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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsDo you love your town?
I've come to realize lately just how lucky I am to live where I do, the N.W. Detroit suburbs known as "the Bloomfields " - Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Birmingham, and West Bloomfield. This is a great place to live. Physical beauty, many many lakes, rivers, hills, some woodlands and meadows still persist. Nice homes, nice neighborhoods, good local streets (ok, main roads are kind of a mess, Oakland County maintains those and is always broke). Great local parks, good schools. A lot of shopping, restaurants, cultural events. Ok, really great restaurants of all kinds, including Middle Eastern, Korean and Japanese, Mexican, Argentinian steakhouses, Polish, you name it.
Virtually nil serious crime, mostly petty stuff like teenagers taking out mailboxes in the spring when they get full of themselves as graduation and summer approach. Four seasons of weather, beautiful springs and falls, many years most of the summer is pleasant without heat or humidity if the Jet Stream parks to our South and brings down cool, dry, clean Canadian air. Speaking of which, we are only about a 30 minute drive to the International Border with Canada in Downtown Detroit, and we get Canadian media outlets for added diversity -CBC News is really good, much more hard news and less fluff and opinion than our networks.
The best part about my community is the wide diversity of people, every race and ethnicity, with all of the culture that diversity brings. And true tolerance and friendship, for example, after 9/11, when our large Arab-American community feared being persecuted by association, local synagogues and churches held joint services with local mosques as a way of bringing awareness. It's nice to go down suburban streets and see homes with Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanza displays. Ok, not too many people observe Kwanza, but a few.
Bloomfield Hills is "old money" and auto wealth. Aretha Franklin is one very famous resident. Bob Seger lived very close to me until last year, when he moved about 20 miles away to Oakland Twp to live near Eminem and Kid Rock ( who is a R, no accounting for taste!). Bloomfield and West Bloomfield are a mix of suburban residential and commercial. Birmingham is the trendy, funky, urban feeling town with a ton of shopping, many unique small stores, and a lot of Mid-century Modern architecture, kind of a Palm Springs look to many buildings.
People who knock Detroit based on images of urban decay don't often realize that Metro Detroit is vastly larger than just the City of Detroit and has a lot to offer. We took one on the chin in the last decade, economically, but things are perking again. And the City of Detroit still has a lot of interest, too, Downtown, various ethnic neighborhoods, Wayne State University, the Detroit Institute of Art, and so forth.
Great place to live, I'm lucky to be here.
What is your community like? What does it have to offer?
surrealAmerican
(11,361 posts)... a quirky, old college town/suburb/small city all it's own, with lots of parks, a beautiful lakefront, ethnic and economic diversity, a real downtown, public transportation, and walkable neighborhoods. All with easy access to Chicago, too. What's not to love?
MiddleFingerMom
(25,163 posts).
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... though they weren't wealthy... yet. She was an elementary school teacher and he had
just gotten his M.B.A. and was starting out in advertising. As I remember, they lived in a
pretty standard apartment complex and liked the area, mostly for its low-crime rate and
easy access to beautiful natural settings and cultural events.
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I LOVE Tucson. A blue oasis in a red state. Very LGBT-friendly. Very arts friendly. Nice folks.
Beautiful natural settings, although I remember it took me 3, even 4 HOURS before I started
seeing the beauty surrounding me -- it was THAT alien to all my previous experiences.
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Except for some VERY muggy summer monsoon months (balanced by an abundance of
the most awesome lightning storms I've ever seen anywhere), the climate is beautiful --
mid-30's to mid-40's at night and mid-60's to mid-70's during the day.
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Lots of fine, fun cultural events (and a year-round cultural diversity bringing all their
influences to our region -- we just got our second Ethiopian restaurant).
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Remember, we were fortunate enough to have and smart enough to elect Gabby.
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Denninmi
(6,581 posts)We have Gary Peters. I liked him ever since he was in the state legislature.
fizzgig
(24,146 posts)we've a college with several world renowned programs, tech jobs, alternative energy jobs, fairly liberal. we have a healthy and vibrant 'old town' area filled with locally-owned shops and restaurants. we're known for our beer.
i could not ask for a more beautiful setting. i watch the sun set over the rockies every evening. the mountains and the plains are right there, i can drive 30-45 minutes and see the sky in it's full glory. there is some crime, but nothing major.
this is the only place i've ever lived and i would like to leave someday, but i have a feeling i'll come back if i do.
annabanana
(52,791 posts)near drowned.
(Long Beach NY)
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)I live in one of the Hilltowns in Western Mass. They call us the Hidden Hills because there are no major highways or turnpikes with exits that lead to us...mostly only back roads, and US Route 20 (also called Jacob's Ladder Trail), which is no longer a busy thoroughfare since the Mass Turnpike was built.
http://byways.org/explore/byways/13418
anyway, unless one lives near the center of one of these towns, there's nothing within walking distance. My nearest neighbors are at least 700+ feet away...probably more. There are maybe 1300 people in my town. We're surrounded by trees, rocks, and more trees.
Rural.
I love it.
MiddleFingerMom
(25,163 posts).
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"Everything's within walking distance if you have enough time."
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DFW
(54,399 posts)The only thing I object to is the fact that the city government is full-bent on expansion, expansion, expansion, and making the town so crowded and expensive that it will lose its character. Already three of our favorite merchants and cafés have been forced out of existence by rent hikes that they couldn't pay, replaced by travel chains and cell-phone shops. The one small in-town public parking garage is about to be torn down for some office building we don't need.
Other that that, being able to take endless walks, either in the woods behind our house, or into the town past the 1000 year old castle in the back yard is a big plus. Good medical facilities are available in less than 5 minutes by car, and the open air farmers market has been a tradition here for the last 800 years or so. The Düsseldorf intercontinental airport is 20 minutes (or less, depending on traffic) away, and it's a 16 minute ride on the commuter train into downtown Düsseldorf. We have a circle of four families among our neighbors that are such good friends that we all have the keys to each other's houses to look after things if one family is away. I looked upon it as a stationing when I was first posted here, but at this point, it would be hard to get used to Dallas on a permanent basis again. This place reminds me more of New England, which is probably where we would head if I were to retire, which I am determined to do by age 90 at the latest. Maybe even before that.
I live in southeastern San Francisco which is diverse, mostly quiet, and mostly crime-free.
ohiosmith
(24,262 posts)truegrit44
(332 posts)Thank God, I live 10 miles out in the country away from it........southern Ozarks area Missouri. Small town 3,000 pop all made up for bible pushing right wing nuts. No where to shop except the dreaded Walmart without driving 50 miles.
However, I hide out on acreage with hills and trees and no close neighbors and it is super cheap to live here......only reason I will probably stay. Born in CA (old hippy) and before here lived out in the western states NM, WY and CO and that is where I would prefer to be but oh well, I'll just keep to myself like have for the past 8 years.
Appreciate finding DU where there are sane people.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)In fact, I might even bet as much as a nickel that you have described Cassville
truegrit44
(332 posts)Ava......
Where in AR if your free to say? My husband is from Western Grove south of Harrison not much if not worse than Ava, MO
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)Barry County is certainly its own little world, as is its neighbor, MacDonald County.
I'm from Benton County, just across the state line from Barry and MacDonald counties.
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)Sounds like where I live, but I'm in PA. We have lived here for over twenty years and don't know any neighbors. I stay because I'm only 5 minutes from work and I think that counts a lot.
truegrit44
(332 posts)Looks like we're both kinda hermits, always been pretty much a loner so it suits me ok.
Aristus
(66,380 posts)Love it!
We host the fourth-largest state fair in the country here every year. (Do The Puyallup!) It's sort of conservative by Washington State standards, although we have a Democratic mayor (nice lady!). We're five miles east of progressive, working-class Tacoma, and 30 miles south of deep-blue, ultra-liberal Seattle. South Hill is crowded and just a big strip, fast food joints and mechanic shops as far as the eye can see (all the way to Graham!), but down in the valley, it's nice. It's like a Frank Capra movie. A great town square bounded by city hall, the public library, and a public pavilion for weddings, receptions, fundraisers, etc. Beautiful views of Mount Rainier on clear days (not so many anymore, this time of year...) Quiet neighborhoods. Lots and lots of great little family-owned restaurants and diners. About a thousand antique shops. (Okay, not that many, but a lot.) Easy-to-use commuter trains to both Tacoma and Seattle. I love it here.
elleng
(130,956 posts)great house/home, great neighbors, great diversity, great job.
NOW, that all that's changed, I'm OK, near DC, but everything else has changed, so no, don't love 2 MD suburbs of DC where I reside.
GreenPartyVoter
(72,377 posts)very rural here, and if there wasn't a college nearby it would be pretty darn quiet in the winter.
But I love it and would not trade it for anything. Just the natural aspect alone is enough to keep me here, but throw in knowing so many people and watching generations grow up and I am happy as a clam.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)Nope. I'm trying to move. Sure, it's nice to live in one of the most liberal and diverse cities in the country. And I was raised here, but from my experience, living here isn't that great. It's not safe to walk around alone (I got robbed at a bus stop a few years ago), our football team has been an embarrassment for about a decade, there are no decent malls here, and pretty much the only thing to do here besides going to a concert or a game is going to the zoo. You usually have to go to SF in order to find some more entertainment, and you have to go to other cities like Hayward and San Lorenzo in order to find stores that are decently-stocked.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)and it's close enough to Oakland that the old Oakland Oaks' ballpark was there.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)I don't like that it's red.
GoCubsGo
(32,084 posts)I live in a right-wing hell hole of about 20,000. Wish I could get out of here.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Love it!
Steeped in history and beautiful old houses and buildings, very liberal, GBLT and Pagan friendly, very walkable with small shops, great farmers market all perched on a terrific harbor north of Boston.
irisblue
(32,980 posts)I'd leave in a newyorkminute if Ms Wonderful would go.
ohiosmith
(24,262 posts)sinkingfeeling
(51,457 posts)av8rdave
(10,573 posts)I live a mile and a half outside of Kenton, Ohio. It's a small (about 8,000 people) city about an hour south of Toledo. Like any place, there are great and not so great things about it.
The not so great:
Kenton is pretty much a rust belt town. There are several storefronts on the historic courthouse square that are vacant. Large employers that used to be the economic lifeblood of the town have closed up shop and left, resulting in a lot of unemployment and underemployment. Those with with good jobs have fairly long commutes. I drive two hours to Detroit for work (though I only do that a few times each month). Cooper Tire and Marathon Oil are 30 miles to the north in Findlay, and Honda of America is about 40 miles to the south in Marysville. There isn't a lot of opportunity for young people here. There only a couple of decent restaurants, plus the usual collection of fast food franchises. If you want to go somewhere nice for a cocktail, you need to belong to one of the local service clubs (Elks or the Moose). Your only other option is a bar on the south side of town appropriately called "The Bar." I have yet to muster the courage to go in there. The County is mostly conservative. I was one of about 4500 people who voted for President Obama, as opposed to 7500 who voted for the greedy one. Winters can be cold (but both weeks of summer are great).
The great:
Like any good place, it's the people who make it that way. The folks here are friendly, most having lived here their entire lives. The conservatives are generally of the sane variety. You can actually have a civil conversation about politics. People are civic minded, and there is no shortage of volunteers at the soup kitchen, the polling places or the county fair. There are still a handful of local businesses, and gathering at Jitterz coffeehouse on the courthouse square with the locals is a daily routine. We have a small hispanic population, which supports a good Mexican restaurant and an EXCELLENT Mexican grocery store. The center of town is occupied by a beautiful, historic courthouse constructed just about 100 years ago. Agriculture is big here. The Soy/corn farmers are still local people, and know everyone well. There is a sizable Amish community, who are well liked and accepted here (if you need quilts, furniture or candy, this is the place to be). Kenton is a great place for sports fans. The mighty Kenton Wildcats (state champ runners-up in their football division last year) enjoy a lot of support. The Ohio State Buckeyes are more popular than any professional team. But if professional sports are your cup of tea, you can be at a Browns, Indians, Bengals or Reds game in about two hours. The Columbus Blue Jackets are an hour and a half away. If you need to travel, the airports in Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Dayton are all an easy drive.
All and all, it's a good place to live. It's been a long time since I've known anything but big city living, and I had forgotten how much I love the small town life.
Edited for content.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)San Jose sucks less than most of the country (solid Dem, decent weather, etc.) but more than the rest of the Bay Area (so-so transit, more DINOs). Robert Heinlein, who lived over the hill in Santa Cruz County, cuttingly described it as "a collection of villages in search of a city".
LibDemAlways
(15,139 posts)I am wedged between the ridiculously overcrowded San Fernando Valley and bland Thousand Oaks. Few decent restaurants, no culture to speak of, and, if I want to get to LA for any reason, I have to weigh the potential enjoyment factor against the inevitable hideous traffic. It's a nightmare. Only here because my mom is 90 and nearby.
gateley
(62,683 posts)Even though it's changed almost beyond recognition, I still feel like it's MY town.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)but had a much different energy.
My Seattle memories are from the 50's to 1980.....
good good memories of a friendly, and affordable place to live.
too bad about all the damn rain.
I would still be there if I had known about anti-depressants back then.
Now I live in a rural and very small southern town, on an isolated patch of land, and rarely have to put up with the conservatives around here.
nice place to work, even better now that I am retired and can indulge hermit like ways.
gateley
(62,683 posts)You were here during the years when it still felt like a small town. I always felt safe no matter where I was or what the time of day or night.
You'd be going nuts this year. Sooooo much rain - the kind everybody thinks we get but don't really.
I envy you -- and might join you, but then I'd have to leave Seattle. . I lived in NC for about 5 years and missed Seattle so bad it HURT.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)tis a marvelous lucky feeling, isn't it?
tis strange....for 40 years I never thought of moving from the beauty of the Pac. NW.
My "kids" still live there, as does my brother, I knew the entire state by heart, had glorious times,
lived on Whidbey Island for 8 years
and then
one day, in a dark, gloomy, and of course rainy Feb. something in my head said...I need sunshine,
I cannot spend one more year in all this gloom.
and by Dec. I was in Alabama, had a job.
where, after a dozen years or so, I did not realize I was becoming rooted to this place.
It all felt weirdly familiar in ways I could not put my finger on.
Most likely small town familiar.
So, when my life took a turn and I had to go back to the West Coast ( SF area) I missed HERE so much it hurt!
Never thought it was in the stars to come back here.
But, it was..I got to come back, dragging Mr. Dixie along with me
and I vowed the only way I will leave this marvelous house in the woods will be feet first.
Sunshine, very friendly people, 1/2 the cost of living than the West Coast, and rural enough to keep it from changing much.
u4ic
(17,101 posts)Moved from a city I absolutely despised in January, and love it here. They're buried under 10 ft of snow, and if we have any snow, it might last a day or two. Hasn't even got down to 0 (C) yet; and rarely ever does. A beautiful city, right by the ocean, laid back, friendly - and lots of culture. I've never wanted to settle down and put roots anywhere I've lived before, but here, yes, most definitely.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Portland, Oregon...
Wonderful testament to "the Bloomfields," btw...
lastlib
(23,239 posts)small town, both city limit signs on the same post. Everybody's dirty laundry is everybody's property here. Really sucks big ones. Wish I could get.the.hell.outahere......
HeiressofBickworth
(2,682 posts)Just north of Seattle but not in the same county. There really isn't much to recommend it, but there isn't anything awful about it either. It started out as a worker village after WW II (think cement brick houses) and then grew after that. We have groceries, pharmacies, a library, a transit center with good bus service, and lower taxes than Seattle's county (King County). There are several nice parks, a community center with a pool and a baseball field. Not much view property here. The city government is trying desperately to increase the business tax base, but businesses just don't seem to do very well in this area unless they are chain businesses. We don't have a MacDonalds or Burger King, or Pizza Hut; Kentucky Fried went out of business back in the 1970's. NO box stores!! It is walkable -- lots of sidewalks. The main thing it has going for it is location, location, location. Fourteen miles to the heart of Seattle to the south, about 20 miles to the heart of Everett to the north. Good access to I-5 and good bus service. So, whatever one wants to do in the line of entertainment or sports is not very far away. Mountains to the east, water to the west. All in all, not bad.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)We have "Minnesota Nice", people from other parts of the country always remark about how kind and friendly people are here.
We have 3 good universities, North Dakota State, Minnesota State Moorhead, and Concordia College.
Housing prices are very low.
The older residential areas are famous for their huge elm trees, our cold winters help with combating Dutch Elm Disease because it kills a lot of the beetles that spread it.
It is absolutely beautiful here in the late Spring and early Summer.
Our cold winters keeps the bug levels down.
Our downtown has been brought back to life in the last 15 years, and now is filled with locally-own small businesses. and a farmer's market.
We have a surprisingly large number of ethnic restaurants, here, many of them owned by immigrants.
There is very little crime. Any murder or rape is big news.
Unemployment is very, very low, the Great Recession barely affected us.
bif
(22,708 posts)We're 12 minutes from downtown. We go there all the time. Noel Night few weeks ago. The DSO tomorrow. Gotta love it.