What Suburbs Are On The Rise? (Detroit, Warren: upper-class, how much, house)

[football11f]

I recently moved back to Metro Detroit after being away for 10 years. I'm surprised by how much has changed, mostly for the better! I've seen a lot of development in Ferndale, for example.

Next year I'll be looking to buy a house in the suburbs to raise a family, and I'm curious what you all think the up and coming suburbs. I grew up in Farmington, which seems to be getting gradually older with fewer young families.


I'm specifically interested in which suburbs are attracting families with a household middle class salary of, say, between $50,000-low $100K's

[DTWflyer]

10 years ago, the economy of Southeast Michigan & the auto industry was imploding and Metro Detroit was ground zero for the economic recession of that time.

Over the past 5-7 years there has been a lot of redevelopment, re-investment, and economic growth around the region at least to get us back to near or slightly above where we were before the economic collapse and the "lost decade".

It has not been equal throughout the region, there are parts that are seeing a ton of new investment and redevelopment, particularly in Downtown/Midtown and a large swath of Oakland County - Woodward corridor, I-275 Corridor, and North Oakland (Rochester, Auburn Hills)

Inner-ring suburbs like Madison Heights, Hazel Park, and Oak Park are on the rise due to their central location and relative affordability (compared to Ferndale & Royal Oak which are becoming increasingly expensive and pricing out a lot of what used to be middle class)

Areas to look will depend a lot on proximity to employment, type of housing desired and other amenities, but there are other areas that are good for such as well.

[Coldjensens]

Shorter list for metro Detroit would probably be what suburbs are not on the rise.

Inkster - not rising.

Redford Township - seems to be still declining.

Del Rey Neighborhood (not actually a Suburb) - prettymuch being torn down and repalce by a bridge.

River Rouge - not going anywhere.

Ecorse and Melvindale - seem to be stuck where they are or declining.

Grosse Ile - my hometown. Not really changing. Many or most residents would prefer it remain the way it is.



Some places you might consider "on the rise" but I would consider "being infested" Lyon township and South Lyon is a good example. They are "on the rise in that the forests and fields are being wiped out and replace with McMansion farms and CVS/Walgreens and Autozones. However to me that is not on the rise. I see that as being destroyed.

Small quaint places like Northville and South Lyon are slowly or quickly being turned into a clone of everywhere else. Yes they are getting bigger, but not better. They are losing what makes them special. Once they are destroyed the locusts (developers) move on to the next "cool", "quaint" or "trendy" place and destroy that. Then they look for the next victim.

This would apply to a large number of suburbs. Some are already pretty much fully clones of everywhere else others are in the process. Only a few have not yet been infested.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

On the west side, families with a $50,000 - $100,000 HHI are most likely to live in Westland, Livonia and Farmington/Farmington Hills, though Farmington Hills will have more incomes that exceed that band. I don't know if I would consider any of those as "on the rise," however, there is a severe shortage of existing starter homes in Livonia, and what inventory that is out there is being significantly bid up.

Plymouth, Northville and Novi are dominated by upper-middle/upper-class incomes.

[Republic of Michigan]

Wyandotte really seems to be doing well. Downtown stores are mostly occupied and a decent amount of people walking. Plus the waterfront really gives the area an advantage.

[mgkeith]

Originally Posted by football11f

I recently moved back to Metro Detroit after being away for 10 years. I'm surprised by how much has changed, mostly for the better! I've seen a lot of development in Ferndale, for example.

Next year I'll be looking to buy a house in the suburbs to raise a family, and I'm curious what you all think the up and coming suburbs. I grew up in Farmington, which seems to be getting gradually older with fewer young families.


I'm specifically interested in which suburbs are attracting families with a household middle class salary of, say, between $50,000-low $100K's

I would say, regarding Farmington/Farmington Hills, that there are many of us younger boomers hangin' in there, but many of the older retirees are starting to move out. A lot of young couples and young families are starting to move in.

[Geo-Aggie]

Lots of good answers here, but as a recent transplant to Southeast Michigan, in my 30s, wife, two kids, and income around the 100k range we rented in Royal Oak and bought a house in Berkley; so far we regret nothing. The whole Southeast Oakland County area seems to be doing quite well and the little enclaves are more alike than most long-time residents want to admit. Find a house you like or something you want to be near, call it home. Even Hazel Park isn't a bad option these days.

Alternatively, if you're more into the suburban sprawl and new McMansions on third acre lots, places like Lyon Township, Macomb Township, and Novi are all growing at higher rates than most of the metro. It's all new greenfield development rather than redevelopment or reinvestment, and personally I'm a fan of the latter (reinvestment into things we already have), but to each their own.

[snoopygirlmi]

I don't see the growth in Lyon/South Lyon as a problem because I moved here because the community is growing, not because I was looking for a small town utopia that was always going to be a small town in the middle of nowhere forever.

We moved here because housing prices were reasonable and we found the right house at the right time.

Personally, I'm happy to see the growth and a few of the old buildings are getting renovated w/the goal of putting in an upscale restaurant. We have a lot of bars/casual eating/fast food places (and way too many pizza places!). Not anyplace that really screams "this is where you want to go for date night." There's still room for improvement and innovation.

There's still a tight-knit feel to the area and I don't think that it's losing it's charm. It really wasn't charming to go to the movie theater when they still had their original seating a few years ago. (That was just uncomfortable after a couple of hours! Love that the theater has new owners now!) It's also really nice that we are getting a larger variety of restaurants in the immediate area. We also have a pretty cool game store in the downtown area. I tend to see some of these things as improvements, not destruction, because they are using and improving existing spaces in the area.

In the end, I wasn't invested in the old South Lyon and I can understand why people are distraught over the loss of something they loved. However, I love that the area is growing and that I'm in the middle of all this change. I like that I can play an active part of building a larger community.

For instance, at my church, a lot of the new programming is being done by newcomers to the area (less than 5 years residency) who want to see more stuff happening at the church. I've helped start our women's group and our married couples group. There's a lot of excitement that our church hasn't seen in a long time because new people are jumping in and trying to do things (and there's a lot of angst in certain corners for the same reason!)

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Republic of Michigan

Wyandotte really seems to be doing well. Downtown stores are mostly occupied and a decent amount of people walking. Plus the waterfront really gives the area an advantage.

Wyandotte just keeps getting better. If I could pick and one city that will most likely continue to climb significantly in coolness and popularity, other than downtown/Mid-town, then it would be Wyandotte.

The impact the new bridge will have remains to be seen. Places downstream traffic wise may either flourish of decline significantly due to the added flow. They really need o widen I75.

[DTWflyer]

I actually think that Clawson, while already having a bit of a rebirth over the past decade, is on an upward trajectory as well as more people get priced out of Royal Oak and its super convenient to all the major employment centers in Troy & Warren.

Granted, its basically "North Royal Oak" or "South Troy"