I just graduated college about a month ago and received my first job offer from a business consulting firm here in Washington D.C. to to staff a position in Detroit.

My parents when they learned I was planning on moving to MI, specifically to the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Despite the fact that I have been looking at living in the suburbs which seem not that different from places like Fairfax VA, Montgomery County MD or Bergen County NJ.

Anyways can anyone recommend any areas of the DMA to seriously look at and which to avoid?

Just wondering how are the following areas in terms of affordability, crime & safety and quality of life overall? Westland, Southgate, Southfield, Warren, and Royal Oak(not the township)and Ferndale? Are these places regarded as good areas to live?

Also just wondering are there still any ethnic Irish working class neighborhoods still in the DMA? Or failing that Italian, Polish, or Greek ones etc.? I ask because I know that other Rustbelt cities like NYC, Philly, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Milwaukee still have these types of neighborhoods in some places.

Also jw since this is an OC discussion forum is there any LCN still active in Detroit? From my understanding their presence been in sharp decline over the past 20 years like the Mob elsewhere in the Midwest. If so is there any social clubs or other venues in the region where they hang out?

Detriot seems to have alot of LCN History. Can anyone recommend any LCN historic sites to visit? I was planning on visiting the house where Jimmy Hoffa disappeared in Bloomfield Township if I get the chance to do so.

Thank you in advance for any advice I get in regards to my question(s).

MrWilliams,

Try this link, its a ranking of the best cities around Michigan. Hopefully Detroit will see a renaissance.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/movotoblog/2013/10/best-michigan/table.html

When Detroit posters on here talk about which areas have the most Italians they always say Macomb County. So I would check that area out.

It really depends in which area you are going to work. The traffic in SE Michigan can be pretty bad. And construction is worse. If you have a tolerance for a 2 hr round trip commute your choices can expand quite a bit.

Generally Macomb County is less expensive to live in than Oakland county. Wayne County (not counting Detroit) is likely about the same/little less cost levels as Macomb County. Detroit obviously costs a lot less than everywhere around but isn't safe absent a few enclaves.

Southgate is downriver. It's an ok (i.e. cheap and relatively safe) place for a young person who is just starting out. Royal Oak and Ferndale are similar if a tad more expensive and built up. Royal Oak has a bit more night life and from what people have told me is probably the closest thing this area would have to Greenwich Village/Soho. I dunno.

Hamtramck has the largest local concentration of Polish-American citizens/culture though it's actually been declining over the past few decades as more people from South Asia, East Asia and the Middle East have moved in.
Westland is ok but quite blah in my opinion.

The Hamtramck Poles played a significant part in the Elmore Leonard book "Split Images."

There I go again with Elmore Leonard .

That's one thing that I appreciated about growing up in Pittsburgh: the array of ethnic neighborhoods. Of course, that is characteristic of so many northern cities which were a magnet for immigrants 100 years ago. In Pittsburgh we had Polish Hill; Garfield was Irish; East Liberty was Italian; Squirrel Hill was Jewish. Of course, we did not have Hispanics back then or Asian for that matter.

They didn't exist yet?

You better clarify .

If they make more movies from his books you could have a second career as script consultant, head writer and eventually producer..

Then you can be my Detroit technical adviser .

In Leonard's '70s set books, I've noticed that Hudson's department store gets mentioned an awful lot. Was that a big and famous place?

Oh my goodness yes....


Hudson's was the place where everyone in the tri-country area did all of their shopping. It had both low-cost and relatively upscale goods. It combined art-deco and modern gothic architecture. It was crammed full of people on the weekends. It was a good place to get lost in. It was the tallest department store in the world. It had freight elevators which could fit semi-trailers. The passenger elevator operators were all classy top notch guys with uniforms and gloves. Anyone in SE Michigan who was born before say 1978 or so must have memories of the place.

It closed down in 1983 and was demolished in 97 or 98 but to show you the nostalgic feelings, there were plenty of people that ran to get bricks or other things from the building. Lot of good memories around Hudson's. That ending in "Casino" when they talk about the onslaught of depersonalized corporate casinos? That's close to how I felt about the big malls taking over the spot that Hudson's used to occupy.

Yes, anything these days can be created in a lab. Holographics, for one. In fact, I'm starting to question the Boxer Rebellion and Cinco De Mayo.

@mrwilliams

don't move to detroit

don't move to an area that's only 20min from detroit

stay the fuck outta detroit.......this is coming from a black man

Bring body armor

Wait a minute didn't Obama save Motown? Buy a gun a big gun and 5 million rounds of ammunition.

Looks like I brought back a nice memory for you .


And you just confirmed something that I've long suspected: You're getting older and you hate change every bit as much as I do .

Is it possible that you can stay in DC and work at the same company you are at now? What is your university or college degree in?

It is not unfortunately,

I was an international relations major in college and I'm being sent to MI because the company I got a job with wants to fulfill an entry level position there for the time being since they are looking for field people.

However, as weird as it sounds I'm excited to move since I've never been to the MI or the Mid West before. Even it sounds weird for someone to be giddy about moving to Detriot.

I'm from Michigan. Originally I'm from Wayne, which is near Garden City & Westland. Southfield isn't a good area in my opinion. Hamtramack, aka pole-town isn't much better. Both areas are near Detroit. Royal Oak (RO) on the other hand, from what I hear is a decent area. I've got a couple of friends that live there. As Lilo said, Oakland county is a bit more expensive. I currently reside in Oakland County, near Wixom/Novi. Canton is a decent area aswell. Canton is considered DMA. Hope this helps? Maybe message either Lilo or myself if you need any help. *shrug*

Are you packing heat?

Detroit is really the great juxtaposition, it has some of the worst areas, sure, but people forget that it also has some of the safest and most luxurious suburbs in the country.

If we stay in the Nice area of Detriot can we get a tour of the bad areas. That might be fun.

That's any big city. The Upper East Side of Manhattan, which contains one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States, is a ten minute drive from the South Bronx, which contains the poorest zip code in the United States. The great divide .

Yeah, you're definitely right. It's just that some people act like all of Detroit is hell, which is close to the truth lol, but not the complete truth.

Yea, I'm originally from MI and have relatives who live around/suburbs of Detroit (Lost track of some cousins). Definitely nicer safer areas, yet we STILL always call it Detroit.



TIS

one of my college roommates was from bloomfield hills



he went to cranbrook........I email him each year on his birthday saying
"fuck cranbrook- 313!!!"

I stay in contact with a lot of people from that metro area..

Southfield,MI made the national news a few years back when there was sort of a class and mentality struggle going on.Old residents upset that newer residents were ruining the town

Media didn't know how to frame the story because it didn't fit any cliche...everyone in the story belonged to the same ethnic group.

Because of economic climate some Southfield residents lost their homes and the newer home owners tried to turn the town into the hood.

There was a man quoted in the article, picture of him with crabgrass,dandelions, ALL over his front lawn and he actually had the nerve to complain about he town fining him for not maintaining his property......

I just rented a place in Waterford. Whats the area like it? It seems like a typical boring suburb tbh from my observations.

I am worried it's too far out but then again it doesn't seem too difficult to get to most of the more inner suburbs of the DMA.

As the name implies there are a lot of small lakes around. It's a nice area, little blah but generally safe. It is roughly an hour from downtown Detroit. I would be interested in knowing your opinion of local traffic once you settle in.