[onehappyboy]

My husband is going back to school and we will be moving our family of 6, four kids under the age of 9. What are the better neighborhoods, schools, etc. for a family our size in or surrounding Lansing?

[michiganbob]

Originally Posted by onehappyboy

My husband is going back to school and we will be moving our family of 6, four kids under the age of 9. What are the better neighborhoods, schools, etc. for a family our size in or surrounding Lansing?

Not to be too personal, but is he going to school at MSU, Cooley Law, LCC or . . . someplace else? With gas prices rising, he probably doesn't want any longer of a commute than he has to have, so that might make a difference. MSU is east, as in East Lansing, while Cooley and LCC (main branch) are downtown.

Having said that, there are plenty of nice suburbs that have schools with very good reputations and houses with big yards and neighborhoods with lots of kids . . . if you have the money for the higher rent than you will pay in Lansing. Okemos, Haslett, Holt, Dewitt, and Grand Ledge all come to mind and most pretty much border Lansing so they are not that far from anything. You'll find lots of homes for sale that haven't sold and the owners are now trying to rent them. (Would not recommend buying if you will be moving out of the area once your husband is done with school.)

You didn't say if you need to get a job, but those are getting harder to come by these days as GM and State Governement are downsizing right now and even our local hospitals are laying people off.

[onehappyboy]

Thank you for your response. He will be attending Cooley and we are not sure we will be staying after he graduates so we will not be buying a house. I will look into those surrounding areas for homes to rent. Thanks again.

[ladyblue09]

I lived in Okemos while attending MSU and I enjoyed it there. Okemos is a safe, family friendly suburb but yet it's also very close to MSU's main campus (which could be nice if you think you might want to go to football games or the bars and restaurants in downtown EL). Your husband's commute would probably be about 20 minutes to Cooley from there.

[krock1dk]

The good news is that the Lansing area is comparitively better than the rest of the state's urban areas, as a whole. Since Lansing is the capital and MSU is next door in East Lansing, you will find a number of things to do and good places to live. My folks still live back in East Lansing (I now live in AZ) and its best neighborhoods are to the east. Meridian Charter TWP (Haslett and Okemos) has wonderful homes that are often newer and more expensive. The Lake Lansing area is also pretty nice. Lansing TWP, west of the city of Lansing, is really nice. Grand Ledge, west of Lansing in Eaton County, is a small town (population of about 3,500) but a very nice and comfortable community. But dont live in the city of Lansing itself; its poor, rundown, old, dirty and crime-ridden.

[thersa12]

The city of Lansing isn't as bad as people make it out to be, I lived in Lansing in the Colonial Village area and have owned a house there for six years. We had to move out of state (my husband is in the auto industry) but I loved our neighborhood. We were closer to Moore's River Drive and several parks within walking distance. There are several private and magnet schools in Lansing so there are more options than you'd assume for schools. Public Lansing schools are a little rough around the edges (I worked in one for several years through college) but not urban inner-city movie of the week bad.

I like East Lansing and then Williamston/Mason (about 20 mins from Lansing). Okemos is overrated.
Good luck with your move!!!

[tlbraman]

I grew up in the Lansing area....Okemos, Haslett, Holt, Grand Ledge, Dewitt are very nice areas. Close to everything!