[a_senna]

Hi everyone,
I am a 32-year old single male professional considering moving to Detroit from San Diego. I want to live (rent) in a safe neighborhood close to the Compuware Building (where I will be working). If there are safe neighborhoods within a 25-mile radius from work, I’ll consider them. My requirements are:
1) Safe parking for my cars (preferably two-car garage, or garage for one, outside/driveway parking for another)
2) Proximity to restaurants, fast food outlets
3) Proximity to a good gym with pool
Am I asking for a lot? ;-) Some research here on this forum brought up Troy, MI. How bad would the commute be to downtown Detroit? How bad would the drive be in winter/inclement weather? Search also brought up Farmington Hills but I am leaning towards Troy.

Thanks in advance!!

[danielj72]

San Diego to Detroit, talk about a change and some potential culture shock. All the things on your list will be easy to find in metro Detroit. Metro Detroit has plenty of good eats, gyms etc just like all major US cities do. Focus your search in Oakland counties northern suburbs, they are the nicest areas in metro Detroit. The popular and nicer places seem to be Novi, Northville, Farmington, Troy just to name a few. Im sure you know to avoid Detroit proper for housing, it is not safe there. The commute in the winter should not be bad, actually the Detroit area has the mildest winter in our state. They only recieve about 40 inches of snow a year, and they do a decent job of salting roads down there. If you have never driven in snow then all bets are off. Some people learn it quickly, others struggle with it. If you are used to California rents/mortgage payments then you will be able to buy any house you want here cheaper than what you paid on the west coast. Good luck

[animatedmartian]

Commute-wise, Troy to downtown Detroit is probably a 30-40 minute commute in rush hour. It's stop and go most of the time, but it'd definitely get really routine after a while. Winter weather would probably be plus 15 minutes. But that's the worst case scenario and likely won't happen often.

[a_senna]

Thanks Daniel and martian.
Lol @ culture shock part, I too was expecting it :-) I lived (went to grad school there) in Wyoming/Colorado for 6 years and so am not new to driving in snow. It is good to know though that the snow is manageable and that housing is cheaper.
Ok, so Troy-Detroit commute is not that bad then. I wanted to live closer though, but a 25-mile commute each way is actually not bad at all.

Thanks once again both of you, this really helped.

[Coldjensens]

The things you are ooking for are readily avialable in dozens of nice suburbs and in Detroit as well.

Younger single types tend to gravitate to Royal Oak, Ferndale, Mid-town or Downtown Detroit, or Ann Arbor, and some to Wyandotte. However some prefer more rual areas, areas near parks, water front/water access, more upscale areas, small town. Some like suburbia, some like lots of chain stores and resturaunts, some like peace and quiet. Some like a quaint old fashioned downtown and some are happier with endless subdivisions with convenient strip malls. If you are planning to set down roots and eventually raise a fmaily, you may wnat to set yourself up in town with good schools. If you are planning to move away after a while, or just have some fun in a lively place and then set down roots elsewhere later, then you will not care about schools.

Troy is fine, but you may find it boring. THere is a super upscale mall there if that interests you. Otherwise you have lots of options that are closer to work for you, more fun, and still meet your criteria to the same extent Troy does.

A lot more informationa botu your preferences would be helpful, but give your age and aparant status as a single, you may want to start out with the cities mentioned above.

Having moved from LA/Orange County I woudl not live in North Oakland COunty and commute to Detroit for anything. One of the perks of living in Michigan is driving straight to and from work without stopping on the freeway at all. UNfortuaneately that perk is rare for the North Oakland to Detroit commute. That is probably the worst traffic avialable here (Except Ann Arbor on a game day). The traffic is just like LA except on a microscopic scale. Rahter then 40 miles of pared traffic, yu only have to sit through 5-10. If you are going to go north, then I suggest to keep in as close to Detroit as practical.

[cjbailey]

Fernadale, Royal Oak, Grosse Pointe, Harper Woods would all be easier commutes and a bit more exciting than Troy.

[belleislerunner]

I would second the suggestions to live in Royal Oak - based on your demographic. Troy is very "suburban" as in all subdivisions and strip malls. It has excellent schools, the nicest mall in Michigan (Somerset Mall) and the typical row of upscale restaurant chains along Big Beaver (e.g. Maggiano's, Capital Grille etc).

Royal Oak (check out the area around 11Mile and Main) is full of loft developments and mixed housing stock. It's where the more upscale young professionals live (as contrasted with the hipster Ferndale neighbor). The LA Fitness in Royal Oak (Signature Level) is multistory and comes with a parking garage and a pool. Royal Oak/B'Ham and Ferndale are all along the corridor and its' much easier access to downtown for sporting/cultural events. There's a farmers market in RO (though the one in Detroit in Eastern Market on Saturday mornings) is by far the best. Commuting from Compuware to Royal Oak will be half the time of going to Troy and your quality of life will be better.

The other reason I would choose Royal Oak/Ferndale/Bham over a Farmington Hills/Novi is that the majority of "transplants" or people who grew up elsewhere in the state and work in Detroit settle there - so you won't seem so out of place as in Farmington Hills/Novi - which will have much more of a bedroom feel. (i.e. people who grew up/still live in those towns). I think you'd acclimate much quicker there - and given the central location - you're central to everything.

Kudos on the new gig and welcome to the D!

[a_senna]

Thanks a lot for all the replies. I am considering Royal Oak now, but having a hard time finding single bedroom apartments (already checked with Briarwood and a few other). Also, my two-car storage requirement is turning out to be a hinderance :-( Any problems with renting homes as opposed to apartments? Is safety (burglary, car theft/vandalism) an issue? I was considering Troy because I read that it was pretty safe.
@Coldjensens: I hear you, I don't want to run into bumper-to-bumper traffic like what we see on 405, 5 and 805 during rush hour :-)
@belleislerunner: I have made up my mind, I'm going to live in RO. Looking forward to meeting all those 'transplants' :-)

[MS313]

Compuware in downtown Detroit. You have plenty of neighborhoods right in walking distance from your job. Downtown, Midtown, Corktown, Lafayette Park, Elmwood Park, some apartments along Jefferson, Woodbridge. There seems to be a few transplants around there. I'm not sure about the garage thing but there are plenty of restaurants around and a YMCA within walking distance from your job.

I would name some other ones but I'm not sure about what type of neighborhoods your used to. I wouldn't put you in the middle of a war zone but there are residential neighborhoods in Detroit where alot of homes are for rent that's really not that bad for an affordable big city neighborhood.

Outside of the city you are going to have to deal with traffic on your commute. But that depends on which direction your coming from. Royal Oak, Ferndale, ect are pretty good places also but you have to go down I-75 to get to downtown Detroit unless you would rather take a surface street like Woodward all the way down to Detroit.

You have areas around Dearborn, Warren, Redford, Farmington Hills or maybe the downriver area. I would say Ann Arbor/ Ypsilanti but that commute is just ridiculous IMO.

If your heart is set on Royal Oak, idk about renting homes out there. If you can't then you can look at places right outside of Royal Oak which would probably be even more affordable and not that far from what you want.

[belleislerunner]

Yeah a single family home in RO might not be a bad option for you. The housing stock in Michigan never got to California price point levels so it was typical for most people to live in an apt for 1-3 years after college and buy a small starter home (900-1,600 sq ft). This caused the rental market to never get overly sophiscicated (i.e. upscale) as it wasn't as common for people in their late 20's to have apartments. One person would buy a house and then have 1-2 roommates in the house - as a house was more conducive to bonfires, hottubs etc. The housing stock in RO is varied - but there are a lot of small homes (e.g. 1,000ft) that you'll find equivalent to the cost of an apartment. Most of those will have 1-2 car garages and while there is crime anywhere - RO is not a city that should cause you concern about your cars being in a driveway or a garage. Heck even Bill Clinton is crashing a house in RO tonight for a fundraiser - complete with an indoor garage. Royal Oak's Most Amazing Loft Getting A Visit From Bill Clinton - Political Party Pads - Curbed Detroit