Moving to Detroit area (Royal Oak, Novi: low crime, day care, how much)

[campbreann]

My husband is getting a job in Detroit this spring/summer.
We are prepared to commute an average of 1 hour. Looking for an area with a "small town" feel and good schools and reasonable housing. Ideally we would like to have some land or at least a big cyard.

What is the better expressway, as far as traffic goes?
I-75, 94, 696 or 10?

What are child care costs?


Thank you in advance

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by campbreann

My husband is getting a job in Detroit this spring/summer.
We are prepared to commute an average of 1 hour. Looking for an area with a "small town" feel and good schools and reasonable housing. Ideally we would like to have some land or at least a big cyard.

What is the better expressway, as far as traffic goes?
I-75, 94, 696 or 10?

What are child care costs?


Thank you in advance

I would first consider whether the job is eastside or westside. Driving across town ain't a lot of fun at times.

[DoggieMatic]

Originally Posted by campbreann

My husband is getting a job in Detroit this spring/summer.
We are prepared to commute an average of 1 hour. Looking for an area with a "small town" feel and good schools and reasonable housing. Ideally we would like to have some land or at least a big cyard.

What is the better expressway, as far as traffic goes?
I-75, 94, 696 or 10?

What are child care costs?


Thank you in advance

"Good" & "reasonable" are subjective terms. If you want us to take time to try to help you, you need to take the time to be more specific in explaining your situation & wants.

The "better" expressway depends on where you need to go. Generally rush hour traffic isn't fun anywhere, but Detroit's rush hour traffic pales in comparison to many other large metropolitan areas that may just have one or two freeways flowing thru them.

A one hour (each way) commute radius centered on Detroit does give you a good number of options -- Wayne County, Oakland County, Macomb County are all feasible. East side of Washtenaw County may be feasible but could start to cut it close. I dare not mention any specific communities because I have no idea what "reasonable housing" means to you.

[MS313]

As others have stated, we need to know where the job is exactly. Then go from there.

Child care cost vary.

[campbreann]

Thank you everyone for your reply.

Here is a little background.... My husband and I are both from Northern Michigan, we currently like in Metro DC. We have one 15 month old (hopefully,more children someday) and a small dog.

From what I can tell his office is near Fisher Highway and 10.

I would say Good schools mean a rating of 7 or higher.

Reasonable house for us would be around $250K, for a 3+ bedroom/ 2 bath. Although, if there was an area with nice schools and low crime and we could get a house for $80k and put some TLC into it, we would be all for that.

As far as child care, a nice in home or center. We arent looking for the "Ill set your kind in front of a TV and give them a Hot Pocket" kind of day care. Right now we pay $250 a week. My job isn't transferring and Im expecting to take a pay cut ( if I go back to work). We wouldnt want to pay $250 if I do take a pay cut, I was thinking around $100-$150 a week....is that reasonable? and would that price insure no "scare-care" type atmospheres?

Thanks again.

[zthatzmanz28]

The Lodge (US 10) is a good commute in and out of the city --most of the time. I commute from Brighton (I 96 / US 23) to an area close to your husband and it takes 45 minutes to 75 minutes depending on accidents.
I 75 in and out of the city is typically slower = LONGER. I would never try to commute I94 in and out of the city.

I would look NW of Detroit at places like Farmington, Novi, Northville. Maybe even Milford if you like a more rural setting.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Originally Posted by campbreann

Thank you everyone for your reply.

Here is a little background.... My husband and I are both from Northern Michigan, we currently like in Metro DC. We have one 15 month old (hopefully,more children someday) and a small dog.

From what I can tell his office is near Fisher Highway and 10.

I would say Good schools mean a rating of 7 or higher.

Reasonable house for us would be around $250K, for a 3+ bedroom/ 2 bath. Although, if there was an area with nice schools and low crime and we could get a house for $80k and put some TLC into it, we would be all for that.

As far as child care, a nice in home or center. We arent looking for the "Ill set your kind in front of a TV and give them a Hot Pocket" kind of day care. Right now we pay $250 a week. My job isn't transferring and Im expecting to take a pay cut ( if I go back to work). We wouldnt want to pay $250 if I do take a pay cut, I was thinking around $100-$150 a week....is that reasonable? and would that price insure no "scare-care" type atmospheres?

Thanks again.

Assuming your child goes 5 days per week, you will likely be paying at least $250/week per child for a high quality day care in Metro Detroit. You may be able to cut that down significantly if you found a good in-home day care, but the quality of those varies greatly.

For a "small town" feel and good schools I would recommend Northville, South Lyon and Plymouth (in that order). $250 won't go far in Northville, but it is one of the nicest burbs in Metro Detroit. $250 will go much further in South Lyon but will give you a longer commute. Plymouth is in between the two in terms of dollar value.

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by campbreann

Thank you everyone for your reply.

Here is a little background.... My husband and I are both from Northern Michigan, we currently like in Metro DC. We have one 15 month old (hopefully,more children someday) and a small dog.

From what I can tell his office is near Fisher Highway and 10.

I would say Good schools mean a rating of 7 or higher.

Reasonable house for us would be around $250K, for a 3+ bedroom/ 2 bath. Although, if there was an area with nice schools and low crime and we could get a house for $80k and put some TLC into it, we would be all for that.

As far as child care, a nice in home or center. We arent looking for the "Ill set your kind in front of a TV and give them a Hot Pocket" kind of day care. Right now we pay $250 a week. My job isn't transferring and Im expecting to take a pay cut ( if I go back to work). We wouldnt want to pay $250 if I do take a pay cut, I was thinking around $100-$150 a week....is that reasonable? and would that price insure no "scare-care" type atmospheres?

Thanks again.

Well, assuming you don't mean 10 Mile Road, the Fisher freeway (I-75) and M-10 intersect downtown right at the MGM Grand casino. IMO the best commutes and communities would be North Woodward or western suburbs convenient to I-96. I did this for several years.
http://binged.it/1pq9lxH

Even some downriver communities are not bad, however I can't speak to schools.
http://binged.it/1ckK4fA

[shiba04]

There are some other small town feel places in the area that are worth checking out. I'd absolutely look at Grosse Ile. Excellent schools and recreation and parts of it feel quite rural. And you can get a lot of house there for the money. It's very beautiful there - lots of trails.

What about Plymouth?

You might also look at Huntington Woods. You wont get a large yard, but it has a very unique small town feel. And it's close to downtown, Royal Oak, the zoo, 696, I 75, and the Lodge. Forbes calls it one of America's 10 friendliest towns. Huntington Woods, MI - In Photos: America's Friendliest Towns - Forbes
Market Watch lists it as one of the top 10 suburbs to live in - in the country!
The 10 best U.S. suburbs to live in - Slide Show - MarketWatch

[campbreann]

I just got an update from city data, apparently this is being read a lot. I just wanted to give an update. While we searched all areas that were mentioned here, we really liked Milford and Grosse Pointe communities. Weighing the commute from Milford, Grosse Pointe ended up where we have planted our roots and love it here. Our yard isn't big but the community offers very nice parks, amazing schools , neighborhood community, a great amount of activities for kids and adults and really great shops along kertchival and Mack. My husband is a runner, the neighborhoods are very good for him and only being 2 miles from lake shore, he's not far from a great view. We walk often with our daughter, the area feels very safe. We are very happy with it here. My husbands commute is between 15 & 30 mins.
We were able to find a home that was under our budget, allowing me the opportunity to stay home, I can't speak for how much child care is here.
Hope this helps more people wanting to move to the Detroit area.