Moving to metro Detroit at the end of the summer. My fiancé works downtown. And I’ll be looking for a job teaching. Just wondering where the best places to ride/run are. I’ve lived in Chicago so I don’t mind doing either in an urban area, but for the last two years I’ve lived in a small city where I could ride from my doorstep forever. I’m good either way. Just trying to gather as much info as possible at this point.
I have lived in the Detroit area my whole life and I would just caution against living in the city itself… Apart safety concerns the roads in Detroit proper are horrid… You might want to consider living somewhere near one metro parks or maybe Hines Park which is a very long park/parkway that winds a long time… A lot of us train there…
Joel
I live in Grosse Pointe. We have a good group to ride with here and Sat/Sun is a regular ride through downtown and around belle isle. Solid group of really nice guys. GP is one of the nicest suburbs and it is super close. My driveway to downtown in about 15min.
Good schools, not the best social scene, but we tend to be more the BBQ and Brew Crowd then the night club crowd.
you wanna buy my house? My family is out growing it. I’ll throw in a nice bike to sweeten the deal 
If its that CD.01 I had to bring back from Chicago for you a few years ago we can talk. Just make sure to throw in the titanium extensions
Never even been to Detroit. But MAN! The city seems to be dying from all the folks leaving, social services breaking down and the murder rate is sky high. I think I heard that there were more people murded in Detroit than soldiers killed in Afganistan las year. I don’t know how you feel about it but if I were biking in metro Detroit I’d be packin for sure.
Check out the Rochester area. Great running, a velodrome, mountain biking and very close to Stony Creek, which is probably the tri training center in MI. The Hansons-Brooks team is based there, so you’ll get to rub elbows with Desi and the rest of the team on your daily runs!
If you need good schools. The Grosse Pointes or Rochester Hills. I lived in royal Oak for a year, it was ok but not super interesting. I lived in Detroit proper for 4 years, in a small part called East English Village, which borders the Grosse Pointes. It was fine, a lot of house for the money. We moved out when we had a kid. Like was already said, the Grosse Pointes for the commute if someone works downtown. The only thing I didn’t like about living on that side of the city was it took forever to get out of the city on the weekends, alway bad construction traffic in the summers.
Gun violence is only a problem if your looking for it.
Windsor. Brand new 50m pool going in.
I live “downriver”, about 20 min south of Detroit. Roads are horrible. Stay north or west, close to either stoney creek in…Utica (I think) or by Kengsington metro park/Island lake state park in Milford. Good riding. You have to go there anyway if you want some hills.
I’d love to live in Rochester, but it’s a little far north. We are thinking Birmingham to Royal Oak corridor down Woodward. It’s only for an apt for a year then we’ll be buying a house. No kids now, so schools isn’t a problem. Just want to limit my time traveling to ride/run as little as possible as well as limit my finances commute downtown.
I’m from West Bloomfield, and that’s pretty nice. But if you want more of a city, go to Birmingham. Dats nice
I’m from the Westland/Livonia area right next to Hines drive which is a nice place to train during the week. Not to far away from island lake for weekend training.
check out apartments by Maple and Eton road in Birmingham. They’ll put you right by the main connectors for descent riding. There’s a Tuesday night road group ride out of Derby middle school that’s a good workout. There’s also a running trail along the train tracks there. 1 Mile north is Kensington Road where it might be okay to ride in your aero-bars, and you can cut through neighborhoods to get on Beach Road which is semi-safe too. 3-4 miles west at Lone Pine and Wabeek are some 1-3 minute hills, or you can take squirrel up to Oakland U.
It all depends on how much traffic and potholes you can handle. If you can make it past Commerce to the west or Rochester up North, the riding gets alright. Getting to safe roads riding out of Royal Oak is really tough though. Lots of big potholes, stoplights, and busy roads. I live in Troy and I just loop around Kensington, Squirrel, and Beach most of the time.
Don’t listen to people hating on Detroit, they’re just wimps.
I’d love to live in Rochester, but it’s a little far north. We are thinking Birmingham to Royal Oak corridor down Woodward. It’s only for an apt for a year then we’ll be buying a house. No kids now, so schools isn’t a problem. Just want to limit my time traveling to ride/run as little as possible as well as limit my finances commute downtown.
I live in RO. It’s a great city. You will be shocked by the magnitude of the tri scene around here. Downtown Detroit is rough, but what most people don’t realize is that the Metro suburbs are some of the nicest areas you’ll find anywhere. Wolverine Cycle Club has several group rides that leave directly out of the B-ham / RO area. I’ll ride the local roads on my road or mountain bike, but will usually head to Kensington or Stoney with the tri bike. Some of the clubs include Infinite Multisport, Detroit Iron, Wolverine, and Fast. Send me a PM and I’ll introduce you to some people.
I’m from the Westland/Livonia area right next to Hines drive which is a nice place to train during the week. Not to far away from island lake for weekend training.
I second Livonia. Good schools. Hines to the East and NW. Ann Arbor is close which is a fun town and offers some incredible roads. Livonia has easy access to major freeways which can speed your travel if you are headed downtown to work. 96, 94, even Warren, Hines, AATr. Many options with ~30 minute commutes.
A bit conservative and lacking a bit of the diversity you get in the northern suburbs but I enjoyed living there.
-SD
Sorry that bike is gone. This year it is an Illicito Di2. I still have the extensions though.
**I have lived in the Detroit area my whole life and I would just caution against living in the city itself… Apart safety concerns the roads in Detroit proper are horrid… **
Agree on not recommending living in the City but as for riding there, you are dead wrong. I have recently started doing group rides into the City on weekends and Detroit may be one of the best places to ride anywhere. It doesn’t have any hills but other than that, it has everything a cyclist could dream of. You have a city that was built for 2 million people that only has a population of 700K. There is absolutely no traffic. Seriously, last weekend we road 60 miles and for large parts of the ride, there were no cars in sight. We were riding 4 abreast down 6 lane streets for miles on end. A huge segment of my club has switched to riding in Detroit on the weekends instead of venturing out into the country because it is safer. Lots less traffic.The roads (at least the lesss traveled ones we ride on) are fine. No more potholes than anywhere else in Michigan.
The people are great too. There are not many of them but they actually cheer when we ride by. They are great. Every single interaction is positive. Even the crack heads and whores love us. It is a 180 degree difference from the grief we get in the suburbs. I’ve ridden 100s of miles in the D and so far, not one middle finger
I would not do these rides alone but in a group it is perfectly safe and becoming a very very popular place to ride.
What about the actual conditions of the roads… The last time I was down in Detroit my car was almost swalled up by a pothole…
Joel
What about the actual conditions of the roads… The last time I was down in Detroit my car was almost swalled up by a pothole…
Joel
2nd Livonia fr convenience. One other factor if you’re into mtb the detroit area is great. People from out f town laugh at that but from livonia, within a 45 minute drive, you can hit probably 9 trails that are 8 or more miles long and virtually all single track. Not the california single track where a jeep can pass through but genuine bike trails. The Poto stands up to any mtb trail anywhere.