Moving to Detroit?

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matttahoe53

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Well it might be time to move again. I've moved quite a bit since I left NC in October in 2014. We didn't want to leave but my wife and I had to go back to OH for health reasons and the Cleveland Clinic.

Thank God she improved and we were ready to head back to NC. In my search and attempt to get job in RTP I received an offer to move to Beaverton OR. Since we have no kids we decided to try life on the west coast.

We have only been here a little over a year and a half and we don't like it here. The winters are awful. I assumed all the grey sky and rain talk was hype. After 2 winters I can't understate how long and incessant the grey and rain lasts. There are some good and unique things but to me the good doesn't outweigh the bad for us.

This brings me to our next chain. In searching for my next career opportunity and trying to find it in the Carolina's I reached out and have an opportunity, but it is in Troy, MI.

I grew up in Grand Blanc,MI and have a lot of fond memories of growing up there. I loved having the city and I also enjoyed how every Friday night the whole state heads to the rivers, lakes, and forests up north.

We moved away in from MI in 98 when I was in HS. I've been back most summers to Traverse City so I have been through the state recently.

Thanks for sticking through this far, I've reached my point. Who is familiar with living in the Detroit suburbs recently? I now there is a few here from up there. I remember the suburbs being nice as a kid but are they still?
 
If you hate Oregon gray sky and winters....why would you move back to Michigan?!

Traverse City in the summer would absolutely make one fall in love with Michigan. I LOVE autumn in northern MI! But you forget that winter lasts until May. Especially around SE MI where it's just 50 foot piles of crusty snow mixed with dirt, ashphalt and litter.

Born and raised and left Lansing area at age 31.
 
Brother, sorry for your moving and health related woes. I spent a good bit of time near Traverse and it was great. Glad you got to do so as well. My reflections on Detroit are not gleaming with optimism. I have friends there and they are, well, troubled. It may be the place for you both at the moment for your career, but when the opportunity arises to get south, I would seriously consider it. The weather and political climates there are somewhat chilly for a free thinker. Best of luck and hope it all works to your advantage in the long haul.
 
I lived in Northville until 2009. That area is very nice,but it's it's a lot more built up than when we moved there in 1981. Parents moved to NC in 1991, I'm glad to finally be here.
 
How can I help? I grew up in in Grosse Pointe Woods and am there a lot, have also lived in Troy and Bloomfield Township.
 
I have been to MI a few times. Can't imagine living there. Although they do have some wonderful smallmouth bass fishing. I'd vacation there, but can't imagine living there full time. If you go I hope it works out for you, but it seems like a State and City ready for bad times.
 
MI CZ said:
How can I help? I grew up in in Grosse Pointe Woods and am there a lot, have also lived in Troy and Bloomfield Township.
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We are considering Troy, Royal Oak,Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Rochester Hills, Lake Orion.

My wife's big concern is safety, crime, and municipalities who meddle to much in the community.
 
matttahoe53 said:
We are considering Troy, Royal Oak,Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Rochester Hills, Lake Orion.

My wife's big concern is safety, crime, and municipalities who meddle to much in the community.
Click to expand...

Lots of very nice communities in that list. My 2 cents is that your best bet would be Bloomfield Hills or Township. Birmingham is nice but very expensive. Rochester Hills and Troy can be very traffic choked. I'm not as familiar with Lake Orion. Suggest a look at the Grosse Pointes, lots of choices in housing size and cost, safe, nice community sense.


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matttahoe53 said:
We are considering Troy, Royal Oak,Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Rochester Hills, Lake Orion.

My wife's big concern is safety, crime, and municipalities who meddle to much in the community.
Click to expand...

Smart wife. Maybe consider a different state.
 
I'll say this. Between my parents and myself we have lived in suburban Detroit since 1964. We have had one car broken into and that was in 1980 or so. No other crime involving us or our things.


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Tim said:
If you hate Oregon gray sky and winters....why would you move back to Michigan?!

Traverse City in the summer would absolutely make one fall in love with Michigan. I LOVE autumn in northern MI! But you forget that winter lasts until May. Especially around SE MI where it's just 50 foot piles of crusty snow mixed with dirt, ashphalt and litter.

Born and raised and left Lansing area at age 31.
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I'm pretty much with this after living in Lansing for a short bit. Kinda an even swap less rain, more wind, no short trip to the mountains, I do think the traffic was better in all of MI than WA, but I didn't spend near the time in WA.
Wife's cousin lives in Bloomfield I think, calls it Detroit, pretty sure she never leaves the township, and would constantly defend Detroit and say the pictures we see are fake/exaggerated/out of context based on what her neighborhood looks like. I trucked out of Romulus, and wondered Detroit itself a good bit, I didn't mind it solo, but she's delusional.
 
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Beef15 said:
I'm pretty much with this after living in Lansing for a short bit. Kinda an even swap less rain, more wind, no short trip to the mountains, I do think the traffic was better in all of MI than WA, but I didn't spend near the time in WA.
Wife's cousin lives in Bloomfield I think, calls it Detroit, pretty sure she never leaves the township, and would constantly defend Detroit and say the pictures we see are fake/exaggerated/out of context based on what her neighborhood looks like. I trucked out of Romulus, and wondered Detroit itself a good bit, I didn't mind it solo, but she's delusional.
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I was an MSU student for four years in Lansing, greetings! Downtown Detroit has some nice things going on, but most of the city is a bombed out mess - that is why you don't live there. The communities the OP is looking at are safe and nice with many different styles to choose from. One geographical oddity - Lansing MI actually is as cloudy as Oregon, but that really doesn't extend down to the Detroit area.
 
I seem to remember as a kid that there was a difference in the amount of snow between Flint and Detroit.

We went out last weekend to check things out and for me it was all very familiar. I think my wife was surprised at the amount of money that is still in the suburbs. We did drive trough actual Detroit on our way back to the airport to avoid an accident on the highway and it is urban blight at its finest, but pretty far removed from where we would live and work.

Some of the takeaways: There are a ton of huge houses, big yards are standard in a lot of places, there are a lot of well maintained parks with green spaces and baseball fields, the roads are shit, living on a nice small lake is possible, you can get around easy as compared to where we are now, moving in the right direction on gun rights especially compared to OR.

The biggest thing for me personally is for us to find a place that feels like home. After everything my wife has been through she wants to find her place of belonging which will complete the healing process and we can start a family. These past 6 years have been difficult but we gutted it out and have eliminated most of the baggage and are finally comfortable.

She won't admit it yet but I know she wants to move back to the south and won't be happy till we get there. The reasons she's entertaining the idea of MI is because it's a great job with a great salary and we could live very comfortably there. She knows it's a good opportunity for me and I have a soft spot in my heart for Michigan since I grew up there and left at a time when I didn't want to.

I also need to reconcile with myself the idea that I really want to go back to Michigan because it's a good opportunity and not to go back to a place that I didn't want to leave in high school just us so I could then leave on my own terms later. This is purely an ego thing and it concerns me that I am allowing nostalgia to cloud my reasoning.

I really want her to be happy and if she doesn't want to go to Michigan I need her to tell me that because I don't want to move across the country again only to be in another holding pattern till we leave and find someplace new.

I have been clear with her about this and she is struggling with her own happiness and my own career development which increases my ability to provide for her.
 
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matttahoe53 said:
I seem to remember as a kid that there was a difference in the amount of snow between Flint and Detroit.

We went out last weekend to check things out and for me it was all very familiar. I think my wife was surprised at the amount of money that is still in the suburbs. We did drive trough actual Detroit on our way back to the airport to avoid an accident on the highway and it is urban blight at its finest, but pretty far removed from where we would live and work.

Some of the takeaways: There are a ton of huge houses, big yards are standard in a lot of places, there are a lot of well maintained parks with green spaces and baseball fields, the roads are shit, living on a nice small lake is possible, you can get around easy as compared to where we are now, moving in the right direction on gun rights especially compared to OR.

The biggest thing for me personally is for us to find a place that feels like home. After everything my wife has been through she wants to find her place of belonging which will complete the healing process and we can start a family. These past 6 years have been difficult but we gutted it out and have eliminated most of the baggage and are finally comfortable.

She won't admit it yet but I know she wants to move back to the south and won't be happy till we get there. The reasons she's entertaining the idea of MI is because it's a great job with a great salary and we could live very comfortably there. She knows it's a good opportunity for me and I have a soft spot in my heart for Michigan since I grew up there and left at a time when I didn't want to.

I also need to reconcile with myself the idea that I really want to go back to Michigan because it's a good opportunity and not to go back to a place that I didn't want to leave in high school just us so I could then leave on my own terms later. This is purely an ego thing and it concerns me that I am allowing nostalgia to cloud my reasoning.

I really want her to be happy and if she doesn't want to go to Michigan I need her to tell me that because I don't want to move across the country again only to be in another holding pattern till we leave and find someplace new.

I have been clear with her about this and she is struggling with her own happiness and my own career development which increases my ability to provide for her.
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Best of luck with your decision and future!


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matttahoe53 said:
We are considering Troy, Royal Oak,Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Rochester Hills, Lake Orion.

My wife's big concern is safety, crime, and municipalities who meddle to much in the community.
Click to expand...
I lived a couple blocks from Walled Lake, anf my favorite cigar bar was out there in West Bloomfield. I regularly went to Detroit and other areas. Made a good supplemental income playing cards for a while too but just wasn't my thing long term. - Anyways, I love MI and always will, but I don't think I could ever go to that area again. I could west side, Grand Haven area and north by Traverse, Torch Lake, etc.

Speaking of Royal Oak, everytime I go there something weird happens. Huge gay scene there, kinda weird area. A little uncomfortable at times. I would rather be in Ann Arbor than Royal Oak.

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Anywhere other than Beaverton is likely an improvement. I grew up in PDX/Gresham, spent my first 36 years there before we GTFO and moved here to the mountains of NC in 2014. RUn, runnnnn away.. I imagine MI is probably cheaper than OR for housing ( or at least cheaper than Multnomah/washington county). Weather, no idea, but sounds like you have lived there before. The liklihood of californians living in MI is prolly nill, so another plus.
Doo it.


My colleagues ask if I miss OR... NO. Flat out, no. I dont miss 90min commutes from 217 and Denny to the east side on a good day. Eff that noise.

Sorry, not what your really after with the original ask, but more of a strong urge to GTFO of OR.
 
Jabroni said:
Anywhere other than Beaverton is likely an improvement. I grew up in PDX/Gresham, spent my first 36 years there before we GTFO and moved here to the mountains of NC in 2014. RUn, runnnnn away.. I imagine MI is probably cheaper than OR for housing ( or at least cheaper than Multnomah/washington county). Weather, no idea, but sounds like you have lived there before. The liklihood of californians living in MI is prolly nill, so another plus.
Doo it.


My colleagues ask if I miss OR... NO. Flat out, no. I dont miss 90min commutes from 217 and Denny to the east side on a good day. Eff that noise.

Sorry, not what your really after with the original ask, but more of a strong urge to GTFO of OR.
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This is all true which is why even Detroit is attractive. I'm sure he and I could run on about why this place sucks. Again the few good and unique things about the area come no where close to the bad.
 
concepthomes1 said:
I would give a portion of a certain body part to be able to move back to MI.

I absolutely love where I lived and where we played.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one. When we were there last weekend it was all very familiar. This sounds stupid but I could feel/understand the people around me like hopping into a stream and immediately being part of the current.
 
It is a funny thing. We absolutely love WNC, the mountains, the people, the culture. We wouldn't change it for a thing and will be happy to finish our years here on our front porch. But we still have great friends, great memories, and great moments back in MI. Best way is to savor it all.
 
Everyone has a place brother. If MI is yours then roll with it.

I knew a boy from the upper peninsula that was one crazy esohbee
 
Well, I didn't get the job. I'm really surprised and I hope they get back with me so I can figure out how I was lacking.

Anyway, that was Tuesday and today I was contacted by a company in Charlotte and will be starting the interview process next week. I hope this works. Domestically, moving to the Carolina's will be the best outcome.
 
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matttahoe53 said:
Well it might be time to move again. I've moved quite a bit since I left NC in October in 2014. We didn't want to leave but my wife and I had to go back to OH for health reasons and the Cleveland Clinic.

Thank God she improved and we were ready to head back to NC. In my search and attempt to get job in RTP I received an offer to move to Beaverton OR. Since we have no kids we decided to try life on the west coast.

We have only been here a little over a year and a half and we don't like it here. The winters are awful. I assumed all the grey sky and rain talk was hype. After 2 winters I can't understate how long and incessant the grey and rain lasts. There are some good and unique things but to me the good doesn't outweigh the bad for us.

This brings me to our next chain. In searching for my next career opportunity and trying to find it in the Carolina's I reached out and have an opportunity, but it is in Troy, MI.

I grew up in Grand Blanc,MI and have a lot of fond memories of growing up there. I loved having the city and I also enjoyed how every Friday night the whole state heads to the rivers, lakes, and forests up north.

We moved away in from MI in 98 when I was in HS. I've been back most summers to Traverse City so I have been through the state recently.

Thanks for sticking through this far, I've reached my point. Who is familiar with living in the Detroit suburbs recently? I now there is a few here from up there. I remember the suburbs being nice as a kid but are they still?[/QUOTE

Detoilet? Yeah...I understand that work is where you can find it, but...but...but...Detroit?!? My condolences, brudda.:eek:
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Well I didn't get the job in Detroit the beginning of this summer, which was a pretty big disappointment.

Turns out it wasn't the right time. I just accepted a great position in the Denver, CO. While it isn't the south my wife is excited at how sunny Denver is especially compared to where we are in Portland.

I'll miss the PNW but am excited about snow instead or rain.

Also, I'm one of the few to post wtb because I'm moving ads. I'd like to buy a couple rifles and maybe a saiga12 before I head to the mag restricted state. Illegal to buy but legal to own, makes no sense.
 
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