Say what you want to about Royal Oak, it's still a damn nice place to live. Yes, maybe too many eggs in the "bar basket" but it remains Oakland County's [[and maybe even the whole metro area's) entertainment center. Away from the Party Central that is downtown, the neighborhoods are attractive and quiet. Overall, I too would recommend any of the "Woodward 5" -- they're centrally located, have good shopping nearby, and are walkable/bikeable. Pleasant Ridge might be the most underrated of the bunch. Very nice. Ferndale has good business strips along Woodward and 9 Mile, but the schools are not good [[warning: Pleasant Ridge uses Ferndale schools as well) and the eastern part of Ferndale is pretty crappy, IMO. Huntington Woods has great quality of life but no downtown. Berkley has a lot of generic postwar Cape Cods that are mostly well kept, and interesting businesses clustered along 12 Mile and Coolidge. Great schools in Berkley; some of the best in the metro area.