Is Ann Arbor the best town in Michigan to raise a family?
Never thought I'd say this, but we're debating a move back to Michigan. As far as I can see, Ann Arbor area is the most stable, progressive and cosmopolitan region in the state. Or is Ann Arbor a peer to Bloomfield Hills, Rochester Hills, Birmingham, Northville, East Grand Rapids? Wife heard South Lyon is booming and could be a stable investment.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
Both downtown Northville and downtown Plymouth are great. Schools are solid (Northville probably better than Plymouth) too and plenty of fun stuff for a family without the insane traffic of Ann Arbor. Plus, wider selection of jobs that area.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:11 PM ^
Biased as I live in Northville, but I think it's a great area. Good schools, relatively reasonable real estate prices (though on the high end) and great access (30 minutes to Detroit, 30 minutes to AA, 15 minutes to DTW).
January 13th, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^
I've lived in Seattle, LA & Austin, TX. Ann Arbor traffic has certainly gotten worse over the years, but compared to those places it really is nothing.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:49 PM ^
OP was asking about places to live in SE Michigan so who cares about how crazy LA/NYC/Chi traffic is? Compared to most other cities in SE Michigan, AA traffic is awful. Taking State St from the law quad to the airport during rush hour, for instance, is far worse than going anywhere in Dexter or Plymouth or Grosse Pointe.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^
unlikely that OP plans to move to the law quads as well though. i hear the rent is crazy.
i live in the dicken neighborhood, and i've never had problems with traffic apart from a) construction and b) game days. if you're familiar with the traffic patterns, i feel like a2 is pretty easy to navigate.
January 13th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^
I drive from Pittsfield Twp. (just SE of the US23/I94 interchange) to North Campus and back every day for work.
It's usually a 15 minute drive during rush hour.
Is it worse than most surrounding cities? Sure... by a couple minutes.
January 13th, 2015 at 8:33 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 13th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
I don't recall the magazine, but several years ago there was an article about the ten best cities in the country for raising a family. Ann Arbor was among them.
Funny thing: No mention of Columbus, Ohio.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
is the best, if you can afford it. Bloomfield Hills and Grosse Pointe have great schools too.
If you're looking for a progressive city, Royal Oak is good. For as much as I love the U, I'm not too terribly fond of Ann Arbor.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:36 PM ^
Why is Birmingham the best?
Your opinion on Grosse Pointe public schools may be out of date. What I just read suggests they are no longer a peer of Ann Arbor, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Rochester Hills, Northville.
January 13th, 2015 at 5:08 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
Is an awful suburban hellscape compared to Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor is the only place on your list that will afford you SOME level of diversity. GR is tempting because it's a tremendous value and closer to Up North, the lakeshore and Chicago. I think it was recently one of the top-rated places for real estate investment. If I were to go the GR route I'd probably avoid EGR and the higher prices and stick to Eastown.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
particularly do that for your children. the UP or even below the bridge. lots to do, much less of the press of humanity, outdoor stuff galore, hunt, fish, hike, ski, little or no traffic except for a handful of days in the summer, and no 'planning that somedauy we'll get there' - it'll all be out your back door.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
I have some friends who live in Royal Oak, and I love that area. I've been trying for a few years to get back to that area to live and raise a family.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:48 PM ^
I live in Royal Oak and love it. Just need the husband and kids and I'll raise a family here.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:14 PM ^
Traverse City and Kalamazoo are great family towns
January 13th, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^
Dunno. I grew up in Kalamazoo, my mother lives in Traverse City, but yo, I live in Colorado.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:15 PM ^
Its just what i have heard.....anyways Harbaugh
January 13th, 2015 at 3:08 PM ^
I've lived in Kzoo area for about 5 years.
To summarize, the east, north and south sides are ghetto. Just west of 131, Portage and Gull Lake are nice areas. Downtown Kzoo is decent, but doesn't compare to Ann Arbor. Beer Exchange, Bell's and a few decent restaurants is really all Kzoo has going for it.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^
The west side of the state Grand Haven, Spring Lake, Grand Rapids... i live on the east side of the state i just love that area
January 13th, 2015 at 2:42 PM ^
The west side of the State is awesome.
Would totally move there were it not for most of extended family being here.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 13th, 2015 at 2:20 PM ^
It completely depends on what exactly you're looking for and no one answer by any of us or the many lists online that rank this topic will be able to answer it for you.
What I can say is that my wife and I were born and raised in Ann Arbor. We both moved to Arizona and lived there for 5-6 years. About 3.5 years ago when it was time to actually start a family, as the Phoenix area was not what we had in mind, after a lot of researching, soul-searching and visiting places, we dropped everything we were doing and decided to move back to Ann Arbor.
We now have a 16 month old girl, and even on days like this where my car door was frozen shut in the morning and when I have higher than average rent payments to make that other cities in Michigan, I know I made the absolute right choice for me and wouldn't do it any differently. Maybe something will change, but I fully intend on having an A2 address for a very long time.
January 13th, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^
other points:
-in general, the ann arbor neighborhoods are like.. real neighborhoods. this is in contrast to many of the detroit suburbs (where real neighborhoods do exist but are harder to find and get in to). this is a preference thing though. some people love mcmansion subdivisions - i'm not one of them.
-i'm multiethnic, and i grew up in midland, where there are many many white people. being not white was very evident to me growing up, and became somewhat of a negative. now having 2 multiethnic kids, i want them to grow up somewhere that will provide them with a) a reasonable number of peers similar to them and b) peers who value their difference rather than chide them for it. i believe ann arbor is a place that be most able to provide that.
-on politics... i mean, if you're moderate (as i am), i felt like i was choosing to either feel conservative in a liberal base or liberal in a conservative base. i chose the former...
-on taxes.. just use the library like a mofo. it almost helps you feel better.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:19 PM ^
It certainly could make a case for the best:
- You really can't miss with Ann Arbor Public Schools.
- When your kids get older they can bus wherever they want. Ann Arbor has the only public transportation in Michigan that I would consider letting my kids use.
- Lots of parks and things to do.
Some issues that you might want to consider:
- High taxes.
- One-party politics.
I really can't think of another place in Michigan that comes close.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:33 PM ^
If you are politically right winged and/or don't want to shell out the taxes to pay for the above and more, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:20 PM ^
on Traverse City; great schools, good time to get into local real estate, and so many recreation options in all seasons just out your back door
January 13th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 7:40 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 2:22 PM ^
If you have a healthy income and want to raise your kids in a community that thinks it's still 1965 then you can always choose Grosse Pointe. They'll continue to put up borders around their community so native Detroiters don't find their way to Lakeshore Drive.
Ok seriously, don't raise your family in GPP.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:42 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 13th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
As someone who worked in the Henry Ford Health System on Kercheval and Muir for 3 years after graduating and got to see the way the community leaders acted towards anything "Detroit" I think I'll stick to the archetype I just described GPP as. It's an old community, with some old type of thinking, and it's quite unfortunate for how beautiful the area truly is.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:57 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 3:07 PM ^
I understand that there was/is plenty of racism in the Pointes. That's awful. However, they have also managed to maintain a safe community with great schools during a few decades that destroyed much of Detroit and left the nearby community desolated. Surely you can see the virtues along with the vices?
January 13th, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
I can agree with this, and maybe my original post was a bit harsh.
Let me say that this upcoming ramble is my own personal experience: my first year at my internship in GP another student and I went out to buy a suit for an upcoming work gathering, we went to a nice upper income store (which shall remain nameless) on Mack Avenue, well while trying on the suits the store clerk decided to call over some GPP officers that we're just coming down the street. The store clerk then proceeded to ask the officers to check that my friend (a 23 year old African-American) wasn't pocketing anything while in the dressing room. Needless to say they didn't find anything and we agreed we weren't going to purchase anything from said store after. This is just one of the many instances I saw the way people of race were treated in GPP. Have you ever been scolded by an older affluent woman because the nurse that was drawing her blood was gasp "black!"
GPP is truly a beautiful community aesthetically, but it still has a long ways to go to break that old mentality hanging around the city. The shacks at the end of Kercheval (which are gone now maybe?) shows just how far away they still are.
January 14th, 2015 at 12:49 AM ^
My wife is from Grosse Pointe and I'm from Ann Arbor so I think I have a bit of perspective on both places. I would say that Grosse Pointe is undoubtedly more conservative than A2, but it has changed a lot. When my wife grew up there the diversity was minimal. While I don't have numbers my sense from events I've attended is that is there is a more significant African American population in the schools than in the past.
Also, and I understand that politics is frowned on here, but Grosse Pointe used to be stereotypically conservative. When I've been there around the time of recent presidential elections I've seen what appears to me to 50/50 signs for both sides.
January 13th, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
We had a good convo going without anyone taking political shots and you just had to ruin it
January 13th, 2015 at 2:22 PM ^
I live in Saline and like it better than living in Ann Arbor, schools are better, real estate is a little bit cheaper and you're close enough to enjoy all the good stuff of Ann Arbor, but far away enough to get away from a little bit of the craziness.
It's a great place to raise kids, not going to start a comparison war as I like living in Michigan, but it would be hard to go wrong with Saline.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:28 PM ^
We moved to Saline (from Northville) when I was 12 and I have very fond memories of growing up there - great schools and close enough to Ann Arbor that you didn't feel at all disconnected from the city really. Actually, my wife and I live downriver and we've been trying to get back to Washtenaw County, even despite my love of this 8-mile commute I currently have to my office in Belleville.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^
Schools are betterWell unless you get stuck at Pleasant Ridge... /Woodland Kid
January 13th, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
Unless you are in certain shady parts of Grand Rapids, Muskegon Heights or Benton Harbor the entire west side is very family friendly and if you live in a town on the big lake they usually have very low property taxes. Did I mention that Grand Rapids has been named Beer city USA for a few years running now?
January 13th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
January 13th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
I would consider the Ann Arbor/Dexter/Chelsea area. If not, then I would look north of 96 and west of 275 in the Howell/South Lyon/Milford area.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
It's all subjective (obviously) but I'd say Birmingham, Rochester and Ann Arbor are the top three and there's reasonable arguments to be made for what order to rank them. I'm sure I'm missing something but here's a few of my criteria... strong housing and job markets, excellent public education, parks and green space, excellent city services and community sponsored events, family friendliness, and all posess vibrant nightlife / bar & restaurant scenes.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
Are you a 150 year old Bavarian by any chance?
January 13th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
Rochester Hills. North Side 'burbs for the win.
January 13th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
I live in Muskegon but grew up in Spring Lake. Can't imagine not being 10 minutes from Lake Michigan. Short commute to Grand Rapids from here as well. Check it out!
January 13th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
. . . East Lansing is a great place to raise kids (I have 4 of them). Small town, very good schools, distinct neighboods, progressive, relatively diverse, great community feel. Plus, MSU and most student housing is segregated. You can live there and enjoy the benefits of a large university (yes, even MSU has some) without the disruption of undergrad life. My wife and I lived in Ann Arbor for years. Loved it, but we prefer a smaller environment when it comes to schools, sports, etc.