Best family suburb for Wayne State job

[Rono1968]

Upfront, I would like to thank all those who post here. I read these posts with interest - I am due to join WSU as faculty in Fall 2009, and so I need a place to rent starting June 2009. My life situation is different - single, 40, male, no kids, have some flexibility re. work timings (can work from home 3-4 days/ week, can avoid rush hour if needed etc.) - and so I have some degrees of freedom.

My question - how safe are the parking garages at WSU? During the day? Evenings - say after 6pm? Weekends? I wonder if anybody has any general info on this.

Thanks again - Abi

[renter8319]

i don't know anything about the parking structures. but for you i would suggest royal oak, birmingham, maybe areas like clawson. grosse pointe is more of a family area.

[MonkeyButler7000]

My brother-in-law had a gun pulled on him in a Wayne State parking garage a few years ago. I don't know if anything has changed since then, but I would be careful.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Rono1968

Upfront, I would like to thank all those who post here. I read these posts with interest - I am due to join WSU as faculty in Fall 2009, and so I need a place to rent starting June 2009. My life situation is different - single, 40, male, no kids, have some flexibility re. work timings (can work from home 3-4 days/ week, can avoid rush hour if needed etc.) - and so I have some degrees of freedom.

My question - how safe are the parking garages at WSU? During the day? Evenings - say after 6pm? Weekends? I wonder if anybody has any general info on this.

Thanks again - Abi

What lifestyle are you looking for? Do you want seclusion, quiet, woods? live on a golf course? Live in a city where you can walk to a pub or coffee house? Waterfront? How much can you spend?

WSU is in a city. There is always some crime in any city and a dark lonely parking garage is a good place to commit a crime. Use good sense and you should not have any trouble. I attended WSU when things were a lot worse in the area than they are now. Do not go into the parking garage alone at night. If you know you will be working late, park close to the entrance or at least near a stiarway so you are not walking around inside the garage. I would sometimes move my car in the afternoon if I knew I would be staying late. In the morning, there are no spaces near the entrance, but by 3 p.m. there were plenty. I usually parked on the street across the freeway (because it was free). Being outside is safer. Bad guys are less likely to make a move in plain view, especially if there are other people around.

I am not certain, but I think that you can call security for an escort to your car if you are leaving alone at night. Most universities in cities offer this service. It is worth wiating a minute or two for an escort, besides, if you call regularly, they may just start coming around when they know you will be leaving, so you do not have to wait. If they do not have this service, have some friends or co-workers walk with you.

I left after dark roughly 500 times without any serious problems. I had my car battery stolen a few times, but never had any other problems. When I attended WSU security was poor and crime in the area was much worse than it is now. They told us to always carry $40 with us. That way if we got mugged, we had enough to give them so they would not get angry, but not so much that it would be a terrible loss to us. They said that if you had a decent amount of money, they would usually be satisfied and leave without hurting you. I eventually spent the $40.00. Now security at WSU is very good and crime is down considerably, but it still happens. Usually when the vicitm is being stupid and taking unnecessary risks.

I have no problem with my daughter wanting to attend WSU next year, but I will drill common sense into her head every day (mostly what is set out above). I will also have her carry and learn to use pepper spray. However common sense is a far better defense than any weapon. It is very unusual for a group of two or more people to be bothered. It is usually people who are alone - so do not be alone.

All that said, I think that it is pretty safe in that area. I have no problems walking around at night. However I am pretty big and I do not engage others. I also do not walk around looking like a good target. "Safe" all depends on your perspective. If you are a victim, then the area is not safe for you even if it is the only crime to occur in twenty years. If nothing ever happnes to you, the area will seem "safe" even if a mugging occurs every day. Statistics are avialble from the WSU police/security, but statistics do not tell you much unless you know the facts of the events. You could have a string of muggings by a single guy that would make it look really dangerous. However if that guy is now in jail, the statistics woudl be misleading. You may have a lot of assaults reported, however if the victims are all owmen and you are a man, then it is less of a personal threat to you. If there is a series of sexual assualts, but they all occurred at drunken frat house parties, then you are not at risk, despite a high crime statistic.

[Cato the Elder]

WSU isn't bad at all. Yes, the chances of getting mugged are greater than if you were at Oakland University, but it's not worse than any urban university. It's definitely better than UChicago, UPenn, USC, Temple, Drexel, etc. For one, the area around WSU is one of the nicest in Detroit and the university isn't next to crack house neighborhoods full of projects like the other universities I've listed. Hoodlums can't mug someone and hop back into their hood easily for a safe getaway. I've never stayed past 6pm, but I always used parking decks for two years and never ran into anyone suspicious - just people who were obviously students, staff, and faculty. There are also surface lots if you're scared and there is an escort service. Program the WSU police number into your phone - they are quick to respond. Now I've seen plenty of clueless, teenage suburbanites on their cell phone with high heels and dangling purses hopping into their fancy employee-purchased Big 3 car, so there are definitely easier pickins out there for muggers. Keep a fake wallet with old id and twenty bucks and don't make yourself an easy target. I also wouldn't whip out my I-Phone or Blackberry either, but I've seen plenty of students do it.

[Pingree]

Well first of all, welcome to our area. The Wayne State campus really is a great place. Be careful not to drop your guard there (or at any urban college campus for that matter).

I love the Grosse Pointes, and they're a short drive from WSU, but they've become a bit of a dull little island over the past 15 years. They're going to get hit pretty hard in 2009 by the decline of the auto industry, and the blue-collar burbs around them will go from bad to worse.

Oakland County will weather things the best, and there are really only two viable communities with downtowns in Oakland County, Royal Oak and Birmingham (leave Ferndale to the childless hipsters). Troy and Farmington Hills are potentially two of the dullest towns in America, unless you're a big fan of strip malls and chain restaurants.

Royal Oak has the strongest downtown, but public schools are an issue. Birmingham has good schools, but the downtown has been plagued by vacancies (and it's about to get much worse, as the city is about to lose some major commercial tenants in addition to more retail).

If I were you, I would probably pick Royal Oak or Huntington Woods, and send my kids to one of the many good parochial schools in the area. The tuition probably would be about the same cost as the tax hike you'd get from going to a similarly sized house in Birmingham.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Pingree

there are really only two viable communities with downtowns in Oakland County, Royal Oak and Birmingham (leave Ferndale to the childless hipsters).

What about South Lyon, Milford, Walled Lake, Rochester, and another half dozen other communities with downtowns in Oakland county? Are all fo the other downtowns not viable?

[Pingree]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

What about South Lyon, Milford, Walled Lake, Rochester, and another half dozen other communities with downtowns in Oakland county? Are all fo the other downtowns not viable?

South Lyon and Walled Lake, no. Rochester and Milford, yes, but Rochester is about an hour from downtown Detroit, and Milford is at least the same. I would imagine that the commute down 96 (or Rochester Road) is not for everyone.

Also, I wouldn't consider Milford or Rochester quite in the same league as Royal Oak or Birmingham in terms of vibrancy. Milford's is exceedingly small, and Rochester's seems to have lost the war to all of the strip malls and "lifestyle centers" in the area. The fact that downtown Rochester virtually shuts down on Sundays is another issue. All of this is too bad because the area has a lot going for it. Mark my words, but Rochester's crazy LTV's on their mortgages and suffering downtown will be a HUGE problem to overcome.