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I am considering a relocation with my wife and 2 small kids to Michigan for a new job. From reading these boards, I think we would be interested in the Ann Arbor area, Saline, and Pittsfield as a long term home. However I'm still iffy on whether I want to be stuck in a house that may not sell if I decide to leave the area if we don't like it there. My first visit to the area will be this weekend, so obviously I have no clue about the place, just what I've read here. Since good schools won't be a concern for about 2 years, I was thinking about a decent rental house. Primarily I would want a crime free area where my kids could play outside in safety and a fairly quick commute to Visteon Village. I was thinking about a rental in Canton? Not sure which areas are bad vs. good.
What is your opinions of this strategy? Also, what are some good sites to search for home rentals in the area? Thanks in advance.
So after returning from my trip here are my observations.
Everyone we ran into was friendly, but you can tell jobs and the economy are at the forefront of everyone's mind. Many of the roads are in complete disrepair. Ann Arbor seemed like a great town and I enjoyed the State/Main st area. Saline looks to be a great town as well. I never ventured into Detroit, but I was told by several people DO NOT buy in that area unless you are planning to be there for 5-10 years. So it looks like I will probably rent for a year before deciding on a house to buy. I also heard that downtown Detroit is so bad that the police have to guard off certain corridors to protect people going to see the hockey/baseball/football games. If you stray from that corridor its bad news. Overall though, I liked the trees, parks, scenery in Washtenaw Cty. I actually tried to schedule house showings, but every property I was interested in was either under contract or the Realtor/Tenant was busy. Apparently, the April Tax Credit deadline was generating a lot of activity in the area. I will definitely consider the move, however I'm still doubtful about Detroit making any meaningful recovery and fearful that the state will go bankrupt in the coming years.
You heard wrong about downtown Detroit. Downtown is pretty decent. It is the parts of Detroit just outside of downtown that tend to be rough. Police cordon off certain areas to control traffic and direct people back to the freeways. They do not want the hordes trying to take short cuts and tying up the whole city. They close some cross streets so that cars can flow through directly to the various freeway entrances without getting gridlocked at lights. There are bad areas that these people could wander into trying to take short cuts, but that is not the reason for the traffic control. What you heard is a silly assumption by a fear monger looking for things to justify their fear.
Downtown Detroit is actually pretty fun. I work downtown and bring my family to various events on a regular basis.
Ann Arbor is fabulous. The more you get to know it, the more you will like it.
If you like Saline, then also look at Chelsea, Plymouth, Dexter and Tecumseh. Chelsea is especially wonderful. Tecumseh is a bit off the beaten track, but still worth looking at. The township just north of Tecumseh (Clinton? It starts with a C) is also pretty neat. There are great schools in all of these towns.
Depending on where you are working, I suggest that you also look at Northville, Milford, South Lyon.
Canton is fine, but I personally do not care for it. It is just a bunch of subdivisions (McMansions) and strip malls with too much traffic and no downtown, no character. there is nothing "bad" about Canton, it just does not have as much to offer as many many other nearby places. You can do better.
THere are a lot of places near Ann Arbor that are not seperate towns, but have a small villiage. Salem and Dixborough are examples. They are semi rural, but pretty neat places to live. No real town just a couple of stores or resturaunts a church or two and a few homes grouped together. You have lots of great options. Renting is a good idea until you can check out the various areas and make the best choice for your family. Rent a house, not an apartment in a complex. That is the only way you will get a feel for what it is like to live in a home here.
While the state government is in trouble, they ar eno where near as bad off as many other states, particularly California. Not likelly that the state will go bankrupt, but you will probably see continued cuts to public services. Roads will probably get a lot worse (you may have to slow down a bit). Although there have been school budget cuts, I do not see a lot of decline in the quality of education and Michigans colleges and universities are first rate.
The big issue for you is how you address winter. If you embrace the change of seasons and enjoy cool crisp days, the beauty of snowfall, and are nto put off by an occaisional challenge, you will love it here. If you hide away in your home and wait for winter to end, then you will end up asting half of your life waiting.
I agree with most of what Cold says, and some i don't i shouldn't have an opinion on seens how i don't live near detroit, i live by Grand Rapids area. I just wanted to coment on the roads and economy of michigan.
The roads are bad, and even thou they are working on them constintly, Michigan will always have poor roads, add in a bad economy and they are worse.
The economy is bad in Michigan, ppl are constently moving out of state due to not many jobs here.
We do have the highest unemployment rate in the US.
But the biggest thing to look at when desciding to move to Michigan is like Cold said, is the winters. If you like cold weather and lots of snow, this is the place for you. Just remeber you can't call in sick from work just cause it snows, lol.
With all of that said, Michigan is a GREAT place to raise a family. If you like the outdoors, no matter were you live in the state, you don't have to go to far to do some fishing, or hiking, or anything outdoors related. If your in to culture and indoor activities, the area you are looking at shouldn't have any problem finding that.
Good luck and i hope this helps
With that being said, Michigan is a GREAT place to raise a family
So after returning from my trip here are my observations.
Everyone we ran into was friendly, but you can tell jobs and the economy are at the forefront of everyone's mind. Many of the roads are in complete disrepair. Ann Arbor seemed like a great town and I enjoyed the State/Main st area. Saline looks to be a great town as well. I never ventured into Detroit, but I was told by several people DO NOT buy in that area unless you are planning to be there for 5-10 years. So it looks like I will probably rent for a year before deciding on a house to buy. I also heard that downtown Detroit is so bad that the police have to guard off certain corridors to protect people going to see the hockey/baseball/football games. If you stray from that corridor its bad news. Overall though, I liked the trees, parks, scenery in Washtenaw Cty. I actually tried to schedule house showings, but every property I was interested in was either under contract or the Realtor/Tenant was busy. Apparently, the April Tax Credit deadline was generating a lot of activity in the area. I will definitely consider the move, however I'm still doubtful about Detroit making any meaningful recovery and fearful that the state will go bankrupt in the coming years.
Detroit police do patrol all of downtown. Some are station for crowd control near the events, maybe that's what the person was trying to describe and with that it's like that in any other city across this country for police to be around the crowded area for control.
Me and a buddy walked to Greektown from the hockey game at times on congress or the Riverwalk and on up Woodward. This is around 10 at night and no Police were visible and we never got into any kind of trouble or seen any trouble.
So after returning from my trip here are my observations.
Everyone we ran into was friendly, but you can tell jobs and the economy are at the forefront of everyone's mind. Many of the roads are in complete disrepair. Ann Arbor seemed like a great town and I enjoyed the State/Main st area. Saline looks to be a great town as well. I never ventured into Detroit, but I was told by several people DO NOT buy in that area unless you are planning to be there for 5-10 years. So it looks like I will probably rent for a year before deciding on a house to buy. I also heard that downtown Detroit is so bad that the police have to guard off certain corridors to protect people going to see the hockey/baseball/football games. If you stray from that corridor its bad news. Overall though, I liked the trees, parks, scenery in Washtenaw Cty. I actually tried to schedule house showings, but every property I was interested in was either under contract or the Realtor/Tenant was busy. Apparently, the April Tax Credit deadline was generating a lot of activity in the area. I will definitely consider the move, however I'm still doubtful about Detroit making any meaningful recovery and fearful that the state will go bankrupt in the coming years.
Detroit police do patrol all of downtown. Some are station for crowd control near the events, maybe that's what the person was trying to describe from who you heard it from and with that it's like that in any other city across this country for police to be around the crowded area for control.
Me and a buddy walked to Greektown from the hockey game at times on congress or the Riverwalk and on up Woodward. This is around 10 at night and no Police were visible and we never got into any kind of trouble or seen any trouble.
You should at least take the time too look at homes in neighborhoods around the city of Detroit.
A lot of people in the suburbs (including Ann Arbor) have the vision that Detroit is some war-torn Third World place. There's a huge disconnect in the Detroit area between the burbs and the city. There are many people living in SE Michigan who have never even been to Detroit because of the negative imagery surrounding the city. Honestly it's not helping anything. Don't listen to them. Just proceed like you would in any other large city, and know where you're going.
There are many nice places to buy a house. I'd say if you are coming to MI to work, and know you will be around for 5-10 years, I'd buy for sure. I can't picture house values getting too much lower than they are right now, especially around Ann Arbor. It has a built-in economy and will always be doing better than the rest of the state - the surrounding areas are probably OK as well.
A lot of the neighborhoods in SE MI that were hit hardest were Detroit and it's closest burbs - the heart of the manufacturing culture. Some of them are selling for $50,000 for a 3 bedroom house! At that price, I think you're pretty safe buying. You might not make a killing on it in five years, but you won't be losing. I feel bad for folks who bought homes within the last decade, before the crash. $350,000 homes have lost half their value. It's really rough.
Michigan is a great place to raise a family, and if you want to live cheaply. If I could find a decent-paying job with benefits, I'd be back right now, and I'd buy a house.
So I did end up accepting a job in Michigan and will relocate there towards the end of the summer. There doesn't seem to be very many good rentals on the market now, so I may be forced to buy a house immediately. I will post back here after we get moved up to let others now how the experience went and maybe add some advice.
I did have one weather question though. Would you say the winter in A2/Detroit is similar to Chicago or worse?
Where is your job located? Probably lots more options than you are aware of. Lots of great houses for rent all over as many are underwater and can't sell. If I missed the location of your new job, I apologize. But a little more info would be helpful. Do you like a bustling city with a night life? Do you like more the small town feel with the quaint downtowns. Lots more options than just ann arbor, although saline and chelsea are very nice.
We are all pretty knowledgable about commute times, etc. as we're not big on the public transportation systems around here. We'd be glad offer more info on school districts, etc. if you detail what you're looking for.
We have had some pretty easy winters the last few years (in my opinion). Areas in SE Lower MI don't get the Lake Effect snows and for some unknown reason the worst snowstorms seemed to be just below us in Ohio or above us in Grand Rapids areas which works for me
Chicago is colder and it gets more snow than SE MI.
Yes, a lot of people are leaving MI but I would bet that most of them would rather stay. If you have a job, it is still a great place to live.
I had to google Visteon Village to learn that it is between Metro and Willow Run airports.
I would look at the neighborhoods south of Belleville Lake. Canton is also close. If you are looking for a city with a downtown, you are going to have to spend time on either 94 or 275 every day. Maybe it would be better to drive to the city when you want to get out, rather than driving a long way to work every day. The less time on the highway, the better IMO. The quality of life in Canton and the whole west suburban ring along 275 is very high, if you like suburban life.
There should be plenty of rentals, I'm surprised you did not see many.
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