It began as one subdivision
The city started in the early 1920s as Oakwood Heights, a subdivision inside Ecorse Township laid out to house workers at the Ford River Rouge plant. It took its name from Melvin Wilkinson, one of the developers, incorporated as a village in 1924 and became a city in 1933.
It filled in over about twenty years
Melvindale counted 4,764 residents in 1940 and 13,089 by 1960, and most of its housing dates from that stretch. A house here is typically a bungalow or a small brick ranch on a modest lot.
The openings repeat, which works in your favour
Because the city was platted and built out quickly, the same few house plans run down a block, so window sizes tend to agree from house to house. We still measure every opening twice and order to that size, but a planned street is a far more predictable job than a town assembled over a century.
Your contractor has to be registered with the city
Melvindale's building department requires that all contractors doing work within the city limits are registered with it, whether or not the job needs a permit. That is worth asking of anyone who bids your job, and the answer should not take them a phone call to find out.