Berkley, MI

Let me start off by saying that Michigan is beautiful! On our way north to Berkley we stopped at Belle Isle Park in Detroit and spent the day looking across the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario. Since they were also en route, we drove through Grosse Point Park and Grosse Point Woods (two towns that got nixed recently because they lacked definitive downtowns), and I started to second guess my decision to reject them. Cameron talked me out of them – too wealthy, even for our expensive tastes – but I did start to daydream about what my life as a lake dweller would be like.

Now let's go back to Berkley. Although not directly on one of the Great Lakes, there seem to be plenty of minor lakes and waterways to venture to for a short day trip. The town is small, less than three square miles, and is considered one of the northern Detroit suburbs. Seeing those facts made me hesitant, but once we got into town I was pleasantly surprised. 

The main downtown street was only a few blocks long, but there were at least two ice cream shops with long lines outside, which I take as an overall good sign. On the flip side, that was probably in part because we were in the middle of a heat wave (I think it was 98° at 7pm), which I take as an overall bad sign. Despite the heat, there were quite a few people of various ages enjoying their evening downtown. 

Given it's small size, it seems like the main neighborhoods are right off of downtown, so we meandered around a bit. The homes were all cute and fairly modest, but with reasonable lot sizes. I commented to Cameron that it seemed like the type of town that would be very into their 4th of July celebrations. We ended the evening eating at Berkley Common, which was the perfect amount of quirky to win me over and leave the town with a generally pleasant feeling. 

The Good

• Family-friendly neighborhoods that seemed to have a strong sense of community.
• Very affordable housing – we could easily find a very suitable house in the $300k range.
• Good mix of restaurants and store types downtown; everything felt local and unique. 
• Close to many state parks, nature preserves, and the like.
• Community events, such as an upcoming Pride block party and an annual art walk.

The Bad

• Michigan is definitely a lake state, not a skiing state. We drove by one of the nearby ski areas and it is barely a lump.
• Pretty small; you would be very dependent on outside communities and the greater Detroit area for anything outside of day-to-day entertainment and needs.
• The heat. Maybe this was a fluke, but it didn't bode well.
• No true parks within the town's city limits. 

The Verdict

No. Berkley is overall suitable, but it wasn't special. I want to bubble over with excitement when I see my Goldilocks town, and I especially am not willing to make accommodations for a town that has such crummy skiing options. That said, this was a great start to Michigan and I'm looking forward to the next stop on our trip. Stay tuned!

Berkely – perfectly pleasant with some small-town charm.

There were cute quirky shops and restaurants. 

I found the neighborhoods surrounding downtown to be idyllic for small town family life. 

Despite the heat, people were enjoying outdoor eating, and I was enjoying seeing people out and about on a weekday. 

There seemed to be enough going on that it was worth advertising, although that could mean that they are trying to artificially entice people to come to town. 

I really liked that the town was not cookie cutter. Sure, this was a church, but it was still interesting to see on the downtown strip. 

The very popular ice cream place that had a line at least 20 people deep. 

More appealing street art that made me think this town had its own flair. 

Another great thing about Berkley was that it felt fully local. There were very few franchised shops in sight. 

That said, very few of the spots that were open by 7pm on a weekday, although if they were I'm sure I would have found plenty of things that were appealing to me. 

The fact that they had a municipal Pride celebration, alongside other community events that were advertised, makes me think I would get along well with the people here.