Any less populated areas left in SE Michigan??? (Detroit, Canton: new home, living)

[Chawk37]

Hello all. New to the forums. My wife and I live in Rochester. The traffic, congestion, and number of Starbucks and Tim Hortons are driving us to the point of moving. It really is a terrible place to live if you want anything remotely resembling quiet living. Anyway, is there any place left in southeastern MI that is even close to rural? I'm talking east of US 23, west of 75, south of 59, north of 696. Anything???? I just want a town where it doesn't take 20 minutes to travel 3 miles. A place where houses aren't stacked on top of each other. Start listing areas if they exist. Thanks!

[brodie734]

Commerce Township

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by Chawk37

Hello all. New to the forums. My wife and I live in Rochester. The traffic, congestion, and number of Starbucks and Tim Hortons are driving us to the point of moving. It really is a terrible place to live if you want anything remotely resembling quiet living. Anyway, is there any place left in southeastern MI that is even close to rural? I'm talking east of US 23, west of 75, south of 59, north of 696. Anything???? I just want a town where it doesn't take 20 minutes to travel 3 miles. A place where houses aren't stacked on top of each other. Start listing areas if they exist. Thanks!

The west suburbs are less congested (except maybe Canton). Plymouth / Northville, etc. are good choices. But shhh. Can't tell too many of you or this area will also become too congested.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

The west suburbs are less congested (except maybe Canton). Plymouth / Northville, etc. are good choices. But shhh. Can't tell too many of you or this area will also become too congested.

Plymouth/Northville?? Have you seen the development along Haggerty? Northville is just about as developed as Rochester.

Green Oak Township - just west of S Lyon - is one place I would look. The problem there is you're going to have to fight the 96 corridor commuting anywhere.

[djmilf]

The OP limited the search area to a small section of Oakland County, so places like Canton, Plymouth, Northville are all out.

The only places that approach quiet living are going to be parts of Commerce Township and parts of Milford Township. But then, I don't know how the traffic is in those two areas.

[Cliffie]

Milford, Brighton, Green Oak Twp, Genoa Twp, Ore Creek, Howell and environs, Fowlerville and environs. They are all just a hair west of 23 but otherwise match your boundary lines, and all still firmly in SEMI.

[brodie734]

yeah, the OP wants to live in high end areas of Oakland County. They're cutting themselves off from the more obvious answers, which are all in Livingston and Washtenaw Counties. Western Wayne County is just as densely populated as the areas of Oakland County the OP lives in presently, other than the far, far western stretches of Plymouth where you might as well be in Washtenaw anyway... but those are less desirable than either downtown Plymouth or across the county line.

There is no magic spot with a semi-rustic character AND an ideal commuting location. You're looking at the far north, the far west and the far south if you want that kind of life style. The Commerce/Milford area is your best bet but you have to pay for it.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by Arthur Digby Sellers

Plymouth/Northville?? Have you seen the development along Haggerty? Northville is just about as developed as Rochester.

Green Oak Township - just west of S Lyon - is one place I would look. The problem there is you're going to have to fight the 96 corridor commuting anywhere.

Avoid Haggerty. The rest of the area isn't as badly congested.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by Chawk37

Hello all. New to the forums. My wife and I live in Rochester. The traffic, congestion, and number of Starbucks and Tim Hortons are driving us to the point of moving. It really is a terrible place to live if you want anything remotely resembling quiet living. Anyway, is there any place left in southeastern MI that is even close to rural? I'm talking east of US 23, west of 75, south of 59, north of 696. Anything???? I just want a town where it doesn't take 20 minutes to travel 3 miles. A place where houses aren't stacked on top of each other. Start listing areas if they exist. Thanks!

I'm a coffee addict and I'm not some hipster that can only patronize mom & pop stores, so I think Starbucks & Tim Hortons locations are a plus lol.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Chawk37

Hello all. New to the forums. My wife and I live in Rochester. The traffic, congestion, and number of Starbucks and Tim Hortons are driving us to the point of moving. It really is a terrible place to live if you want anything remotely resembling quiet living. Anyway, is there any place left in southeastern MI that is even close to rural? I'm talking east of US 23, west of 75, south of 59, north of 696. Anything???? I just want a town where it doesn't take 20 minutes to travel 3 miles. A place where houses aren't stacked on top of each other. Start listing areas if they exist. Thanks!

In another thread, you mention that you work downtown. Everywhere west of Milford is pretty rural, but the commute to downtown Detroit is worse. Much worse. Less roads mean more congestion and that area is quickly be developed with new homes.

If you want rural areas, it'd actually be easier to look directly north of Rochester Hills. For easier commutes to downtown, you could try western Wayne County as most traffic flows north-south on 275 going to 696/96. Going east-west on 96 is a lot more tolerable.

Or you could go for the Grosse Pointe area although it's not rural. It is mostly quiet imo and the commute is a lot easier than your current one.

Either way, you should expect a bad commute if you're trying to live in rural area and commute downtown as you're crossing a 4 and a half million resident metropolitan area.