Thoughts on St. Clair Shores

[Northsider 248]

I guess the number was off-base. I basically meant it to say that in a way, it's a place where people tend to go to pay minimal amounts of money for a house and act rich. Not necessarily a bad thing, but some people might have gotten offended if they interpreted it wrong.

[snoopygirlmi]

Lived in both Royal Oak/SCS, Royal Oak has a lot more going on than SCS for younger people. Also, Royal Oak is more central to where the action is - it has the zoo, the clubs, shopping, downtown RO/Ferndale. It's also easier to get other places in the Metro area from Royal Oak.

Royal Oak is a 20 minute commute from SCS on a good day, but not during rush hour. 696 gets stacked up real quick in the morning and in the late afternoon.

From SCS, you are looking at 30 minutes to get to Troy or Royal Oak or Sterling Heights. If you want to get Western Wayne County, then you are looking at even more time - one way.

I used to live in the Shores and I hardly saw my friends because neither of us would want to drive out 'cuz it was just a pain in the butt - especially after driving back and forth to work, etc. Driving just sucked up a lot of time when we lived there.

If you don't need to be close to the water, then I would look at Warren (if you still wanted to be in Macomb County - cuz Macomb has cheaper housing prices) or Royal Oak/Ferndale ('cuz it's centrally located and makes driving around the area (and finding work -if you need to) easier).

You might even want to consider a place in one of the better neighborhoods in Detroit - if that's where your job is. Good Luck!

[Retroit]

I wouldn't move there. It's sliding downhill so quickly, it's bound to be at the bottom of Lake St. Clair by the time you get here.

[dsk65]

I've been a Shorian since my birth in 1965... and I have watched it go up and down over the years... I am at the 10 mile and Harper area, and am still very pleased with the city. Lakeview school District is still excellent. During the mortgage craziness period from 1995-2005, you saw a lot of folks get houses in SCS that normally wouldn't qualify... I have seen that trend reversing significantly in the last five years as they are foreclosed on.

The deals in SCS homes right now are astounding, and will be great investments once the market rights itself, the pendulum swung too far in the other direction, I believe.

I can absolutely recommend the Shores to live in, butI would personally pick a home north of nine mile road, and east of Little Mack. Our city has great shops, restaurants, fantastic police fire and ems, and a very responsive city government. The marinas and parks are very nice, too.

[Cliffie]

PCBs seem to be proving to cause diabetes, not cancer, and it's up to you which is worse.

St. Clair Shores is a nice, relatively humble place to live -- not as ritzy-schnitzy as Grosse Pointe but not as down-at-the-heel as Warren. Lots and lots of well-maintained 1950s ranch homes. Within easy striking distance of the Muskellunge fishing in the lake and home to Wan Kow Chop Suey, best Chinese food in the Detroit Metro area,if not the universe. remarkably free of the crushing summer humidity you get closer to the center of the state, and for that reason alone you want to live there -- NO AIR CONDITIONING NEEDED. Close to the action downtown, but not TOO close, if you know what I mean. I loved it there and would recommend it to anyone.

[Briolat21]

Aside from the fact that I'd reccommend the area South of 9 mile (East of Mack) as well as the area North of 9 mile (Sorry - I was a Cavalier and the houses S. of 9 are nice as well) - I agree. My parents house is still in the Shores, and really a very decent city. Never quite "trendy" like Royal Oak -- however with the Marina nightlife (and Andiamo) - much closer to hip than its ever been before. Plus a lot of nice parks, nice neighborhoods, a good industrial base (important for school taxes).

[313 TUxedo]

Keep in mind not all 25-year-olds are the same. While art studios and nightlife may be an "accurate stereotype" of Generation Y, not every baby boomer was at Woodstock, and no generation is completely uniform.

If you're a young adult with visions of raising a family, playing in the backyard, with peace and quiet, SCS may be for you. To some extent, the place is a time warp - Mack, Little Mack (two completely different streets), Jefferson and Harper still have small businesses, some of them independent, with products and services you will not find in a Big Box. The types of stores and restaurants that Detroit's neighborhoods lost decades ago. As some of the people of the earlier generations that made SCS grow, sadly, are falling victim to time, significant numbers of young families have taken their place, especially in the North side (from what I've heard, you will want to be in the Northern part if you'll have kids in public schools, but I have no personal experience in the matter).

Since nearly all the housing stock is pre-1980, there is more of a neighborhood feel than what is found north of Hall Road. Most of SCS passes the "popsicle test", even though automobile ownership is practically universal. Gated communities are rare, and you won't be evicted from your home for planting flowers.

One downer of both RO and SCS is that larger homes are hard to find in both communities.

[Ohio248]

I have been told my more than one resident that the southern parts of St. Clair Shores are exhibiting some signs of distress.

Not super-bad yet, but they're worried that the problems in Harper Woods and Eastpointe are headed their way in 10 years or so.

When I drive through, everything looks fine to me, but the residents say they notice changes. More foreclosures, stores catering to a different "demographic", some issues in the schools, etc.

[us66]

Originally Posted by Ohio248

I have been told my more than one resident that the southern parts of St. Clair Shores are exhibiting some signs of distress.

Not super-bad yet, but they're worried that the problems in Harper Woods and Eastpointe are headed their way in 10 years or so.

When I drive through, everything looks fine to me, but the residents say they notice changes. More foreclosures, stores catering to a different "demographic", some issues in the schools, etc.

Southern Saint Clair Shores has some streets that were never that impressive...some streets are all brick, while some others are pretty much owner built stuff or plan book houses from the 20s, 30s, and 40s, and looking dumpy now, like Shady Lane, Maxine, and Harper Lake, among others. Some areas south of 9 and west of Harper aren't aging well, but it's still a solid buy at current prices. Streets in there with postwar bungalows like Avalon and Rosedale (though further east Rosedale is an excellent street) are nothing special and are quite comparable to Eastpointe (but still a better place to be overall). Same goes for the first streets east of the interstate further north, such as Winton, which have houses identical to Roseville, but once you cross the "moat" into the Shores, you can tell you're not in Roseville anymore, for the better. The southwest corner of the Shores (Parkside, Salisbury, Ridgemont, Beaconsfield, Eight Mile) is a bargain, but it's cut off from the rest of the city by the interstate and has more in common with Eastpointe and Harper Woods (but it touches the best area of Eastpointe). This neighborhood has a higher than average minority population for the Shores as well. (I came close to buying my first house on Salisbury a few years ago. There are some very interesting looking colonial houses from the 70s in this neighborhood, as well as a very nice condo complex on Woodbridge Street.)

South Lake Schools are academically sound and their facilities are much nicer than East Detroit's. There is a fairly high minority population in some buildings, many of which come from Eastpointe. All in all, still a decent school district, and better than East Detroit or Roseville. Also gets a lot of school of choice activity, as do all three SCS districts. Another funny thing about this district is that it also serves a small part of Grosse Pointe Shores.

Lakeview is the best in the city for resale and probably has the best high school.

Lake Shore, in the north, is said by some to be weaker academically than Lakeview but I have also read that it has improved some over the years. There's a lot of dumpy houses in the north part of the city that are served by this district as well.

A handful of houses on the north edge of the city are also served by the L'Anse Creuse school district, which is probably okay as well. (I live in this district but know nothing about it except that the school tax is ridiculously cheap, which is one reason why I live there.)

SCS is definitely quaint, that's for sure. It even has a K Mart. Now that's a step back in time. People still go for strolls on Jefferson, even at night.

[Briolat21]

I grew up in the Southern most part of the city - literally one street away from the ford estate - just off Jeffereson. So, I'm familiar with the cracker box houses off of Mack (most of my friend's lived in them ) - such as Rosedale, St. Joan, Maxine, etc.. 2 and 3 bedrooms, very cute, very tiny. That said - very liveable, although less in fashion probably today with the HGTV my first house must be 2500 sq ft crowd.

SL is probably the most diverse school district, and has been for a while. Of course growing up in the '70's / '80's that was not the case, but it was starting to change even in the late '80s as far as finally having some diversity in the schools. Of course, the entire make up of the whole East Side is changing, as when I went to high school and cruised Gratiot, there were no inter-racial couples at the Denny's my Macomb Mall.

So - clearly times change, and demographics change and hopefullly - things improve.

South Lake has been a good district, simply because it has a good tax base to support the school millages.

I'd say its still a solid community to raise a family in and while the demographics will no doubt change again with all the foreclosures over the last year and a half - I think its still a solidly family friendly area to live.