I agree, check out Royal Oak or Ferndale. Plymouth, Farmington, parts of Livonia, and the Grosse Pointe areas are also nice. I would stick with the suburbs if you are looking for a more suburban type setting.

If you live in the suburbs than you are going to have to deal with lots of driving and traffic, depending on the suburb. The transit outside of the greater Downtown Detroit area is pretty bad, and in some suburbs it is completely absent. However, in the greater Downtown Detroit area you would have to deal with blight and property crime issues if you live in Downtown Detroit outside of the Central Business District.

Taxes and insurance will vary from community to community, but the actual city is generally higher on one if not both. There are nice community colleges and universities in both city and suburbs, as well as nearby Ann Arbor.