>>21400226
It's like that everywhere. The City of Atlanta is has lots of nice areas and blacks are only a plurality now. Los Angeles isn't all homeless and warring Central American gangs. Most of Portland isn't strung out hipster gutter punks.
The cost of living in metro Detroit is well below the national average, especially for an urban area. If you're a white collar professional or a skilled factory worker, you can make a very good living but are unlikely to end up wealthy, just upper middle class. Living in a Detroit suburb is almost like having a cheat code. And part of why it's that way is because outsiders don't see it as a place to move and "start over" like they do with states like Florida that get flooded with all manner of maladjusted social rejects trying to find a community to take care of them. Don't ruin it by attracting them out of a need to have external validation.
The food scene is good for average folks. You're not getting a bunch of nationally rated destination restaurants but for day to day living, there's plenty of quality variety. I suspect that people in Birmingham sometimes travel elsewhere to get their fix of high end dining but for most people, it's not an issue.