Please recommend a Detroit area to a mid 30s native couple who have been spoiled by the west coast!

[Gchild91]

Schools in Farmington are pretty good, but not great. As much as I hate to say it, in Metro Detroit, there's a tradeoff between racial diversity and "good schools". But keep in mind that test scores are strongly related to the students' parents educational achievement, not the quality of the teaching.


This is a very sad thing to admit. Although it may be the reality of it, we all have the power to create change if individuals could get out of their little bubbles.

[brickpatio2018]

I visited Michigan a couple of months ago for the first time. I found the area from Rochester Hills to Lake Orion to be the most beautiful area in the Detroit area and the place I would most want to live.

In Detroit itself and the first suburbs, the terrain is flat and there is a grid of very wide, very flat roads lined with dated commercial buildings. There is something depressing about that type of city planning.

Once you get into Birmingham, the roads got smaller and the areas along the roads more wooded and with more slightly rolling terrain. As I drove north, that pattern continued but the rolling hills became more noticeable. The three landmarks I recall were downtown Birmingham, Oakland University, and Lake Orion. As I went north, it began to have the look and feel of the Atlanta suburbs, and I remember thinking that the world has no idea that the area on the north side of Detroit looks like Atlanta. Even though the homes are new, they seem to have preserved plenty of woodlands and green space so that the pretty terrain hasn't been spoiled by the new development.

Ann Arbor was pretty also but the traffic there is bad. I wouldn't want to live there unless I was on the outskirts of town. The towns along the water were also nice and especially while driving through the Gross Pointe towns, once I got north of the Detroit line I felt safe. Living along the lake there would be nice, but I think my choice would be the north side near Rochester Hills.

[mgkeith]

Originally Posted by Gchild91

Schools in Farmington are pretty good, but not great. As much as I hate to say it, in Metro Detroit, there's a tradeoff between racial diversity and "good schools". But keep in mind that test scores are strongly related to the students' parents educational achievement, not the quality of the teaching.


This is a very sad thing to admit. Although it may be the reality of it, we all have the power to create change if individuals could get out of their little bubbles.

What does "if individuals could get out of their little bubbles" mean? How does this affect the quality of the schools?



I want to add that Farmington Schools' test scores have relationship to the schools that many of the kids have transferred in from, recently. Many have catching up to do. Parents need to help.

We love the diversity here, and we love Farmington Public Schools!



Farmington and Farmington Hills are beautiful cities, by the way. Not much for snob appeal, though. Very down-to-earth vibe. Depends on what you're looking for.

[dodeca]

Originally Posted by Ddrizzle

Thank you for the well thought out opinions everyone!
I'm not knocking it, and the only reason I even have this perspective is because I left and saw what areas could be like. In many ways (but not all) SE MI seems like it's about 10-20 years behind the cutting edge of the west coast.

I think of it the other way around...SE Michigan has experienced the decline that the rest of the country has managed to avoid. You're actually visiting the future.

[keraT]

Originally Posted by HarryAleman

I’m not sure moving somewhere with an overriding wish that it is different than it is, is a great strategy.

This is DETROIT.

And Ann Arbor is only superficially like the Bay Area. It’s a giant university town. That’s what it is. It’s character has been the same since the 60s. There is overlap between the old-hippie intellectualism of Ann Arbor and the performative liberalism of the coasts, but ultimately it’s a completely different vibe. This is Michigan. The culture doesn’t revolve around emoting tech bros and it never will.

I would say This is most of America, people are segregated, living in 1960s which the houses represent as well. Some try to be woke but most of us are not even those of us who are immigrant. You can't compare NYC & SF/LA to rest of the country.

[Coldjensens]

One thing many people do not realize is there there is an amazing amount of things to see and do in Detroit. Detroit is a huge place for theater (more seats than any other city east of the Mississippi except Broadway in NYC), sports, museums (The DIA is one of the top Art Museums in the USA), dining (Downtown is now a foodie Mecca), music (aside from the theater/performance venues, it is a big place for Jazz and soul and pretty big for Rock, Electronic/House music, and even Country. There is also some really good classical music (DSO, Royal Oak Symphony, Ann Arbor, Wayne State, etc.). The mid-town area is especially lively and extremely diverse. Wayne State University is possibly the most truly diverse major universities in the USA. (truly diverse meaning looking at all cultures, not just dividing everything into Black and white. It has a strong mix of Black, White, Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Eurasian. I have not seen such a mixed student population at any school I have visited and i have been to a lot of them.

No necessarily suggesting you live in Detroit, but it is good to be near enough for regulars visit. Ann Arbor at about an hour away is pushing it IMO. Still reasonable range, but I would not want to be much further out unless I was going over to the West Side of the state or up north.