Detroit suburbs - southwest/west (Southfield, Livonia, Farmington) (Warren, Farmington Hills: best city, how much)

[St Starseed]

Greetings all,
Hope the weather is great where you are.

If any kind souls might be willing to provide their opinions on this topic, I'd certainly appreciate it.

My wife and I are moving back to Michigan after about seven years in other states. I grew up in Warren, just outside of Detroit, so I am familiar with the general characteristics of the area and region (weather, traffic patterns, highways, demographics, home prices, etc.).

But I'm not particularly familiar with the western suburbs. We have not yet settled on what might be the best city to live in, but we are definitely set on the western suburbs, as I will be working in Farmington, and she will also be working close by.

My question then...of the cities out that way...Southfield, Novi, Plymouth, Livonia, and everything inside that general square...do you know what the best is...I'm thinking in terms of parkland, public library, road upkeep, non-highway rush hour traffic...? A neat downtown, which I know Plymouth has, would be a plus. Just sort of the general day-to-day living, if that makes sense.

(We're a little spoiled where we are now...Naperville, IL...with its amazing libraries and serious parkland...but we certainly pay for it...one of the reasons we're coming back home.)

Thanks to all!

[detroitMi]

you should move to Farmington , thats a real nice area to live in

[renter8319]

farmington is nice, i personally prefer novi, but if you have time there are many nice areas over there, southfield is a bit more industrialized. places like royal oak are still very close as well.

[Cato the Elder]

Hmm, closest thing to Naperville in the area would be Plymouth, Milford, Birmingham, and Royal Oak. If you don't mind rural, Franklin is a beautiful area, as I'm sure you know.

[sike0000]

I am partial to the western suburbs, Novi, northville, plymouth etc. I especially like Northville's and Plymouths downtown areas but refuse to pay the price for a home there.

Traffic, you are pretty much in trouble wherever you go. I guess it depends on where you chose to live. But Farmington isn't a bad drive if you live in the western suburbs. I live down near the airport and can make it to farmington in half an hour at peak rush hour.

Road conditions. I don't think they fix roads here I have to quit buying black cars so the thousands of paint chips don't show so bad

To be honest the western suburbs are very congested, at least to me (of course so is most of the detroit area IMHO much like any big city). Doesn't matter if its 12 noon, rush hour, or the weekend. Too many people, and roads that were just never set up for this much traffic. But that doesn't bother me too much if I am close to shopping, entertainment, work, etc.

[Coldjensens]

Plymouth and Northville are the nicest. Northville has Maybury park which is a very nice large state park on 8 mile and Beck roads. (It used ot be a T.B. Sanitarium in the way old days). They also have a really nice sports park/playground acrosse 8 mile and down a bit.


Milford is near Kensington Metropark - one of the nicest parks anywhere.

[DaniellaG]

How much are you looking to spend? Are you married with kids? Where is your job? I grew up in Oakland County and lived in West Bloomfield/Famington Hills mostly. If you have kids I think Birmingham schools are one of the best. If you like downtown areas Birmingham has a cute one as well and nice libraries near by. Northville also has a cute town feel. I just had issues with Novi/Northville becuase I am sensitive to noise and there are a lot of trains. With M-5 commutes are a lot easier. I think Southfield is not one of the best places to pick but that is just my thoughts. Some parts are not very safe and some parts off Telegraph are very congested from all the offices.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by St Starseed

Greetings all,
Hope the weather is great where you are.

If any kind souls might be willing to provide their opinions on this topic, I'd certainly appreciate it.

My wife and I are moving back to Michigan after about seven years in other states. I grew up in Warren, just outside of Detroit, so I am familiar with the general characteristics of the area and region (weather, traffic patterns, highways, demographics, home prices, etc.).

But I'm not particularly familiar with the western suburbs. We have not yet settled on what might be the best city to live in, but we are definitely set on the western suburbs, as I will be working in Farmington, and she will also be working close by.

My question then...of the cities out that way...Southfield, Novi, Plymouth, Livonia, and everything inside that general square...do you know what the best is...I'm thinking in terms of parkland, public library, road upkeep, non-highway rush hour traffic...? A neat downtown, which I know Plymouth has, would be a plus. Just sort of the general day-to-day living, if that makes sense.

(We're a little spoiled where we are now...Naperville, IL...with its amazing libraries and serious parkland...but we certainly pay for it...one of the reasons we're coming back home.)

Thanks to all!

My pick would be Plymouth. Great schools and I love their downtown. I hear Farmington schools are pretty good too. Novi/Northville also has great schools but I don't know anything about their downtown if they even have one. You have lots of good places on your list.

[Bhaalspawn]

Farmington Hills/Farmington can offer you housing at just about any price range you want as a result of the housing slump. Overall, Farmington Hills is a slightly upper middle class city. West Bloomfield, Novi, and the Lakes Country are also nice and more upscale. Livonia would also work but it's in Wayne County (and thus tied to Detroit) and isn't as upscale as Farmington Hills.

As for Southfield...what can I say...it suffered from a huge white flight about two-and-a-half decades ago and the schools aren't so good anymore and it borders Detroit and it might not be all that safe in some areas now. I recommend avoiding it if you can.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by sike0000

I especially like Northville's and Plymouths downtown areas but refuse to pay the price for a home there.

What kind of prices are there? Thinking of a 2BDRM or 3BDRM.

Are they significantly more than say Royal Oak?