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Old 05-28-2010, 07:30 PM
 
14 posts, read 39,818 times
Reputation: 10

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Need some help finding a safe area for families with children. Moving from California to work in Pontiac. Been looking at Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Troy but not sure where the best place is to choose. Read some information about elementary schools being pretty good in Auburn Hills. Can anyone please make any recommendations on choice places? Thanks!
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Old 05-28-2010, 07:44 PM
 
Location: Royal Oak, MI
333 posts, read 1,150,414 times
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Do not move to Pontiac. Their motto should be "If you buy a house here, you will regret it." When you start working in Pontiac, you should easily be able to see what I'm talking about. Auburn Hills is alot nicer, but it's in the proximity and it does infact have it's problems. Bloomfield Hills may be nice, but don't expect to buy a house for under $600,000 there. Your best bet in my opinion from what you listed would be the I-75 & Coolidge neighborhood in Troy.

Pontiac's very bad, Auburn Hills is a little suggestive, and Bloomfield Hills is very expensive. Troy, you'll pay a pretty penny for your house but it's in the proximity of Auburn Hills schools if that is a priority, and the crime rate is low.
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Old 05-28-2010, 08:03 PM
 
Location: The Lakes
2,368 posts, read 5,089,497 times
Reputation: 1141
Pontiac can be a bit bad in places, but Auburn Hills isn't bad at all. A lot of people (stupidly) tend to think of working class neighborhoods in the outer 'burbs as "bad"
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Old 05-28-2010, 10:48 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,707 posts, read 79,493,954 times
Reputation: 39441
Rochester is really neat, or if you like modern subdivisions and mcMansions then Rochester Hills. Great schools, Downtown Rochester is really neat.

Pontiac once had its day and was a really neat CIty. Now much of it is where you live when you cannot afford to live elsehwere.
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Old 05-29-2010, 07:49 AM
 
Location: Detroit's Marina District
970 posts, read 2,959,648 times
Reputation: 400
I go to Pontiac A LOT. However, I would never live there. Areas of it are really run down, and has one of the higher crime rates in Michigan. Troy's going to be your best. It's safe, the people are friendly, and there are some very nice homes. Also, you'll be surprised about how short the commute to Pontiac is.
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Old 05-29-2010, 03:00 PM
 
5 posts, read 21,837 times
Reputation: 10
I used to live in Bloomfield Hills and the school are nationally ranked. It's also very scenic with large yards and big trees.

Pontiac is losing it police force to the state and is a mess. Auburn Hills was originally called "Pontiac Township" (until it became a "city") and has similar problems to Pontiac. Troy is a "nice" suburb. 20 years ago it was a factory worker town but has moved itself up scale quite a bit as a suburb.

Houses are going dirt cheap in Michigan now. For the money? Bloomfield Hills is an easy pick.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mike987 View Post
Need some help finding a safe area for families with children. Moving from California to work in Pontiac. Been looking at Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Troy but not sure where the best place is to choose. Read some information about elementary schools being pretty good in Auburn Hills. Can anyone please make any recommendations on choice places? Thanks!
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Old 05-30-2010, 09:28 PM
 
9 posts, read 20,921 times
Reputation: 15
Troy is a nice area with reasonable prices on houses, Bloomfield Hills is also very nice, however it is very costly, Birmingham has a very nice downtown shopping area however it's a also expensive, Rochester Hills and Auburn Hills are cheaper but also pretty nice...

But generally those cities are the nicest in the in Metro Detroit area...
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Old 05-31-2010, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Royal Oak, MI
333 posts, read 1,150,414 times
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If you're going to work in Pontiac, I strongly suggest Beverly Hills. It's not very expensive (relatively), it has good community resources, and it's in proximity. The roads definitely need some time to get used to (I was in BH today and ended up in Bingham Farms, trying to get back to Royal Oak), but it's really a bargain - $350,000-ish houses.

It's only about 15 minutes from Pontiac via Woodward and it honestly doesn't have any problems besides the roads. The roads are narrow, but manageable if you know the area.
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Old 06-01-2010, 12:20 PM
 
3 posts, read 7,543 times
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Im from california originally.

I liver in auburn hills and do not like it. It's got a corporate feel; an outlet mall, fast food, and lots of very boring subdivisions. If you aren't into art or culture, then it might be OK for you. I don't know much about the schools in this area. My favorite areas nearby are rochester and downtown rochester hills. They are known for good schools over in rochester also. There are many more well developed neighborhoods over there too. The neighbors seemed friendlier also. Much more charm and culture and history.

Stay away from pontiac. There are very few decent neighborhoods, and to get to them you have to drive through bad areas in my experience. I volunteer in pontiac once a week and will never move there.
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Old 06-01-2010, 01:15 PM
 
54 posts, read 155,144 times
Reputation: 95
What is your budget for rent/buying?

Overall Rochester/Rochester hills is probably your best bet, it's safe, has good schools, a reasonable cost of living and has a charming little downtown and easy access to Pontiac.

Troy, Birmingham, Bloomfield hills/twp are also good but more expensive. I think all of these areas have schools ranked at least as high (probably higher actually) than Auburn Hills. Also I agree w/the above poster in that AH is mainly national chain stores/bix box stores if that matters to you either way.
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