David Valdez, 35, moved to Detroit from San Francisco in 2018. Since then, he has bought a house and opened a coffee shop. Valdez said these milestones were made possible because of Detroit’s low cost of living.
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Moving to Detroit allowed David Valdez to fulfill a lifelong dream.
Valdez, 35, moved in 2018 from San Francisco, where she worked as a barista and bartender.
“Moving here was a really good thing for me,” Valdez said. “We can now do things here that would have been just a dream or impossible if we stayed in the Bay.”
Ms. Valdez moved to Detroit for better job opportunities and to be with her partner, Juna Durant, who is from Michigan. In San Francisco, Valdez said he worked two jobs and lived with roommates just to get by. But in Detroit, he was able to buy a house and open his own coffee shop. Additionally, he and Durant have a 6-year-old son and are expecting another baby in November.
Before the pandemic, many Americans like Valdez were abandoning expensive coastal hubs in favor of smaller cities that offered a more affordable cost of living. This trend was further exacerbated by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and continues to do so today. According to the latest census data, 817,669 people left California in 2022. In 2018, that number was 691,145.
In addition, 1,852 people moved to Detroit from July 2022 to July 2023, bringing the city’s population to 633,218, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the first time since 1957 that the city’s population has increased compared to the previous year.
Move your dreams to Detroit
Valdez said she loved San Francisco, but felt it was unsustainable to work long-term in the city’s leisure and hospitality industry.
He often worked around the clock to make as much money as possible.
“My barista job ends in the morning, I have a few hours to myself, and then I go to my next job at a bar or restaurant,” Valdez said. “I couldn’t do it for another five years.”
Valdez was working at a restaurant in San Francisco when he met his co-worker, Durant. When Durant moved to Michigan in 2017, Valdez visited her frequently.
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“Every time I went to Detroit, I fell in love with it more and more,” Valdez said.
Although Valdez wanted to leave the Bay Area, he originally dreamed of going to his hometown of Mexico City and starting a business exporting Mexican coffee to the United States.
However, after visiting Durant and moving to Detroit, he felt he had an opportunity to try his dreams elsewhere.
He said he felt there was a severe lack of coffee shops and that the community needed an independent specialty cafe that offered something different than Starbucks.
At the time, Valdez worked at various cafes in Detroit, including Astro, a coffee shop in the historic Corktown neighborhood. Astro will close in 2021, and in 2023 the owners approached Valdez about selling the storefront to avoid moving it to a larger company or other development.
In December, it opened Aruba using an Astro store. The shop produces specialty drinks such as Café de Ola Latte, a Mexican spiced coffee.
Valdez posted net sales of $306,000 this year, according to documents reviewed by Business Insider.
Find affordable prices outside of California
Valdez said moving to Detroit was a great experience.
“It’s not that Detroit is super cheap or anything,” Valdez said. “In fact, it’s the opposite. San Francisco was very expensive.”
For example, the average home price in San Francisco is $1.2 million, while the average home price in Detroit is $75,041, according to Zillow.
In 2019, Valdez bought a home in Detroit with a 4.7% mortgage. In 2021, I refinanced to a 2.5% mortgage.
To be sure, there are some lackluster aspects of Detroit, Valdez said. For example, he said, the city is a food desert and has few grocery stores. According to RedFin, public transportation is also lacking in Detroit.
David Valdez opened Aruba in December 2023. Provided by David Valdez
Local resources and connections can help you grow your business
Valdez said business ownership can be a path to financial independence, but important steps are needed to prepare for that opportunity.
“Be vocal about opening a store,” he said. “Even before I opened Aruba, people knew that I wanted to open my own cafe.I don’t have much capital, but I want to build social capital by building connections and relationships. I knew it was available.”
Valdez also looked for local resources for small business owners. For example, he received a $50,000 business grant through ProsperUs, a Detroit-based organization that provides loans to small businesses in the city.
He also applied for a small business loan from the Corktown Neighborhood Development Fund and was provided $80,000. In addition, Valdez and Durant invested $30,000 of their own money into Alba.
Valdez said he loved the Bay Area and still has family there, but he was able to build an economic footing in Detroit that he couldn’t have in San Francisco.
“If I had stayed in San Francisco, I wouldn’t have even tried to open a coffee shop,” Valdez said.
Are you a new small business owner? This reporter wants to hear your story. Contact us at jtowfighi@businessinsider.com.
