  Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 4164 Registered: 10-2003 |
http://mioaklandcounty.com/blo g/2006/12/26/americas-4th-weal thiest-city-bloomfield-hills/ I keep reading that Bloomfield Hills is one the wealthiest places in the US, but is this true? How does one measure the wealth of a city anyhow? | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 65 Registered: 05-2006 |
I'm guessing they judge wealth by the average income of home owners. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5046 Registered: 11-2003 |
Like they said. Median family income $170,000 USD. Compare that to Detroit and you are a very wealthy place. That's the middle income of every household. So some are lower, some are higher. jjaba. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2588 Registered: 02-2005 |
City of Bloomfield hills is extremely small, less than 4,000 in fact, and this is what this stat pertains too. It's quite the enclave, basically just a small collection of huge houses (population density is only 790/sq. mile). So, when you take a slice this small, it's possible to rank really high in terms of wealth. Bloomfield Township and West Bloomfield Twp. especially rank nowhere close to this. I don't think the Bloomfields are as impressive as Grosse Pointe Farms or Park, where you have higher populations, population densities as much as 8x what C of Bloomfield has, and family/household incomes still over $100k. | ||
Steelworker Member Username: Steelworker Post Number: 833 Registered: 02-2004 |
or grossepointe shores, or city | ||
Cmubryan Member Username: Cmubryan Post Number: 400 Registered: 11-2003 |
Don't forget South Bloomfield | ||
Peter Member Username: Peter Post Number: 24 Registered: 02-2007 |
While the Grosse Pointes have a great location with their proximity to the COD and Lake St. Clair. But Bloomfield Hills has things that cannot be found anywhere else on earth, prime example being the Cranbrook Educational Community. I am sure that most of you have visited the grounds at some point or another and can agree with me in saying it is one of the most beautiful places in the country. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2589 Registered: 02-2005 |
Or you could trump that with one of the most beautiful public schools: Grosse Pointe South. Steelworker, GP Shores comes close to Bloomfield in terms of income; like Bloomfield Hills, though, it is quite small. C of GP is solidly wealthy and fairly dense, but again, quite small (about 5,500). | ||
Peter Member Username: Peter Post Number: 28 Registered: 02-2007 |
The Cranbrook Educational Community is ranked one of the top 12 must-visit architectural sites in the country by MSNBC... I don't think that can be trumped Mackinaw. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2590 Registered: 02-2005 |
You are officially trumped when GPS grads go to all the same colleges as Cranbrook grads, only they got their education for FREE. And I'll take the 'tower' at GPS over the tower at Cranbrook: http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.g ne?id=216200807&context=set-72 157594251399616&size=l I'm not letting my alma mater be shoved aside in this discussion. Something is suspect about that MSNBC assessment. Cranbrook is one of the most beautiful and significant places in metro Detroit, but the country?! Even if we relegate the discussion to schools, I think that there are enough prep schools and ivy league campuses in the NE U.S. alone to push Cranbrook out of the top 12. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1154 Registered: 12-2005 |
OK-all of this Bloomfield Hills/Grosse Pointe talk has me hankerin' for a little tea partay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =PTU2He2BIc0 | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2593 Registered: 02-2005 |
thanks, packman. That was priceless. | ||
Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 4165 Registered: 10-2003 |
Cranbrook as one of the most beautiful places in the country? Um, no. No, not even close. Cranbrook House is nice but GP has (had) more than a dozen estates that were nicer. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 3863 Registered: 08-2004 |
I bet Lake Township in Macomb County has a higher income than anywhere in the state... Of course this is the northern tip of Grosse Pointe Shores within Macomb County. Population is something like 54. And the majority of that tiny Twp is the 84 Acre Edsel & Eleanor Ford Estate with 3,100 feet of Lake St. Clair frontage. Hard to beat! But all this talk of this or that is more beautiful is rather silly... they are all jewels in the crown of Metro Detroit, and each is a gem in their own way! (Although Lakeshore Drive is hard to top!)  | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2594 Registered: 02-2005 |
I've always thought Lakeshore Dr. was overrated. The view of the lake and yacht club is timeless, but the homes are often unremarkable, if large. Windmill Point is where its at. | ||
Peter Member Username: Peter Post Number: 30 Registered: 02-2007 |
Perhaps you should all take a guided tour through the various gardens and museums and you will see what a cultural asset it is. I am not talking about a specific house or building... I am talking about all 315 acres of it. | ||
Ray Member Username: Ray Post Number: 869 Registered: 06-2004 |
It's a gerrymandered enclave that overstates the area's relative wealth. Take all of Bloomfield Twp. and you're nowhere near the top of the pack. Plus the home values are not that high relative to the east and west coast. The trouble is, Michigan is anemic at wealth creation and I can't stand this statistic (along with the other oft-repeated innanity that Oakland County is somehow the wealthiest county in America) because it give lie to the fact that we are plummeting off the charts as a region in the areas of new company formation, innovation and wealth creation. We need stare every morning at the ugly reality that we are failing until we build the collective will to changes. | ||
Bvos Member Username: Bvos Post Number: 2128 Registered: 10-2003 |
GP has better design than Cranbrook? Y'all are smokin' crack (or snorting coke like they do in GP and Bloomfield). GP can't hold a candle to Cranbrook. Cranbrook is by far one of the most well designed places in the state and the country. Anyone who begs to differ has obviously never been to Cranbrook. | ||
Mind_field Member Username: Mind_field Post Number: 702 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hmmmmm. I highly doubt the statistics about Bloomfield Hills being the richest city outside of California or Florida, give me a break. There are suburbs of Chicago (like Winnetka and Kenilworth) that are far richer and I'm sure New York, Atlanta, and even some Texas cities have much wealthier suburbs. The coasts are just obliterating Michigan when it comes to wealth creation. There are two different criteria used to measure the wealth of a city. Real estate values and household income. I'm not sure which is a better indicator of wealth, maybe some combination of the two would be the best choice. | ||
Newlaster Member Username: Newlaster Post Number: 210 Registered: 06-2004 |
You people sound like you're arguing over who has the cooler videogame console. But since we're at it--I pick the Bloomfields because I'm a west sider. Ha. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 528 Registered: 04-2006 |
"(along with the other oft-repeated innanity that Oakland County is somehow the wealthiest county in America)" That stat is a bit outdated as the OC has now dropped down into the 20s... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H ighest-income_counties_in_the_ United_States | ||
Bvos Member Username: Bvos Post Number: 2130 Registered: 10-2003 |
There are dozens of ways to slice and dice wealth figures to suit the folks that feel the need to be on the top 10 lists: median household income, average household income, per capita income, average home values, median home value, etc., etc., etc. It's all just a game of semantics to feed the growth machine. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 532 Registered: 04-2006 |
But it is amazing how much in disbelief some of you are about how much money there is in metro Detroit. Maybe that's why the perception of the area is so bad... | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2598 Registered: 02-2005 |
Ray said it right, and it's true that wealth-creation is lacking here. Like Comerica made abundantly clear, we are beginning to lack human capital because talented graduates are moving to other major cities. Mind_field, don't forget all the rich places in Connecticut (the richest state in the union), Maryland, Delaware, Jersey, and New York. In terms of widespread wealth, Oakland county blows, plus it looks like crap compared to east-coast towns (and it's all noveau riche). The City of Bloomfield Hills is just a tiny slice that is fabulously wealthy and a little easier on the eyes. | ||
Innovator Member Username: Innovator Post Number: 55 Registered: 07-2006 |
come on.. cranbrook vs. gps? cranbrook campus has two architecturally significant high schools, the cranbrook house, an art museum, a science museum, an art college, an outdoor theater, acres of forest, a couple lakes.. gps has, a high school? i think you all can guess which one i graduated from. and regarding the tuition issue, while gps may be 'free', a pretty significant percentage of cranbrook students (including myself) received a huge amount of fin. aid. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2599 Registered: 02-2005 |
Yeah and it was all funded by a couple rich guys in an area where land was much more available. GPS was a public work (the most beautiful public building in the suburbs?) and placed in a neighborhood. Cranbrook is really its own animal, hard to compare I'll admit, but I will say that while parts of it are outstanding, the museums really aren't the most beautiful buildings. | ||
Spartacus Member Username: Spartacus Post Number: 177 Registered: 07-2005 |
This GPS vs. Cranbrook argument is silly. Cranbrook has a world class campus and provides a world class education. Does anyone doubt this? | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 50 Registered: 01-2007 |
Any of the Cranbrook Cheerleaders want to see some pix of Bloomfield Hills from the top of the Christ Church Cranbrook bell tower on a cloudy fall day? The sexton took me up there on a private tour and pointed out the the various houses. I shot a pic. of Larry Brown's (former Piston coach) house from up there. There isn't an elevator. You've got to climb the circular staircase! [img]http://www.christchurchcranbrook.org/images/MargiSilk.jpg[/img] jrvass (at) comcast (dot) net James (Message edited by jrvass on March 21, 2007) (Message edited by jrvass on March 21, 2007) Oh, fer Chrissakes! (Message edited by jrvass on March 21, 2007) | ||
Peter Member Username: Peter Post Number: 31 Registered: 02-2007 |
Innovator- I am also a CK alum, what year are you? | ||
Mml665 Member Username: Mml665 Post Number: 3 Registered: 02-2007 |
Innovator GPS the city does not have a high school. While I have only been to the Cranbrook Science Center I really can't comment on that. However the Grosse Pointes do much to offer and have much historical character. It really isn't necessary to bicker over various cities. | ||
Mml665 Member Username: Mml665 Post Number: 4 Registered: 02-2007 |
Innovator GPS the city does not have a high school. While I have only been to the Cranbrook Science Center I really can't comment on that. However the Grosse Pointes do have much to offer and have much historical character. It really isn't necessary to bicker over various cities. | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 649 Registered: 12-2006 |
"Cranbrook has a world class campus and provides a world class education. Does anyone doubt this?" I don't doubt it, but how come Grosse Pointe South is rated higher than Cranbrook? Public vs. Private? I thought private was supposed to be better. As in the words of a facebook group I belong to: "I go to a public school that is better than your private school." "GP can't hold a candle to Cranbrook" Oh yes we can. Grosse Pointe is a very well designed area. And Mackinaw is definitely right, the spot to see nice houses is definitely Windmill Point. What does Cranbrook have that's like that? | ||
Peter Member Username: Peter Post Number: 32 Registered: 02-2007 |
SCS100 what are your sources? | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 650 Registered: 12-2006 |
For the rankings? Newsweek came out with their school rankings last year and GPS was ranked 3rd in the state, after that acadamey in West Bloomfiel (Internation Academy I believe) and a school out near Grand Rapids. As for the rest, it is my opinion, since I currently live in the area. EDIT: I found the list. 240 | Grosse Pointe South | Grosse Pointe Farms | Mich. The International Academy is rated second in the country and Black River in Holland is rated 104th. These are the top 3 schools in the state. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek (Message edited by SCS100 on March 21, 2007) | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2606 Registered: 02-2005 |
Scs100, unfortunately for our purposes, that is only a list of PUBLIC schools. They leave the head to head comparison up in the air. Yes GPS is the number 3 public school in the state, but it is the number 1 'pure' public school, because the other two are schools of choice; International Academy has admissions. But it just leads me to emphasize again, that, GPS is pretty damn beautiful, prepares grads to go to all the same colleges Cranbrook does, and is FREE and for all that live in the district, from GP Farms to the working-class rental wards of GP Park. | ||
Jiscodazz Member Username: Jiscodazz Post Number: 5 Registered: 02-2007 |
Do they mean "mean" or "median"? These days everyone talks about "increasing incomes" but what they're really saying is that the mean income is higher. That means the rich are getting richer and the middle and lower classes are staying the same or worse. Median income is the only real income indicator and if Bloomfield is like the rest or our area, the middle class is getting squeezed. | ||
Spartacus Member Username: Spartacus Post Number: 179 Registered: 07-2005 |
I'm still not sure why we're talking about GP in this thread. While pride in your high school is commendable, it's pretty presumptuous to claim that your high school is the best in the state based on Newsweek's interpretation of AP test results alone. If GPS is such a great school why are they 38th in MEAP testing? http://www.schooldigger.com/sc hoolrank.aspx?pagetype=top10 |
