LDS interracial family relocating to Detroit area (Dearborn, Farmington Hills: fit in, for sale)

[dakwilk]

We are a very active LDS family that happens to be interracial. We are looking for a place to live within 30-40 minutes of downtown Detroit. We have a good salary and would consider a home in the price range of 350k - 450k (4 or 5 bedrooms).

Our biggest concerns are: crime, schools, travel time to Detroit, diversity.

We are looking for a safe area where kids can play outside and you can leave your doors unlocked (not that we would), great public schools, no more than 40 minutes to downtown, a place where our children will see people of all races that is in a nice, safe area. We would love to find an LDS ward that is diverse. Also looking for a good pre-school. Is there really such a place or are we being unrealistic?

We have a 4 year old and a 5 month old. We are moving from the Washington DC area. Thanks for your advice.

[Dexterguy]

Well I would have said the Grosse Pointes but these communities are not to diverse, at all. So I will give you a few communities to look into, Farmington and Farmington Hills are both nice cities with good public schools and are safe. Novi is also a nice community that has award winning public schools. The community is very clean a safe, and is also getting very diverse, mostly with well educated ethnic groups as the Asians, and Indians, If you are interested with that information. The nice thing about Novi is that they just passed a new bond this past November to build a new library, so if you have small children this would be very good for you. The different homes in Novi range from older updates to newer developments in the western area of the city. Other cities that may interest you that I can name, that are also a little cheaper are Fernadale (close to Detroit), Royal Oak, Berkley, Clawson, Hazel Park, and the larger suburban city of Southfield. But do look into the City of Novi, it sounds like it would fit you.

[trmaoy]

Originally Posted by dakwilk

We are a very active LDS family that happens to be interracial. We are looking for a place to live within 30-40 minutes of downtown Detroit. We have a good salary and would consider a home in the price range of 350k - 450k (4 or 5 bedrooms).

Our biggest concerns are: crime, schools, travel time to Detroit, diversity.

We are looking for a safe area where kids can play outside and you can leave your doors unlocked (not that we would), great public schools, no more than 40 minutes to downtown, a place where our children will see people of all races that is in a nice, safe area. We would love to find an LDS ward that is diverse. Also looking for a good pre-school. Is there really such a place or are we being unrealistic?

We have a 4 year old and a 5 month old. We are moving from the Washington DC area. Thanks for your advice.

I don't know what LDS stands for, but for diversity, schools and proximity, I would also suggest Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield. If you want a really nice home for less money and are willing to commute a little farther, I would suggest Clarkston. It is right off of I-75 and without traffic the commute to downtown is 35-40 minutes. The schools are highly rated. Check out greatschools.net. The area is also becoming more diverse and is still growing. Thus home prices will be appreciating in the future. My neighborhood is friendly and safe, but not too big. The house next door is for sale and it is beautiful. The neighborhood is also pretty diverse. We are an AA, professional family with a 5 and 2 year old. Good luck and you can send me a message if you want more info.

[jhwest]

I'm LDS (Mormon) and grew up in Southfield, although I haven't lived there for a several years. There are not a lot of church members in the metro area, so I would just go for the area that you feel like you would fit in in general. Our ward was very diverse, but Southfield is not really a great place to raise a family these days. Well, maybe the northern part. The nice thing, though, is that church members are pretty close since they are few and far between.

[dmetro]

Originally Posted by trmaoy

I don't know what LDS stands for, but for diversity, schools and proximity, I would also suggest Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield. If you want a really nice home for less money and are willing to commute a little farther, I would suggest Clarkston. It is right off of I-75 and without traffic the commute to downtown is 35-40 minutes. The schools are highly rated. Check out greatschools.net. The area is also becoming more diverse and is still growing. Thus home prices will be appreciating in the future. My neighborhood is friendly and safe, but not too big. The house next door is for sale and it is beautiful. The neighborhood is also pretty diverse. We are an AA, professional family with a 5 and 2 year old. Good luck and you can send me a message if you want more info.

Clarkston is a very nice area, but not a diverse one. Here's the demographic breakdown for 2006:

96% White
>1% African American
1% Asian
2% Hispanic

As you can see, it's overwhelmingly white. The commute to Detroit from Clarkston would probably be 1.5 hours one way, which doesn't sound like something you want. Probably your best bet would be Troy, MI. It's a nice, upper-middle class suburb which is probably the most diverse in the Metro Detroit area. It's especially noted for its large Asian population. Another nice, diverse suburb would be Van Buren Township. As mentioned earlier, Novi would be nice, and so would Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. Hope I could help, and good luck on your move.

[ranman469]

i lived in dearborn for 4 years loved it all kinds of people, everyone is welcome.
i`m currently in gilbert az.
i took a year off from michigan, but i will return in july 08

go visit first. most burbs are alike. all kinds of people from all backgrounds.

[sugarbeet]

One small city that rarely gets mentioned is Beverly Hills (south of 14 Mile Road, west of Woodward). It's part of Birmingham schools (often considered the best in the state), but the homes are lower priced. Quiet, clean neighborhoods, close to everything. The Detroit metro area is fairly segregated compared to other metros its size, but you will find some diversity in these more established areas.

[Coldjensens]

Dearborn probably meets your criteria the best.

Not too many cities in this area are diverse.