal than most places. The primary choice for homosexual residents. Inexpensive. Very close to Detroit.


In looking at the commute, you may want to consider the nature of the commute. North Oakland County is the most popular, busiest and most trafficky part of the area. At times and on certain days, it can be annoying. Most of the morning traffic report problems come form that area. Coming in from the West (Plymouth, for example) or from the South (Grosse Ile) is not very trafficky. I do not mind my long commute because the freeway part is usually traveling as fast as I want to.

[swim33]

Thanks so much for the replies guys!

Pleasant Ridge and Huntington Woods are very close, and that is a positive. I have driven through both and like them, I think I prefer Huntington Woods over PR due to location, but both are very nice.

Beverly Hills/Bingham Farms/ Franklin are definitely on the docket, I love the feel of those communities, plus you are close to Birmingham and all the cool stuff there, but you can get more of a house for the money.

This brings me to the budget question. My parents would prefer not to spend more than 425K, and ideally around 350-400K on a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2000+ square foot house, and Birmingham city limits are kind of not allowing that to happen, but most everywhere else is.

agreed coldjensens, Bloomfield Hills is kind of perfect for my family, the housing stock is mostly ranches though (at least in our price range and on the market at the moment), and we prefer 2-stories haha, but if the right house pops up Bloomfield Hills could definitely win because of the nature of the area.

Another area I was considering was the 48098 western part of Troy that is near Birmingham and Bloomfield? What is this area like? Seems to just be a bunch of nice neighborhoods, but I like that it is below and to the left of I-75 and more close to the Woodward corridor. I would say at this point that being in close proximity to the woodward corridor would be ideal, but that could change.

West Bloomfield seems like it has no character at all. The houses are certainly amazing, and shopping everywhere but it just seems bland. Same with parts of Farmington Hills, but the latter is closer to the metro area amenities and is a bit cheaper... ahhhh so much to consider.

also never thought of Grosse Ile. very interesting, may have to take a look!

Thanks for your help so far guys!

[animatedmartian]

48098 is pretty nice. There's some larger older homes built in the 70s, but it's mostly made of newer McMansion stlye homes. It's nice, clean, and quiet, but it's sorta similar to West Bloomfield in that it's pretty bland and gets easily passed over for the more lively areas like Birmingham. Typical suburbia to say the least.

The plus side would be the location and freeway access. I think the homes might be a bit higher than the price range you're looking for though. Then again, some of the older houses might be within reach.

[DTWflyer]

I grew up in Western Troy, actually in the 48084, just adjacent to 48098.

Western Troy is the nicer side of Troy. There is a mix of some 60-70's era neighborhoods, and some newer 90s era subdivision. The "older" homes generally are on larger lots and very similar to much of the housing stock in Bloomfield Township era. The neighborhood where I grew up was a Troy address but went to Birmingham schools. Parts of western Troy go to other adjacent school districts. We very close to Birmingham without having to deal with the prices that are the Birmingham real estate market.

The commute to downtown is reasonable, however I-75 does slow down around the I-696 interchange during rush hour and through that part of Oakland County. I often use Woodward as it can move faster.

As said tends to be more like Bloomfield Township, Farmington, West Bloomfield than the other communities under consideration.

[Coldjensens]

Thos of us with commutes that are on the edge of too long are going to have problems once they figure out how to tax everyone for the road repairs. When the contraction starts, tolerable commutes may become intolerable. I have three or 4 alternate routes, so I may be able to get around problems, but that may be a consideration in choosing a location.

[DaniellaG]

OP have you called a realtor because in Bloomfield Hills I would think there are options in that price range and size of home?