If you have plans on packing your bags and moving to a new city, look no further. You might already be living in a city among the 50 best places to live in the U.S.
Money, a personal finance website, listed Detroit and Kalamazoo as two of the 50 best places to live in the U.S. in 2024 with a special mention to Ferndale.
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Money states “Detroit has been mounted one of the most successful comeback stories we’ve seen in the last quarter of a century. Now, it’s one of the country’s most unlikely boomtowns.”
Detroit could see higher wages and lower unemployment, that’s according to economic predictions by the University of Michigan. That’s on top of what the city is already seeing like an unemployment rate of 2.6%. Lower than the statewide rate. Housing is low too, averaging just $85,000.
Detroit is also known for its greenery, thanks to several projects that have rebuilt and revitalized the city. Some of those are the Joe Louis Greenway and the expansion of the riverfront Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park, including the incoming Hudson’s site retail space, where the old Hudson building was in downtown.
The city is also investing to improve its Paradise Valley cultural district and reinvigorate the historically Black neighborhood with new entertainment focused on Black music and arts, according to Money.
The city has also been a hub of activity, culture and community with things like the Motown Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Eastern Market.
If you’re in the city, the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts has a 20th century American painting and sculpture collection. If you’re looking to get hands on, you can learn papermaking, calligraphy and letterpress at the Book Arts Center. Over at Glass Art Kalamazoo, you can get in on a lesson in glassblowing. Vintage in the Zoo is a popular spot in the summer where you can hunt vintage gems and handmade artisan goods from dozens of vendors.
The city is also working to tackle community issues. Kalamazoo Promise covers college tuitions of students who graduate from any public schools – a first-of-its-kind program that launched in 2005.
Another initiative is the Northside Association for Community Development which Money describes as, an advocacy group tackling the lingering effects of racially discriminatory housing policies and other long-standing inequities in one of Kalamazoo’s majority Black neighborhoods. The association owns several blocks of property and is turning them into rental and single-family homes.
Lastly, there is Ferndale, right up Woodward Ave. from downtown Detroit. The city is known for its annual chic scene packed with all-things artisans, from clothes to art. The Rust Belt Market and the Vogue Vintage Shop is sprinkled into the mix of other restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and theaters all within walking distance.
You can also look forward to the DIY Street Fair and Ferndale Pride Festival every year.
Affordable housing is Ferndale’s “cherry on top,” according to Money; Ferndale’s median home price is $240,000, well below the national average and most other cities that made Money’s Best.
--> See the full list of the best 50 cities to live in the U.S.