Relocating from CT to Detroit (Dearborn, Farmington Hills: find a job, schools, casinos)

[UKUKUK]

I'm calm, that post was belligerent to the city I and many others love, completely off-topic, out of place, and called me out because I think things can get done.

[FlyWife]

My family and I will also be moving to Detroit and we have decided on either GP City or Farms. Are there areas/neighborhoods within those two cities which are more desirable. Are there places to avoid due to traffic and noise? We can spend around 400k-500k. Lastly, where I live now there is a county website where I can look up any property and it will give me tax information as well as the last several sale amounts. Does Wayne county have a similar site? I haven't been able to find one.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by FlyWife

My family and I will also be moving to Detroit and we have decided on either GP City or Farms. Are there areas/neighborhoods within those two cities which are more desirable. Are there places to avoid due to traffic and noise? We can spend around 400k-500k. Lastly, where I live now there is a county website where I can look up any property and it will give me tax information as well as the last several sale amounts. Does Wayne county have a similar site? I haven't been able to find one.

400 to 500 K will get you an awfully nice house these days.

GP city and farms are not very big. It is hard to point out one area as better than others, except that being on the waterfront or having a waterview is better and being close to the Detroit border is worse. But it is all pretty nice. A lot depends on what you like. I would only consider an older home (i.e. 1930s or older) so I would mostly consider the old core of the cities to be acceptable. You might like modern junk, or in between houses (i.e. 1940s - 1960s) so you would mostly be looking further out from the city core. I do not usually notice noise so I cannot help much with that. It seems the same everywhere, but then I do not notice noise except when it is absent. (It is amazing how quiet it is out by my Father's house in Lyon Township with no car or aiplane noise at all, no people yelling, pretty much nothing but frogs and crickets and an owl once in a while).

There is a major difference in the high schools if schools matter to you. One is better than the other and I can never remember which, I think it is GP south that is the better one.

There are tax numbers posted on internet listing like Realtor.com, but they always seem to be wildly wrong. You need to contact the local city I think to get tax information. At least for us, it is the township that collects the taxes and has all of the information. County taxes are only part of the picture. Each community votes on various millages for specific things (i.e. we vote to tax ourselves). Thus, you may have local millages for roads, fire protection, schools, bike trails, parks, etc. The county has millages as well. This may include support for colleges, roads, etc. Remarkably, in Michigan, education related millages tend to do pretty well. People here value educaton and are willing to pay for it. We have remarkably good schools and community colleges and universities depiste the horrible economic conditions. (there are exceptions - most Detroit schools are terrible and some suburbs are bad, but most decent suburbs have very good, great or execellent schools).

In looking at taxes keep in mind that we have summer taxes and winter taxes and you have to add the two together. Also it makes a significant difference whetehre there is a homestead declaration fo rthe property. make sure that you get the homestead tax rate. Further keep in mind that taxes can change a bit (up or down) as existing millages expire and are not renewed, or as new millages are approved.


Then there is the Jenny tax. . . . . (let's stay away from politics though).

[Lady Driver]

Detroit is not a good place to think about moving to. It is just as bad as the media reports you've heard.
I have driven close to one million miles in the USA and Detroit has the most blight I've seen out of ALL the major cities I've visited. One does not have to venture off the major interstates to see burned out abandoned buildings.
I would not put my family safety at risk.Moving to suburban Detroit is much safer.
If you are moving here not all suburban cities in Macomb County are all that great like Eastpointe,Roseville,Mt Clemens,Fraser,New Haven, & Warren.
The Grosse Pointes(Wayne County) are nice just make sure you are not on the Detroit boarder. The taxes are high in the GP'S. If you want to live on Lake St Clair, Harrison Twp followed by St Clair Shores(both in Macomb County) have lower taxes and are nice places to live.
I think that buying lake front property would be a great investment (if you are planning to stay about ten years) at this time since the economy around here is so depressed and the prices reflect that.
I've lived in the Detroit area for 48 years and I'm sure some people my disagree with this post but I'm am just giving my opinion.

[UKUKUK]

Your willingness to cower in fear is exactly why Detroit fell to the level it did.

[hockeywidow]

Originally Posted by FlyWife

My family and I will also be moving to Detroit and we have decided on either GP City or Farms. Are there areas/neighborhoods within those two cities which are more desirable. Are there places to avoid due to traffic and noise? We can spend around 400k-500k. Lastly, where I live now there is a county website where I can look up any property and it will give me tax information as well as the last several sale amounts. Does Wayne county have a similar site? I haven't been able to find one.

Hi FlyWife! I've been looking at the websites for each of the individual Pointes for research. I am pretty sure each lists its mill rate there. My husband spent a little time driving around the Pointes and got a great feel for GPP.

Best of luck with your move! Everyone I have spoken with in Michigan so far has been super nice and very helpful.

[gobluegoblue]

Don't know if you have heard of Allen Park, but there are areas that are really beautiful and quiet. Several Catholic schools (Cabrini, Christ the Good Shepherd) and Churches in Allen Park. Best area is between Goddard & Wick / Allen & Maylawn. Best of Luck to you. Welcome to Michigan. We love it here.

[gobluegoblue]

Also, check out the Ann Arbor Area...it is just glorious. It has the most diversity, best culture and best restaurants on Main Street. The best areas of Ann Arbor are near Kerrytown for cafe/city living with a beautiful old home...but there are some amazing house by the water (Geddes) as well. It is a little pricey, but totally worth it. Happy Moving.

[From glasgow]

Originally Posted by hockeywidow

UKUKUK, my husband had breakfast today and Angelo's and loved it!!

Looks like we'll be moving to Grosse Pointe Park. He totally fell in love with the community.

Now the house hunt begins!

Hi Hockeywidow
I am following your thread closely as we are moving to Detroit as well in possibly January from United Kingdom.I have just started my own thread but the context is similar to you .Let us know how you get on with house and school hunt in GPP.So far I have set my mind on Pointes esp GPP.My kid needs special education so I am keeping my ears close to the ground or gluing my eyes close to my PC rather.Good Luck.

[hockeywidow]

Hi everyone! Sorry to have been MIA but things have been busy here to say the least. We have a buyer for our house, closing in a few weeks, and my husband has been in Ann Arbor for two months already.

Next week we move to GPP!

We've decided to rent for the first year to get the lay of the land and not rush into a home purchase. The house we are renting has twice the sq footage of our home in CT for the same price.

In addition to great public and private schools (our older daughter will attend public school), we found that The Pointes have a charm, character and history that is lacking in the Oakland County towns we visited.

Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts and opinions on this thread. Your input was immensely helpful!

I am so excited for this move. And I am very happy that we'll be close to Detroit. If more people don't begin to populate and patronize the downtown area, how can it be revitalized? My husband has his season tickets for the Red Wings already!

Now the next big question--where do we eat in Mexicantown? I've got a few Greektown rec's. I know we should go to Dearborne for middle eastern, and I'd love to find good, homemade periogies.

From Glasgow, best of luck! I think you will find The Grosse Pointes a bit more interesting in terms of architecture than some the newer towns. I've had several people here in CT (just outside NYC) say this is the only area to consider in the Detroit metro.