Saline (Detroit, Ann Arbor, Taylor: real estate, leasing, house prices)

[DaWife]

My husband's been transferred to Michigan and I'm wondering what people think about Saline. I grew up in Michigan, Bloomfield Hills for the most part, but haven't lived in the state for going on 15 years. I hated my years in Bloomfield, oh the snobs, so I don't want to put my kids through that misery. We live in a town now with excellent schools and we hope for that again, hence we've been looking at Saline. I'm not craving huge excitement, I've got three kids, who has free time? But I like to be near decent malls and restaurants and fun family things to do on weekends. My husband works at DTW but we never like to live too close to the airport. Plymouth seems like a good option for a commute to me and as I recall it, it had a cute downtown. My husband, however, isn't too enamored with Plymouth. I'd love any input. Thanks!

[Coldjensens]

When we looked for a place to live we needed to be reasonably close to the airport. Schools were a very high priority as was the absence of snobbiness. We also wanted a small town atmosphere with a strong sense of community, old houses and water.

Plymouth was an excellent option. Great schools, cute downtown, friendly people (plus my brother lives there). Proximity to Ann Arbor was another plus. The housing stock in Plymouth is excellent, but we wanted more space and water.

Northville is another excellent option. Decent downtown, good freeway access. Great schools. Reasonably friendly. For us it did not make it due to no water and schools were too big. Plus at the time, the house prices were considerably higher than other areas with the same amenities.

We briefly considered Saline, Dexter, Tecumseh and Chelsea. All nice towns with good schools. We just wanted to be closer to the Detroit area and by then we had discovered Grosse Ile.

We choose Grosse Ile. A small town island community with great schools (very small schools). Water, woods, and wildlife all around. About 1/2 hour from DTW. Although a lot of rich people live here, there is very little snobbishness. Thee are more middle class people. Mostly just people who want to provide a nice place for their kids to grow up and a lot of retirees. It is a fabulous place to raise children. In fact many of the residents are peope who grew up here, left and then returned so that their children could have a similar childhood. It is really special.


Ann Arbor would also be a great choice if you want to live in the busyness of a city. Good schools, lots to do. Not far from DTW.




any of these places would probably be acceptable for you. If you are strongly considering saline, I would look very closely at Dexter, and Tecumseh. I would probably choose either over saline, but that is mostly personal preference.

[4WD Greg]

Saline is a very nice town. It's starting to grow rapidly, but it still has that small town feel on Michigan Ave. The traffice on Michigan Ave. is pretty crappy, but it's only a few miles north to I94, and then less than 30 minutes to the airport. Dexter is a similar community, but a few years farther behind from a over development standpoint. Plymouth and Northville are both very nice communities, but are starting to get swallowed up by the development all around them. Northville is probably very expensive from a housing standpoint.

[DaWife]

Thanks for the input. My husband mentioned Grosse Ile but we lived on an island in Texas and I don't want to have to deal with crossing a bridge again. We used to call ours the $200 dollar bridge. Every time you went over it to town, you spent $200.

[Gretchen Driskell]

I think Saline is a great place to raise a family,very family oriented, safe & friendly. You should check out the city website. The schools are great and it is right next to AA, close to all the cultural offerings (10minute drive) without the hassle and higher taxes. I have raised three children in the school district, my youngest starts high school next year. Where are you from in NH?

[1eyedjack]

They have a new High School, maybe 2-3 years old? The Industrial Park has a lot of empty buildings though but your not going there for a job.
( Referring to the original post)

[DaWife]

I live in a small town near Concord. So small we don't even have our own post office. We do have our own high school though and that's a pretty impressive thing by NH standards.

[cardwellave]

I have to pitch Wyandotte. Great walkable downtown, beautiful older homes (and new as well!) with lots of charm, schools of choice to Trenton (I've heard Wyandotte schools aren't great) and it's on the river. Very friendly people, not snobbish, great restaurants and attractions downtown, and not too far from Southland mall and the umpteen restaurants in Southgate and Taylor.

[cjbailey]

My husband flies out of DTW weekly and we live in the Northville area.
We are currently leasing a 4 bedroom home in a lovely neighborhood with very good schools. Even though I am a realtor, housing values are still dropping so renting is a wise move for now unless you know you'll remain here for at least 5 years.
Plymouth and Saline are both quaint towns within easy commute to the airport. Very family oriented. Moderator cut: real estate advertising is not allowed

[SamSan]

I have lived in Michigan all my life and agree with you regarding the folks of Bloomfield Hills, etc. I lived for about 13 years in Ann Arbor, which is way too expensive property-wise. At that time, Saline was a small quiet slow growing town. Now the growth has been a bit more, but it still has the small town flavor. Price-wise, it is still less than Plymouth or Northville. I currently live in Northville. Both are very nice areas a little closer to the hub-bub and a bit busier than Saline. If you are looking in Plymouth or Northville, stay in the township areas rather than the cities in that the property tax is a bit lower. The cities of Northville and Plymouth is smaller than the township areas of Northville and Plymouth. All three are very nice areas with more of a small town feeling.