[okaydorothy]

Hi there
We are thinking about relocating from NY within the next year. I did notice that my dh''s company has job openings in Troy. Any opinions on Troy? schools, jobs, housing etc.

We are a family of two children (12, 10) origianally came from ireland and have lived in NY for 25 years. Its time for a change for us. We would be looking for a house close to a downtown area, spending no more than 300,000 and some character. No cookie cutters for us anymore

Thanks
d

[scolls]

Troy is the exact opposite of what you are looking for. No downtown and mostly suburban. Royal Oak is close by and has probably the best downtown outside of downtown Detroit. I recommend Huntington Woods though. It borders downtown Royal Oak and is great for families. There are plenty of houses in your price range and they are mostly 1950's brick houses. It's in Berkley schools which are pretty good. It's a small city and while it has no downtown, it's literally walking distance from Royal Oak. Huntington Woods also has resident only parks and a community center that offers a pool, tennis courts, basketball courts etc. The good thing about it being so small is no matter where you are, you don't have to walk across a main road to get to any of the parks or recreation center and they are within walking distance of every house. Downtown Royal Oak is about a mile east of the city. You are also between Ferndale and Birmingham which have nice downtowns. You are situated near the 75/696 interchange so you have easy access to Troy and downtown Detroit.

[uswith6]

The Troy school district is very good.

[sk84thegold]

Troy doesn't have a downtown but their schools are very good. There's a mix of new and old homes and their cheaper. Birmingham and Royal Oak have downtowns with older homes. Birmingham has the better schools but is more expensive. Personally I wouldn't go for Huntington Woods as Berkley's high school seems to have drug problems (not sure about the middle schools); drug dogs having to come in, kids coming back from lunch high, kids talking openly about doing and dealing 2 feet away from the teacher. I'd go to realtor.com and check out the homes in your price range for whether or not they are "cookie-cutter". Then look up the address on google maps and do a street view with the little orange guy, and see if its the type of area you want to live in.
I can tell you that Troy has strip malls on many corners and both Somerset and Oakland malls. They also have a lot of neighborhood parks, along with a community center and water park. Birmingham is right next to Troy. Royal Oak is the farthest and its downtown is geared more towards young adults than families imo.

[us66]

Birmingham at $300K is likely an option, depending on how close to downtown you want to be...I'd tell you to look at the city of Rochester as well. The city of Rochester Hills (surrounds city of Rochester on three sides) is basically Troy with more trees, a bit more snow, and some undulations in the roadway we call hills. $300K will go fairly far in Rochester (city) as long as you don't want a mansion.
Plymouth and Northville are nice but too far. Romeo (NNE of Troy, but in Macomb County) is a bit far, has an actual downtown, but feels a bit rural. Farmington (not Farmington Hills) might also work, but the commute isn't so nice.

Take a look at Franklin, SW of Birmingham. There isn't much of a downtown, but it has arguably the best cider mill in SE MI, is quite upscale, and feels amazingly quaint for being so close into the city. $300K might get you in there.

Grosse Pointe (actually, there's five of them) would be perfect too, and $300K goes a long way there nowadays. The commute wouldn't be fun, but it certainly is doable and is done by many.

[DaniellaG]

I think Birmingham would for what you are looking for. A cute downtown with shops,restaurants,park,library. Homes that are not cookie cutter type and very good school system. Your husbands job is not far away either.