Moving into Detroit, MI. Need some inputs about Staying. (Farmington Hills: apartments, rent)

[vanithamiss]

Hello All,

We are planning to move to Detroit, MI from Tulsa, OK soon (in less than a month time), as my husband has got a job in Detroit downtown (200 Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI 48243).

I am a house wife with 2 kids (3yrs and 8 months respectively). My 3 year old kid is going to Day Care. I've been searching online for some good and reasonable cost apartments, safe neighborhood to stay in Detroit. My husband is ready to make a drive for 20-30 mins one-way daily (if we happen to live in Sub-Urbs).

But most of the reviews say that Detroit is not a safe place to live, which makes us feel bad before entering/seeing the City. I would love to hear some feedback about this from people especially like Indians. We prefer staying in a reasonable living cost area with some good Day Care; elementary schools around. I am not familiar with the Apartment rent, but we are ready to pay somewhere between $750-$850 (for appr. 800-850 sq ft apartment). This is what we are paying in the current location ($750) for apartment. Please let me know if this amount looks very low, as the reviews say that Cost of living in Detroit is comparatively high.

Can someone please help me here? Please provide some safe apartment communities (you are familiar with) or reasonable cost of living areas in Detroit, so that I can try to find some apartments in those areas.

Thanks.

[belleislerunner]

Move into a place like the Pavillion - it's a 5 minute commute to work for your husband and a really safe area. Then spend the six months/year figuring out what part of town you want to live. No point in getting a miserable place that is also far from work. Best to get a place closest to work and then branch outwards. Kudos on the new job!

The Pavilion: rent an apartment online with habitat@home

[mgkeith]

The Pavilion looks great. I hope that this site will also be of help to vanithamiss: Miindia Indian Community Portal Website for Indians in Detroit Michigan. Very best of luck to you and your family.

[Tall]

probably the worst city in America. I wouldn't live in the city, not even downtown. Its just not safe and the police can't protect you. your odds of being the victim of a violent or property crime go through the roof

[mgkeith]

I can't speak for people living in Detroit, although I know some people who live there and love it. My daughter works in the Renaissance Center. It a wonderful place to work, and your husband will certainly be safe at his new place of employment.

[animatedmartian]

Not too many Indians live within the city proper. Most live out in the northwestern and northern suburbs however it's not at all unusual to see them downtown.

There's plenty of apartments and homes in that price range both in the city and suburbs, although the quality of those apartments tend to vary depending on the management. Many apartments within the city are pretty old and except for a few areas, many probably haven't had much maintenance in quite a while. Good apartments tend to go quick so you'll be lucky to find available ones within the city. It'll probably be way easier to find available apartments in the suburbs.

Crime is pretty much mostly limited to a few big neighborhoods within the city and the city has been getting safer. However, I wouldn't expect you to feel comfortable seeing a lot of blight and vacant buildings (which the city still has a lot of) so many areas of the city probably wouldn't seem all that desirable. Certainly many suburbs will look a lot better than the city.

[zthatzmanz28]

The real problem with living in Detroit is you have to drive to the burbs for most everything.

Grocery stores are far and few, after 6:00 P.M it is difficult to find anything open other than a gas station and a few fast food holes.
Then there is the evening walks around the neighborhood.

Seriously, with two kids I would look at the suburbs. Depending on your budget ($750-$850) won't get you much in the burbs or many "nice" places in Detroit with 2 bedrooms. let alone three.
I would think working at the Ren Cen the housing budget would be closer to $1100?

As for crime, it is rather wide spread...may be not on a continuous pace, but no area is completely safe from the thugs who are trying to maintain control as the Detroit Police do their best to chase them out across 8 Mile..

[mgkeith]

^ Especially regarding the suburbs, I heartily disagree and no need to scare these newcomers. Please, lets not do that. In my area (Farmington Hills) and many others, crime rates are going down and have actually decreased a whole lot over past thirty years.

[MS313]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

The real problem with living in Detroit is you have to drive to the burbs for most everything.

Grocery stores are far and few, after 6:00 P.M it is difficult to find anything open other than a gas station and a few fast food holes.
Then there is the evening walks around the neighborhood.

Seriously, with two kids I would look at the suburbs. Depending on your budget ($750-$850) won't get you much in the burbs or many "nice" places in Detroit with 2 bedrooms. let alone three.
I would think working at the Ren Cen the housing budget would be closer to $1100?

As for crime, it is rather wide spread...may be not on a continuous pace, but no area is completely safe from the thugs who are trying to maintain control as the Detroit Police do their best to chase them out across 8 Mile..

No you don't. If I'm in the city, the only reason I need to go to the burbs is to shop for clothes or get to a grocery store late at night.

OP: I would look at some places that are in decent school districts. $750 is a little on the low end for this region (assuming your talking about a 2-3 bedroom apartment) if you want a quality apartment, a good school district and a very safe place to live. However, if you look hard enough you probably will find something until you get to know this area a bit better. Zillow.com is a site that I would use. Crime is a concern in inner city Detroit, Inkster, Pontiac, and maybe a couple of the downriver suburbs, other than that, crime is average - very low.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by MS313

No you don't. If I'm in the city, the only reason I need to go to the burbs is to shop for clothes or get to a grocery store late at night.

OP: I would look at some places that are in decent school districts. $750 is a little on the low end for this region (assuming your talking about a 2-3 bedroom apartment) if you want a quality apartment, a good school district and a very safe place to live. However, if you look hard enough you probably will find something until you get to know this area a bit better. Zillow.com is a site that I would use. Crime is a concern in inner city Detroit, Inkster, Pontiac, and maybe a couple of the downriver suburbs, other than that, crime is average - very low.

Where does the average Detroit resident buy groceries other than Glory foods or the Meijer on 8-Mile (almost in the burbs.

Isn't $750 a lot on the low side? As for frightening the newbies, Farmington is not DETROIT.
Inkster is more dangerous than Detroit? SERIOUSLY?? Crime is average? Compared to what, Kabul? LOL