Plymouth/Northville - just small towns within proximity to Detroit/Ann Arbor...or MORE? (Grosse Pointe: apartments)

[Tiger Beer]

Northville & Plymouth....are they just small towns, much like anywhere else that are within proximity to Ann Arbor & Detroit....or are there more to them?

[usroute10]

Northville and Plymouth are both older small towns that predate the sprawl suburbs that surrond them. The history of Plymouth revolves around some railroad running through it. I am unsure of the history of the Northville.

They both are VERY, VERY affluent, wealth, well-kept communities. They have quaint and clean downtown/main street areas, surrounded by charming and extremely well-kept neighborhoods of older homes on generous-sized lots, surrounded by massive suburban sprawl.

Plymouth's downtown is bigger and has a very functional public square right in the middle of its downtown that really adds to the charm. The public schools are very top-notch, and are probably the best in the county besides Grosse Pointes. I have only been through the city of Northville once, but it is a well-to-do community and great schools, similar to Plymouth. They are top-notch places for families.

[metromotown]

Northville is a beautiful, very rich, white, and hilly town. Great downtown. Also has one of the best school districts in the state. Expensive, though. Plymouth is beautiful too with a pretty good school district.

[Pat.C]

Dont' know if I'm mis-reading this, but there seems to be something of a minor Plymouth-versus-Northville rivalry in social status stuff. Both are mostly white, affluent (Northville is a little richer than Plymouth), good schools, and hit all of the "quality of life" measurements you're likely to see in "Money" or "Forbes" or some other mag like that. For me, Northville is a little "snootier" - or maybe that's "snottier" - than Plymouth. Plymouth has more mixed-income neighborhoods where you'll see duplexes for rent on a street of otherwise $200-$400,000 single-family houses. There's also "Lower Town" or "Old Town" Plymouth, which is literally on the other side of the tracks and boasts a bit more afforable rental apartments and houses, and a few more funky bars and restaurants with live music and a more eclectic crowd. Both towns are very walkable, with a lot of services within a few blocks, but both lack grocery stores within walking distance of the old neighborhoods. As an earlier poster said, Plymouth has an active, fully-functioning, always-busy downtown square with farmers' market, concerts, ice sculpture show, and all kinds of other events year-round. Having lived within about three blocks of the square until we moved last year, Plymouth "wins" IMHO for that reason