Relocating to Warren, please tell me about the area!

jacks123

Hi!  I am from Austin, Texas and my husband may be accepting a job in Warren with GM.  I've never been to Michigan  and am not familiar with the area.  We have two kids, ages 3 and 1, and am pregnant with our third.  Can you tell me what you love about the state and the Detroit area?  Also, what are nice areas in the Warren area to buy a home that are family friendly with good schools?  Is there a lot of child friendly activities to do in the area?  I appreciate any information or advice you can give me.  Thank you!!

littlemermaid

I personally would not move to Warren.  It's an older city with older homes.  I would look for a home more north of there and the commute will still be easy for your husband.  I would look into Sterling Heights(the part in Utica Schools), Troy, Clinton Township, or Macomb Township.    All of the cities/townships I listed have good public school districts.  You should be able to get a good price for a home since Michigan's housing market really took a hit in this economy. 

 Macomb Township is in the Chippewa Valley school district which is a very good district. It has parks, a large recreation center with a fitness center and indoor water park/pool. It has all newer homes.

 

 

olechka

Whats your budget for the house and how long of a commute your husband wants?

I would also recommend Troy, excellent school district and community center although the library is closing.  Rochester is also a nice area with a downtown and great schools. 

 

ChrissyT54

I live in Sterling Heights which is about 2 minutes from the GM Tech Center in Warren.

I absolutely love it. We have tons to do, nice area in general, parks, great library and library activities. We also have LOTS of city events.

I am a little biased because not only do i live in Sterling Heights but my DH is also on City Council

If you need any info on SH please let me know I would be happy to help  

broncoalum97

I'm in the west suburbs, so can't help too much, but from what I've heard from my parents, I wouldn't pick Warren, but a surrounding area better.

My friend lives in Troy, their library is closing this summer & she said they are having other municipal problems, so keep that in mind if you look there, she's not too happy living there right now.

I would post on the Detroit Nestie board too, they may not be able to help w/kid things, but area, etc. I'm sure they would love to help out, plus they're really friendly.  I would just include: budget for house & how long of a commute DH could have.

GL!

mrsmitch06

I grew up in Warren and I personally wouldn't move back to Warren. It is an older sub, like ppl mentioned.  I'd move further north and the commute would not be bad for your DH.   You could move to Sterling Heights, Shelby Township, Macomb Township.  Shelby Township & Macomb Township have newer homes and you could even build a new home if you'd like.  To me, it seems like ALL my friends are moving to Macomb Township, so I think it's a younger family area and there's alot of shopping nearby. Only problem is Hall Road, it gets VERY congested, especially on the weekends and on holidays.  We decided to move to Grosse Pointe, it would be about a 15-20 min drive for your DH. They have great schools and older homes. Very established. Let me know if you'd like any more info on Macomb Township (our 2nd choice of where to buy a home) and Grosse Pointe. 

BC&MM

mrsmitch06:

I grew up in Warren and I personally wouldn't move back to Warren. It is an older sub, like ppl mentioned.  I'd move further north and the commute would not be bad for your DH.   You could move to Sterling Heights, Shelby Township, Macomb Township.  Shelby Township & Macomb Township have newer homes and you could even build a new home if you'd like.  To me, it seems like ALL my friends are moving to Macomb Township, so I think it's a younger family area and there's alot of shopping nearby. Only problem is Hall Road, it gets VERY congested, especially on the weekends and on holidays.  We decided to move to Grosse Pointe, it would be about a 15-20 min drive for your DH. They have great schools and older homes. Very established. Let me know if you'd like any more info on Macomb Township (our 2nd choice of where to buy a home) and Grosse Pointe. 

This. And I live in Macomb Twp too.

MrsRenee

I agree with everyone else.  You really don't want to live in Warren.  You pretty much want to go north.  Sterling Heights isn't a bad area, although it's not my first choice.  The area is a little older, so it's very developed (aka- traffic!).  I love the Shelby Twp/Macomb Twp area.  It just seems quieter, so it's perfect for a family.  You get away from some of the congestion, but yet you're still close to everything.  The area seems to attract a little more affluent group of people, especially the northern part of Shelby and Macomb.

str8ota

Agree with all pp, don't move to Warren.  My bff lives in Warren and is moving to be in an area that's safer and with better schools.  I personally prefer areas in Oakland county (Novi, Northville (which is known for having some of the best public schools in the U.S.), Rochester, Troy) which are all a decent drive to GM HQ.  The only good thing I can think of Warren offhand is they have a great public library.

HeatherPB1020

Move to Troy over Warren. Novi is great too.. Thats were we live.  Great schools and close to everything!  Plus, the area is still growing. 

sillybilly10

I agree with the other's would not recommend moving to Warren....move north to Sterling Heights or even Troy.  The commute won't be bad at all.

Good Luck!

laur2534

I agree with many of the others!  I live in Macomb Township and love it.  The Macomb/Shelby Township area is very nice with a mix of older and newer homes.  Chippewa Valley Schools and Utica Community Schools are both excellent districts for your children.  My husband used to work at the tech center and it was about a 20 minute commute there. 

caden

My DH also works at the Tech Center. Funny thing is we'd love to live in Austin!

I ditto not living in Warren. Royal Oak has a cute/fun downtown. Not sure about the schools. Rochester is nice but would be more than 30min commute. And like the p.p.s said Macomb Twp, Clinton Twp, north Sterling Heights (make sure it'd be the Utica school district not Warren's) and Troy are all nice.  

spring_time

I live right next to Warren in Madison Heights.  We are looking to move soon. The area is not terrible, but it is definitely older and I feel like the population is kind of going downhill.  My neighborhood is full of renters who are constantly being evicted, the people just house jump.  We have trash pickers that come through our neighborhood at night.  Lots of door-to-door salespeople.  This stuff just doesn't happen in some of  the nicer cities.  

I agree with those who say to check out Troy.  I grew up there.  I am biased toward the west side of Troy, but the whole area is great with excellent schools. The Sterling Heights and Macomb Township area are nice, but I have a hard time with the fact that there is no real quick expressway nearby.  Van *** (north/south) moves, but has tons of lights.  M-59 (east/west) gives me  nightmares with the amount of traffic.  The same goes for Rochester Hills (no easy highway access).  Honestly, I have lived in this area my whole life and I still haven't figured out where we are going to live because DH and I both work along the north/south I-75 route, just in completely opposite directions.  

You might want to consider Royal Oak and Huntington Woods.  Royal Oak has a nice downtown and a lot of young people.  I just saw some gorgeous houses on Vinsetta.  Huntington Woods has really nice older houses and people who live there tend to stay.  Grosse Pointe also isn't far. 

spring_time

jacks123:

Hi!  I am from Austin, Texas and my husband may be accepting a job in Warren with GM.  I've never been to Michigan  and am not familiar with the area.  We have two kids, ages 3 and 1, and am pregnant with our third.  Can you tell me what you love about the state and the Detroit area?  Also, what are nice areas in the Warren area to buy a home that are family friendly with good schools?  Is there a lot of child friendly activities to do in the area?  I appreciate any information or advice you can give me.  Thank you!!

I just realized I didn't answer  your questions about family friendly activities.  Troy has a great community center with Parks and Rec programs.  I don't live in the city anymore, but I still use their excellent classes.  There is also a swim center during the summer months.  The library in Troy is phenomenal, but may be closing due to funding problems.  Honestly, I don't see it actually happening.  I think they will figure something out because it is well-used.

Royal Oak also has a really nice library with storytimes.  Royal Oak has a lot of little parks scattered through the city.  The downtown has kidcentric type stores and activities (just did pottery there).  Their parks and rec program is also nice.

There are a lot of other activities for kids, but you have to look for them.  The Detroit Institute of Arts has a monthly focus culture with crafts for kids.  In the summer there are festivals and concerts downtown.  There is a Children's Museum and a Science center.  Right now is the Winter Blast and there is ice skating all winter.  A lot of people are still nervous about going downtown, but they are missing out on a lot.  Sporting events are a ton of fun.  Ann Arbor has a great hands-on museum and the Arboretum is a great way to spend a summer day.

Also, two other cities to think about are Clawson and Berkley.  Older, bungalow style homes, but nice communities and good schools. 

violetblue72

I don't know if you are still checking this but wanted to add a little something.  A lof of the cities that people are mentioning (Macomb Twp, Sterling Heights, Troy), although nice, are basically cities made up of subdivisions and strip malls with no real downtowns (not that they aren't nice). 

 I don't know if coming from Austin you may be looking for more of a city with neighborhoods.  If so, you can look at Royal Oak, Berkley, Birmingham and Rochester.  In these cities you can find really nice homes walking distance to downtown and coffee shops, bookstores, movies theatres, etc.  Just wanted to throw that out there.  They also have good schools, great parks, libraries, etc.

 

 

crimsonrose555

violetblue72:

I don't know if you are still checking this but wanted to add a little something.  A lof of the cities that people are mentioning (Macomb Twp, Sterling Heights, Troy), although nice, are basically cities made up of subdivisions and strip malls with no real downtowns (not that they aren't nice). 

 I don't know if coming from Austin you may be looking for more of a city with neighborhoods.  If so, you can look at Royal Oak, Berkley, Birmingham and Rochester.  In these cities you can find really nice homes walking distance to downtown and coffee shops, bookstores, movies theatres, etc.  Just wanted to throw that out there.  They also have good schools, great parks, libraries, etc.

 

 

Couldn't agree more. I grew up in Warren, and while my family still lives there, we decided to move to Royal Oak to start our family. The houses have a lot of charm, the schools are great and the downtown is fantastic. There is always something to do here.