I need resident Detroiters advice plz!

[MIEng]

Originally Posted by Retroit

That's interesting. Never thought that would even be a factor. I had teachers that lived in the neighborhood and led exemplary lives. I guess times have changed. Go figure.

I also had some of my teachers that lived in my neighborhood, they knew my parents and my brothers. It was hard to get away with stuff back then, they knew where I lived. I feel old.

[animatedmartian]

Most teachers I knew lived like 40 minutes away from the school. I remember one lived in New Baltimore. I think I recall seeing one of them at a mall or nearby store but other than that I don't really know if too many lived close to where they worked.

[Coldjensens]

Detroit residents have to pay an extra income tax. Be sure to budget it. Car insurance will cost you more. Rent is not cheap in downtown and mid-town. You have to pay for the fun factor.

Downtown and midtown are THE cool places to live now for younger people. Royal Oak is another great option (and until recently was the only cool place to live for younger people).

Detroit is a big city. It is not likely your students from Eastpointe are going to bump into you downtown if you choose to live there. You could live outside the City and geographically be closer to your students than if you live downtown.

If you found an apartment for $600 I would be pretty nervous about it. Talk to current tenants (lots of them) and see what they think of the place. You biggest concerns are going to be security and noise. AS far as shopping, grocery staples are readily available at small markets. For stocking up, you can go to Eastern Market, Whole Foods, Meijers, or go outside the City. We live in an expensive area you cannot afford. We buy our groceries at Meijers. If you live in Detroit, you cna buy your Groceries at Meijers. In fact I think you go right by it on your way home. Actually Meijers is an everything store, so you can buy whatever you need there usually. Their clothing is poor quality, but inexpensive and off season sales are 30 - 70 % off. On your salary, you are not going to be buying clothing at Nordstroms anyway, so why do you care where the closest Nordstroms is? You will probably have to go outside the city to find a Salvation Army store with good quality clothing, but they are open on weekends.

Hopefully you do not have substantial student loans to deal with.

FWIW in our community about half the teachers live in the township, the rest live elsewhere (we live on a small group of islands). One math teacher jogs by our house every day. Our kids wave if they see him. Being waved at by students does not hurt his teaching ability one iota. On the other extreme, one teacher lives in Canada and commutes. A group of parents were trying to pool enough money to get her a boat to cut her commute time by an hour, but she does not have a dock in Canada and it would not help her in the winter.)

[Coldjensens]

Correction: Maybe $600 is not that ridiculously cheap. I saw some apartments at Broderick were renting for $780 (plus parking) and that is pretty much the premier location downtown. It is probably a lower level small studio or OBR with an alley view, but still it is Broderick. Their website has only one lower price listing and that is over $900, but they have very few listings since there are no apartments available there anyway. Try the Kales building. I think they have space and it is quite a bit cheaper.

The Whitney is currently being re-done and the Leeland is supposed to be coming up for renovation soon. Eventually they will exceed the market's ability to absorb new housing and the prices may dip briefly. If you cannto find something downtown now, get a lease of no more than a year, and you can move later.

[Obsidian Princess]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Not everywhere. There is still a thriving university, the New Center is attracting folks, and even parts of the downtown are in demand. Most areas that are "empty" are because NO ONE really wants to live there. a $450 studio might be in a nice area? My wife and I lived on 4th Street with all the retro bohemians and artists . Then it was $350 for a 200 sq ft studio and it was great.

I can probably find some apartments for $250 around Detroit, but seriously?

I would have a few folks who would want to look at a 2012 Mustang if I was asking $2000, but once they see it has been burned and rolled, how many would still think it is a good deal?

"Detroit" also includes surrounding suburbs. Detroit city as a whole is not all shambles, crime and blight. I wouldn't want to live off 7 mile and Wyoming but other close areas shouldn't be to bad.

I have been away from Detroit for a little over 5 years. I can't BELIEVE this great city has reached this terrible low.

[us66]

Originally Posted by laurazhouse

A lot of teachers choose to live outside of the city they work in for privacy reasons. I prefer to not have my students see me outside of the professional context.

I've heard that too, back when teachers went on strike, so they wouldn't have their neighbors mad at them.

Originally Posted by Retroit

^ I agree. Why would anyone intentionally move to a place 8-10 miles from where they work? ...especially since OP wants to drive as little as possible and is worried about traffic. Eastpointe is very walkable. I am within a short walk of at least 4 bars, not counting restaurants that serve alcohol (since OP mentioned barhopping). It's very inexpensive to live here. I wouldn't be surprised if you could rent a whole house for $500.

House rents are surprisingly high in your city, probably nothing less than $650 a month. Only apartments I know of in the $500 range is on Gratiot south of the high school, and that is definitely not a nice place. Nicest apartments in the city, IMHO, are the two story ones along Kelly between 9 and Stephens, though they are hit and miss, some are very nice, still full of widows, spinsters, and nuns, and some are quite rough. The ones next to the middle school aren't as nice.

Nice three bedroom bungalow with garage and basement.

More representative of the local housing rental market. Agnes Avenue, lousy street. City is chock full of same and similar, thanks to the out of town slumlords who bought houses by the half-dozen the last couple of years. A quick look at craigslist has a bunch of houses from $850-$1000 and that seems to be the going rate. A lot of the sub-$900 houses are in truly declining areas, streets like Collinson west of Gratiot, Cushing near Ash, Rein near Semrau, places like that.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by Obsidian Princess

"Detroit" also includes surrounding suburbs. Detroit city as a whole is not all shambles, crime and blight. I wouldn't want to live off 7 mile and Wyoming but other close areas shouldn't be to bad.

I have been away from Detroit for a little over 5 years. I can't BELIEVE this great city has reached this terrible low.

Most real estate in the burbs is even higher. Our eldest daughter was renting a 800 square foot house for $950 a month and that was a deal because she has 4 children and the landlord cut the rent by $100..


Another daughter is renting in Livonia for $1200 a month, cut from $1450 because she was willing to sign a two year lease.

I just do not think there are any worth while places for less than $600 a month in the metro area. UNless you want a 400 square foot apartment---have you ever lived ina 400 square foot room?
I drove down around Wayne State yesterday on Second an CAss. I would have a real difficult time paying $500 (if that is what rent is) a month for a place there. The one at the corner of Canfield and Second (Sheridan Court) is un-nerving. And to even think of looking futher south is mind boggling.
North of Warren is probably the best bet.

I did find the Reasearch Lofts on Trumbull just north of I-94--google maps show the Detroit Gang Squad HQ just across the street....

Detroit is Detroit and the burbs are the burbs. Too many people confuse the two.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Correction: Maybe $600 is not that ridiculously cheap. I saw some apartments at Broderick were renting for $780 (plus parking) and that is pretty much the premier location downtown. It is probably a lower level small studio or OBR with an alley view, but still it is Broderick. Their website has only one lower price listing and that is over $900, but they have very few listings since there are no apartments available there anyway. Try the Kales building. I think they have space and it is quite a bit cheaper.

The Whitney is currently being re-done and the Leeland is supposed to be coming up for renovation soon. Eventually they will exceed the market's ability to absorb new housing and the prices may dip briefly. If you cannto find something downtown now, get a lease of no more than a year, and you can move later.

Well, $780 is not $600. And what is parking--another $75 or $100 a month?
My wife and I had considered moving into the Shelton back in 2003 before they went condo. Rent was $900 a month and parking was another $125 per car a month.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Well, $780 is not $600. And what is parking--another $75 or $100 a month?
My wife and I had considered moving into the Shelton back in 2003 before they went condo. Rent was $900 a month and parking was another $125 per car a month.

I think it is $95.

However the point is if you can get into Broderick for $780, then you can probably find decent apartments for $600. Broderick is the premier apartment building downtown. Plus it has little competition. When they pen the Whitney, there will be competition. Prices may dip a bit at first.