Help is much appreciated (Detroit, Warren: apartment, renting, low crime)

[ATLtoMI]

My wife, our newborn baby girl and I are about to move to MI this spring. My job will be in Brighton, MI and we have NO clue where to start looking for our relocation.
Here in Atlanta, we live right outside of a young and trendy neighborhood and since I am used to drive for at least 45min anywhere in the city, I also don't mind a commute to Brighton.

We would like to have a SAFE, friendly neighborhood with affordable housing (around 250,000), a small yard and good schools. If the neighborhood is very walkable and has nice playgrounds close by, we would also be ok with renting an apartment.

Lastly, our little girl does need extra attention from a lot of specialists and therefore access to great hospitals would be much appreciated (reachable within 40min).

Thanks so much for your help!!

Mike

[canudigit]

Sounds like Ann Arbor or Saline would be good places to start looking, because they are great towns with very close proximity to the University of Michigan hospitals (which are actually in Ann Arbor), some of the best in the country. Ann Arbor has a younger, hip vibe with many great walkable neighborhoods in town, but it may be a bit pricey right in the city. If you looked in one of the many newer subdivisions on the edge of town, you could find a nice house for $250,000. Ann Arbor is a wonderful city with lots to do, one of the most well-respected universities in the country, and a place on many "best place to live" lists.

Saline is a very nice, safe, charming, family-oriented town too, and again, with many subdivisions where I think you could find a house in your price range. It is only a few minutes south of Ann Arbor so you would still be close to the U of M medical facilities. Both towns are easily accessible via US23, so the commute to Brighton wouldn't be bad at all. Saline has good schools and a lot of young families like yours.

In Ann Arbor, you would be maybe ten min. from U of M medical facilities at the most, and in Saline maybe 20 min. Ann Arbor is about 20-25 min. from Brighton, and Saline is closer to 35-40 min. from there.

There are also some very nice towns in Oakland County, just east of Brighton, but I am not as familiar with that area, so hopefully someone else on this forum can suggest a nice place there that would fit your needs. You would still be close enough to U of M hospitals, but also within a reasonable distance of some of the great hospitals and specialists in the Detroit area. Oakland County is a lovely, semi-rural area with a lot of small lakes. I would guess that the commute to Brighton would be around half an hour or so.

You will be, I think, very pleasantly surprised at how safe and lovely many of the outlying areas of the metro Detroit area are. Detroit has some amazing, gorgeous, and extremely safe suburbs, some of which are home to celebrities and professional athletes and contain multi-million dollar homes, and some of which are just great places to live and raise a family. Even the city of Detroit itself isn't all bad. It has a nice downtown with lots of things to do and some great theaters, museums, sports venues, upscale hotels, etc. The positives never seem to make the national news headlines, but they are there. Personally, I think Detroit is a lot of fun.

Welcome to Michigan!

[ATLtoMI]

Thank you so much for your reply! I am really looking forward to our move! I hope that people won't mind me keeping my allegiance to the Braves though!

Thanks again for your advice and now I know where to start looking!

[MICoastieMom]

First thing you need to do when you get here is to buy a Red Wings jersey!

Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak is pretty highly rated and wouldn't be too far if you want to locate in western Oakland county. Welcome to Michigan.

[canudigit]

Originally Posted by ATLtoMI

Thank you so much for your reply! I am really looking forward to our move! I hope that people won't mind me keeping my allegiance to the Braves though!

Thanks again for your advice and now I know where to start looking!

No problem, the Braves are in the National League, so you won't have a conflict of interest if you attend a Tigers game or two.

Seriously, if you are a baseball fan, Comerica Park is an absolutely gorgeous facility, so I hope you do manage to make it to a game or two there. I heard on the news the other day that the Tiges might be getting Johnny Damon, not sure what happened with that, if anything yet. If he does come, between having him and Mags Ordonez, get your tickets early, because those of us here in SE Michigan love our Tigers!!!

ETA: I am still mourning the Braves' loss of Marcus Giles. He may not have been a big time superstar like Chipper, but he was quick, scrappy, and oh so cute, and my all time favorite Brave. We attended opening day at Turner Field in 2005 and between seeing Marcus and Bobby Cox in person, it was one of the high points of the year for me. Oh yeah, and former President Carter and Rosalynn were there too, seated right behind home plate. Good times!!!

[Bydand]

Agreed that a Tigers game or two is a must. Don't worry about your continued mis-placed backing of the Braves (sorry, I had to add that ), my Father has been a Braves fan for decades, as well as a Tigers fan. I went down to Comerica Park for the first time last Summer, and will be back every year from now on at least once. What a great ballpark, I wasn't expecting it to feel so good actually, but instead to feel like one of those new "sterile" ballparks. Instead it has an "old" feel to it, combined with all the new amenities.

[ATLtoMI]

Since both teams are most likely not to face each other in the world championship any time soon, I think I should be ok enjoying the Tigers without selling out my soul

[Northsider 248]

Sorry to tell you, but Northville's really one of the closest places you'd be able to get to Brighton without having a long commute. If you don't mind 30 minutes +, though:

- Livonia (38 minutes, upper middle class, good schools, very suburban)
- Berkley (39 minutes, lower-mid/mid class, urban downtown, good access to Woodward Ave.)
- Hazel Park (41 minutes, suits all middle class [upper/lower], small-townish, on the corner of all 3 major counties, good access to I-75/I-696/M-102)
- Warren (43-48 minutes, suits all middle class [upper/lower], very suburban and spread out, low crime)
- Troy (52 minutes, suits all middle class [upper/lower], very suburban and affluent, many large houses and wooded areas)

[Coldjensens]

Brighton is just Fine. You would probably like living there. It is a little bland, mostly subdivisions and strip malls, but it is nice enough for that kind of thing. Schools are farily good.

Looking south towards Ann Arbor you can consider Pinkney, Hell, Ann Arbor Townsip, Green Oaks Township (on a lake usually). Various school distrcits, Most good.

Slightly East and South is South Lyon a pretty neat little town with some old fashioned charm. Very good schools.

Salem is a small villiage just outside Ann Arbor/South Lyon. I am pretty sure that Salem is still South Lyon Schools.

Milford is a quaint town and has Kensington Metropark, the king of the metropark system and a really wonderful park. (You may not want to visit Kensington in nice weather, if you do, you will nto want to live anywhere but right outside of Kensington). Milford's schools are pretty good. You can also live on the West side of Kensington (Brighton Township maybe?).

Anywhere along the US 23 corridor south of Brighton will be good for you. You may want ot stay within 10 of so miles of the 23 so you do nto end up driving too much. This area is a short hop from Ann Arbor and all of their medical facilities, cultural activities etc. You are also a short hop from Brighton. For example, much of South Lyon/Lyon Township is about 20 minites to Brighton and 20 minutes to Ann Arbor.

Dexter is a really neat little town with very good schools too, but that is getting a bit far from Brighton.

Northville is quaint and has execellent schools, but it is pretty built out, very yuppified and expensive. It is getting a bit far away too.

Saline is too far away IMO. I would not live that far from work.

If you start getting into a longer commute idea, look at Chelsea (wonderful town in every way) or even Grass Lake (tiny villiage - friendly, but schools not too great). Chelsea is one of the neatest towns in S.E. Michigan IMO.

You have a lot of great options. Just take your time and do nto jump at the first place that appeals to you. Check out the options. Many many great choices. That is what makes S.E. Michigan different from most places, there is not just one place that is the place to be. There are dozens of really terrific communities. Just remember, if you buy, you are staying there. Selling a house here can take years. Choose carefully.

Crime is not really a significant problem in these areas.

All of these places meet your criteria:

We would like to have a SAFE, friendly neighborhood with affordable housing (around 250,000), a small yard and good schools. If the neighborhood is very walkable and has nice playgrounds close by, we would also be ok with renting an apartment.

Lastly, our little girl does need extra attention from a lot of specialists and therefore access to great hospitals would be much appreciated (reachable within 40min).

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by [JS]

Sorry to tell you, but Northville's really one of the closest places you'd be able to get to Brighton without having a long commute. If you don't mind 30 minutes +, though:

- Livonia (38 minutes, upper middle class, good schools, very suburban)
- Berkley (39 minutes, lower-mid/mid class, urban downtown, good access to Woodward Ave.)
- Hazel Park (41 minutes, suits all middle class [upper/lower], small-townish, on the corner of all 3 major counties, good access to I-75/I-696/M-102)
- Warren (43-48 minutes, suits all middle class [upper/lower], very suburban and spread out, low crime)
- Troy (52 minutes, suits all middle class [upper/lower], very suburban and affluent, many large houses and wooded areas)

I do not understand these suggestions.

I am not sure why you would drive into any of these more crowded places close to Detroit and far from Brighton when there are loads of communities closer to Brighton that are less crowded, lower crime, equal or better schools, and close to Ann Arbor with its remarkable array of medical facilities. The places listed above are all pretty much places where you lock your doors when you leave your house. Why woudl the OP drive into all of that traffic congestion, proximity to crime, in many cases poor schools and then commute 45 minutes of more to Brighton (on a good weather day)?

Lots of places are closer to Brighton than Northville. Brighton for example is really close to Brighton.