Anyone live in Royal Oak?

[Denzo 2000]

Originally Posted by The Pantry

Lived in RO from 1986 to 91 a couple streets north of Vinsetta off of Main. Back then they picked up leaves raked to the curb and cleared snow from residential sidewalks...don't know if they still do that.

I liked living in RO...and sold the house for 50% more than I paid for it less than 5 years later

They still clear leaves if you rake them to the curb, but they don't clear my sidewalks. Heck, they only plow my street about twice a year.

As for the housing market, I bought about 5 years ago when the market was at it's peak, so like most other people I feel like I got screwed. Whatever, I don't stress out about it, if I really wanted to move I could just rent it out and probably cover my mortgage and I could get a great deal on a house right now.

But yes, Royal Oak is a good place to live for the most part. Schools aren't very good from what I hear, a lot of people move there after college and then move away when they start having kids. It's a fun town, but the bars get old after a while.

[apspartan]

There is some good information posted, and some fairly inaccurate posts in regards to Royal Oak. I have been a resident for about 9 years now since graduating from MSU. This has taken me through the single years (bar scene every weekend), to now having a family. So far I have been very happy with living both stages of my life here. Yes, Royal Oak has a great entertainment district which they are continuing to build upon. Emagine Theater has now been approved to be constructed behind the Main Art, several new restaurant will be opening up (upscale greek next to Leo's on main, southern BBQ restaurant by the owners of the Royal Oak brewery). The city continually wrestles with the idea of their bar/entertainment image v the ability to raise a family. If you pay attention to city council meetings there is always a debate on whether to approve liquor licenses and additional bars since their is a high concentration of them already. Personally, even with a family, I am very pro approving more bars and restaurants.

Now on the family side, I would have to rank it fairly high compared to other suburbs around. The downtown has a TON of kid focused activities through out the year. There are many parades,festivals at all times, fun runs, etc. The schools have all recently been upgraded ($80mil bond issue passed 5 years ago). Additionally, although everyone has seen their real estate value go down, my house has kept its value better than a comparable home in Ferndale or Berkley. The city services are fairly good. Royal Oak maintains its own fire, police and ambulance service, street garbage/recycle pickup, leaf pick up in fall, snow removal, street cleaning (4 times a year) etc.

A quick comment on other surrounding communities. The downside on Ferndale/Pleasant Ridge is the schools. The elementary school are not too bad, but you are looking at paying for private schools for middle and high school... to much spill over from Detroit.

Huntingwoods/Berkley -- Good schools/community. The Berkley downtown and city council seems to be a bit behind the times. However, I still would recommend anyone who is single or with a family to move into the area.

[The Pantry]

Originally Posted by Denzo 2000

They still clear leaves if you rake them to the curb, but they don't clear my sidewalks. Heck, they only plow my street about twice a year.

After thinking about the snow removal thing some more I remembered that it wasn't a city service. It was a private company that cleared our sidewalks and we had to pay like $20-25 a year...well worth it. The nice thing about the service was that even though I'm certain some people didn't pay they cleared the sidewalks all the way down the street.

[RasTrent]

Originally Posted by RasTrent

Went to Zillow for the numbers:


Sale history:



Looks like I forgot how much I paid. Zillow has current home value at $160,500. Sweet.

I guess the good news is that this is the place I sold in Chandler AZ in order to buy at Royal Oak's peak:
1482 E Detroit St Chandler, AZ 85225 home value and local real estate market trends | eppraisal.com

I bought it for $152,000 in 2004, and sold it in 2005 for $279,900