[xcalgal]

Hi all of you Michiganders,
We are starting a hot trend and moving to Michigan!!! We have narrowed the town down to Plymouth or a home on a lake. Which lake would you choose that is close to the Plymouth area and with the following wish list:

Home on lake that is not too busy
Place that might be near a downtown with coffee shops, restaurants, and book stores
Social neighbors
Very good school district
City sewer (thus cleaner lake) preferred

Price range is a consideration but for the moment let's start with the criteria above.

Thanks so much,

[GlassPipe]

Waterford is about a 25-30 min ride up 275 to orchard lk rd. Lots of lakes up in that area. Anywhere near Plymouth or the Detroit area in general is going to be busy busy busy... You might try further south or there is always the Pinckney area too. Probably 30-40 min ride to the west.

Hate to break the news to you, but that area just keeps growing and growing. Everything is busy. If you want a quiet lake, you build one in your front yard in the middle of nowhere (pss... and that means you're stinky rich around there!) or live the simple life in the northern part of the state. The UP is about as quiet as it gets and there are still plenty of busy lakes up there, eh?!

All the home prices have been inflated and everyone is losing them left and right. Great time for a purchase, but don't expect any equity for quite some time to come. I'd stay right away if there was another choice.

Either way good luck!

[touchdowntommy]

Northern Michigan is certainly the nicest place to live. Tons of clean lakes and tons to do. It's plain beautiful. Traverse City's economy is better than anywhere in Michigan right now.

[Coldjensens]

We did the same thing two and a half years ago.

We considered every decent city that we knew of or heard of that was within an hour of the airport. We visited most of them, but sometimes relied on what we were told by friends and family. We eventually narrowed down to Plymouth and Grosse Ile and chose Grosse Ile for the water.

Our requirements included:

1.Great schools.
2. not too far from DTW, Downtown Detroit and friends and family who live in North Oakland County.
3. Active community with lots of events and amenities.
4. Historic charm.
5. Small town atmosphere.
6. Inconsequential crime rate.
7. Woods/parks and or streams for the kids to play in.
8. Homes of various price ranges and architectural styles.
9. Some unique appeal.
10. Water.
11. Few modern subdivisions/McMansion developments or strip malls


Plymouth and Grosse Ile were our top two after roughly two years of evaluation. Grosse Ile won by a nose because of the water and because we wanted more of a rural atmosphere, we had already lived in a town (City) with neighbors a few feet away. We also liked the smaller schools. And there is a coolness factor about living on an island.

Plymouth has a better downtown, better overall location (near Ann Arbor and near our family), and more charming older houses.

Both have great schools, essentially no crime, great communities with lots of events and amenities, and loads of charm. Both are less than an hour from Detroit.

Runners up that you may want to consider included:

Northville.
Ann Arbor
Grosse Pointe(s).
Chelsea (kind of distant from Detroit).
Birmingham
Rochester (too far from Detroit and DTW)
Franklin Villiage.
There were one or two more that I cannot remember right now.

Second runners up (missing some of the requirements, but offering other advantages)

Wyandotte (poor schools great downtown)

South Lyon (limited charm, limited water opportunities, too much # 11.)

Milford (less good schools, but has Kensginton Metropark!)

New Hudson (also near Kensington, and South Lyon Schools, tiny, getting built out (#11))

Brighton (getting a bit far out there. Not a lot of charm. too much # 11)

Walled Lake (A lake community. Ok Schools. Ok Access. Not a lot of charm or history)

Royal Oak. (City living, lively, historic, better for young uns with no kids)

Salem Villiage. (Kind of part of South Lyon/Lyon township)

Dexter. (Near Ann Arbor. Not near Detroit).

Saline (See Dexter).

Tecumseh (See Saline. More charming than Saline)


If you like modern subdivisions add Novi, Troy, and Canton to the list, parts of Farmington as well.

Parts of West Bloomfield are pretty neat. Not charming, but semi-rural living, great schools, some water.

Apparently Bloomfield Hills has some awesome areas, we never saw them.

[Coldjensens]

Oh Grosse Ile is in lake Erie and the Detroit River. It can get busy, but there is plenty of room. we canoe a lot and we have a very mall antique boat and have not had any real trouble with excessive wake, etc. Look up crystal cove off of Canada. Great quiet place, but you need passports and you have to call ahead.

[The_Anonymous_American]

Lake Fenton and Linden are nice areas that you might want to consider.

[xcalgal]

Thanks everyone. Will take your suggestions and do some more research.

[xcalgal]

To Brokers,
We already have 2 brokers working in specific areas so we are all set.

[karenanddan]

Originally Posted by xcalgal

Hi all of you Michiganders,
We are starting a hot trend and moving to Michigan!!! We have narrowed the town down to Plymouth or a home on a lake. Which lake would you choose that is close to the Plymouth area and with the following wish list:

Home on lake that is not too busy
Place that might be near a downtown with coffee shops, restaurants, and book stores
Social neighbors
Very good school district
City sewer (thus cleaner lake) preferred

Price range is a consideration but for the moment let's start with the criteria above.

Thanks so much,

Hello, This is my first post. We live in White Lake MI, the Lakes Area. It is about 35 minutes to Plymouth via M-5 to 275 to M-14.
I love it. We have a quiet motor boat lake, swans that come up to our deck and eat out of our hands, and a beautiful lake that is quiet. On the weekends it sometimes gets busy but mostly it is wonderful; full of nature, ducks, fish and fun. The name of the lake is Mandon Lake. You could probably do a google search to see it on a map. There are many lakes in this area and Walled Lake schools are outstanding. We have lived here 14 years the area is booming with new housing and stores.
Unfortunetly, loss of jobs is very real. I know of 8 close people who have lost their jobs or have a cut in pay. Also many are loosing their homes. We are considering a move to Kentucky, my husband is laid off and has accepted a position. Next few weeks I will know if we are relocating. I will miss the swans.