Moving to Downriver area in a few months. (Southgate, Allen Park: for sale, apartment)

[dnjskid]

Myself, my wife and our toddler will be relocating from Southern California (where I've lived 99% of my life) to downriver area in Michigan.

We'll be staying with her family until we can get situated. How are the logistic / warehouse jobs in the area?

I'm also looking for decent areas for a family to rent a house or apartment in the $800 range / monthly.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

[belleislerunner]

Lots of them around the Flat Rock, Romulus, Allen Park area. Good luck.

You should be able to get a single family home for rent in most of the downriver suburbs in that price range. Craigslist is prob your best bet.

[Coldjensens]

Since you are not concerned about schools, you can focus on a fun or pleasant place to live. That makes Wyandotte a good option for consideration.

The best family option, Grosse Ile, is probably out of your price range. I would be surprised if you can find anything for rent in Grosse Ile for $800, but i was recently surprised to see a fairly decent looking house for sale for $149,000 (which I thought was not possible to find), so you may want to give a look anyway. There are very few rentals on Grosse Ile and many are not advertised at all.

Wyandotte is pretty neat if you can find something within walking distance of downtown. They have a small but relatively busy downtown that is pleasant to walk and hang out in. That may be less appealing with a toddler.

Trenton is also very nice. There are some nice affordable rentals right at the edge of Elizabeth park in Trenton - that would be my top choice other than Grosse Ile (if Downtown Wyandotte was not workable). You will have some crowds/noise during events, but being right on the park is well worth the inconvenience IMO. It is a very nice park.

Flat Rock is pretty bland, but it is quiet, reasonably nice and has a great community fitness center.


For bland "I just want a place to live" type areas look at Woodhaven, Riverview, Brownstown Townshhip, Southgate (most of it), Flat Rock and Rockport (or Rockford I always get that mixed up). Gibraltar has some decent areas too. Newport is kind of cool (mostly farms) but it is way South.

Parts of Romulus and parts of Allen Park are decent, other parts are not so great. Unless you find a cool rural type place in Romulus, or one of the few remaining nice neighborhoods in Allen Park, I would put both towards the bottom of the list. Both are OK if you stay in the right areas, but there are better options.

Craigslist is not the place to find the best rentals. Many property owners want to keep things local. The best places are leased by word of mouth and/or putting up a sign, or sometimes through local realtors. The better places are rented without ever getting to Craigslist becasue they go fast and Craigslist tends to draw a lot of problem tenants. Also look in the ads in the Trenton Tribune. If it still exists, there was a downriver area paper I never read and cannot remember the name of. News Herald I think. Sometimes you also find rentals listed on the community boards at Kroger. If you do not have time to drive around looking for signs, do not know anyone who might hear about something becoming available, and do not have a realtor, and find nothing in any of the local sources, Craigslist is probably the next best option.

Welcome. Downriver is surprisingly cool. If you get involved in something, (Kiwanis, Rotary, Coaching, PTO, etc) you will get to know people and places faster and get accepted faster. Also Service clubs, coaching, and the like is the best way to get people on the alert to help you find one of the good rentals that are gone before they are advertised.