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My name is Max, I am 23 years old, of 100% Irish descent, and I was born and raised in Bronx, NY.
I have been living in Brazil for 40 months (Sao Paulo) teaching English but last month my contract ended and I have thus came back to America and I am staying with my parents.
I received an offer for my first **real grown up job** in the town of Ecorse and I will be moving up in the middle of January to start February 1st. I am looking for a place to live and I have some questions.
Here is what I am looking for in my new hometown:
- Older and established neighborhood. Nice architecture and a lack of McMansions is a huge plus!!
- Blue collar community that is safe, I actually like a little grittiness but I don't want to be in danger of getting hurt.
- Mostly white, however in the Detroit suburbs I do not foresee this being a hard to find.
- Need a 1 bedroom apartment for around 650 bucks or less. Also, I would prefer if it was a basement apartment/duplex/two-flat and not an apt building.
- Some things to do in town. A diner, a coffee shop, a library, a McDonalds/Burger King, a movie theater, a dive bar, etc.
- Some degree of walkability. I know I will have to be driving most of the time but to be able to walk to things in my neighborhood would be awesome.
- Somewhere that isn't going to decline/get blighted/succumb to white flight in the foreseeable future.
Some general questions about the area:
What is the avg. price of a gallon of gas?
Price of a pack of Marlboros?
Are people usually conservative or liberal in their outlooks politically? I know SE Michigan is a 'blue area' that is usually won by Democrats. But, is that because of the fact that the area is very unionized, or because people are actually social liberals??
Is there a gay neighborhood with gay bars? Where is it? I am assuming that is still in the city. I ask this because even though I mostly like girls, and I have no desire to live in a "gayborhood" I do *play for both teams* and it is nice to know that the option is there, should I want to satisy my more unconventional interests. Lol
Some areas I am consdering: Dearborn/Dearborn Heights - It looks nice, the prices are low and so are the crime stats...however I am familiar with the "All American Muslim" show and afraid that this area is a place where I won't fit.
Downriver (except for Melivindale, River Rouge, and Ecorse itself.)
Royal Oak
Ferndale
Warrendale (neighborhood in Detroit)
Also, I am considering going to school part time in the evenings to finish up my BA (I dropped out and moved to Brazil).
My major is Economics, would Wayne State or UMich Dearborn be a better fit for me?
Tough situation. That rent is going to limit your options. The area you are talking about is Downriver and there isn't much there, particularly if your frame of reference is NYC and Rio. I would say shoot for downtown or midtown Detroit but it's going to be tough at that rent. Otherwise maybe Dearborn, but, yeah and it's largely Arabic and probably has virtually no visible gay community.
If you don't mind a commute you would probably like Ferndale.
The cool thing about U M Dearborn is that, I believe, your degree just says "u of m" not u of m Dearborn, and u of m is a much, much better school than wayne
Tough situation. That rent is going to limit your options. The area you are talking about is Downriver and there isn't much there, particularly if your frame of reference is NYC and Rio. I would say shoot for downtown or midtown Detroit but it's going to be tough at that rent. Otherwise maybe Dearborn, but, yeah and it's largely Arabic and probably has virtually no visible gay community.
If you don't mind a commute you would probably like Ferndale.
The cool thing about U M Dearborn is that, I believe, your degree just says "u of m" not u of m Dearborn, and u of m is a much, much better school than wayne
Thanks bro for your reply.
However I think that you misunderstood my post. I wrote it in a mad rush so maybe I didn't word it right lmao
My frame of reference is New York and S�o Paulo, however if I wanted to live in gigantic, expensive, hipstery metropolises like those I would stay here in NY or maybe move to Hollywood.
I don't need super urban or trendy.
Actually it seems that in a lot of places but especially Detroit urban means either hipster/yuppy/trendy like. Midtown/Downtown or really blighted..I don't want that lol
And I don't know if I should've even asked about the gay thing because now I know every post is going to be advice on where to live based on how gay friendly it is which is totally unnecessary. I'm not gay I actually swing both ways but mostly the ladies. If I am single then every couple of months I usually get in the mood to go to one of those establishments the only reason I asked was because I was just curious about where they were because in some cities there is no specific "gay area" and the clubs are spread out, that's annoying. It is cool that Ferndale is the gay area and I am sure I will be hanging out there sometimes but I have no desire to live in that area ever lol cause I wouldn't wanna be that close to clubs and bars. :P
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't wanna live in an Arabic speaking/Muslim town, I would be so uncomfortable.
By things to do I meant like a neighborhood bar and a movie theater, not a 4 story super nightclub where the Kardashians and Kanye and Eminem hang out lmao
A good commute is important, so that means that for my job location...I am going to wanna stay in Wayne County
What's the difference between the Downriver suburbs?
Is Livonia nice?
Hamtramck? Is it mostly middle eastern immigrants? The census says it's still quite polish but I am wondering if that is Polish-American families or elderly people who didn't wanna move during white flight?
Also, Detroit City is still 10% non-Hispanic white...I doubt all of them live Downtown or Midtown right?
What neighborhoods do they live in? Is it mostly elderly people who resisted white flight or just normal families?
As to schools...likely I will never use my degree cause I prefer working with my hands in some way, I just want to get my degree to learn. So idc about the reputation of the college..which is a better school to attend..learning wise?
By things to do I meant like a neighborhood bar and a movie theater, not a 4 story super nightclub where the Kardashians and Kanye and Eminem hang out lmao
Really there are dive bars and movie theaters all over the place. Unless you move into a rural area, it's unlikely you'll have a hard time finding one.
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What's the difference between the Downriver suburbs?
The ones closer to the Detroit River are older and usually have small little one-strip downtowns. Quite nice and quaint actually. Going west leads mostly into rural/sprawly areas. Especially due to the airport.
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Is Livonia nice?
Generally, yes.
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Hamtramck? Is it mostly middle eastern immigrants? The census says it's still quite polish but I am wondering if that is Polish-American families or elderly people who didn't wanna move during white flight?
It's kind of a mix right now. Though yea there's not really a lot of young Polish-families there as far as I know.
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Also, Detroit City is still 10% non-Hispanic white...I doubt all of them live Downtown or Midtown right?
What neighborhoods do they live in? Is it mostly elderly people who resisted white flight or just normal families?
They're pretty scattered about actually. Most are on the older side and the younger whites live closer to downtown, many of them yuppies. More of them probably live in Southwest Detroit and nearer to Ecorse, River Rouge, and Melvindale, but that's a pretty rough area due to the heavy industry facilities nearby. It probably fits what you're looking for except for the crime and also probably the air pollution.
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As to schools...likely I will never use my degree cause I prefer working with my hands in some way, I just want to get my degree to learn. So idc about the reputation of the college..which is a better school to attend..learning wise?
I mean if you just want a certificate for something, you can go to Wayne County Community Colleges. Relatively inexpensive and pretty much locations all over the county.
Honey, drop the Marlboros and put the $ into savings. It will add up. Put it towards school at Wayne State, or at the community college closest to where you decide to live, depending on your current credits.
Honey, drop the Marlboros and put the $ into savings. It will add up. Put it towards school at Wayne State, or at the community college closest to where you decide to live, depending on your current credits.
Thanks but I am more interested in neighborhood advice than quitting smoking tips at this time. I get that from my mom lol. Again, I shouldn't have mentioned college in this thread either cause it is getting derailed now. I enjoy working with my hands and even if I had 8 masters degrees I wouldn't ever want to be a suit or something. Finishing my degree was something I was gonna do 1 class at a time over a period of a lot of years just because I have interest in learning things. I prob won't even get a degree lol, just take an Econ class if I wanna learn more about that, British History if I wanna learn more, Sanskrit if I am interested etc. as for paying for it my grandpa put cash away for me and my little bro to study so I am good. One day I will open my own construction biz...don't want career tips tho,
Wyandotte or Livonia? What's the pros and cons of each?
Also is Dearborn Heights less Arabian than Dearborn proper? Not that I dislike Arabs but I don't wanna live somewhere where I am the only person who doesn't speak Arabic or is Cstholic as opposed to Muslim
It sounds like your standards are so low that you could live basically anywhere.
Why do you say that? I'm not a yuppie or a hipster so I would be way out of place in a "gentrifying urban loft" in downtown. I don't wanna live in a really fancy suburb because I am a working class person I'm not that fancy and I don't think I would get a long with my neighbors in that kind of scenario because even tho I am a decent hardworking person I do come from a not so classy background and it does show...I'm not rude or gross and I contribute to my community but last time I lived in an NY rich area I got called "white trash" a lot...I prefer to live around people a little but low on the socioeconomic scale because I don't have anything in common with people who wear suits and I don't have anything in common with the social justice hipster vegans either ...I however have a lot in common with the type who hunt and drink beer and maybe don't make a lot of money.
Having no standards is wanting to live in an abandoned house just because it's cheap even tho there are needles on the floor and you hear gunshots outside. I'm a white lower middle class person and I would like to live in a white lower middle class neighborhood.
I can see where you're coming from since people on the East Coast can be way image focused. But this is the Midwest, you're not going to find much of that here. As long as you shower and don't cause a nuisance to your neighbors, people will generally be nice to you here regardless of who you are.
There's plenty of people like you who live all over Metro Detroit. Being in the auto industry, many of them actually make good money and live in pretty nice areas. They still hunt, drink beer, and go to sports games so it's not like money makes everyone snobby. Detroit isn't New York City in the good ways.
Livonia has a few nicer areas with some McMansions and is closer to malls and freeways and is bigger. I've only been through Wyandotte once, but seems pretty similar to other older suburbs of Detroit. It has a nice little downtown area.
Why do you say that? I'm not a yuppie or a hipster so I would be way out of place in a "gentrifying urban loft" in downtown. I don't wanna live in a really fancy suburb because I am a working class person I'm not that fancy and I don't think I would get a long with my neighbors in that kind of scenario because even tho I am a decent hardworking person I do come from a not so classy background and it does show...I'm not rude or gross and I contribute to my community but last time I lived in an NY rich area I got called "white trash" a lot...I prefer to live around people a little but low on the socioeconomic scale because I don't have anything in common with people who wear suits and I don't have anything in common with the social justice hipster vegans either ...I however have a lot in common with the type who hunt and drink beer and maybe don't make a lot of money.
Having no standards is wanting to live in an abandoned house just because it's cheap even tho there are needles on the floor and you hear gunshots outside. I'm a white lower middle class person and I would like to live in a white lower middle class neighborhood.
Wyandotte vs. Livonia? Differences...
Because if you are just looking for a majority white blue collar neighborhod with a bar and driving distance to Ecorse, that description likely applies to about 50 percent or more of metro Detroit.
You might like Hamtramack. I know you're not a hipster but it at least is likely to have a few younger, more outgoing types.
Most people who grew up in Livonia your age leave it after school. The townies who stay and have lived there their whole lives are frankly not going to give a **** about making friends.
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