Where to live near Troy, Michigan :)

[djmilf]

Originally Posted by Veritas Vincit

Interesting that no-one is pointing that person to Macomb county which has a more blue collar background, has reasonable schools, is reasonably safe (obviously varies in the specifics) and also has a strong ethnic incl. Polish-American presence. If someone is looking for a more down to earth place rather than your standard upper middle-class professional suburb, while still having some of the 'perks' of life in a middle class area, that's where I'd look.

The OP was looking for over 75K population, at most 45 minutes from Troy, is ethnically diverse, has good freeway access, reasonable cost of living, family orientated, doesn't have to have the best schools, and has a walkable downtown area with some form of public transit.

In your opinion, which cities come closest to meeting these requirements?

[44echo]

Probably an unpopular opinion, but my opinion of public transportation in metro Detroit has always been...the people who ride the bus are people you don't want to ride the bus with (generally speaking).

[Veritas Vincit]

Originally Posted by djmilf

The OP was looking for over 75K population, at most 45 minutes from Troy, is ethnically diverse, has good freeway access, reasonable cost of living, family orientated, doesn't have to have the best schools, and has a walkable downtown area with some form of public transit.

In your opinion, which cities come closest to meeting these requirements?

Most of Macomb county would be closer to Troy than Dearborn and by a lot. Sure, compromises need to be made on walkability and transit, but honestly being European myself, there's not a place in Metro Detroit where that isn't the case and where you'd find transit in a way comparable to even a mid-sized European city. Most of these places will have Smartbus service, but in such a basic sense that it will rarely be something you want to rely on.


I think given OP explicitly wants to be in kind of a mixed city with diversity and a social mix with low income people as well, doesn't really care about schools or McMansions then an old inner ring suburb like Warren would fit the bill for instance. That's also pretty close to downtown Detroit which might be the closest thing to a real urban experience OP will find in the area.

[djmilf]

@VV - I should have been more precise - where exactly in Macomb?

Eastpoint? South Warren? Roseville? I don't know Macomb County, but I do know that the ones I listed probably aren't topping anyone's list of desirable places.

The reason why I didn't mention anything in Macomb County is because I don't know the place well enough. We're counting on you to help out the OP with some specifics.

[Coldjensens]

We live in a ”posh” area in England but we don't like it as it's soulless, and the schools whilst being excellently rated are full of entitled rich kids. We don't necessarily want to live in a place with the ”best” schools or that's very affluent, we want to live in a place with some diversity, or where there are friendly people.


There is a lot of soulless suburbia around Detroit. that are also some awesome small towns. Unfortunately, the ones with good schools are more wealthy and lean to entitled rich kids. There are few places with much real diversity. Even places that show diversity by the numbers are often segregated within the city. SE Michigan is an awesome place, but not the best place for any otf the types of diversity.



Troy is really nice, but upper middle class and fairly well entitled rich kids. Ferndale is more blue collar, but their schools are not great. However you can live in Ferndale and be within other school districts. Royal Oak may be a decent bet for you. The downtown is mostly oriented to the get drunk and throw up crowd (30 somethings who cannot let go of the fraternity/sorority lifestyle), but there are places for families too. We have enjoyed visiting Royal oak on weekends once our kids were a bit older. They have decent schools. And a really cool zoo. Plus they are right next to Ferndale.


I definitely don't want to live surrounded by wealthy people, in the UK we are definitely upper middle class, and we live in an area where the people are upper middle class, we were far happier when we lived with working class people (effectively poorer people)!


I suggest you pick someplace like troy or royal oak with a minimal commute and spend a year getting a feel for the vibe in other areas. They may not be what you want, but they are fine for a year. You may find you love it there. There is a lot of luck involved. Two different people may come away with completely different takes on many of these cities. It just depends on whom you encounter.

If you decide to stay, you will be better able to select what is best for your family. Aside from Downriver and some parts of Macomb county, I am not aware of any places that are working class and still pretty nice. Both downriver and Macomb county are too far of a commute for you. (Otherwise I think Wyandotte would be an excellent fit for you - it is 41 minutes to Troy in good weather with light traffic. You would need to leave an hour plus to ensure timely arrival on a regular basis).



1. Initial plan would be to rent for year 1, the if the job and the US is going well, then potentially look to buy.


good plan. you can put up with anything for a year.


2. Safety and crime is a concern. We'd love to live in Detroit itself, but we hazard a guess it's just not suitable for a young family due to the crime and safety issues? Would any areas in Detroit proper be suitable or just a resounding don't do it? Corktown looks amazing but guess it's the lack of decent schools nearby that would kill any thought of living there?!

Parts of Detroit are reasonably safe (Downtown, Mid-Town, Eastern Market, cork town, and the stadium area among others). however they are not family oriented and the schools are pretty bad. There are some decent specialty high schools. Otherwise, you would be using private schools. Outside of Detroit, most suburbs are very safe. The exceptions are Inkster, any part of a suburb that touches Detroit just the area that touches the city), and possibly Taylor.

3. Good freeway access would be preferable.


This is the motor city. Great freeway access almost everywhere except where I life (Grosse Ile township) and Milford. Both of which are outside your area I think.



4. Being on or near water is not an issue either way.


Then stay away from water. You pay a premium for it.

5. Budget for renting I've not thought about, I guess we could quite comfortably go to 3k to 4k USD a month, perhaps more, BUT I don't want to spend that just to be in a ”posh” place. Happy to spend less, big flash houses and being surround by wealthy people does nothing for me at all.

That budget will get you a decent house almost anywhere. There will not be a ton of large houses for rent, but there will be some.

6. Other amenities we want to be near are schools, parks, restaurants, gyms, medical centre/hospital, cinema, kids entertainment, ideally some non grocery shopping too etc.


Suburbs are pretty well peppered with these ameneties.



The real big one for us is transport. I really DO understand that Michigan and the Detroit area is all focussed on cars. Let me be clear I will drive, and do drive, and a car will be the first thing I get in the US, BUT whilst my wife will try to learn to drive currently she doesn't.

People more knowledgeable have explained the bus system. The areas they cover are very limited. Buses are rarely on time and the switching can be confusing.


What I can tell you is that I would not want my wife riding the public busses. Both my wife and daughters rode on them a few times and it was not a good experience for any of them. Ranging from just feeling uncomfortable to having to run away and ask some people for help. My son lives in ferndale and when his car broke, he chose to ride his bike, walk or bum rides, rather than the bus until the car was fixed.


I'm not expecting a metro, trains, a perfect bus network all in the small cities, but just trying to find somewhere that has something so my wife can at least get around without needing me at home.


Best bet - become friends with neighbors. Someone will give her a ride or take her shopping when they go. Second best bet, live within walking distance of some stores or a mall (like the Somerset Collection in Troy - I hate malls, but that place is undeniably nice).


I'm sure we can find the right place, but at the minute everybody at work recommends Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham, or because they've got rich people and great schools, and it's not what we're necessarily looking for.

Bloomfield Hills is where the very rich reside. Birmingham is the newly rich and tends to follow the stereotype. Both are nice. However I woudl not live in Birmingham for the reasons you mentioned and I could not afford Bloomfield Hills. Also I do not golf or attend sporting events and my truck is not worth over 70,000 so I would not fit in.

I will warn you that most people in Michigan, do not come across as friendly. People here do not tend to move around a lot. Thus, they have had the same friends for 20, or 50 years. They really are not looking for new friends and tend to be suspicious of outsiders. However a majority of people seem to love helping others. They will be happy to show you around, help you out, even literally give you the shirt off their backs if you have a crises, but they are not likely to invite you to thanksgiving Dinner or come to your barbecue. It takes a while to get accepted. Once you are accepted your friends will tend to be lifelong. You can speed up getting accepted by joining Churches or community service groups or clubs and proving that you work hard. If you golf or shoot, you can join a golf club or shooting club. If you like working on cars and have a classic, you can join a car club.



You also need to be cautious of the first people who reach out and want to become your friend. often those are the people with issues and everyone who knows them wants to avoid them to they are looking for new blood. Many of our first acquaintances, whom we thought were friends, turned out to be users, mentally unstable, over the top gossipy, etc. That does not mean every one who makes friendly overtures is bad, but you do need to be cautious. My wife and several of our daughters in particular got burned this way.

[Veritas Vincit]

Originally Posted by djmilf

@VV - I should have been more precise - where exactly in Macomb?

Eastpoint? South Warren? Roseville? I don't know Macomb County, but I do know that the ones I listed probably aren't topping anyone's list of desirable places.

The reason why I didn't mention anything in Macomb County is because I don't know the place well enough. We're counting on you to help out the OP with some specifics.

I mentioned Warren in my post. Sterling Heights is also an option. Both are large suburban cities with mixed income areas and a degree of diversity. Both would be pretty short commutes to Troy.

[Coldjensens]

My son lives in Warren and teaches in Roseville

Given the other available options, i do not understand why anyone woudl chose either. They are not awful, but have nothing special or unique about them either. Between the two, i would choose Warren. It is quite a bit nicer IMO.

[Rudy saleh]

Northwest Troy. Stay away from the malls.

[highlanderfil]

Assuming this is still relevant? Wouldn't it be nice if OPs of these threads came back to report on how our advice has helped (or didn't)? *finishes screaming into the void* Anyways.

Originally Posted by Richierich1701

I'm waiting for a work visa, then fingers crossed I will be relocating from the UK to the US to work near Troy.

We're trying to plan ahead as to where we want to live, and despite it not receiving the same "love" online as the likes of Troy, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak etc, from a distance we think we might like Dearborn.

I have lived (for a year) and worked (for seven years) in Dearborn between 2011 and 2022, so I'm pretty familiar with the place. I'll try to address your requirements through its lens.

1. a city that's not too small, so over 75k people.

At 108K, you're there, but the density of the population is as important as the overall numbers. Dearborn has two separate "centers" with Ford's properties right in the middle. It's pretty well interspersed. For your budget, you can basically have your pick of housing, but $3-4K is not a sum I would spend renting in Dearborn. Because it's so Ford-dependent, Covid has been less kind to the city than to many others. There's a ton of construction going on with the new Product Development campus, but other Ford-owned buildings are no longer. It's a weird time to be in Dearborn right now.

Other cities that immediately spring to mind are the ones you've mentioned. I would not pick Dearborn over any of them.

2. Within 45 mins commute of Troy. I guess Dearborn is more or less In that bracket?

Yes and no. With the advent of WFH, there's less traffic, but Ford is building office presence back up, as I'm given to understand (and so are other companies in the area). There will be days when you will not make it to Troy in 45 minutes, although it is (kind of) a reverse commute. I've done (more or less) that drive for a year in the other direction when living in Royal Oak. I would not recommend it.

3. Is diverse. This is one thing, assuming what I've read online is accurate, is that there's a lot of diversity in Dearborn, that's a big positive for us. My wife is Polish and I hear there's some Polish heritage here?

Depends on what kind of diversity you're looking for. Dearborn is over 50% Arab and 90-ish% white. The large non-Anglo-Saxon population notwithstanding, I wouldn't actually call Dearborn all that diverse. The Polish population isn't that large; as others have correctly pointed out, Troy itself is much more Polish than Dearborn.

4. Has reasonable costs of living.

If your housing budget is as high as you've mentioned here, pretty much any place in Metro Detroit will have a reasonable cost of living, Dearborn included. I used to live in the new-ish townhouses off Lincoln Dr. (by the Fairlane Mall), which were some of the more expensive housing options in the area during my first year working for Ford. For your budget you could probably have the largest unit there and it will be quite nice (not that I'd actually recommend it). Bloomfield/Birmingham might be the only places where that budget won't go as far.

5. Is family orientated, so plenty of things for families to do, decent schools (not looking for the best schools in Michigan) etc.

I'll let others offer their opinions, but from my own childfree POV I'd say that it'll be hard to give advice without knowing what your family likes to do. I don't really know of a ton of great traditional family activities in Dearborn, apart from the outdoors (Edward N. Hines Park).

6. Has a somewhat walkable downtown, and at least some form of public transportation. I know the US is not renowned for this but seems like Dearborn has the Smartbus and Smartflex so feels better connected than most places in Michigan perhaps?

The only place I would consider riding public transport in Southeast MI is Ann Arbor (which I would wholeheartedly recommend as an option, even if your commute to Troy will likely exceed 45 minutes) and even then it's iffy. Others have said this and I 100% agree - public transport in SE MI is not a reliable or even viable option.

Dearborn has two "downtown" areas, East and West. West is more traditionally commercialized (Panera/Starbucks types), East is more "diverse", even if said diversity is a bit slanted. There are grocery stores and housing just off the main road (Michigan Avenue in both cases) in both.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by djmilf

@VV - I should have been more precise - where exactly in Macomb?

St. Clair Shores, maybe? An ex-manager of mine at Ford lived there; she seemed to like it quite a bit.