Nice Suburbs of Detroit?

Show all answers

Paul

The upscale suburbs are Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Rochester Hills and other nearby suburbs. Something that may fit you better would be a city like Canton, Novi, or Livonia. These are not as upscale, but are more affordable and a smidge closer to downtown. Depending on where you come from you may find that home prices are very cheap in Michigan so you may be able to afford a condo in a nicer area such as Birmingham.

Someone from DeTrOiT

I have lived in Detroit my whole life. On the outskirts of Detroit there is a nice city called Grosse Pointe,Grosse pointe has very few crimes and has houses up for sale all over the place,starting at 100k-several million. There are many police officers on duty,and many friendly people. If I were you I would consider Detroit,many people make it sound worse than it really is. Good luck

â™¥ Blue

It's funny how people think Detroit is the absolute worst place in the USA. It's sad really. Every city has it's issues. I saw only one person mention Grosse Pointe, I'm not sure why it's often overlooked. It is a short drive to the downtown area. You can make it downtown in less than 30 minutes( non rush hour) a little more during peak hours. A Smart bus can take you there from the Grosse Pointes, cheaper than driving. There are beautiful homes in every price range, great parks, schools and libraries. Crime consists of stolen cement figures from porches, toilet papering, occasional theft from unlocked cars and the usual drunks passing through. Check out my links.

http://www.gpschools.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grosse_Pointe
http://www.beline.com/
http://www.gp.lib.mi.us/

Meg

If you are going to be working at the Renaissance Center (RenCen), which is the GM global headquarters, that is right in the heart of downtown Detroit. The area has gotten much nicer in recent years, and during the day, that area is not much different than in other major cities.

If you are willing to deal with a commute of 30-40 minutes, you have virtually unlimited living possibilities. I live in Livonia, which is hard core suburbia which is about 30 minutes from downtown and I have a few neighbors who work downtown (one who even works at the RenCen for GMAC). Because the job market here is really bad, there are a lot of homes in foreclosure. (Even if you do not want to buy a foreclosed home, it still drives down the price of other real estate.) Metro Detroit has a great expressway system, so it is very easy to get where you need to go.

I would say to try to live no farther west than I-275 (Livonia, Farmington Hills). The area is very nice, but it is farther out from the e-ways.

I would talk to your work about where exactly you would be working and then find a Realtor in the area who can point you in the right direction.

Good luck! :]

bill s

Adam, congrats on the job offer.

This my advice since you didn't say what city the job is located.

Draw a 5 mile radius around your place of business and look within that circle. If you pick Gosse Pointe, but you job is in Livonia, you'll be in the car almost 2 hours a day. Wasting time, effort and gasoline is the surest way to not enjoy life.

You see Adam, your new gig is going to require a lot of extra hours just to get up to speed and learn the ropes. That means your workday is going to be 9 or 10 or 11 hours a day. Add on top of that 2 hours commuting and you get the wonderful specter of 13 hour workdays. Add another hour to wake up and get dressed, another cook and eat ... boom! You'll have 1 hour for tv before getting 8 hrs of sleep.

If you'd like to EDIT your question, and include the location of your job - without revealing the name of the company - then I'll let you know the place where a young guy will fit in.

John D

it's not really that terrible.
Grosse Pointe and St. Claire Shores are both a few miles from the city. Grosse Pointe is expensive but it is really nice. St Clair Shores is cheaper than Grosse Pointe and a little cheaper to livew there.

Rebecca K

Since I don't know exactly where you are working, I would think Oakland/Northern Macomb County would be good places to start. Sterling Heights, Royal Oak, Troy, Clinton Township, Shelby Township, Rochester. Clawson. Note most of these locales are a good 20-30 minute drive from the big D.

The German

I think you need to visit Detroit before you judge the city. This is truly the only way for you to find out what you will like.

If you are young I would live downtown (can drive or walk to work), Royal Oak or Ferndale.

If you want a typical suburb that is a nice place to live and not that far from downtown, the Grosse Pointes, Livonia, or Farmington Hills. If you look at a map there are other cities around these that may make sense as well, but any farther out, you will find yourself in the car more than you want to be. Good 'burbs farther out..........Troy, Rochester Hills, West Bloomfield.

WHO am I ?? and why am I here ?

There are certain areas that's a MUST to stay away from... I live in Beverly Hills ( no not California ) and its about 30 minutes from Detroit .the housings are somewhat expensive ,,the schools are great ( if you have children) and its basically crime free> most Detroit workers live out of the city and do the drive every day. I know a person who drives one hour each way to get to Detroit for work> other areas which are nice are Royal Oak, Troy, ,,Birmingham.
Good Luck,,check the local real estate for property values> I don't know where you are coming from ,,but get ready for some long winters.

jj cullen

I would try the Grosse Pointe area, its a wonderful, family oriented community and a SHORT drive to the downtown area.
I have seen prices as low as 89k
St Clair Shore is nice too,
Royal Oak is further but really nice and has a lot to do

PENDRAGON

Well the first thing I will tell you is, that Detroit is NOT as bad as the media and non Detroit residents make it sound like. Detroit does has its problems, and it does has crime, but as far as the crime, its honestly not as bad as it is made out, and it's actually not as bad as it is in other major cities.

I know for a fact I can worry less about a family member of mine getting killed by some drunk driver who is an illegal immigrant in Detroit then I would worry about in Miami.

As far as suburbs, the best I can offer you in my opinion based on my experience is; Walled Lake, Commerce, West Bloomfield, Redford, Ferndale, Royal Oak, and Birmingham. Also It depends on what your financial status will be. If you want an area that is cheap but safe, I can recommend Walled Lake, Commerce, and Redford.

Any how, when you do get here, I urge you to check out down town Detroit, there won't be much disapointment for you when you do.

And I wish the best of luck to you.

EDIT: Shadow, I'm sorry, but Canton is entirly overrated! Canton is overpopulated with fake high class people with a crappy attitude.

Lizzie B

I'd go straight up 75 - Royal Oak, Clawson, Madison Heights, Troy, Ferndale. Royal Oak and Clawson are in the middle of everything and have great downtowns and great people. They all have easy access to everywhere you want to go and there's not any crime that I know of other than speeding tickets. lol Dad used to work at the Ren Cen (GM building downtown) and didn't have any problem commuting.

Congrats on the job!!!

mah1407

You actually got a couple of options. There are some nice lofts in Detroit that are right in the heart of the city and close to the GM center/ren cen. www.loftsofmerchantsrow.com/ This place has really nice lofts. I also agree with all of the answers for Grosse Pointe. There are 5 of them (Woods, Shores, Park, City of, and Farms.) All are convienietly located about 15-20 minutes away from the city. Detroit also isn't that bad. It's the media hype that makes Detroit so bad. I drive and work Downtown and I have to be at work at 3:00AM and NEVER had a problem. Also, if you keep to yourself and ignore the people that ask for money or say no to them, you will be fine.

DetroiterGuy

The tallest building is the hotel (tallest only-hotel building in the Western Hemisphere), the other four around it are occupied by GM. Check out Royal Oak, Troy, Harper Woods, Birmingham, and Ferndale for straight access to downtown. Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Birmingham all have lively downtowns, but all are good residential wise. Royal Oak has had a growth in condos, fyi.

I know I am a little late but I read your profile and I think Royal Oak, Ferndale or Birmingham would be a nice area if you move to Michigan. Good for the veggies and being younger. It is pretty close to downtown too. A lot of restaurants and shops there also.

<3..

Most people who work in Downtown Detroit don't live in Detroit. What's good about the Metro Detroit area is everything is easy to get to. I lived in Sterling Heights & was going to school at Detroit Mercy & the commute was fine except in rush hour. 75 has tons of construction right now & it would probably take you forever to get to work so look for cities by 94 like Roseville, St. Clair Shores, Harrison Twp, or Mt. Clemens. Anything past Chesterfield Twp would take you 45 minutes to get to Downtown. I love the area I'm in & you should also check some of these cities out - Sterling Heights, Troy, Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills but again.. those are by 75.

The Shadow

I have to disagree with the previous answers. I've lived in the Detroit area for 40+ years and the city definitely deserves its bad reputation. Not all of the city has crime problems. However, the city government is inept, the public schools are a disaster, and taxes are high. There are no major grocery chains operating within the city. The mayor may be in jail before long. There are reasons why the city continues to lose population.

Birmingham, Canton, Plymouth, and Farmington Hills are all nice areas within a reasonable drive.

Superwoman

Detroit is nothing worse than any big city. There is crime everywhere, no where is safe but the media really hypes it up. You'll see for yourself.

I like the downriver area of Detroit. About 20 minutes south of the city are the cities of Trenton, Brownstown, Southgate, Flat Rock, Gibraltor and grosse Ile (very nice, off of a island but pricey).
Or you can go further toward the country setting more in Huron Township (10-15 minutes further), that is a nice area with metro parks around it.
Or you can go about 30-45 minutes North to the cities of Troy, Madison Heights and Rochester Hills. It depends on your likes and how far you want to drive.
I lived in both directions for a time and the worse was when I lived North in Troy, the traffic was horrific but living downriver and traveling less time to the city for work in the early morning is great, definitely better than coming from the other direction.

Good luck!

tracey a

not all of but parts of warren, roseville, st. clair shores are all very close to detroit and very nice places to live.

Nat@49

Check out Royal Oak, Michigan in Oakland County. It's very accessible to downtown Detroit. Loads of new condos, restaurants, and has that "neighborly" touch.

demos_jones

Everything you need to know about Detroit.
http://geocities.com/demos_jones/detroit.html

greenie

GO AS FAR *WEST* AS YOU CAN!!! At least Northville, preferably Novi. I live about 15 miles past Novi. Also out this way are Wixom, South Lyon and Milford, which are all in Livingston County. Livingston County is where I would recommend to anyone moving to this area. Livonia is still relatively safe to move to however in recent years it has lost it's allure. Yes, Canton is overrated, and extremely overcrowded. Redford is not as safe as one would think.

Detroit certainly does deserve its reputation, all one has to do is watch the nightly news to be treated to an array of top stories featuring drive by shootings, assaults and robberies. But I'm not here to argue the point, just simply point out what I've experienced growing up close to the city.

Going north, up 75, will take you right up where there is currently much population growth. And the local crime trend seems to be following that direction.

Check out clickondetroit.com for the local news and check out some stories for yourself, perhaps get a feel for the area before you go condo hunting. Good Luck

The Dude

Pretty much anything outside of Detroit City is nice. Stay about 10 miles outside of the boarder and you will do just fine. Macomb County is middle working class types, Oakland Co. is the 4th richest county in the US and is very expensive (stay away from Pontiac). Macomb and Oakland are North of Detroit, west of Detroit is very wealthy and you have to be careful about south of detroit it's hit and miss down there. If you stay on the North side of Macomb you can't go wrong but avouid the south side of macomb and avoit Mt. Clemens.

Christopher B

Why not stay in mid Michigan or west Michigan. I don't know that many affordable suburbs outside detroit that's okay because I haven't live there... and I always hear bad news about the area. Then I go to other sites and people say the SE part of the state really hurts it. Hopefully the area can improve.

dboyfresh

Your right about crime my family and I went to a lions game and our car got broken into in a parking garage owned by a retired police lieutenant. A very nice suburb with inexpensive houses is Grand Blanc only a 45 minute drive from the city little crime and many gm employees live there

jonascrazy16

Eastpointe! It's great and i don't belive we've had many crimes. It's a nice city and i it's awesome!

goosy719

Try to find a house near by Kid Rock or Eminem....I'm sure they live in nice areas.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: