Ann Arbor vs. Auburn Hills (Detroit, Lansing: skateboarding, home, neighbourhood)

[canadacn]

I’m moving to MI from Canada for grad school later this month. My school has campuses in both AA and AH. I want to find a safe and “nice” neighbourhood for the next 2 years of living. I never had been to either AA or AH. Please give me some advice. much appreciate...

1. I heard AA is a college town and named the nicest city in MI. I’m curious how “quiet” this city is. Are there any bars or clubs open till late? I’m in late 20’s and am not a party-fan. However, I lived in a “retirement” town before and never wanted to look back…

2. How about coffee shops? Does Ann Arbor have more coffee shops than Auburn Hills?

3. How about community or fitness centres in AA /AH? If the weather is nice, which city people do more out-door activities?

4. How about winter time in these two cities?

5. If I never wanted to start a family in MI, which city would you recommend to my age-group people?

6. Oh, last thing – dinning. (emm, I consider this is totally different question from “coffee shop”…) I eat out often. Which city offers more good restro.? (well, mid range $ )

Thanks a bunch!!!

[chiroptera]

These two cities are worlds apart, completely different. I'm sure you'll hear from people who live in both places - I don't but have spent plenty of time in each. Mostly I've driven through & around Auburn Hills and gone to the movies & big mall a few times. I've done a lot of walking around A2, lots of neat little funky restaurants.

A2 is very much a liberal college town. Wide diversity of restaurants, clubs, music, events, independent stores. It has a fairly bustling downtown, lots of pedestrian activity, sidewalk seating at restaurants, coffee shops, lots of people walking, biking, skateboarding, etc. Tons and tons of stuff to do.

Auburn Hills is suburban, big malls, box store, no real downtown, freeways running through it. Freeways congested during rush hour.

A2 has many more parks and trails for biking and hiking and so on...I am not sure about fitness centers in either city but I imagine there's good ones in both cities.

Weather comparable in both cities.

I am guessing you can find cheaper home/rental prices in and around AH (it's pretty much unbroken sprawl in all directions, for miles and miles there, although there are some great parks and open spaces) than A2, which may be a bit pricier.

From the city-data home page you can pull up information on both cities and compare various statistics.

Hands down I would recommend A2 to a 20-something person with no kids (or even with - I don't know about the schools.) I'm 50-something and would much rather live in A2 that AH, if those were my only two choices. Although I'm a bit over the college town vibe thing personally.

[MI-Roger]

I live very near Ann Arbor, and worked very near Auburn Hills for nearly 10 years. The biggest differences are that Ann Arbor is a city and Auburn Hills is an area.

Picture the differences between a medium sized city containing a major university, and suburban sprawl. Auburn Hills appears to be a very nice place to live or work, but is in a far different category from being a city or town.

Both are nice but are not comparable.

[MTUCache]

Ann Arbor is most definitely a place that is seperate from Detroit. It has its own culture to itself, and in my opinoin actually has a personality.

Auburn Hills is really in the middle of what epitomizes "urban sprawl"... to be honest there's not a whole lot of places where you would actually live in Auburn Hills. The "city" is basically a corridor on either side of I-75 which is almost completely filled with industrial parks, shopping centers, Great Lakes Crossing mall, the Palace, and a couple of huge landfills. That's it.

Now, I don't know much about AA, and didn't go to school there, but that to me would feel like actually "living" in a "town". If you were going to school in Auburn Hills you'd probably be living a few miles away in one of the surrounding towns (either Lake Orion, Rochester, Troy, or worst-case-scenario Pontiac). Still suburban-living, but at least you wouldn't have a shopping center in your backyard.

[Coldjensens]

Auburn HIlls is built around Chrysler. If Chrysler closes, Auburn Hills may as well close too. Right now Auburn Hills is nice suburbia as was said. THere are a lot of shops, eateries and some bars. It is pretty quiet. Howver those shops and bars are supported mostly by Chrysler employees. A few have closed already just becuase of the downturn in Chrysler business. If Chrysler contiues to fail, Aubrun Hills amy become a shadow of what it is today.

Ann Arbor has a diverse economy, but mostly based onthe college and the hospital. Both are doing reasonably well. In addition to the other differences, Ann Arbor has a much more secure economy.

[AnneSeelbach]

I LOVE Ann Arbor. I grew up right outside Ann Arbor in Chelsea. I don't know much about AH but I will tell you what I can about AA. It has bars and clubs but I wouldn't consider it a party town, it isn't anything like East Lansing. There are plenty of coffee shops downtown to enjoy. I know there are fitness centers that you can use from the college in Ann Arbor and if you don't like that one there is a really nice YMCA downtown. Winter is the same in both places, cold! Ann Arbor has a big variety of eating options. It has a lot of local options and it also has all of the main chains. I think it has every kind of restraunt that you can imagine.

Good luck!

[daddythreepointoh]

AA is more of a college town, and like other's have said AH is more just a small corridor alongside the 75 freeway, with industrial, corporate offices, big mall, big box stores, landfills, ect. taking up most of the space. It really doesn't have a defined personality.

Also remember that AH is borded to the south and west by Pontiac, which is a very bad place to live or be near.

[Coldjensens]

Every time I see this thread pop back up to the top of the list, I have to laugh. You could not know this if you are not from here, but the question is like asking "What is better Peach Cobbler or Pirelli tires?"

[chiroptera]

That's a very funny way to put it!

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Every time I see this thread pop back up to the top of the list, I have to laugh. You could not know this if you are not from here, but the question is like asking "What is better Peach Cobbler or Pirelli tires?"

[tjay]

dear god......ann arbor all the way.....do not consider auburn hills if you don't have to.