Moving to Detroit, best location to live?(safe and quite) (Warren: fit in, apartments)

[Flora_yu]

Hi All:

I am a graduate of Ann Arbor and relocating to downtown Detroit(got an offer from Big Four). I am 23 years old and a single female. I am looking for a place to live, safe and quite. I usually don't go clubs at nights but would like to have some nice restaurants in the neighborhood. So I actually read some good reviews about Royal Oak, which is now crowded by young professionals, is it a good place to live, in terms of safety? Also another question is, I am thinking of buying a Audi Q5, is it too good to drive in Detroit area? No offense but worried about probably it is more likely to be broken in? Please give some insights and thank you in advance! (P.S bear my English, not a native speaker) Thanks!

[animatedmartian]

There's plenty of people around Metro Detroit who drive Audis. And we call those people snobby. I'm kidding. Kind of.

But yea you should be fine. If you park your car in an unsecure area in the inner-city, it really makes no difference what brand your car is so as along as you keep your values hidden and out of plain view. You'll be able to easily tell what areas are probably unsafe to park in. For the downtown area, there's a lot of secured parking though it does become expensive after a while.

Royal Oak is very good safe, but also expensive compared to nearby areas. In my opinion, Troy and Birmingham have a better selection of restaurants that aren't so dive bar-like though both cities are even more expensive than Royal Oak and Troy is a bit more suburban. Your budget pretty much determines what options you have since most areas around and north of Royal Oak and pretty safe and usually have a fair number of young people scattered around numerous apartments and small homes.

[gameguy56]

Grosse Pointe would be very safe, very quiet, and be very close to your work. Sounds like that would be one of your better options. Troy down 75 every morning sounds like a very long commute.

[dburbs1975]

remember this is an auto town where one in three people rely on American automakers for a living. your call will be intentionally scratched. I guarantee it. not as likely to be stolen though. too obvious a mark for a joy ride.

royal oak is fine, but the audi will fit in better in birmingham. me thinks. pardon my english.

[belleislerunner]

Do you know who your client will be? Often times you could work for a Big Four but you spend 90% of time at the client. For example, you could work at PwC - and while their office is downtown - you could spend 100% of your year auditing Ford - which would make proximity to Dearborn better. Similarily, you could be auditing Chrysler in Auburn Hills and that would be a downtown to AH commute. Ferndale/Royal Oak or midtown/downtown Detroit are where most of the young professionals congregate. Don't worry about the car - 99% of people never think twice about what you drive. Only you care about that. So don't waste too much money on the most depreciating asset you can buy trying to impress people that don't care. You're an accountant and far too smart for that.

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by dburbs1975

remember this is an auto town where one in three people rely on American automakers for a living. your call will be intentionally scratched. I guarantee it. not as likely to be stolen though. too obvious a mark for a joy ride.

royal oak is fine, but the audi will fit in better in birmingham. me thinks. pardon my english.

Would they scratch my "MADE IN MEXICO" GM Chevrolet Silverado? I believe you are talking about the attitude of the union people from back in the 80s, or from something you would like to see done to a foreign made vehicle!

[MS313]

Originally Posted by dburbs1975

remember this is an auto town where one in three people rely on American automakers for a living. your call will be intentionally scratched. I guarantee it. not as likely to be stolen though. too obvious a mark for a joy ride.

royal oak is fine, but the audi will fit in better in birmingham. me thinks. pardon my english.

No they won't. I see foreign cars everyday and I have yet to meet someone who had their car vandalized because it was foreign. Maybe a few decades ago but definitely not recently.

[us66]

I just bought a Honda Accord, and I'm a union member. We don't go around keying cars (anymore). My co-workers have lots of foreign cars. Union members buy foreign cars all the time nowadays. Friends' stepfather recently retired from Chrysler skilled trades, went out and bought a Prius. I remember buying gas at the Monroe Meijer a few years ago in my friend's old Volvo 244 and everyone was staring, never was sure if it was because it was foreign or because that was an antique-ish car at the time.

Chrysler is an Italian company, Ford sells a lot of Mexican-made crap, and the smaller GM cars are basically Korean. Some Mitsubishi SUVs are union-made, and until '09, Toyota had union-made cars. Mazda6s were, until recently, union-made here in Flat Rock. The OP in her Audi, however, will have a lot of people treating her rough in traffic- not letting her into traffic, cutting her off, things like that. My wife, last year, went from a Saturn to a Cadillac, and others' reactions to her in traffic changed dramatically. People around here are harder on drivers of expensive cars. I know. I do it myself, and I'm sure others do it, too, judging from what she's told me.

[MS313]

Originally Posted by us66

I just bought a Honda Accord, and I'm a union member. We don't go around keying cars (anymore). My co-workers have lots of foreign cars. Union members buy foreign cars all the time nowadays. Friends' stepfather recently retired from Chrysler skilled trades, went out and bought a Prius. I remember buying gas at the Monroe Meijer a few years ago in my friend's old Volvo 244 and everyone was staring, never was sure if it was because it was foreign or because that was an antique-ish car at the time.

Chrysler is an Italian company, Ford sells a lot of Mexican-made crap, and the smaller GM cars are basically Korean. Some Mitsubishi SUVs are union-made, and until '09, Toyota had union-made cars. Mazda6s were, until recently, union-made here in Flat Rock. The OP in her Audi, however, will have a lot of people treating her rough in traffic- not letting her into traffic, cutting her off, things like that. My wife, last year, went from a Saturn to a Cadillac, and others' reactions to her in traffic changed dramatically. People around here are harder on drivers of expensive cars. I know. I do it myself, and I'm sure others do it, too, judging from what she's told me.

I think alot of that has to do with, the nicer the car, the more willing you are to avoid an accident. Therefore, many believe they can push you over because you have more to lose.

[Ummagumma]

Originally Posted by dburbs1975

remember this is an auto town where one in three people rely on American automakers for a living. your call will be intentionally scratched. I guarantee it. not as likely to be stolen though. too obvious a mark for a joy ride.

royal oak is fine, but the audi will fit in better in birmingham. me thinks. pardon my english.

That's a complete, total, utter BS.

I work for a consulting company that services Automotive industry, and have driven various Japanese, German, Swedish and American cars. I currently drive a European sedan. In a worst case, I may need to park in a "non-(insert a Big 3 name here)" designated parking lot and walk a bit extra. I just came from GM Tech Center in Warren and there are hundreds of foreign cars all over the place, many with GM employee parking stickers, they had a big wave of new employees in the last year and these employees don't all drive GM cars. If you ever go to an automotive plant, they may be a bit more sensitive about this but again, the worst they will ask you to park far from the main entrance.

Now, if you are in any capacity where you need to interact with automotive companies as an official representative of your company (sales, account manager, onsite engineering contractor) some of them would probably not like you driving a foreign car, and this could reflect badly on your career. Since I'm basically a 2nd tier consultant, I couldn't care less. (Not that I don't like American cars, quite the opposite).

It has been ages since there was actual vandalism of foreign cars in Detroit. Think 1980s. I drove a Mitsubishi for years in the 90s without getting any dirty looks.

Added: Having re-read your post, since you're going to be hired by one of the automotive companies, it would help if you buy one of their products (wait until you're eligible for a discount). While none of them - as far as I know - have either open or hidden policy to discriminate against employees driving competitive products (the top management really has bigger things to worry about), your immediate supervisor or his director or some of your co-workers may take this personally, especially if it's obvious that you just bought the car.