Blissfield Town & Schools (Ann Arbor, Pontiac: houses, rent, job)

[sexygrandma]

Hi

Does anyone one know anything about the city of Blissfield and also can you tell me anything about the school district?

Thanks

[Andre5140]

My dad grew up in Blissfield and we still have ties to the town. It is still (since 1975) where we buy our new cars (Dave Knapp Chev/Buick/Pontiac). My grand parents still live there in a 1920s bungalow. My entire extended family, including myself, still use Blissfield Insurance Agency.

That said, it used to be the butt of our jokes about being uncivilized. "He has to be in everyone's business...must be from Blissfield." or "The sound of sirens is interesting to her, she must be from Blissfield."

It is a very quaint place to live. Tiny little town with a few good bars and a LOT of antique dealers/stores. They have a fabulous HS baseball team that goes to state championships REGULARLY. (Blissfield Royals is the mascot). Everyone knows everyone and while we used to tease my dad about that, now that I am 26 and have lived in DC and Phoenix, I miss that. Nice little grocery store, a great ice cream stop on the main drag (Frosty Boy), several banks, great pizza place, few hardware stores....it's actually fairly active for such a small town. It is surrounded by farm land and farmers. People from Toledo area will come to Blissfield to ride the train. There is a rr that runs through town and sat abandonded for a long time. The track that run through town is only about 10 miles long total (it was severed from the main line many moons ago). About 6 years ago, they went out on a limb and started a dinner train and murder mystery train. Now, it is SUPER popular but hasn't lost that small town atmosphere.

It's a great place to grow up. I hope my children will have such a nice, fairly simple life yet be close to amenities (Toledo is only 20 mins away).

If that's what you are looking for, I think you'll like it.

PS-I'm still in Phoenix but moving back to Michigan because I can't stand the rudeness here. I'm going back to Onsted, which is 30 mins from Blissfield and WAY smaller

Good luck.

[sexygrandma]

Hi Andrea

Thanks for the very informative review of Blissfield. I am not planning on moving there but my Son was offered a job at the Blissfield School District. He will be the new band director starting in September. He is moving from Indiana back to Michigan this summer. He has been teaching as assistant band director in Edwardsburg, Mich. for the last 6 years and he is thrilled to have the opportunity of becoming the Band Director instead of assistant. I am sure he will do a great job with the Blissfield Band.

He will not be living in Blissfield, for the very reason that he does not like where he is living now. Not enough action for a young man. He will probably end up somewhere near Ann Arbor.

Something to be said about small towns. Much friendlier and probably safer. My husband and I took a ride up to Blissfield a few weeks ago to check out the area and we were quite impressed with that small town. All the houses and property we went by was so clean and well kept. The school district is much smaller than where my son is at now, but from what I see on the Blissfield school website it looks like a great little district aand I bet the kids at those schools are very nice and appreciative. Small town people ae just a different breed.

Sorry to hear you are not happy in Phoenix. I can't imagine living around a bunch of rude people. We live in Belleville, so I am thrilled to finally have my son back in town, where I attend his concerts and give him support, something he had very little of while he has been almost 3 hours away.

Sharon

[Andre5140]

Belleville is a very nice place to be!

I worked and went to school at UM in Ann Arbor from 2000-2007 and the one thing I'd warn your son about living there is that the commute to/from Blissfield is a tad out of the way. You have to go south on US-23 for 30 miles then get off at Exit 5, US-223, and head west for a GOOD 15 mins at least. There are not really any good direct routes, either. By "good" I mean more direct routes via tiny farm roads out in the country...that's how I'd commute to/from Onsted/Ann Arbor. But Onsted is further west than Blissfield and there are more country roads that go through Manchester, Chelsea, etc.

If your son likes AA area but appreciates small towns, I'd suggest Milan. I LOVE Milan...it is small like Blissfield and very clean but AA is only 15 mins away It's a fabulous little treasure. And, the real beauty of Milan (IMO, again) is that is straddles Monroe and Washtenaw Counties. So what, you migh ask? The "so what" means that he can find much cheaper homes on the Monroe side but still have a Milan address

Hope that helps! Meanwhile, I'm coming back in a month. I cannot wait! People ask, "Won't you miss the weather?" I say, "NO!!"