Where to live (late 20s, working in West Bloomfield) (Detroit: apartments, rental)

[percha85]

As the title suggests, I need some advice about where to live in the Metro Detroit area. Here are the facts:

Long term boyfriend and I are in our late 20s, enjoy going out and being social but are past our crazy partying days. Need to be no more than 40 min drive to West Bloomfield for my job. We will definitely be renting with a budget ~$800/month. Any advice/opinions would be most helpful!

[gameguy56]

Berkley might be a good match. May also want to look into parts of Royal Oak that are a bit removed from the downtown but still walkable to it. Both are walkable communities where you can be social.

[DTWflyer]

There are lots of options that will keep you within 40 minutes of West Bloomfield, but keeping rent to $800/month or less is going to rule out some places or limit how nice a place you can get for that price.

Do you want to be in a walkable community or do you want to be in a place that is more spread out?
Do you want to be closer to the Metroparks, State Parks, lake areas?
You looking for an apartment or rental house?

The natural reaction for anyone in the late-20's still looking to be a younger community around young professionals with a number of social (e.g., bars, restaurants) is Royal Oak or Berkley. You likely won't find any decent rental houses for $800/month there. Saying under $800/month will likely get you a 1 BDRM apartment or perhaps a mediocre 2 BDRM apartment in this area. If you are lucky you mind be able to find a deal if you look hard enough.
The drive from Royal Oak to WB is probably going to be about 30 minutes, but actually is somewhat of a reverse commute going out 696 and up M-10 Northwestern Hwy. However, the appeal of Royal Oak & Berkley is that they are walkable and have bars/restaurants. If that isn't your top priority, I'd look at places further west and closer to West Bloomfield itself.

I'd say some other areas to check out might be Walled Lake / Wolverine Lake area, Farmington, Keggo Harbor, or even West Bloomfield itself. There are a lot of apartments out that way, and perhaps might be able to get something close to one of the lakes out that way, if that interests you. These are not going to be walkable communities, if that is a priority for you.

Some of the communities out there are more working-class than others. Not knowing your personal situation its hard to pick out one place in particular.

[kooks35]

I'm not sure what the rent is in the area, but Northville may suit your needs. Its got a pretty good little downtown area and would be a pretty short commute to W. Bloomfield.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by kooks35

I'm not sure what the rent is in the area, but Northville may suit your needs. Its got a pretty good little downtown area and would be a pretty short commute to W. Bloomfield.

Northville is pricey.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by ram2

Northville is pricey.

Additionally I don't think it's really that much closer to WB than RO or Berkley. If you're an urban pioneer type you could try living in a loft in Downtown Pontiac, which is closer to WB than anything mentioned so far and should be fairly inexpensive.

[Coldjensens]

Farmington - tiny downtown. Not real lively but at least there is something there.

If you like subdivisions shopping malls and strip malls, Novi is perfect. Rural - Wixom, New hudson, Lyon Twp. For water - Walled Lake maybe.

[NikHenson]

Believe it or not the metro Detroit area is kind of expensive. I lived in Royal Oak from my 20's-late 30's. Lots of GREAT restaurants and nightclubs. Mostly a great area to go downtown have dinner a bottle of wine and window shop. It is centrally located to everything! The schools aren't great but they're not terribly bad. It would be a 20-30 minute drive to WB and the same downtown. I live out of state now and miss Royal Oak. Amber Apartments is a chain that has apt. Around town and allow pets. If you like culture and variety of food you can't go wrong. Birmingham is just the next town over and Somerset Mall with every shop from Nordstroms to Neiman Marcus is also close. RO is very safe too. Good luck.

[zelliott451]

You could try living in the city proper. Midtown is really starting to thrive with young professionals moving in. Believe me, there are some parts of Detroit that aren't as bad as people make negative generalizations about!

[ttiguy]

Plymouth or Ferndale are probably my 2 favorite places. They are sorta on opposite ends of the spectrum (Ferndale has hipsters, Plymouth has a more family atmosphere) and location but they are both unique in their own ways.