  Johnnny5 Member Username: Johnnny5 Post Number: 743 Registered: 06-2005 |
Brighton, Plymouth and Rochester, MI all three made Relocate America's top 100 places to live list! I'm sure some here will complain of the lack of public transit, "culture" and "diversity", but IMO it's pretty damn impressive to have 3 out of the top 100 in Metro Detroit! http://top100.relocate-america .com/ (Message edited by Johnnny5 on May 16, 2008) | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6695 Registered: 10-2003 |
Brighton, MI Grand Rapids, MI Plymouth, MI Rochester, MI Traverse City, MI | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 7834 Registered: 11-2004 |
We'll take it! Any good news is kindly accepted. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4785 Registered: 02-2005 |
I should hope 3% of those on the list are in the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country. It's just typical blather coming from outsiders who only look at stats i.e. the number of new homes built in the last five years, the typical return on investment, "safety," and the $/pupil spent at the local schools. Somehow the truly great places to live in this area always manage to fly under the radar on these stupid lists, and that's fine with me...people that actually know what's up will move to the good places and not pay any heed to some generalized list. This is just another list the reinforces the middle American zeitgeist's prejudice against inner-ring suburbs and anything that resembles an urban pattern of living, as it rules them out because they don't build new homes here, and they might have more than two crimes a year. | ||
Danindc Member Username: Danindc Post Number: 4346 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hell, everyone from the inner suburbs is relocating to those places, why not anyone else? Mackinaw knocks it out of the park. No one is going to convince me that Brighton is a better place to live than where I do now. | ||
401don Member Username: 401don Post Number: 466 Registered: 11-2007 |
Great site. Had I not seen it I wouldn't know from my friends at Remax that all my fellow Canadians are "flocking to Nicaragua" | ||
Frankg Member Username: Frankg Post Number: 255 Registered: 08-2007 |
Unfortunately the website doesn't provide details of how the list was compiled and ranked. I think this is all a marketing ploy to get people to buy real estate. This website does, for instance, say it is owned and operated by a Michigan Real Estate Broker, not some objective source such as US News and World Report, etc. | ||
Rushbuzz1013 Member Username: Rushbuzz1013 Post Number: 32 Registered: 02-2008 |
401...a buddy of mine moved to Nicaragua. Loves it except the Police are always on the take. He bought a 3700sq ft home on a cliff overlooking aqua marine waters. Good hospital, groceries, email, friendly locals...all the comforts of home except being home. Oh yeah, nice weather too. Me ? I'd miss Motown too much. | ||
Jsmyers Member Username: Jsmyers Post Number: 2006 Registered: 12-2003 |
I was just in Nicaragua in December. My wife's family fled in the 80s due to political turmoil. I'll probably be heading back an average of once a year for the rest of my life, as long as flying is affordable. Great Rum, If you can ever drink Gran Reserve or any any of the older dark Flor de Cañas. Do it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F lor_de_Ca%C3%B1a | ||
Greatlakes Member Username: Greatlakes Post Number: 205 Registered: 07-2007 |
Haha, "safety" in quotes...yeah, who wants "safety" or this anti-urban idea of "good schools?" After all, Plymouth of course doesn't have its own historic downtown and heritage like all the "truly great" inner-ring suburbs. | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 651 Registered: 04-2006 |
I don't think that's the reason "safety" was in quotes. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4788 Registered: 02-2005 |
Safety is a real thing, but it's not explained by stats alone. For instance, the stats for the CoD as a whole are dismal. Several CoD neighborhoods and most of its core are safer that the rest of the metro Detroit, though; yet the entire City is continually marred because of macro-level stats for a huge land area. And safety is also perception-based. Inner-ring suburbs are perceived as too close to the inner city, with too many undesirables around. Some people just can't calm their nerves, and can't stand the sight of people who make them uncomfortable, thus, they move to exurban places such as those mentioned on this list. Regarding schools-- they also matter. What's funny is all the great cities with better schools than these places that aren't on the list. Like I say, it doesn't really matter, especially considering the source of these rankings, but it is funny to watch how people (whether in the real estate industry, or just observing it and deciding where they're going to locate based on what real estate people say) overlook places because they aren't seeing massive greenfield development and thus aren't trendy and "where everyone's going." | ||
Greatlakes Member Username: Greatlakes Post Number: 206 Registered: 07-2007 |
Agreed. And, you're right that stats don't tell the whole picture and going on them alone will cause many other great places to be overlooked. However, the simple fact is, white or black (and ironically I am neither), rich or poor, Detroiter or suburbanite, everyone wants the same things such as safe neighborhoods, good schools for their children, and a place to work. If people are truly misled into thinking there are only three places in Metro Detroit that offer that, that is quite sad and stupid. Yes, racism is certainly a huge factor into why the population migration continues outward. Yes, other factors include economic class differences, poverty, and the wealthy's unwillingness to stay put when another group of people migrate to a community hoping to achieve those same benefits. Still, Detroit's number one problem is not perception as so many seem to think. When DPS reports its negligence on how it handled the school closures and couldn't keep track of taxpayer money, that is not just perception. When more people are murdered in Detroit (a city of around 918,000) than Los Angeles (a city of more than 3.8 million), that is not perception. Yes, we need to make sure people hear and see all the great things that make up Detroit, and we need to invest in our existing communities instead of abandoning them for the exurbs. I guess ultimately I just found your initial quoted "safety" and "more than two crimes a year" line bordering on the tired and dismissive comment "crime happens everywhere!" that unfortunately does nothing to help Detroit's perception or reality. That's all. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4794 Registered: 02-2005 |
All true. This list is actually really about suburbs so we should leave Detroit and all of its baggage out of this. Was it Plymouth or Canton that was on the list? Didn't Canton have one of the grizzliest murders in the country this year? | ||
Greatlakes Member Username: Greatlakes Post Number: 207 Registered: 07-2007 |
Plymouth was on the list, and it actually had its own identity before all the sprawl wrapped up around it. Canton on the other hand is Wayne County's answer to Novi and the like (actually, even worse since Canton is one of those smarmy charter townships...). | ||
Greatlakes Member Username: Greatlakes Post Number: 208 Registered: 07-2007 |
Just noticed that on that site, Plymouth's proximity to Detroit is sold as a plus: quote: | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 465 Registered: 06-2007 |
"Didn't Canton have one of the grizzliest murders in the country this year?" Keep in mind, the method used to determine crime rates is number of crimes per 1000 or 10,000 people, depending on whos doing the rankings. So, in a city of 70,000-ish, 1 or 2 murders a year is still considered fairly low. Especially when compared with Camden, NJ, which isnt a whole lot bigger than Canton. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4795 Registered: 02-2005 |
Camden and Canton seems like the least likely comparison ever. Crime rates tell you more than raw numbers, clearly (but it important to check the rates by neighborhood). I was just exemplifying another way how perception can ruin the feeling of safety...one nasty crime in a particular place could make people forget about living there, rightly or wrongly. Camden's rates are in Detroit's league, or worse. That's an interesting excerpt, Greatlakes. That can be spun differently, though: "Plymouth: almost as far from Ann Arbor as it is from Detroit." I don't know why it's desirable to live where Detroit is a 60 mile (i.e. 12 bucks of gas and an hour in the car)round trip, or Ann Arbor is 40 mile round trip. It is indeed the core of old settlement between Ypsi and Wayne, and it does have the amenities of an authentic downtown and old neighborhoods. That's that reason to live there, and that's why Canton seems so drab by contrast...far from everywhere, and none of the charm of Plymouth (but I guess people hang out in downtown Plymouth?). I guess I just think time is too valuable and car transportation too inefficient to justify living 25 minutes from one desirable place and 30 minutes from another. | ||
Greatlakes Member Username: Greatlakes Post Number: 209 Registered: 07-2007 |
Nah, it can't be spun that way because of the key word "just" in "just 30 minutes west of downtown Detroit and 25 minutes east of Ann Arbor." As to why that'd be desirable, I actually know several people who work in Ann Arbor but live in Plymouth and the other western Wayne County communities to enjoy the amenities of the greater metro. Yes, car transportation may be too inefficient, but sadly, that's Metro Detroit for you. If you wanted to live in a place between the two major cities of Detroit and Ann Arbor and still have access to the minor hot spots of the various malls and suburban amenities, you might find yourself near Plymouth, and consider the numerous freeways available to you as your mass transit. It is convenient... | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4796 Registered: 02-2005 |
Ann Arbor a major city? I don't get why so many people want to live just outside of A2. It's one of the nicest cities in the state, and outside of it's modestly-sized, human scale downtown, it is typically suburban and safe. |
