Neighborhoods with character, in and around Detroit (Ann Arbor, Dearborn: rent, how much)

[Tekkie]

Which neighborhoods in and around Detroit have the most character? I grew up in Madison Heights and moved to Denver in 2008. Now that I'm likely headed back to the Metro Detroit area, this has piqued my interest. Denver has a ton of little trendy neighborhoods. In the city, there are little strips of shops, restaurants, and bars here and there, scattered all about. In the suburbs, they have everything from the quaint, historic downtown districts to the lively, newly-built town centers (think Novi Town Center).

How would you rate Metro Detroit's neighborhoods? Which are the best in your opinion? This is in regards to character, liveliness, night life, activities, parks, etc. Give us your rankings and tell us why.

[mgkeith]

It's very difficult to answer your question, since the metro area is so large. Depending on where you will work and how much you plan to spend on rent or purchase of a home, how long of a commute you would tolerate, answers will vary. What are your interests, specifically, too? What sort of amenities do you want in your community? There are many wonderful places to live.

[Tekkie]

Originally Posted by mgkeith

It's very difficult to answer your question, since the metro area is so large. Depending on where you will work and how much you plan to spend on rent or purchase of a home, how long of a commute you would tolerate, answers will vary. What are your interests, specifically, too? What sort of amenities do you want in your community? There are many wonderful places to live.

Oh, this isn't about where I will be seeking out residence. I was just wondering what residents of the Metro Detroit area thought were some of the nicer neighborhoods with character (liveliness, shops, restaurants, night life, bars, etc.).

[swim33]

in terms of things to do, mainly around downtowns, eating, dining, and nightlife:

SUBURBS:
Birmingham is very sophisticated and has an extremely lively downtown and beautiful neighborhoods. It has a kind of "Uptown" vibe. Its very wealthy and expensive and charming. My favorite metro Detroit town BY FAR.

Royal Oak is probably the most hip among people in my age group (20s-30s) and really provides a great downtown feel and has excellent bars and nightlife.

Ferndale also has a nice and lively downtown, although smaller than the above two, and is concentrated at Woodward and 9 Mile. It is also very gay friendly and progressive.

Rochester, Plymouth, and Northville can't really compete in the hipness department with the above 3 locations, but all of these have thriving downtowns with shops, cafes, a few bars, and is pleasant to hang out in.

the Grosse Pointe area is improving in the "hip" department and has a downtown, not exactly hip right now per se, but Grosse Pointe Park is undergoing a demographic shift it seems and is kind of becoming an alternative to Royal Oak.

Wyandotte provides a good downtown for downriver suburbs.

Dearborn, around Michigan ave. also has plenty of bars and attractions, dining, food, especially middle eastern.
in terms of the city of Detroit proper, i would say that the Midtown, Woodbridge, Greektown, Corktown and Downtown areas seem to have the most going on. Woodbridge not itself, but is a beautiful area to live in with proximity to Midtown,Downtown, and Greektown. Also up and coming is the New Center area.

in terms of character of architecture and parks etc. pretty much all of the above, in addition to Bloomfield Hills, Beverly Hills, Franklin, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Utica, Washington/Shelby Townships, and Romeo.

[Coldjensens]

I would add:
Ann Arbor
Chelsea,

Neat towns in a similar way to Plymouth and Northville
Dexter,
saline,
Tecumseh
Milford
South Lyon

[jonnynonos]

I think it was all a result of the staggeringly successful "Cool Cities" program.

[DTWflyer]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

I would add:
Ann Arbor
Chelsea,

Neat towns in a similar way to Plymouth and Northville
Dexter,
saline,
Tecumseh
Milford
South Lyon

I really don't consider most of those communities to be a true suburb / neighborhood of Metro Detroit. They are very nice communities, almost independent each with themselves, but they are either exurbs on the fringe of sprawl or identify more with the Ann Arbor/Brighton/Howell/Fenton/US-23 corridor.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

I think it was all a result of the staggeringly successful "Cool Cities" program.

Nice one.

[Tekkie]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

I think it was all a result of the staggeringly successful "Cool Cities" program.

What's this in reference to?

[DTWflyer]

The former governor, Jennifer Granholm, launched a "Cool Cities" initative around 2003-2005 with the attempt to provide grants and fund projects that would create cities where young professionals would want to live/work/play.

The program by all accounts was unsuccessful at much of anything, other than spending a whole bunch of state money on disconnected and in some casea mis-aligned projects. The initiative did very little to stop the migration of college educated people from moving out of state.