Anyone know anything about Canton or Northville? (Flint, Ann Arbor: house, school district)

[alex7777]

An alternative view:

I have to disagree with the posters here on some points. First off, the entire Northvillle/Plymouth/Canton area was originally all part of Plymouth Township, so Plymouth has to be viewed as the true center of this entire area. Secondly, I would also disagree that Northville is any more upscale or expensive then Plymouth. The wealthiest residential sections in Michigan (the entire state) are located in Plymouth Township, not Northville, Grosse Pointe, or even Oakland County. Northville is nice, but to my mind is and always has been the little sister to downtown Plymouth, which is lovely and developing a very nice bar/restaurant scene.

(Plymouth is the quintessential small town, with a great deal of history, founded in the 1830's, a nice town square, theater, etc.)

Northville also has a harness racetrack, which attracts a somewhat seedy crowd and detracts from the overall ambience.

To my mind, Canton is basically a suburb of Plymouth, and is nothing but homes and shops. On the other hand, it's a great value, and you're close to the stuff in downtown Plymouth, so it should be strongly considered. Northville and Plymouth are basically comparable except for the above points noted, and the fact that Plymouth has better freeway access (right next to both I-275 and M14/I-96)

[Carole T]

I have a different thread running asking about the schools and life and times in the Plymouth/Northville area, as we are relocating to the area from Wisconsin in June...my husband is already in Michigan working. The posts on this thread have been very encouraging and I'm really beginning to look forward to the move in June. Schools have been my major concern as I have one in elementry one in middle and one in high school...so I have lots of research to do! Any thoughts on how Farmington/Farmington Hills areas compare to the Northville/Plymouth areas? I visited Northville and Plymouth in November...but did not see Farmington...any info?????

[tamvb]

I raised by children in Livonia Schools and they were great. Nice community. Canton is basically the same and so is the housing. Housing in Plymouth and Northville is higher and both do have very cute downtowns. We moved out to Commerce Township on a lake for the last two kids and sent them to Walled Lake Northern which is a fairly new school. Both my husband and I travel to work about 30 minutes and don;t mind the drive for lake living. It feels like a vacation when we come home in the summer. Commerce is close to Novi which has plenty of shopping and restaurants. Commerce is in Oakland County which has many lakes. M-5 highway would take you right into the Livonia area and picks up 275 highway/96 highway and 696 so its pretty convenient if you don't mind the commute. If you like lake living, the lakes that would be pretty close to the highway would be Middle or Lower Straits, Long Lake, Cedar Island, Union Lake. These are all all-sports lake and have a variety of housing. Good Luck you can't go wrong with any of these cities.

[M TYPE X]

Carmel, Indiana to Plymouth/Northville, Michigan is an upgrade from one nice suburban town to another. Farmington Hills is a much larger, more impersonal type of burb.

[Meg Lesher]

Originally Posted by Decepticon

Just wondering if anyone can tell me anything about Canton or Northville. I am trying to decide if this might be the place for us to relocate to. I have had a couple really good offers in Livonia, MI and RTP, NC. Just trying to get a bit of a feel what the area is like. Are the schools really good in Northville and Canton? Are people friendly in the area? I would be relocating from Carmel, IN (N. Side of Indianapolis). Any information on these areas would be great from someone that knows them!

I can't tell you a lot, but both are suburbs. Northville has a harness racetrack. It's less built up. Canton has no real downtown. It has a mass of your typical malls and boxstores, and has built a name for itself. It could be anywhere, u.s.a. Both are quite safe.

[ema113]

Originally Posted by Decepticon

Just wondering if anyone can tell me anything about Canton or Northville. I am trying to decide if this might be the place for us to relocate to. I have had a couple really good offers in Livonia, MI and RTP, NC. Just trying to get a bit of a feel what the area is like. Are the schools really good in Northville and Canton? Are people friendly in the area? I would be relocating from Carmel, IN (N. Side of Indianapolis). Any information on these areas would be great from someone that knows them!

I just moved to MI but had lived in Greensboro, NC for 11 years before moving to MA. My husband graduated from UNC-CH and had a lot of friends in the RTP area. If I had to pick between Canton/Northville or RTP (Cary, NC) I would pick the RTP area. I am partial to that area because of all the family and friends that we still have living in that area. I feel as if it's a great place to live and to raise a family. Schools are great, weather is awesome, people are friendly, economy is pretty stable, and it's just a beautiful part of the Carolina's. I wish you the best of luck in your decision. Don't hesitate to send me a message if I can answer any questions for you about the RTP area.

[TwistedxKiss]

Canton is great, I've lived here my whole life. If schools are an issue though, be aware, Canton's public high school is MASSIVE. I think we're at about 6000 students now? It's a three building campus. But, really, it's not as bad as it sounds. I just graduated this year, and I loved my time there. And I am NOT a school kind of person. It's not overcrowded, the teachers are great, and there are TONS of different cool classes one can take. And the campus shrinks the longer you're there. I actually grew to love the size because there was little to no social hierarchy (it's impossible to ever know enough people to be cooler than anyone else), I didn't feel trapped or claustrophobic, I could go outside whenever I wanted to, there are three different cafeterias and libraries to choose from, and there are tons of places to hang out. There are woods on campus, and a tributary of the Rouge running through the center. Best experience of my life.

Canton has also gone to the state final in football the last two years. Most of our athletic teams are pretty good, barring maybe Salem football. They're kind of pathetic. If you've got kids that are into marching band though, Plymouth-Canton all the way. We go to Nationals every year, and usually come in or near the top 10. Have won all together many times. And while our athletics are good, are students aren't all stupid muscleheads or anything. We've also got a lot of academic award winners, and a good 20 or 30 different student organizations.

And, school stuff aside, there are parks, restaurants, gyms, Ikea, community centers, libraries, and just about anything you could want in Canton. I don't find that there's much for me and my friends to do though, we generally end up congregating at Meijer. People seem to really like downtown plymouth, though.

Being that I'm only 18 I can't help too much about anything but the school. So if you have any more school questions, I can help.

[Jake1256]

Canton is a very nice area, nice schools, nice area.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Jake1256

Canton is a very nice area, nice schools, nice area.

You repeated "nice" twice.

Canton is cookie cutter suburbia, with the added benefit of having crappy Michigan roads (although many are being rebuilt/repaved thesedays).
The schools are decent, but not excellent.

[HeleenieWeenie]

Canton: More or less rural, farm country, orchards...KKK type of Police dept. Hooterville, Pixley would be synonyms for this little hamlet.
Northville, MI is where the huge insane asylum was built decades ago; out in the sticks.
Livonia used to be all orchards, farms, they put in subdivisions of pre-fab houses, now all the fake-a** snobs and yuppies live there; drinking only $20 bottles of wine, organic lettuce & frozen yogurts....but it depends on the careeer and sort of business you're in.