2/3 bed bungalow, good school district, commute to Warren, under $150k (Detroit: crime, mortgages)

[Marc Khalil]

Hey there. I'm 29 and I was born in Metro Detroit in Dearborn although we moved out west as a kid and me and my wife have been living in Florida for about 4 years. We have a 6 year old son. Ethnicity wise - I'm Chaldean (Lebanese Maronite Catholic) and she is white, an elderly family member discouraged us from moving to Dearborn because there aren't any Chaldean Catholics left like when I was a kid.

We do like the housing style in Dearborn, I have a thing for the old school working class style bungalows so a town with something similar style housing would be preferred, I will be commuting to Warren around Van Dyke and 12 mile. As for schools, they don't need to be perfect but somewhere that will provide my son with a good education through grade school and jr/sr high school and preferably not a choice district that students from Detroit proper can attend, would be great since we plan on making this home our long term home. A kid friendly neighborhood is of course ideal, here in Florida our block has some children but no one plays outside like we did when we were kids, I want my son to be able to play outside and have peers on the block so he doesn't spend his childhood inside with his iPad and no social skills.

This is most important, I would like an area that is stable and not going to decline. I am planning for this to be my long term home and the relatives that I did have in a Detroit lived in East Detroit/Eastpointe and were getting ready to retire before they had to up and sell at a loss because the area went bad quickly. Of course none of you have s crystal ball to predict the future but if there are any areas that are okay now that you think may decline or suffer white fought please alert me so that I can be diligent about doing to research to steer clear of that.

My price point is low - under $150k but I know the area is cheap compared to where we are at, we don't need a lot of room (definitely 2 bedrooms but preferably 3) and as long as there aren't structural issues and it is safe and functional to live in we don't mind if it is dated because we will renovate.

Thanks in advance for your kind help.


Side note: I am due for a new car, I currently have a Nissan but I remember stories that a non big 3 automobile driving around the area is a good way to get your car vandalized:.so am I cornered into only buying a GM/Ford/Chrystled?

[gameguy56]

St. Clair Shores? The part of Harper Woods that goes to Grosse Pointe North?

[Marc Khalil]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

St. Clair Shores? The part of Harper Woods that goes to Grosse Pointe North?

I am interested in St Clair Shores but Harper Woods seems to be one of those areas going through decline. I didn't know they share a HS with GP but that's gonna be a problem in the future for GP. I wouldn't buy a waterfront Mansion in GP to send my kids to school with the residents of Harper Woods who are basically mush Detroiters. It's a damn shame because Harper Woods has such nice homes and used to be so nice and middle class. Are there any areas like the old HP that aren't going through severe decline and white flight..between 2000 and 2010 it went from 10% to 50% black and I bet is its at least 3/4 black like East Detroit. It must have gotten bad quick for there to be such a fast movement of people fleeing:

[animatedmartian]

Most of the Lebanese/Chaldean people I knew lived mostly in the Sterling Heights area. I honestly have no clue how many would be in the Dearborn area. But indeed Dearborn outside of the white majority has mostly Arabic Muslims and maybe some small numbers of other Middle Eastern groups.

Harper Woods and Eastpointe did go through declines during the recession, like most areas, but in recent years they've been more or less stable. Though Harper Woods seems to suffer more from spillover crime from Detroit than Eastpointe does. Especially along Kelly Road. I don't know about the white flight part cause there's still a bunch of white people in that area, both in Harper Woods and Eastpointe. Most of the blacks that moved into the area were those who could get mortgages before the housing crash.

The only other areas that would fit your criteria is probably St. Clair Shores, Clawson, Berkley, Hazel Park, Ferndale, and maybe for some parts of Royal Oak. Though none of the schools are really considered all that great. The better schools would be in cities like Troy, Sterling Heights, and farther north but then there's none of the housing you're looking for especially not in that price range.

[snoopygirlmi]

1) Even in Michigan, it's hard to find kids who play outside these days. My son is 6 too and it's been a challenge finding kids for him to play with. Most kids are in day care or "at camp" or "doing sports" somewhere.

2) Having an "import" isn't that big of a deal these days, unless you work at one of the plants. Even then, you just park in the non-"insert brand" parking lot. If you like your Nissan, then keep your Nissan. Most people really don't care these days.

My husband and I both drive a Honda and the only time we've had problems is when my spouse worked at a Chrysler plant as a contractor. That was over 10 years ago.

3) I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Plymouth or Canton.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by snoopygirlmi

3) I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Plymouth or Canton.

That's a really long drive from Warren

[MIEng]

I'm surprised your family did not suggest Sterling Heights, lost of chaldeans and heavly Catholic if that matters to you and very solid middle class. I work near the area you will be working and it takes me about 20 mins to get to work coming from the NE corner of SH. At that price range you can easily find an older bongalow in one of the more mature neigborhoods.

Also wanted to mentioned that you should not worry about not having a car from one of the Detroit 3's. It seems it used to be an issue decades ago, but not anymore. Specially with GM hiring so much during the last couple of years. There are a lot of people coming from out of the state who moved with their cars and drive foreign brands. You can see it on the parking at the corner of Van Dyke and 12 mile. Never heard of anybody having problems because of that.

PD: St Clair Shore will definetly have the housing style that you are looking for. But I do not know much about the schools.

[keraT]

Why not look in warren, near your work place? As others have mentioned, Sterling Heights has major Chaldean population, its the next Dearborn. Southern Troy also has good Chaldean community. There is a big church that creates huge traffic on 16mile E John R. I was looking at house in that community & I was warned about the traffic on Sunday.

Houses are nicer on the east side near Hayas, if you want to go that way. But stick to north of 12m between Sterling Height and Warren.

[Retroit]

Originally Posted by Marc Khalil

I'm Chaldean (Lebanese Maronite Catholic)

Please explain. I thought Chaldeans and Maronites were separate.

[zthatzmanz28]

Sterling Heights and the area around Troy has a population of Chaldeans. But really, you should find an area you and the wife like, with good schools and neighborhood with the housing style you prefer and focus on that community. I really do not think your ethnicity is a concern, unless you want the proximity of the community.