Lookng for Space and Reasonable Commute (Detroit, Warren: to rent, cheap home, neighborhood)

[mm2k16]

Hi everyone,

My fiancee is moving up to join me in the Detroit area. She'll be working downtown and I currently work in Pontiac. We are hoping to find an area to live that is within 40ish minutes of both locations. We are also hoping to live somewhere with a more rural-like feel to it if possible. Really we would just like somewhere with a bit more space between houses than a city like Royal Oak offers. Does anyone know of an area that fits that description?

Thanks in advance.

[DTWflyer]

More space and rural-liek is going to be farther north and/or farther west of most of Metro Detroit.

However you can find homes with larger 1 acre plus lots in many of the pre-1980s developments in areas of western Troy, Bloomfield Township, Bingham Farms, older parts of Rochester Hills.

Not exactly rural, but areas where homes have some space in between and quieter parts of suburia.

[pojack]

Check out Oxford, Brandon Township and Lake Orion.

[Coldjensens]

You can find such places in between, but not in a particular area, it will be on the outskirts of Troy or Rochester HIlls etc.

If you are looking to rent it will be difficult. Buying is more practical for that kind of living.

Your best bet, is to go on google maps, use the satellite view and zoom in on the areas where the houses and commercial/retinal buildings thin out. Otherwise people can start giving you groups of streets to look at, but that could have you running around forever.

It may be a good idea to rent someplace for a year or at least 6 months while you look around. It would really stink to buy a house then spend the next several years wishing you had looked around and discovered some better place first.

[djmilf]

Originally Posted by mm2k16

Hi everyone,

My fiancee is moving up to join me in the Detroit area. She'll be working downtown and I currently work in Pontiac. We are hoping to find an area to live that is within 40ish minutes of both locations. We are also hoping to live somewhere with a more rural-like feel to it if possible. Really we would just like somewhere with a bit more space between houses than a city like Royal Oak offers. Does anyone know of an area that fits that description?

Thanks in advance.

Do you have any other parameters?

Nbr of Beds/Baths? Minimum size of lot? Quality of local schools? Price Range? Age/type of home?

Just a few links...

For under $300K and an acre of land:
Southfield ranch
Beverly Hills ranch

[DTWflyer]

Finding something more rural-like within 40 minutes of Pontiac is pretty easy.

Finding something more rural-like staying within a 40 minute commute of downtown Detroit during peak traffic hours gets more challenging. To stay within a typical 40 minute commute of downtown Detroit during peak rush hour you have to stay south of M-59 and east roughly of about I-275 or so.

If you are simply desiring larger lots that can be found in the areas mentioned above that still fit within the constrants in some of the older, more established suburbs in areas that were built-up in the 1950s-1980s.

Inner-ring suburbs like Royal Oak, Ferndale, Warren, Livonia all boomed post-World War 2 and some a lot of bungalows and tract housing on small city-sized lots.

The next ring out - areas of Farmington Hills, Bloomfield Township, West Bloomfield, older parts of Troy, older parts of Rochester Hills that were built in the mid-1950s through early 1980s it was very common for homes to be built on 1+ acres. Look at all the sprawling ranches or colonials on larger pieces of property.

By the mid-1980s, as land became more scare in prime area developments swung back to small lots again.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by pojack

Check out Oxford, Brandon Township and Lake Orion.

All of these are more than 40 minutes to Detroit?

Look at Livonia. There are areas between 7 and 8 Mile, Inkster to Merriman that are almost rural and have space. I am thinking specifically of streets like Purlingbrook, Milburn Street and Sunset (all just south of 8 Miles) to name a few off the top of my head.

An easy-ish (LOL) commute to Pontiac and Detroit...

[Coldjensens]

Del Rey neighborhood has some cheap homes surrounded by acres and acres of empty land (actually there are still ruins/foundations, but they are covered by grass and weeds).

[jaynarie]

Originally Posted by pojack

Check out Oxford, Brandon Township and Lake Orion.

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

All of these are more than 40 minutes to Detroit?

No. Without traffic and speeding, you can get from Lake Orion to Detroit in 40 minutes. Oxford and Ortonville/Brandon Township would be 45 if you go 80 and have no traffic.
Realistically, you can count them all pretty much as an hour.
The problem is they all require a couple of miles down either M-15 or M-24 to get to the expressway. Holly and Grand Blanc are just as close time-wise due to the proximity to 75.