Have been lurking on this forum for quite a while but first post here. Upon visiting Detroit to run the marathon in 2008, I fell in love with the city. At the beginning of the week, I made the move to Detroit from St Louis where I just completed grad school. I had no problem in the job search, but it all happened so fast that I didn't find suitable housing in time. For now, I am splitting my time between a friend's house in NW Detroit and a hotel in Livonia, but this is getting really old.

I have been doing some neighborhood searching, found several that look pretty sweet, but I am afraid to pull the trigger on any one specific neighborhood. I've been focusing my search on Downtown/Corktown/Greektown.Woodward Ave/Jefferson Ave areas. The nature of my work is a lot of travel with the Downtown region of the city being by far the most geographically advantageous. As I have a pile of student loans to look at, potentially beginning PhD program in a couple years, and looking at the possibility of marriage proposal, I am trying to go on the cheap, maybe too cheap. I can do 600+/mo but ideally would like to find something in the 500-550/mo range. I grew up in Chicago, lived in downtown Baltimore for two years and have been in downtown STL for the last five years, so I know cities that are 'rough around the edges.' I realize that at my price range, I am not going to get the highest quality, and I am definitely OK with that, just as long as the neighborhood is relatively safe in comparison to the other safer residential areas/downtown.

I've searched the forums and apologize in advance if this question has been beat to death. I have got a few good leads from the forums, but I also know that management can change quickly for the better/worse. I've just been working so many hours that I am afraid I'm going to end up in a cookie-cutter apartment complex in the 'burbs, and I am dreading the thought. Now I have to grab a nap before beginning a 16 hr shift. Thanks in advance for helping a newbie to the city.