[thesearch]

What is everyone's opinion of Brighton? I have been researching it and would like someone who's been there to give their opinion on : weather[ flooding, snow summer etc. ] economy, atmosphere [ how it looks- the buildings, landscape; are they maintained well ] crime etc. Just a overall opinion.
Thanks in advance!

[renter8319]

i lived there for a couple years. i'm not going to answer all your questions. all i'm going to say is it's very nice and located only 20 minutes from ann arbor. p.s. my parents live there and have for about 5 years. i wish i still lived there.

[thesearch]

Thanks for your opinion. I know I had I lot of questions posted. I guess I'm just really trying to find out all I can about Brighton. Thanks again!

[Coldjensens]

Brighton is reasonably nice

When we were looking for a new home in 2005 we looked at Brighton among about 2 dozen other suburbs. It is a reasonably nice commuity. It has pretty good schools. They were, I think, the second best schools in Livingston County, however they were not very competetive in most ratings and data with many/most of the Oakland County schools or the better Wayne county schools. Still the schools are decent. Brighton is very close to Kensington Metropark and Island Lake state recreation area. They also have a small ski hill that is reportedly made out of garbage. Skiing tends to be icy with really short runs (not much elevation) usually on man made snow, but hey it is still skiiing. LIft lines get really bad for a hill that takes less than 5 minutes to make a run. On the other hand, it is neat to be able to go down the street for skiing even if it is kinda lame skiing.

Brighton does not have the charm that many suburbs have, but it is reasoanbly nice. It is primarily stip malls, big box stores and subdivisions. It is not a quaint small town kind of place. It is ont he edge of rural and the outskirts have some really super nice areas.

The weather is the same as the inland S.E. mich area. They get quite a bit more snow than we do down by the water. To me that is an improvement. If it is going to be freezing cold, I want snow.

Brighton is a long drive from Detroit and the North Oakland County Suburbs. However it is reasonable close to Ann Arbor (half an hour or so) and not terribly far from Lansing (at least not far when compared to Detroit).

Livingston county is pretty rural. It is pretty and rural. The primary towns that I know of are Brighton, Howell and Fowlerville. Pinkney has a lot of lakes and is pretty. Brighton is right ont he edge of thecounty line. South Lyon, its near neighbor is part of Oakland County (most of it anyway). A few miles South on the 23 is Washtenaw County.

Other than being a bit remote, if you like the modern subdivision/strip mall lifestyle, Brighton is a fine place to live and IMO probably a better choice than Novi which I believe to be the nearest similar suburb. (However Novi has better schools). If you are interested int hat general area, also look at
Northville,
Milford,
New Hudson
South Lyon,
Novi,
Pinkney

(In that order in my opinion although I am partial to South Lyon since my parents live there, but it is really not as nice as Northville or Milford - except that Milford Schools are not quite as good).

[YAZ]

I lived there for 24 years, and ColdJensens has it right.

I think the schools are pretty good though, but I may be biased as my mother taught there for a long time.

Typical "greasy kid stuff" when it comes to crime. Mostly B & E's to homes and cars, with an occasional drug bust here and there. And of coures, DUI's.

I saw the transformation from rural living to a "bedroom community" to a full fledged "suburb" in the 2+ decades that I lived there. Most folks that live in Brighton don't work in Brighton.

The south end of Brighton, which is technically Hamburg Township, tends to "make the news" during springtime as the Huron River overflows causing some flooding. Some years are worse than others.

Generally an easy commute to Oakland County and Ann Arbor area employers, and not too bad a drive for fun to see a ballgame in Detroit or dinner in Ann Arbor.

Brighton State Recreation Area is great for camping or just to spend the day on the lake.

Downtown is "cool" if you can find a parking spot. I liked the free concerts at the millpond.

[Coldjensens]

Yaz;

did you go to school there? When?

When I was at South Lyon High, Brighton was the big adversary. We even had a couple of big planned fights ("rumbles") between the two schools. A hundred or so people showed up from each side, but it never amounted to much. The police were all over it quickly. There were a few actual battles here and there and some of them escalated to using boards, or chains or whatever was handy, but for the most part, it was just a bunch of stupid teenagers being stupid teenagers. (I will leave out the reasons why I am so familiar with what happened at these events). We sometimes ventureed into Brighton to pull pranks on the high school there and were chased by local jocks a couple of times (rarely resulting in fighting, but some of them got arrested one time - long story).

If you were there in the late 70s/early 80s, I may have punched you (or been punched by you) a few times.

[JGatti]

I spent a lot of summers in Brighton growing up ( my cousin lived there). Now my sister lives there. Personally I like Brighton and I don't agree with a lot of what has been said. I can't say anything for sure about the schools other than I have heard they have a really good school system. In regards to the city itself it is a low crime area and although there are some strip malls along grand river, I don't think there are too many. They also have a very nice downtown area and I'm not sure what it's called but they have a really nice walkway around a small lake in the downtown area. Brighton still offers a lot, it still has open land, subdivisions, farms, movies, skiiin, boating I think it's a very nice well rounded city to live.

[YAZ]

That would be the Millpond, Mr. Gatti.

And that walkway that crosses it is called a "tridge".

The Brighton Millpond is part of the Lake Huron Watershed; the millpond flows into "Ore Creek", which eventually runs into "Ore Lake" which flows into the Huron River.

Got that?

CJ:

We moved to Brighton in the middle of my junior year of high school (1981), and I only attended BHS for 1 1/2 years.

I never heard of the "rumbles" until long after I graduated....

I grew up in a paramilitary household, so us kids didn't have much time for "extracurricular" activities.

I have some dear friends from South Lyon who live on 7 mile Road. "O.B." graduated from SLHS in 1985.

I worked at the Tube Mill for a 'lil while.....it was a part time temporary gig.......

[YAZ]

Oh.

If I ever should end up living in SE Michigan again, I'd prob'ly buy some property in Byron.

[thesearch]

Thanks for everyone's much needed thoughts on Brighton! They have help me out alot!

Coldjenens, I totally agree about snow, what is cold weather and winter without it! But, how much snow are we talking exactly?