Moving to Sterling Heights Area-please Help!

Hi! Welcome to the mitten. Here are a few suggestions:

1) Troy. Pros: great schools, lots of parks. Cons: more commercial than small town feel, real estate can be pricey and good houses go quickly.
2) Rochester. Pros: Nice community, decent schools, small town feel. Cons: driving to Sterling Heights may take longer than you expect because traffic patterns from Rochester to SH can be deceiving. Real estate can be pricy.
3) Rochester Hills. Pros: decent schools, housing slightly more affordable than Rochester (slightly). Cons: not really a small town feel as Rochester, may be a longer drive than expected but not as bad as Rochester.
4) Clinton Township. Pros: close to SH, slightly newer community, up and coming. Ok schools, can find decent affordable housing. Cons: more commercial than downtown.
5) Birmingham. Pros: one of the nicer communities, nice downtown, excellent schools. Cons: expensive housing, can be (but not always) pretentious, traffic from Bham to SH can be unpredictable.
6) Farmington/Farmington Hills. Pros: can find affordable housing, nice community, drive should be ok most days. Cons: have to be very careful on where you live (north of 696) and do deep research into schools. Some are very good, some not so much.
7) Beverly Hills. Pros: good or great schools (ill explain below), really nice community. Cons. Drive might be difficult, can be pretentious (but not always) housing prices are expensive.
8) If you are willing to drive some, you can look into Novi, South Lyon, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake, any of the Gross Points, Clarkston, Plymouth.

Also when looking at houses, be very sure to look into the school district for that particular house. Yes, specifically that house! Michigan does something very strange with their school district borders. Even subdivisions may be divided into two districts, so if you are focused on a specific district, be sure to do your homework. And with Michigan, I would concentrate on that because you can be in a good district but next door to a not so good one. Also, don't trust the MLS listing or your real-estate agent because they may not be accurate. Make sure you check the boundaries yourself.

The reason I concentrate on the schools is because before you know it your 3yo will be off to kindergarten and if you don't want to move twice... Plus the communities tend to reflect the districts. I've been in Michigan my entire life, so feel free to PM me for more info.

Michigan has a lot of parks and outdoor activities regardless of what community you find yourself in, so I wouldn't focus your search on that. (You may overlook some other benefits if you do)

I've been a mail carrier in Sterling Heights for the past 27 years. I would highly recommend it as a great place to live. It has great schools, lots of parks and incredible people. It doesn't have a cute downtown like Rochester, but the housing in Sterling Heights is quite affordable. Shelby Township is also a very nice place, as is Macomb Township. They are both growing communities and have excellent schools. If you want a real small-town place with an adorable downtown, Romeo is just north of Shelby Township. Good schools, friendly people and some wonderful orchards, as well. This is a great place for outdoor stuff. Traffic heading south from all these places can be a bit heavy in the early mornings, but it is not unbearable, as the distance is not that far.
Good luck and welcome to the community!!
K. :)

we live in sterling heights it is a nice area. homes are moderately priced. there are parks. We did schools of choice and send our kids to Troy schools. Troy schools have a better reputation. they get better test scores. but really most schools are trying to teach the common core standards.. so they are all teaching the same curriculum

Where will your husband work:?

Troy and sterling heights are centrally located and it is easy to get to many spots.

Welcome to Pure Michigan:)

I grew up near Sterling Heights and have lived in MI all of my life. If you are planning on setting roots in MI, here are my suggestions:

Macomb County: Find a suburb North of Hall Road/M-59. I have relatives who live in these great communities: Shelby Township, Washington Township, Romeo, New Baltimore/Chesterfield, Bruce Township. The further North of Hall Road/M-59, the better. The riff raff from the city is edging closer and closer to 16 Mile Road, so further north is best.

St. Clair County or Lapeer: It's pretty rural, lots of great farmland and communities like Dryden, Almont, Port Huron, Marysville.

Oakland County: West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester, South Lyon. Stay away from Farmington, Redford, Hazel Park, Madison Heights--increase of crime in those areas. The closer to Detroit, the worser the community.

Wayne County--Avoid it since it's the "Detroit" county, but it does have some great communities like Plymouth, Canton, and Northville.

Washtenaw --Ann Arbor is the big college town.

Other great communities/areas: Howell, Brighton, Hartland, Milford, New Hudson, Dexter, Pinckney--far away from Sterling Heights, but they are up and coming newer communities.