[evitathepup]

Hello, my husband and I are considering a move to metro Detroit area from the NYC suburbs of CT in the next year. We will keep our current house and rent it out.
His family is from the metro Detroit area. We are planning to start a family soon, so it will be much easier to be close to them with both of us working long hours. We got word that we can work remotely from anywhere and are considering a move to MI.
Schools are extremely important to me. Ideally, we’d live in an area within the top 3 public school districts in the state. We aren’t interested in private school.
I’m also interested in buying an older house - pre-1950. That is what we have now and I prefer the old house charm and quirks to newer construction.
Our budget would be about 950k max and would prefer closer to 850k as we’d be keeping our CT house.
I love the feel of Grosse Pointe, but was surprised that the schools don’t seem as great as I expected? Which of the Pointes has the best schools?
I also saw Northville has good schools, but couldn’t get a good sense of the area.
Please let me know your thoughts and recommendations.

[DTWflyer]

You are generally looking in the right places.....

If you are looking for older homes in established areas with good schools I would look in the following areas:

Grosse Pointe
Birmingham
Rochester
Northville
Ann Arbor

All of them have excellent public school districts. I wouldn't get too hung up on the specific ratings on whatever survey / metric, they are all some of the best in state, primarily because parents in those areas value education more than anything.

Those communities are some of the "older" housing stock in the region in more affluent areas. Compared to the Northeast, there just isn't the abundance of older housing stock as much of the region prior to 1920s was in the city of Detroit proper, and the area really exploded post-WWII with suburban tract housing.

Keep in mind you may want to consider what part of the region you desire depending how important being close to family may be. Ann Arbor is a 45-60 minute drive from Rochester for example.

Grosse Pointe is an excellent option if you value being close to the amenities of downtown Detroit.

[usroute10]

You may also look at the city of Plymouth and the Plymouth-Canton schools.

Bloomfield Schools might be the best in the region - there are some old homes there.

[DTWflyer]

I should add that the villages of Northville, Plymouth, and Rochester were original settlements that long ago were well outside the city of Detroit and inner ring suburbs. They have more traditional "downtowns" that organically few from the mid-1800s onward. As the region sprawled out these older villages were consumed by suburban sprawl in the 70s, 80s, 90s+

So a place like Northville proper, has some old housing stock within the village, but the surrounding township has a lot new housing stock and new builds.

When I did a quick search on Zillow, on the following criteria:
- House
- Pre-1940
- $500-$900k

There just is not a lot currently on the market in that range. There is like 2 in Rochester, 2 in Northville, 2 in Plymouth, maybe 10 in Grosse Point, 8 or so in Ann Arbor.

Sometimes homes like this don't hit the market. (We have a 1920s house that when we bought, it never was listed, we stumbled into it by chance)

[djmilf]

A Birmingham brick colonial, on the west side of town, but a really nice neighborhood and close to the very upper class downtown area, about the same distance in the opposite direction and you're at Oakland Hills Country Club.

A bigfoot monstrosity in Birmingham, just off the north end of said upper class downtown.

A Bloomfield Hills mansion, just inside the border and bounded by major roads, but over two acres of property and right near Bloomfield Hills Country Club.

A McMansion on the water in Lake Orion, tight for land, on an island, but the entire lake to play on. And an up and coming trendy downtown less than a mile away by car (much closer if you can fly like a crow).

All school districts are rated very good, the nominal ranking for these is probably Birmingham > Bloomfield Hills > Lake Orion.

I must ask, if your husband is from the area, wouldn't he know which places would be good for your family?

[evitathepup]

Thank you so much for all of these.
As to why my husband can’t offer much advice, I guess he just didn’t pay attention to this kind of stuff growing up in the area. He knows where the different towns are and vaguely whether they’re “nice” or not and that’s it. Schools weren’t a huge priority to his parents as long as they were decent and not notoriously awful, and he hasn’t lived in the state since he graduated from U of M almost a decade ago. The town he grew up in is not an option for me because the schools are pretty “meh.”

Originally Posted by djmilf

A Birmingham brick colonial, on the west side of town, but a really nice neighborhood and close to the very upper class downtown area, about the same distance in the opposite direction and you're at Oakland Hills Country Club.

A bigfoot monstrosity in Birmingham, just off the north end of said upper class downtown.

A Bloomfield Hills mansion, just inside the border and bounded by major roads, but over two acres of property and right near Bloomfield Hills Country Club.

A McMansion on the water in Lake Orion, tight for land, on an island, but the entire lake to play on. And an up and coming trendy downtown less than a mile away by car (much closer if you can fly like a crow).

All school districts are rated very good, the nominal ranking for these is probably Birmingham > Bloomfield Hills > Lake Orion.

I must ask, if your husband is from the area, wouldn't he know which places would be good for your family?

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by evitathepup

Hello, my husband and I are considering a move to metro Detroit area from the NYC suburbs of CT in the next year. We will keep our current house and rent it out.
His family is from the metro Detroit area. We are planning to start a family soon, so it will be much easier to be close to them with both of us working long hours. We got word that we can work remotely from anywhere and are considering a move to MI.
Schools are extremely important to me. Ideally, we’d live in an area within the top 3 public school districts in the state. We aren’t interested in private school.
I’m also interested in buying an older house - pre-1950. That is what we have now and I prefer the old house charm and quirks to newer construction.
Our budget would be about 950k max and would prefer closer to 850k as we’d be keeping our CT house.
I love the feel of Grosse Pointe, but was surprised that the schools don’t seem as great as I expected? Which of the Pointes has the best schools?
I also saw Northville has good schools, but couldn’t get a good sense of the area.
Please let me know your thoughts and recommendations.

Most of the nicer Michigan suburbs have great schools. There is not really a lot of difference between them. Your kids will not get into U-M or Havard based on the fact they went to Northville instead of Plymouth Canton. there are some communities you may want to avoid because their schools are not so great, but there are at least 20 communities with roughly equal schools. Take the ratings with a grain of salt. the factors they rely on fo ratings are determination of nothing. Best bet is to talk with your kids extensively and figure out what type of school works best for them. they may excel in a huge highly competitive school, or they may do better in a small more supportive school where everyone knows your name. the big school will be more highly rated because it offers more AP classes. I am not sure AP classes really matter. Four of our five kids had extensive AP class credits and one of them really mattered. They did not complete college any earlier because of it. Our kids went to a smaller school that is well regarded but not highly ranked because it is small. They went to good colleges. They all got scholarships. They went into careers that they love (except one).



One thing about metro Detroit, you can live in a wide variety of different types of areas. You will find good schools and safe communities all over.



Grosse Pointe is the old blueblood area. Lots of 1930s mansions and upscale homes. Very city suburb atmosphere. Nicely close to Downtown Detroit which is awesome by the way.



Northville is a small rural town that became popular and got yuppified. Great schools, pretty cute downtown, lots of upscale McMansion subdivisions around but outside the town. Not far from rural areas.



Novi is a town built around a shopping mall. It has more chain stores and resturuants than anywhere I think. Nearly everything you can think of i there. Great schools. Pretty much all newer (ish) subdivisions.



Grosse Ile is a group of 14 islands. Very natural, not fancy or modern, very tiny one street downtown and tons of ameneities (golf courses, tennis/fitness center, community owned farm with horseback riding,yacht clubs, a community marina, community pool and hockey rink, etc. Very eclectic mix of homes everything from early 1800s farmhouses to giant mansions, to subdivision homes of all levels. Very boat and nature oriented.



Plymouth is a small town like Northville. A cute town square park that hosts lots of activities and festivals. A few streets of Victorian homes and lots of postwar smaller brick ranches. More modern subdivisions surround the city. Close to Ann Arbor and not too far from Detroit. Great schools



Rocheste Hills is newer and trendy. Ideal for the people who want to live in typical new upscale subdivisions of conformity. the country club set. Outstanding schools.



Rochester city is a cute little city wih lots of nice upscale resturants and shops.


Birmingham is the home of the new wealth who like to show it off. Very upscale. Lots of trophy wives and sports cars with driver who do nto know how to use them. Nice downtown though if you lie modernized.



Bloomfield Hills is the home of the truly wealthy. Lots of old money and big money here. very expensive. Many nice places to eat and shop. Naturally great schools but mot go to one of the two top private schools (Cranbrook and International Academy).



Ferndale is the up and comer. The most LGBTQAA welcoming city we have. Mostly smaller houses but a decent downtown and a very young lively population. Schools are nto so great here. probably use school of choice or private schools.



Royal Oak is a mix of family town and trendy tavern and restaurant destination. Used to be THE place to get drunk and throw up if you were out of college. Turned a little classier and it is fun, but still pretty adult oriented. Also has the local zoo which is huge and awesome. Decent schools but probably nto top 10% (although likely top 15%)



Troy is upscale suburbia to a T. It has the fanciest amll we have (somerset collections). South Lyon, the former horse capil of the USA is nto the McMansion subdivision capital of Michgan. Good schools, lots and lots and lots of subdivisions. The town still has some flavor of its small town roots (I grew up there).



there are still more and more places each with its own advantages and all with great schools. You need to consider what else you want.


In Grosse Point, at least at the high school level Grosse Pointe south is considered substantially better than grosse pointe North.