Birmingham vs. Northville

ramom

Hi Ladies, 

 

My DH and LO and I are planning to move back to the metro detroit area.  I used to live there a long time ago.  But we have been torn about where to live.

We wanted to live somewhere we could walk a lot to stores, restaurants, parks etc when the weather is nice.  I hate feeling trapped by having to drive everywhere.  LO is 9 months old, and we had our heart set on living in Birmingham because I like the feel of it, and the energy.

But the rentals aren't that great there, just okay.  

Found a couple of cute spots in Northville to rent but not sure Northville would be as much fun?

I thought I'd ask you ladies since you already live there and know the vibe of both of these areas.

TIA 

Spin313

Have you considered Royal Oak...?

ballerina06

I personally love Northville.  My DH grew up there and my IL's still live there.  They have a really cute downtown and parks.  The summer is awesome because they have lots of things going on downtown.  Great restaurants, etc. plus the school system is fantastic.  I don't know much about Birmingham or the East Side since I grew up in Livonia.  Good luck and welcome back to MI!

drakee

Downtown Northville seems on the outs to me these days.  Lots of businesses have been leaving lately.  Have you considered Plymouth?  One of my favorite downtowns, and Plymouth and Plymouth Township both are great for families.

sashinamama

I would recommend Royal Oak as well. It is more affordable then Birmingham area. Lost of restaurants, bars and shopps around, it gets busy during summer, people are walking around ...it is definitely fun place to live.

ElizC

I agree with PP you should check out Plymouth and Royal Oak.  Royal Oak is right next to Birmingham, but housing prices and rent are cheaper there.  I am not sure if I would buy in Royal Oak, because there is a lot of rental properties there.  I would consider renting there.  Plymouth also has a great downtown feel if you live in the right neighborhood, so parts of it are really close to Canton and you aren't able to walk downtown.

Northville would be a nice place to live, but its downtown are doesn't really compare to Birmingham, Royal Oak, and Plymouth.  There are still restaurants and shops, just not as many. 

str8ota

I agree with pp about Royal Oak but I'm also biased (I grew up there).  I personally prefer B'ham over Northville because it does seem like there are more walking places, however, at least with high schools, Northville has one of the best high schools in the U.S.  But if you're going to rent you have some time before you have to make a decision to settle down in one place and LO to be in h.s.

Spin313

You might also want to look into Huntington Woods.  It's near RO/Birmingham and has a home-y community feel.  I have no idea what the rental prices are like but there are a lot of parks and it's close to Berkley's downtown as well as the Detroit Zoo.

NatalieRose3

I live in Northville and I love it! True, it doesn't have as many shops, etc but the community is great. On summer days my husband and I joke about how we feel like we live in pleasantville!

Pumpkin&Roo

I live in Plymouth and it's great!  I would recommend Northville over Birmingham. 

shouldbworkin

Check out rentals in Beverly Hills, too.  It's right next to B'ham and if you are close to 13 mile, you can take a nice walk into B'ham.