Ann Arbor vs Ypsilanti (near Ann Arbor) (Saline, Chelsea: crime, house)

[nerak74]

We are moving from California to Ann Arbor (husband will be working at U Of Mich hospital) and we are looking for a place to live in Ann Arbor or surrounding areas. It looks like from the forum posts that there are pockets in Ypsilanti that we should avoid. How about the area adjacent to Ann Arbor? Are those areas safe?
How important is it to have a basement in the house? How often do you get tornadoes?

[canudigit]

Just my $.02, since I don't live in Ann Arbor but I do commute to work there, I would stay away from Ypsilanti in general and focus on either Ann Arbor or Saline. There are parts of Ypsi near AA that aren't bad, but they are a bit too close for comfort, IMHO, to the undesirable parts of Ypsi. AA is safer, and Saline is very safe, especially if you have kids in school and want a family friendly environment.

We don't get a lot of tornadoes, definitely not as many as they do in the Southeast, but we get one now and then. In the village where I live, a tornado blew through last summer and did millions of dollars in damage. Miraculously, no one was killed, though. I prefer having a basement, it just makes me feel safer. However, it's not like we get tornadoes every year, or even every couple of years. We have way more tornado watches than we do tornado warnings.

[MI-Roger]

I've lived in the Ypsilanti community for over 30 years with no problems. Sure; there are parts of the city and township where I would not live, but nearly every town/city has these. And the undesirable parts can be immediately identified by visual observation only.

Ypsilanti haters tend to fall into one of three categories:

1. Have never lived here
2. Haven't lived in Ypsilanti for over a decade and are still boasting to all their old neighbors regarding their new town
3. Only lived in student housing while enrolled at EMU and are still angry they weren't accepted at U of M.

[nerak74]

How about Pittsfield?

[canudigit]

Pittsfield is a township, not an actual town, so if you moved there you would have either an Ann Arbor or a Saline address and there is no actual downtown Pittsfield or anything. Pittsfield Twp. is a very nice area for the most part, especially the farther west you go. It's safe, there are a lot of nice subdivisions, and it's convenient to the university and its amenities and convenient to shopping, since AA's one mall, Briarwood, is either in Pittsfield Twp. or extremely close, and there are also stores like Target, Borders, Best Buy, etc. in the AA part of the township and a Walmart just down the road in Saline. If I ever moved to the AA area, I would probably move to Pittsfield Twp. Here is their website, HTH:

Home :: Pittsfield Charter Township, Michigan

BTW, I didn't mean to come across as an Ypsilanti hater, it's just that I have seen enough of the rough side of Ypsi when I was a home hospice nurse in the area to know that, while Ypsi has its nicer areas, a great historical district, and a pretty cool downtown, AA is just more uniformly safe and desirable. No, I haven't lived in Ypsi, but I have spent a lot of time there and I'm not bitter towards anything to do with either university, I am just basing my opinion on personal observation, what people who live in the AA area have told me, and crime statistics.

[LostInHouston]

Originally Posted by canudigit

No, I haven't lived in Ypsi,

Enough said.

Ann Arbor has its share of undesirables as well. Check out some of the areas on the west side of Ypsi... there are plenty that are as safe and more affordable than comparable neighborhoods in Ann Arbor.

[canudigit]

I'm sure that the OP can do some research and come up with her own conclusions. I don't live in Ypsi but I live in the area and have worked in and around Ypsi/AA extensively, and my work involved going into neighborhoods and private homes daily. I had to call for a police escort on more than one occasion in Ypsi, but I never once felt unsafe in AA. I would never live in Ypsi.

Is that some new, unwritten rule, that you have to live in a city to know anything about it? Interesting.

According to the most recent crime index figures cited here on C-D, which are from 2009, with a higher number indicating more crime:

Average U.S. crime index = 319.2
Saline crime index = 138.4
Ann Arbor crime index = 183.1
Ypsilanti crime index = 409.3

"Enough said."

[SunsetSky]

I agree that there are good and bad pockets in every community around here. I'll be house hunting soon and my first choices will be Pittsfield (near Saline) and Scio Townships. I have lived in Pittsfield, Scio, Ypsi Twp, and Dexter.

OP, if you give some crossroads of the areas in which you are looking, it may be easier for us to help you assess.

Be aware of the tax disparities between communities. Ann Arbor and Ypsi have relatively high taxes. The State of Mich site shows Ypsi at 59 mils (yikes!) and Ann Arbor at 45 mils. Scio is 31-32 and Pittsfield is 34.

[canudigit]

Another nice area is Lodi Township, which lies along Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. between Saline and Ann Arbor.

Generally, traffic in AA isn't too bad unless it's the peak of rush hour or there is a U of M football game going on (on the day that they play Ohio State, particularly, you would probably do better walking, lol), and you will find shortcuts and back ways to go to work, just like anywhere else. My cousin used to live in Saline and work at U of M Hospital, and she didn't mind the commute at all. Depending on what part of California you are coming from, you may even find AA traffic laughably easy.

Good luck wherever you decide to live. AA is an awesome town, and the smaller outlying towns such as Chelsea and Dexter are nice too, pure Americana.

[LostInHouston]

Originally Posted by canudigit

Ypsilanti crime index = 409.3

"Enough said."

Uhhhh, not really.

#1 Please point me to the part of my response where I said Ypsi had less crime than A2?

#2 The OP SPECIFICALLY asked about the area of Ypsi near Ann Arbor. The crime stats for the entire city are not representative of all of the neighborhoods in the western most section of the city.

#3 Police escorts... how many times have you been to the College Heights Neighborhood... or the Cross St Neighborhood... or the neighborhood near the country club? Obviously I'm not going to recommend West Willow, or the south side... but there are plenty of neighborhoods on the west side (which the OP specifically asked about) which are just as safe as Ann Arbor neighborhoods.

#4 No, you don't have to have lived in a city to express an opinion on it. But the opinion you expressed was regarding the bad neighborhoods you've been to. The OP asked about neighborhoods near Ann Arbor... and if you had spent time in any of those neighborhoods, you'd know they are equivalent to what you'd find in comparable A2 neighborhoods... except with lower taxes/prices.