[Northsider 248]

Royal Oak is pretty safe, but it is NOT one of those places where you would walk alone at night while counting hundred dollar bills. Of course crimes can happen anywhere and walkingalone at midnight even in a really safe place has its risks. Look at crime rates on Citydata.

Wouldn't get you shot in RO, but you'd definately be in the hospital for a body full of stab wounds.

Royal Oak is decently safe. There's a big drug trade and alot of teenage thugs, but most of the time it doesn't go further than car theft. A stabbing in Royal Oak is a somewhat common occurrence, but shootings are almost always without injury in the city (most likely because Cletus got his hands on mommy's gun and wanted to show the rival gangsters at the park how deep he rolls).

A whole bunch of kiddie thugs, but not many adult criminals. Dumb gang members breaking into cars, robbing people and pushing drugs is all it really ever is.

If you move to Royal Oak, you will be sorry, but not because of the crime. That whole north central area of Metro Detroit is heavy with burglaries, so I'd spring for a steel door, but other than that, as long as you keep your kids out of drugs and use common sense, crime is probably the only thing you won't have to worry about in Royal Oak.

[royaloakgrandma]

Royal Oak has had increasing problems with home invasions, shortage of police, and drug problems. If you live downtown, can be "cool" but you also have to live with the noise from drunk, loud people on the weekends. Can be awakened at 3 am by garbage pick up to businesses (not supposed to happen)
which border residences - sounds like you are in a loop of car crash noises over and over again. Recently two murders in the city. School District has internal political problems and just put a principal at the high school on leave but will not be open about the issue or charge him with anything - leaving him and his family in limbo - and the man with a ruined reputation if there is not good cause for it. School no longer buses kids to school who live far creating problems for many parents. Just be aware and practice vigilance. Don't leave anything that can attract anyone to your car. Be sure to have alarms on car and home. Bring pepper spray. Just saying.

[househunting523]

Detroit and Flint...I had to. lol.

[Coldjensens]

Safe from what?

There a lots of dirt road places with no people where you are totally safe from any crime. However if you have a heart attack, you are dead.

Grosse Ile where I live is often touted as "the Safest City in Michigan" We do have very little crime, and with a maximum speed limit of 35 we do nto have lots of accidents or pedistrian plowing, but we have lots of drownings. We have tons of Deer/car collisions. You may be safe from bullets, but those demonic deer will get you eventually. My wife had one run right into the side of our truck. $4000 damage.

In the UP there is low crime in many areas (some parts are not so great in that way), but you are more likely to get bitten by a tick and get Lymes Disease. You are also more likely to get lost or stuck in the snow and die of exposure. It is safer?

Novi has low crime too, probably not a lot of deer ticks in Novi and no rattlesnakes, but you are much more likely to get clubbed in the head and trampled by frantic shoppers trying to rush a store on the Friday after thanksgiving than you are almost anywhere else in the world.

The safest place would be in a santized concrete bunker with filtered air and purified food and water. But then you would probably go insance and kill yourself.

What do you want to be safe from?

Here are some things that can kill you, cripple you, or ruin your life in Michigan. Just pick the ones that bother you most:

Bullets.
Knives.
Traffic accidents.
Potholes.
Canadian Geese
Blizzards
Fists.
Ticks carrying lymes disease.
Rattle Snakes.
Tornados
Lightening.
Toxic waste.
Airplane crashes.
Ice on the sidewalk.
A banana on the floor of a supermarket.
Falling tree or branch.
Cattle stampede.
Exploding flour in a silo.
Suicide.
Falling through the ice.
Meteorites.
A polar bear that escaped form the zoo
(Okay, that one is getting a little extreme- probably not too likely, but then the odds are higher than the lottery and people still buy tickets like mad).

Ocne you decide the threats you want to avoid, we can help you choose a place. For example, in some parts of Detroit, you may be very safe from ticks, cattle stampedes or slipping on a banana in a supermarket, but you may be somewhat more at risk from bullets, knifes or fists. IN west Bloomfiled, you slightly increase the tick danger, greatly increase the traffic danger (with all those roundabouts that no one seems to understand), they also have lots of supermarkets with dangerous bananas, but you somewhat reduce your bullet, knife or fist danger. It is all relative.

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by sbsb

Hi all,

I will be moving to MI on a work assignment soon. I need to know where is the safest area to live?? Money is no issue.

Michigan is a very safe state to live in as long as you are not in Detroit proper, Flint, Benton harbor, Muskegon. There are parts of Lansing, Grand Rapids and Saginaw to avoid too, but in those towns there are at least some good areas left. Just stay out of inner cities and you are fine here, in fact Mi is safer than most states outside of Detroit.

[magellan]

This is an old thread resurrected from 2009. OP is probably not around any more.

[aoletsgo]

While crime can happen anywhere in my opinon the City of Northville has to be close to the top in terms of safest in Detroit metro. It is a very small, high income town, where people know each other and look out for one another. There are always at least two patrol cars on duty (some nights I think they are the only cars on the road) and the closest freeway intersections are over two miles away. The city is surounded by Northville Township which is also high-end with a strong police presence. Northville Township is then surounded by Plymouth, Novi and Livonia which again are nice communities with a strong police force. Additionally, there are always Wayne County Sheriffs patroling nearby Hines Drive and there is a State Police Post close by on 7 Mile.