Looking for a suburb of Detroit - good place to raise kids, semi-upscale but not snobby (Farmington Hills: fit in, houses)

[RaceGrl]

Hi, my husband and I are considering relocating to the Detroit area from North Carolina. My husband will be working in Southfield, so we are looking for a suburb within commuting distance - hopefully within a half hour drive. We are in our 30's and have a 1 and a half year old, so schools and family activities such as parks, etc. are important. Is there any particular area where families with young kids tend to be? Since we like to work on cars, our dream home would have either a lot of land so we could build a pole barn, or a big garage. We'd like to find newer construction, but we aren't really a big fan of the production built neighborhoods with rows of houses that all look the same. We are looking for a moderately upscale, laid back community - we don't want to be in the kind of neighborhood that's going to get upset if we park a race trailer in the driveway for a day or two. I'm not talking about cars-on-cinder-blocks-in-the-front-yard kind of laid back, we just don't want anywhere really uptight or snobby. We also eat primarily organic food and like to support local growers, so somewhere that has a good organic food market or access to farmers markets would be nice too. Lastly, we want all that on a budget of $350. I realize this is pretty tall order! Anyone have any recommendations that would fit into some of our criteria?

Good schools
Kid friendly - parks, etc.
Access to organic/locally grown food
Garage space

I realize that since a lot of what I'm asking is very subjective and most of the feedback I will be getting will be personal opinions, so I also want to mention that I do have a sense of humor. All opinions, comments, and advice are welcome and appreciated!

Thanks!!

[Tekkie]

Originally Posted by RaceGrl

Hi, my husband and I are considering relocating to the Detroit area from North Carolina. My husband will be working in Southfield, so we are looking for a suburb within commuting distance - hopefully within a half hour drive. We are in our 30's and have a 1 and a half year old, so schools and family activities such as parks, etc. are important. Is there any particular area where families with young kids tend to be? Since we like to work on cars, our dream home would have either a lot of land so we could build a pole barn, or a big garage. We'd like to find newer construction, but we aren't really a big fan of the production built neighborhoods with rows of houses that all look the same. We are looking for a moderately upscale, laid back community - we don't want to be in the kind of neighborhood that's going to get upset if we park a race trailer in the driveway for a day or two. I'm not talking about cars-on-cinder-blocks-in-the-front-yard kind of laid back, we just don't want anywhere really uptight or snobby. We also eat primarily organic food and like to support local growers, so somewhere that has a good organic food market or access to farmers markets would be nice too. Lastly, we want all that on a budget of $350. I realize this is pretty tall order! Anyone have any recommendations that would fit into some of our criteria?

Good schools
Kid friendly - parks, etc.
Access to organic/locally grown food
Garage space

I realize that since a lot of what I'm asking is very subjective and most of the feedback I will be getting will be personal opinions, so I also want to mention that I do have a sense of humor. All opinions, comments, and advice are welcome and appreciated!

Thanks!!

Given the info you provided, I'd say the following cities would be worth checking out (in no particular order):

Southfield
Farmington Hills
Beverly Hills
Lathrup Village
Troy
Novi
Canton
Plymouth
Northville
Rochester Hills

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Based on your criteria, I think Lyon Township would be a great fit. It's about 45 minutes west of Southfield. Lyon Township used to be extremely rural, but has exploded in population in the past 7-8 years for families who want new construction, but can't afford to build in the pricier westside burbs such as Northville or Novi. South Lyon/Lyon Township schools are excellent - top 20 in the state - and you could build a very nice home with a pole barn for $350K. Lyon Twp is still about 40-50% rural farms, so I'm sure you would not have a hard time finding organic foods or local growers there. The new builds there are primarily of the Big Box variety, so you might want to see if you could partner with a builder on your own plot of land. It's certainly do-able with a $350K budget.

The only downside would be fighting the traffic snarls on 96, which is the main artery along Lyon Township. Along with the building boom came traffic, and that area is not very well equipped to handle the traffic load.

Further down the list would be Novi and Northville, which both border Lyon Township's eastern border. Both would be more expensive than Lyon Township, and it would probably be tough, if not impossible, to do a new build with $350K in either city. Both Novi and Northville are very suburban, but have 2 of the best school districts in the state. Lots of parks and green spaces in both towns. Northville is a bit pricier than Novi, and features a beautiful downtown. Novi has lots and lots of shopping and restaurants, which sounds like it is not your thing. The commute to Southfield from these towns would be considerably easier than Lyon Township as you would mostly avoid the 96 traffic snarl.

Plymouth might be worth checking out as well. It has a lot in common with Northville, but is a bit less expensive. Great downtown and farmer's market on Saturdays. Schools are not quite as good as Novi/Northville/South Lyon.

[DTWflyer]

Based on the desire for the following:

- Decent sized lots / land
- Good schools, parks
- Not overly snobby
- Reasonable commute to Southfield

I'd consider the following areas:

West Bloomfield - good schools, generally larger lots, good parks/trail system, reasonable distance to Southfield

Farmington Hills - good schools, large lots, reasonable distance to Southfield

Oakland County Lakes areas (Commerce Township, Walled Lake, Wixom, Wolverine Lake) - there is quite a mix of communities out here, lot sizes, and construction types. Some of these areas have an almost rural field and some decent sized lots acreage can still be found. Pay attention to the particular school districts out here as some are better than others. This area can be somewhat sprawling (good and bad). Commerce does have decent park system. Nearby a lot of Metroparks and State Recreation areas.

Troy - Good schools, but depending on the location could be a challenging commute to/from Southfield since it would not likely follow any major roads/highways. This has a mix of 50'-00's era housing, with the older homes on larger lots, but most of the new construction is on small lots right up against the neighboring houses. Frankly, I'd probably look to Farmington for much of the same thing.

Rochester Hills - Good schools, good park and trail system. However, this is going to be a challenging commute to Southfield during rush hour. Like Troy, the older homes have larger lots. Newer construction in the city is generally much higher priced.

Bloomfield Township - good schools, not much in the way of parks through. Much of the township and school district has ties to the greater Birmingham area. Much of the township is not super-snobby through and a lot of 1950-1970s era housing on large, sprawling lots.

Birmingham and the City of Bloomfield Hills are the primary areas where the snob factor may be unappealing. Some of that though can be found in Novi and Northville where there are vast pockets of McMansions and new money.

[mgkeith]

Yes, S. Lyon and Lyon twp. may be good bets. Excellent schools. Maybe Salem twp, too.
It's true about the same/same homes, though. Red brick and beige everywhere, huge arched entries and big facades. Big white vinyl windows. I find it rather conservative but people are nice.
It might be tricky building something unique on a $350 budget. I hope that can work. Maybe farther out than S. Lyon.
Traffic is becoming problematic, I am told, but the community is having growing pains right now. I think that will change.

[mgkeith]

I am mentioning S. Lyon area based on wanting land and new construction. Personally I love it where I am! Parks galore and lots of activities. Great schools.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Originally Posted by mgkeith

Yes, S. Lyon and Lyon twp. may be good bets. Excellent schools. Maybe Salem twp, too.
It's true about the same/same homes, though. Red brick and beige everywhere, huge arched entries and big facades. Big white vinyl windows. I find it rather conservative but people are nice.
It might be tricky building something unique on a $350 budget. I hope that can work. Maybe farther out than S. Lyon.
Traffic is becoming problematic, I am told, but the community is having growing pains right now. I think that will change.

I think you are right. $350K for a unique build in Lyon would probably be a stretch right now. I was looking at new builds there in 2010-2011 when builders were willing to take a deep discount. Not the case anymore.

With that said, there are plenty of existing homes in Lyon Township that would give you lots of space and the ability to build a pole barn. I guess it depends on how important a new build is to you.

[RaceGrl]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Building new is more of a nice-to-have, and is on the bottom of our list of criteria. The reason we started thinking of building something new was because we weren't seeing what we were looking for already existing on the market. If building new is going to put us so far out that my husband is going to have a super long drive to work every day in horrible traffic it's not worth it. Do you think we'd be able to find something on a larger lot in Novi or Northville? From my initial research it seems like the houses in Novi were kind of packed in, and Northville seemed like it is probably out of our price range.

[DTWflyer]

I think what you will generally find is the following:

- Closer-in, new construction, on larger lots = expensive and more difficult to find
- Closer-in, larger lots, at a reasonable price = 1950s-1970s era homes
- Newer construction, larger lots, at reasonable prices = farther out and longer commutes

I find these trade-offs to be the most frustrating of Metro Detroit.
This is why you see many people with absurd commutes in Metro Detroit as they moved way out to the far reaches of the suburbs and ex-urbs for affordable new construction. Many of the closer-in suburbs are so cookie-cutter and lack a lot of greenspace. Occasionally there are some diamonds in the rough to be found.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

You may be able to find existing homes on a larger lot in the northern section of Novi (north of 12 Mile). This area is not as built up as the rest of Novi. I would say to look west of Beck Road as well, but there are already big developments going up in that area.

I think there are parts of W. Bloomfield that have homes on larger lots. People on here more familiar with that area may be able to confirm.

It would be almost impossible to find an existing home on a large lot in Northville on a $350K budget.

I would contact a realtor who is familiar with the area to find out what is realistic.