Moving to Detroit: Advice needed.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been offered a job at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. When I visited the Detroit area last week for the job interview, my first impression that while the suburbs were quite nice, I wouldn’t want to live in the downtown area on a dare.

My initial research has indicated that the areas of Southfield, Sterling Heights, Royal Oak, and Farmington would be quite favorable places to live.

But I have no experience with this sort of relocation. The last time I made a move this big, I was ten years old, and my parents handled all the messy details.

So, I humbly beseech fellow Dopers for advice.

  1. Is it best to arrange an apartment BEFORE leaving Oregon for Michigan, so that I would at least have a forwarding address, and a destination for the moving company?

  2. If it is more practical to wait until arriving in the Detroit area before obtaining an apartment, what are my options regarding the moving companies? Do moving companies allow for storage for a short time while the person tries to find a place to live?

  3. For Dopers familiar with Detroit, are the suburbs I named earlier reasonable places to live?

  4. It appears that I will be driving in my car from Oregon to Detroit. Is this an extraordinarily bad idea?

I may think of more questions later, but that’s all I can think of for now.

2

I recently moved from Colorado to Michigan, albeit a town a good 12 hour drive from Detroit. I can’t really help you on the Detroit specific stuff, but here’s my 2 cents on moving:

1 - You really, really don’t want the moving company to store your stuff. Most of them do it, but it’s really expensive. They charge you for the time it’s stored, and then they charge you an additional loading and unloading fee to get it into and out of the storage space. I priced it out for our move, and it was somewhere in the range of $2K to store our stuff for a week! Granted, this was a whole house full of stuff, but $2K is a LOT of money.

2 - That said, it’s probably worth your while to fly to Detroit and find a place to live before moving all your stuff. I can’t imagine that finding a place would take more than a week or so in such a large city, even if it’s only a 6 month lease to allow you to get started in a new town.

3 - I’ve driven from Colorado to MI too many times to count, sometimes with people, sometimes on my own. I enjoy road trips, so it was no big deal for me. I’m not sure why you think it would be a bad idea - just budget in for hotels and such on the way.

Moving is expensive. If I recall correctly, you weren’t all that excited about moving to Detroit in the first place. I hope they’re paying you to move - it gets really pricey really fast (money to the movers, money to get a new apartment, money to buy new stuff for the new apartment, etc. etc.)

Good luck!

3

F@#$%(! hampsters. I wrote a nice long post but it got eaten. Well the gist of it was that some more info would be helpful. What kind of area are you looking for? Do you have kids? Do you want to be near nightlife? What kind of commute time? Quiet suburban or close to the action? Price range?

Royal Oak is very popular, with an active downtown filled with bars, restaurants, coffee shops and a leather store;) .

The places you mentioned are mostly nice, with some bordering on touchy areas, so don’t take a place sight unseen.

I also wrote a glowing piece about living in Detroit, but you’ll have to wait until I have time to write it again.

Let me know what your plans are, and I’ll see if I can help.:wink:

4

I don’t have experience with moving to Detroit, but have done the cross country move as well. (CA to GA).

I agree with athena make a trip (or two) up there before you actually move and find a place to live. If the place that hired you has someone who works with relocations, do take advantage of that. Many times they get discounts on rents or in the event you require a house, may be able to set you up with temporary housing.

Depending on the time of year, the drive won’t be that bad. while you might not be staying at the best hotels, motels are always easy enough to find. I utilized tripmaker software to assist on drive time and give me an idea where I would be stopping each night, to ensure there would be some hotel/motels in the area (only had one glitch where we picked a “town” that was just a huge gas station). For my actual move I shipped my car and flew to my new city.

With securing my apartment before I moved I was able to change my address on all my bills ahead of time and had no problem with my important mail catching up with me. When I arrived, all utilities were on and available. All that was left was to wait for my stuff to arrive.

Be sure you keep ALL your receipts for your taxes, and put out feelers for accountant references. The dual state residency taxes were not very fun!

5

Athena: Thanks for your advice. The hospital has agreed to pay at least part of the relocation costs. Exactly how much will be determined by any estimates I obtain from moving companies. As for flying back out to Detroit just to look for an apartment, I will have to look into that. The hospital paid for everything during my visit last week…not sure if they would do it again so soon. Money is very tight for me right now, so whatever I can do to reduce the costs of relocation will be ideal.

As for storage, I’ll have to look into that as well. My 2-bdr apt doesn’t have as much stuff in it as you might expect, and I’ll be getting rid of some things before moving anyway. If the storage fees turn out to be reasonable, depending on how much of the relocation costs the hospital will pay.

lost4life: I’m a single male, no kids. Currently I live in a 2-bedroom apartment, and I would prefer to find a 2 bdr apt in the suburbs.

As for nightlife, I’m willing to drive a little to get to it. I like quiet neighborhoods. The only thing I would be picky about is that I wouldn’t want to live ten miles away from a good movie theater, since I’m a bit of a movie junkie.

I’m used to rather epic commutes in Portland, so living up to 15 to 20 miles from the main hospital isn’t going to be a big deal for me.

Price range: I’m reasonably flexible, but would prefer that the apartment rental be under $700-750 a month.

6

Royal Oak sounds pretty good for you. Southfield has one of the 2 Digital theaters in Michigan, but Royal Oak is more likely to show “art house” style movies.

Have you considered Ann Arbor? Maybe its further than you want to drive, but it looks like you could easily take 23 to 96 to 696. There’s a happy little cluster of Dopers too!

I would find housing before you arrive. It is just less stressful to have someplace to move in to.

7

I grew up in Royal Oak and my dad (a PharmD) worked at Children’s for over 10 years.

I think RO would probably suit you. It’s nice, close to the DMC, safe and has a bustling little downtown. As for where in RO to live, that’s really up to you. Sticking close to downtown RO is probably a good idea since you’ll be closer to 75, which will be the way you’d get to work.

You could also go closer to Woodward Ave where there’s a bunch of cool old homes that have been turned into flats…it’s called Huntington Woods and is less expensive than RO. That would allow you to jump on 696 briefly before hitting 75 on down.

Birmingham would be nice too but you’d run into more traffic getting to freeways. Troy could work but there’s less of a “downtown” feeling than RO and that’s probably important if you don’t know anyone. RO is a pretty friendly place to live…heck, I moved into a place just like it, only in CA.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I could probably even put you in touch with a friend of mine that still lives there. She and her husband just moved flats so she’s pretty up on the rental market there. Just don’t let her take you to Gusoline Alley (Gus’s), I can’t be responsible for what she exposes you to. :wink:

PS Don’t let the fact that there’s a leather shop freak you out. Noir Leather is an institution and a fairly tame one at that.

8

Actually, in Troy there is NO downtown feeling is what I meant. Good malls though.

And while I call it “downtown” RO, I don’t mean it in the sense of a big city downtown. It’s just the city center, trendy but not very big. You know…Main Street, Anytown, USA. You can live 1/2 mile away and not be bothered by noise.

9

What’s wrong with Gus’s??? That’s the greatest bar in Michigan! Good people, great jukebox and they used to have my picture on the wall. Of course to me, the word “dive” is a good thing.

It’s funny that we both mentioned the leather store. Noir was one of the first alternative shops to set up house in Royal Oak over a decade ago. Others followed, as did restaurants, bars etc. They should get a little credit for being one of the originals, as is Gus’s. I’m not sure I’d call it tame though.:wink:

R.O. does have the Main Art Theater if you like independent films, plus oodles of ethnic restaurants, coffee shops, a concert venue, and is a rather nice looking community by Michigan standards. It does get jammed on weekends, but living walking distance to Main Street would be rather nice.

Farther west is Farmington Hills (where I work) & Novi, which have some quiet neighborhoods and a mall, but seem rather dull to live in.

Ann Arbor is probably the best town (IMHO) in Michigan (home of the University of Michigan), but unless you want closer to an hour commute, you might want to try somewhere else. Rent can be rather outrageous too.

I-94 might take an hour with all the traffic, maybe more in the winter. Hello Again’s route would be more like 1.5 +hours. It’s a bit out of the way if you look on map, and 96 is a parking lot, everyday (trust me on that one).

I’m not sure if you know anyone out this way, but let us know your plans. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’d certainly help out where I can.

10

Birmingham is pretty pricey regarding rent. Since you’re a single guy, I’d definitely recommend Royal Oak, or possibly Ferndale (nearby suburb).

Don’t let them scare you about Detroit itself- I work downtown, and there are lots of great restaurants, and interesting things to see and do. I wouldn’t live there, not because of any fear, but they have a stupid residency tax which I would refuse to pay. You’re about to become bitter about paying the city income tax as well…
There’s a good movie theater in Southfield at 12 mile and telegraph, and the main art theater (previously mentioned) is good for artsy movies.

Canton and Plymouth are also nice- on the western side of Detroit, and your commute wouldn’t be too bad. Also, half way between Det and Ann Arbor.

feel free to email me for more info.

11

I second Ann Arbor. Very nice and laid back–although you’ll have a heck of a time getting to Detroit, since I-94 is a perpetual construction mess.

Note that finding cheap housing in Ann Arbor is kinda difficult–though I’m moving back to Pennsylvania in May if you want to try to swipe my place.

12

Are you sure we don’t know each other? Nothing is wrong with Gus’s, I was kidding. I actually threw my friend and her husband a wedding shower there. It sounds weird but that’s where they ended up on their first date. Everyone got little Kama Sutra kits as parting gifts. :smiley:

I only mentioned Noir because you did. I think it’s tame, but maybe I’m just jaded…I do live in a fairly progressive area. I can buy a butt plug the size of my thigh just down the street.

Anyway, since I don’t want to turn this into a RO reunion thread…

I agree that Ann Arbor, while a wonderful place, would be a hellish commute. You’d be taking 94 in, which goes by the airport. You do the math.

I thought about suggesting the Grosse Pointes (Farms, Woods, etc.) because of its proximity but thought better of it. While the Pointes are very safe and there’s a lot of great places to live, it’s just not as friendly.

If you want to cut down price (and safety) but still be close to RO, you can even head to Pleasant Ridge or Ferndale but I really think that RO is your best bet. Heck, if I were single and moving back to MI, that’s where I’d go.

13

Hi Atreyu!
I don’t have any specific advice to offer you about Detroit, although I do have an Aunt and Uncle in Rochester Hills that I visit every 2 or 3 years.
I just popped in here to say congratulations on the new job, but sorry you have to leave Oregon.
Perhaps a spot of beer might be in order before you go?

BTW, it takes 42 hours to drive straight through from Detroit to Portland. Don’t ask me how I know.

14

Hey, move to Ferndale and we can commute together. :slight_smile:

I highly recommend Royal Oak, Oak Park, and Ferndale. All are pretty easy commutes to the DMC, especially if you choose the southern parts of Royal Oak. It takes me about 25 to 30 minutes, (even with pretty bad traffic) to get from the DMC to Ferndale.

Having moved about a million times, I highly recommend coming here and renting a place before you move. There is a company called Apartment Search that can help you winnow down the apartment complex choices, if you want to go that route. They will search by price, features, and availability.

If you decide to come out here, Rick and I would be happy to help you out in any way we can (maps, advice, newspapers, even a place to stay if you don’t mind the devil kitties). Feel free to email me.

15

Ah, Brynda beat me in here. I was going to suggest you talk to her.

Downtown is a little scary, but they are making real efforts to improve things. Wayne State U is finally building dorms, which is going to be wonderful for keeping bodies downtown at night. And WSU, despite being in the thick of the city, has one of the lowest campus crime rates in Michigan!! Honestly, they keep a tight lid on things. All this to say, if it can be done there, it can be done elsewhere in Detroit. Don’t rule out the city just yet.

I’m one more person who can put you up if you need it. Sure, it’s an hour commute, but thousands do it every day.

I like Athena’s idea. Come out here for one more trip, and let one of us locals help you look for a place. Then you’ll be set for the movers and the forwarding of mail.
CHM has a warm place in my heart because a doctor there was able to do a laser surgery on my friend’s infant daughter. It prevented her from having a tracheostomy.

16

DON’T!

:wink:
[Kentuckey Fried Movie]

“Take him to…Detroit!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

[/Kentuckey Fried Movie]

hehehe

17

[hijack]

Oh great, now people from Baltimore are ragging on us. :wink:

Don’t forget about Airplane!

“I used to hang out at the Magumba bar.
It was a rough place, the seediest dive on the wharf.
Populated with every reject and cut-throat from Bombay to Calcutta.
It’s worse than Detroit.”

[/hijack]

18

[continue hijack]
Well, as long as we’re at it, don’t forget this one:

Coach Marty Mornhinweg had put together the perfect Lions team. The only thing he was missing was a good quarterback. He had scouted all the colleges, and even the high schools, but he couldn’t find a ringer quarterback who could ensure a Super Bowl win.
Then one night, while watching CNN, he saw a war-zone scene in Bosnia. In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Bosnian soldier with a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand grenade straight into a 15th-story window 200 yards away—ka-boom! He threw another hand grenade into a group of 10 soldiers 100 yards away—ka-blooey! Then a car passed, going 90 mph—bulls-eye!

“I’ve got to get this guy!” Mornhinweg said to himself. “He has the perfect arm!”

So, he brings him to the States and teaches him the great game of football, and the Lions go on to win the Super Bowl for the first time in history.

The young Bosnian is lionized as the Great Hero of football, and when Mornhinweg asks him what he wants, all the young man wants to do is to call his mother. “Mom,” he says into the phone, “I just won the Super Bowl.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” the old woman says. “You deserted us. You are not my son.”

“I don’t think you understand, Mother!” the young man pleads. “I just won the greatest sporting event in the world. I’m here among thousands of my adoring fans.”

“No, let me tell you,” the mother retorts. “At this very moment, there are gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week, and this week your sister was raped in broad daylight.”

The old lady pauses, and then tearfully says, “…I’ll never forgive you for making us move to Detroit!”

;):wink:

[/hijack]

19

That’s funny but long. Seems like I remember that the Baltimore area has a bit higher crime rate than Detroit, so the whole people in glass houses thing comes into play :smiley: (Hey, I’ve seen The Wire).

Anyhow Atreyu, Detroit gets slack from a lot of people who just don’t know, but it’s not a bad city. In all the time I’ve spent downtown, I’ve never had a problem, so don’t let the reputation scare you.

20

I really appreciate the advice I’ve gotten. It makes me feel better somehow.

And I may just take you up on your kind and generous offer, Brynda. :slight_smile: