[CorvyMarie]

I have one child in elementary and one moving to middle school next year. We need to be within an hour drive of Detroit airport for job reasons and prefer areas with trees/hills/streams. We've been stuck in southern CA for 10 years in a black hole of just not being able to afford getting out. My husband's job is paying for the move and he doesn't need to find one so we're not worried about that part. I'm taking community college courses to transfer to a University at some point. We need to find a good area to make the transition into MI. From there we'll house hunt for a future move within the state.
I've been doing apartment searches for a couple weeks but can't find specific town/city info around them. I really like a place I've located in Fenton, can anyone tell me about the area?

[Coldjensens]

You are better off in Plymouth, Chelsea, Saline, Dester, Ann Arbor or Northville All are fairly close to the airport Plymouth and Northville are closest. All have awesome schools.

Look at Grosse Ile as well. We needed proximity to the airport and this is where we chose.

Fenton is way out there and very rural. Last I looked into it, schools were mediocre. Long ago there was a large horse auction place in Fenton. It was neat but also sad. Lots of buyers for dog food companies. It is a quaint town, but the drive was too far out for me when we looked at Fenton (along with about 30 other cities).

You have so many awesome choices that you will be amazed. Strongly suggest that you rent for a little while. or at least spend a month visiting different places and learning about them. You do not want to buy somewhere and then end up wishing you had moved somewhere else.

We made the same move 3 years ago. Rarely do we have any regrets.

[CorvyMarie]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Fenton is way out there and very rural. Last I looked into it, schools were mediocre.

It is a quaint town, but the drive was too far out for me when we looked at Fenton (along with about 30 other cities).

You have so many awesome choices that you will be amazed. Strongly suggest that you rent for a little while. or at least spend a month visiting different places and learning about them. You do not want to buy somewhere and then end up wishing you had moved somewhere else.

We would actually prefer rural to city. I grew up rural and he doesn't mind a drive as long as it is around an hour. He only has to fly twice a week. The mediocre schools are a problem though. My eldest is an advanced student and needs a challenging program.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by CorvyMarie

We would actually prefer rural to city. I grew up rural and he doesn't mind a drive as long as it is around an hour. He only has to fly twice a week. The mediocre schools are a problem though. My eldest is an advanced student and needs a challenging program.

All of the listed communities are small towns with rural areas around them except Ann Arbor and Grosse Ile. You could also look at Lyon Twp.

there are lots of rural areas where the schools are really outstanding. Fenton schools are decent, but not the best. (i.e. mediocre by my evaluation). Northville has really awesome schools, but the high school is large.

The biggest issue with Fenton is that it is quite a drive from the airport. Keep in mind that you will sometimes be driving in snow, heavy rain blizzards, etc.

We really liked Fenton as well. We liked the ssmall town atmosphere and the houses available were awesome. The distance and the schools made us look elsewhere. Come out and make the drive from Fenton to DTW several times during times that you are likely to be flying. I fly out to CA about 15 to 20 times a year. Even half an hour away, I sometimes wish that we were closer, especially when I have to fly ou early in the morning.

[Coldjensens]

By the way, keep in mind that a stellar student will do well anywhere. In CA we lived in Santa Ana which has generally terrible schools. Some of the worst in the whole country. We found some decent ones and our children were testing in the top 80 to high 90 percentiles on national tests. After we moved to Grosse Ile (great schools), they were no longer top of their class becasue there are more outstanding students, but still did well.

Keep in mind that what Michigan calls a city, is often a villiage by California standards. Some of the "citys" have less than 5,000 - 10,000 people. I cannot understate the importance of coming out here and looking around. And spending a lot of time looking around. The various towns are very different. You cannot get much of a feeling for what an area is like form the internet and realtors will tell you all the rose colored glass viewpoints becuase they want to sell you something. Realtors here are desperate nothing is selling. Housing is dirt cheap and you cna always negotiate (sorry realtors).

You might still want to give Grosse Ile a look. It is downriver which is definitely not rural, but the island is pretty open. We live on an acre of land surrounded on all sides (except the front) by tow or more acres of woods. The woods may be developed someday, but for now it is empty. IN front is the River. The only down side is that there is a factory across the river from us.

We are only half an hour from the airport (under perfect conditions). Plymouth, Northvlle and Lyon township, (also Salem villiage) are also great communitieis with execellent schools and very close to the airport. If you get outside of the city proper, there are lots of rural areas to look at.


The best thing is that the school is top notch and very small. That was one of the biggest attractions for us. The high school has only 700 kids. Most of the other really good disctricts, even in rural areas have large high schools. We like the small homey atmosphere.

[Cliffie]

Fenton is a fine low-crime area with decent schools. You are (if you live in Fenton) near Lansing Community College, UofM Flint campus, Oakland University, Oakland Community College, Schoolcraft College, Cleary University, MSU, a branch of Eastern Michigan University and I think Madonna College, and a bunch of other good schools.

EDIT: You will be about 25 miles from the one spot in the country that gets less daylight per year than anywhere else in the nation. I'm not kidding at all when I advise you to invest in sunlamps.

[DaniellaG]

Hi. I have lived most of my life in Mi the West Bloomfield area. Anyhow I did move to Southern California for a year and have been back a few months in MI. I am not a huge fan of MI but right now it is where I need to be but in any regards if I had kids I would be very happy with them going to Birmingham school district. I thought it was very good growing up and even what I have seen from friends who went there it is the same. Like I said I lived in WB and went to Birmingham schools and I know people who live in Bloomfield Hills who also did. I also feel BH school district is also good. OCC if you google it which is Oakland Community college I think is a good community college and then there would be univeristies like Oakland or Wayne. I am not sure of Fenton at all. Some areas I was thinking and can you expand more on your budget for a rental? You may even be able to find a nice rental home intead of an apartment. I was thinking West Bloomfield,Birmingham,Ann Arbor,Farmington Hills. Many young people like Royal Oak because it has more of the clubs and restaurants. Also Northville/Novi the same. Just FYI Royal Oak and Novi/Northville has many trains and that horn beeping through the middle of the night is not for some like myself. If I can help in any way let me know you can pm me. I know how moving is cause I was going to move back to Ca and was there 2 weeks ago during the fires of course but anyhow just the stress of looking etc. Good luck

[CorvyMarie]

Originally Posted by DaniellaG

Some areas I was thinking and can you expand more on your budget for a rental? You may even be able to find a nice rental home intead of an apartment.

Thanks for the info!
We're looking for about a 3 bedroom for $800 or less if possible. We're looking for a temporary place, maybe a year lease, until we to find a house to buy.

[brokerdave]

i would also recommend brighton/hamburg/pinckney and maybe even howell or south lyon. they are all 45 minutes from the airport and expressway runs through them all. lots of pilots live in this area. brighton has the best schools IMO, equivalent to northville schools. those are all located in livingston county.

96 and 23 cross though brighton. its a location of choice for many because of this. there is also a ski lodge in the town, if that is of interest. lots of lakes for fishing/boating. downtown ann arbor is 10-15 minutes south on 23.

96 goes east and west from lansing to detroit and 23 goes north and south from flint to ohio. they extend further, but you get the point.

[mazenblue]

Depending on where your husband is flying to there is an airport in Flint, a lot closer to Fenton than detroit Metro. Brighton and South Lyon would also be a good choice if you want to stay in the NW suburbs and rural.