Is detroit bad? (Wayne: apartment, rental, insurance)

[MN2MI]

It is very interesting how you are sumamrizing your experiences here. I am very interested to know more. My job is taking me to Detroit for the next 3-6 months. I will be working downtown - (GM HQ). I am from Minnesota and live in a quiet and very safe neighborhood. So, I am concerned about safety.

The problem is to strike a balance between safety, commute time, and rent. Any suggestion is very welcome.

Thanks

[Coldjensens]

Grosse Pointe is very nice and 7 miles from the RenCen. About 25 minutes (all surface streets).

We love Grosse Ile. 38 minutes (becuase the 75 is closed). About 27 miles although my GPS says that it is only 17. That must be by water. One day I am going to try taking a boat to work.

Both are super safe with awesome schools and really special amenities.

Royal Oak s lively and has a nice downtown. It is better suited for 20-30 years old with no children than for families.

Wyandotte has a nice lively downtown and waterview properties at a reasonable price. Schools are not great. About 30 minutes from the RenCen. Fun place, but better for non-family types.

Livonia is decent older suburban sprawl. About 30 minutes plus.

Canton, about 40 minutes is basically newer subdivisions and some strip malls. Nice, but bland.

Loads of nice trendy preppy kinds of towns in North Oakland County. Brimingham, Bloomfileds, Auburn Hills, Troy, Rochester, and a half dozen more like them. Lots of traffic there, but the shopping and dining up in that area is better than most other places. You can live on a small inland lake if you are well to do. Some of these places get into a longish drive, especially in traffic. All are very safe most with good to great schools.

Plymouth is one of my favorite towns. A bit of a drive though. At least 45 minutes. I think it is often closer to an hour.

Northville is nice. Pricy. Great schools about an hour away. How far out do you want to consider? South Lyon, Milford and Brighton are all quality places, but gettng into an hour plus.

These are the highlights. If these options are too expensive, there are a lot of inbetween towns that are not quite as nice, but cheaper.

Working in the Ren Cen is fine. Most people do not leave the building. Everything is there. Resturaunts (for a quick but decent lunch, try Presto - the fast food outlet of Andiamo fine dining), supplies, a pharmacy, post office, health club, gift shops, even a movie theater. There are some decent places in the surrounding area if you like to walk or a short drive.

You can walk to Joe Luis for a hockey game after work, or take the silly people mover close enough to get to tiger or lions games and theaters.

Traffic is not bad at all unless you go North to the North Oakland County cities. I rarely leave at 5 or 5:30 so I do not see the worst of it. The few times that I have left during rush hour, it is not bad going any direction but North.

Parking is pricey ($100/month at Miller garage).

I have never felt unsafe downtown and I work as late as 9 or 10 p.m. sometimes.

Elevators are slow. They will make you nuts.

Be sure that you are in your office for the fireworks at the end of June. You have to be in the building by about 3 p.m. or you cannot get in.

[Coldjensens]

You could also live downtown and walk to work. Downtown seems to be considered generally safe. It is pretty empty. You have to go a long way out to get signficant quantities of groceries and retail shopping.

[cardwellave]

There's always Hamtramck as well. Very hip and urban, not kid friendly though.

[MN2MI]

Coldjensens and Cardwellave - thanks a ton for sharing so much info so promptly.

Being accustomed to free parking garages here (not downtown Mpls though) I did not even think about mothly garage rental. Since I will have to drive to work, that cost is mandatory, I believe.

You mentioned staying in the downtown area and I would prefer that provided the rent is within my reach. Any idea how much a studio or a 1 br goes for per month in the downtown area? Since my family is not accompanying me I am not thinking about regular grocery shopping either. Just once every two weeks do the grocery and cook for a week at a time.

Coldjensens, I shoot fireworks photos, so double thanks for mentioning it.

Regards

[detshen]

Originally Posted by MN2MI

Coldjensens and Cardwellave - thanks a ton for sharing so much info so promptly.

Being accustomed to free parking garages here (not downtown Mpls though) I did not even think about mothly garage rental. Since I will have to drive to work, that cost is mandatory, I believe.

You mentioned staying in the downtown area and I would prefer that provided the rent is within my reach. Any idea how much a studio or a 1 br goes for per month in the downtown area? Since my family is not accompanying me I am not thinking about regular grocery shopping either. Just once every two weeks do the grocery and cook for a week at a time.

Coldjensens, I shoot fireworks photos, so double thanks for mentioning it.

Regards

When people say there are no grocery stores, they mean within walking distance, but there are plenty of places to shop if you drive a couple miles down East Jefferson like Harbortown market, and there are drug stores also. you don't have to go all the way to the suburbs to shop. You might want to look into the River Town area. I think you could get a really nice apt. for $500-$600 a couple miles from the Ren Cen. I'm not sure what the rents are downtown.

[cardwellave]

Originally Posted by Acupunk

When people say there are no grocery stores, they mean within walking distance, but there are plenty of places to shop if you drive a couple miles down East Jefferson like Harbortown market, and there are drug stores also. you don't have to go all the way to the suburbs to shop. You might want to look into the River Town area. I think you could get a really nice apt. for $500-$600 a couple miles from the Ren Cen. I'm not sure what the rents are downtown.

Yeah I'd say be willing to spend $600+ for a decent apartment. I've seen stuff on the river for about $800+. There are a number of websites out there dedicated to what apartments are good.

You could also get a loft or flat in Hamtramck for about $450+. The big difference is the livelihood. Hamtramck has more bars per capita than any other city, a big nightlife, lots of ethnic restaurants, bustling downtown area on Jos. Campau.

[detshen]

Originally Posted by whitechocolate86

Would you suspect they are like that of Los Angeles...the city with the worst traffic in the nation?

I paid more in San Diego than Detroit, I assume because it's near the mexican border.

[detshen]

Originally Posted by cardwellave

Yeah I'd say be willing to spend $600+ for a decent apartment. I've seen stuff on the river for about $800+. There are a number of websites out there dedicated to what apartments are good.

You could also get a loft or flat in Hamtramck for about $450+. The big difference is the livelihood. Hamtramck has more bars per capita than any other city, a big nightlife, lots of ethnic restaurants, bustling downtown area on Jos. Campau.

The prices went up! I see River Place now starts at $750. They are nice though, my old place had 18 foot wood beamed ceilings, exposed brick walls and a river view.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by MN2MI

Coldjensens and Cardwellave - thanks a ton for sharing so much info so promptly.

Being accustomed to free parking garages here (not downtown Mpls though) I did not even think about mothly garage rental. Since I will have to drive to work, that cost is mandatory, I believe.

You mentioned staying in the downtown area and I would prefer that provided the rent is within my reach. Any idea how much a studio or a 1 br goes for per month in the downtown area? Since my family is not accompanying me I am not thinking about regular grocery shopping either. Just once every two weeks do the grocery and cook for a week at a time.

Coldjensens, I shoot fireworks photos, so double thanks for mentioning it.

Regards

The fireworks are perhaps the best display in the US. They share with Canada, so the display is at the end of June rather than the 4th.