newbie here, please tell me if these areas are safe? Livonia, Garden City, Dearborn Heights, Westland, Canton? (Detroit: rent, condos)

Apollonewton · 03-13-2010, 01:05 AM

First, thank you for reading my post

I understand that my question is very broad, but google map is all I got as I know nothing more about Michigan. So, this makes my relocation to "Detroit" that much harder.

Since everyone has been saying Detroit is a bad neighborhood, I would like to stay as far away from there as possible. Also, 1/2 of my work will be near Garden City, so I figure I'd like to to find a place near there to shorten the commute. I'll take the pain and commute to Detroit whenever I have to do so.

Livonia, Garden City, Dearborn Heights, Westland, and Canton came up on my search, but I do not know anything else about these neighborhoods (crime rate, restaurant, upper class vs middle class? etc)

I'm willing to buy if the price is reasonable (75K to 150K) or rent (1000/mo) if that's the safer option. I'm married with no kids, so school district is not important. A 2/2 (w/ garage) house or condo is all we really need.

In the past, I usually base the safety of the neighborhoods on the price of the properties. But now, with the housing market condition, this method is no longer accurate. A quick search in any given neighborhood can yield houses from 20K to 200K???!! How is that possible when these properties are next to each other?

So yea, i'm just shooting this post out there and hopefully someone can give me some more insightful info to help me out. Thank you in advance!

Bondurant · 03-13-2010, 02:52 AM

All of the towns you listed are fine. I've had/have family in all but Livonia.

canudigit · 03-13-2010, 04:34 AM

Canton has a very suburban feel to it and has a lot of shopping along Ford Rd. There are a lot of newer subdivisions and I'm sure there are a lot of condos if you know where to look. Westland has some gorgeous condos on, I think, Central City Parkway, not far off of Ford Rd. and a stone's throw from all of the shopping in Canton. I have heard good things about Livonia in terms of being safe and family friendly. I don't know much about Garden City or Dearborn Heights but I have never heard anything bad about them, I just know that they are a little closer in to the inner suburbs and Detroit.

zthatzmanz28 · 03-13-2010, 04:50 AM

Parts of the Heights are rough. Avoid the area around the south end of the Heights along Beech Daly from Van Born to Michigan Ave. Also look closely at the area that lies between Inkster and Telegraph between Van Born and Michigan. Closer to Telegraph gets a little nicer as does north of Michigan.

Westland has a few areas to avoid as well.

Do not worry about Livonia (wonder bread) as the budget will keep you from moving in there (90% of the city anyways) I have heard there are properties around Livonia that can be had for around $100K.

You are right that "safety" could be judged by prices in the past. You can still get a handle on this by looking at the SEV tax as that has not dropped on most properties.

A HIGH SEV TAX will probably be in a "safer" area. A friend recently bought a house in the STATES area of Livonia (between Merriman and Farmington north of Joy Road) for $80K but still has taxes based on $140-$160K value.

There is an area of Westland that has access to Livonia schools and that may be the way to go if schools are important.

Same goes for Garden City. More "nice" areas than bad.

Canton may also be outside your budget as well. Though there is a newer IKEA in Canton that many folks seem to love.

Apollonewton · 03-13-2010, 09:21 AM

Thank you so much for your replies.

I guess the next best thing for me to do is to look up a few properties in each location and fly in to check it out. I still have a lot of time so it's no rush. Part of me want to push forward so I can take advantage of the 8K Obama tax cut thing. But, I rather take my time and find a place at a good and safe location.

Good call on the SEV TAX, I haven't taken that in consideration yet, but I think I should from now on. I read a few post on here about the property tax system in Michigan. Sounds complicated, but I'll take my time on learning it.

As you can already tell, I'm a first time home buyer

So I do apologize for the silly and simple questions I may be posting in the near future.

What else should I consider when buying a home in these area? BTW, i have never lived in the snow before

Dexterguy · 03-13-2010, 09:45 AM

Not that I have anything at all against the other cities, but if I were to purchase a house in the cities that you are interested in I would choose between Livonia or Canton.

Dearborn Heights, as another poster pointed out, has some rough areas to avoid. Dearborn Heights also has an older housing stock, which means more repairs and problems will probably occur with those houses. Westland, as well as Garden City also have a relatively old housing stock (pre WWII), so you may have more problems with those houses than others. I know that there are some houses in Westland that were built in the late 1960's and some even newer than that.

scolls · 03-13-2010, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Parts of the Heights are rough. Avoid the area around the south end of the Heights along Beech Daly from Van Born to Michigan Ave. Also look closely at the area that lies between Inkster and Telegraph between Van Born and Michigan. Closer to Telegraph gets a little nicer as does north of Michigan.

Westland has a few areas to avoid as well.

Do not worry about Livonia (wonder bread) as the budget will keep you from moving in there (90% of the city anyways) I have heard there are properties around Livonia that can be had for around $100K.

You are right that "safety" could be judged by prices in the past. You can still get a handle on this by looking at the SEV tax as that has not dropped on most properties.

A HIGH SEV TAX will probably be in a "safer" area. A friend recently bought a house in the STATES area of Livonia (between Merriman and Farmington north of Joy Road) for $80K but still has taxes based on $140-$160K value.

There is an area of Westland that has access to Livonia schools and that may be the way to go if schools are important.

Same goes for Garden City. More "nice" areas than bad.

Canton may also be outside your budget as well. Though there is a newer IKEA in Canton that many folks seem to love.

My SEV is 71k. I'm safe

JGatti · 03-13-2010, 10:47 AM

I would look for a Condo not in any of the mentioned cities but a tad further into Plymouth, or maybe even in Northville. I just did a search and there are even some small homes in the area's. Personally I think Plymouth is much nicer than any of the cities you have listed and has a really nice downtown area that would be perfect for a young married couple.

Apollonewton · 03-13-2010, 07:14 PM

yea, we are considering condos as well. It's just that a house with a small back yard for the dog would be nice

irongrl · 03-13-2010, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JGatti

I would look for a Condo not in any of the mentioned cities but a tad further into Plymouth, or maybe even in Northville. I just did a search and there are even some small homes in the area's. Personally I think Plymouth is much nicer than any of the cities you have listed and has a really nice downtown area that would be perfect for a young married couple.

I would recommend Plymouth over Livonia or Canton. It is very nice and worth driving a little further. My husband works in Dearborn, and the commute is not that bad.