Another relocation to Ann Arbor with questions (housing/schools/etc) (Saline: apartment, rentals)

[davemtu56]

I read through a lot of the posts on here about moving to Ann Arbor, and though most were helpful, I have a few more specific questions.

Here's our background - My family and I are going to move to Ann Arbor this fall because I was recently accepted into Ross and will start graduate school this fall. We're moving from Oklahoma (I'm from Michigan, NW Oakland County, but my job has me in Oklahoma currently) and are looking for houses to rent. We want to be close to campus so it's an easy commute for me to class, and also so my family can get the full experience of everything that's available in Ann Arbor, especially since we're we've lived in Oklahoma there was not much to do, both for my wife and my kids. I have two kids (oldest will be soon be 5 and starting kindergarten in the fall, while the youngest just turned two and won't be in school by the time I finish grad school).

Though I grew up in Oakland Co, I've spent very little time in Ann Arbor. I did my undergrad at Michigan Tech, where the campus was quite smaller, plus I didn't have a family at that time, so I wasn't that concerned with where to live. My wife won't be working, and she is also applying to grad school (not Ross), so we've got our fingers crossed she will also be attending UM to make it easier for us. My employer will be paying for my grad school, so my only commute will be to campus, and if my wife is accepted to grad school, she already has a full scholarship so she won't have to work either.

With that being said, any help/references to the below questions would be incredibly helpful:

1. Where to live
- We want to live in Ann Arbor to get the full college experience, and I've narrowed it to Burns Park and the Northwest side of Ann Arbor, based from previous posts and also from initial research on public elementary schools. However, does anyone suggest any other areas? We're pretty flexible, but want a good elementary school district for my oldest boy, need a place that is pet friendly (we have two dogs), and though we want the full college 'experience' here, I also don't want to move my family next to a houseful of 21 yr old kids that party every night and each morning I wake up to a yard full of beer cans (I did that during my undergrad, once is enough...)
- I saw a lot of people suggest other districts as well (Chelsea especially, but also Dexter and Saline). Sounds like each have good school districts, but how is the commute from there to the UM south campus? According to google maps it doesn't look bad, but how is it in reality? How's parking on campus?

2. Schools
- My oldest went to a Montessori program while we lived in Alabama (he was three, it was his first preschool experience), and we really liked it. Does anyone have any experience with the Montessori programs in the area and have any suggestions/recommendations?
- I went to public schools my whole life, so I'm leaning towards the public school system, especially with what I've read in regards to Ann Arbor's school system, so if anyone has any experience with both the public schools and the Montessori programs, I would appreciate the input.

I realize this is a pretty long post, and I have searched the other posts, which had good information, just didn't get into some specifics that I'm looking for.

Thanks in advance for any help/insight on our move to Ann Arbor, and if I can provide any additional info, please let me know.

Cheers,
Dave

[BigAndBlue]

Dave,

Congrats on coming to Ross! I'll be graduating this spring, you and your family will love the experience!

Saline is a great school district for your son, and it is quite close to Ann Arbor, so it could work. Parking, unfortunately is quite difficult on campus. You may be able to rent a parking spot from a classmate with an on-campus apartment, however. When you get access to MyImpact, check the classified section and you will likely find parking options. The parking garage closest to Ross is unavailable to students/public before 5PM, but there may be other public garages that offer monthly passes - but I'm not sure.

For $2600/month you could get a decent house rental in the Ann Arbor/Saline area. Someone on here may have a good realtor contact for rentals in the area. The AA school district is very diverse, so check out SchoolDigger or GreatSchools to make sure your rental is in a good school boundary.

I know I didn't answer all your questions, but hopefully it'll help a bit.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by davemtu56

- I saw a lot of people suggest other districts as well (Chelsea especially, but also Dexter and Saline). Sounds like each have good school districts, but how is the commute from there to the UM south campus? According to google maps it doesn't look bad, but how is it in reality? How's parking on campus?

My dad commuted to the south campus lots for 30 years from Dexter. It takes about 20 minutes at 7:30 AM (depending on where in Dexter, 20 minutes is a good time from downtown Dexter). From the Orange and Yellow lots (they used to be all green and for quite some time, the permit was free), the commuter bus goes right to Ross. From south of Dexter, if you take Zeeb to Liberty to Maple to Pauline, that puts you right in south campus with minimal fuss or traffic. Even Dexter-Ann Arbor to Maple/Stadium to Pauline isn't bad either.

The structure at Ross is "blue". I don't think students can buy those permits, and last time I checked they were something like $500 per semester.

[sweet life]

Regarding where to live, I would also suggest looking at the northeast side. Logan, Thurston, and King are all good elementary schools. It's easier to get to campus than the NW side since you don't have to pass though downtown. I like the NE side because it is a bit more diverse than some other parts of Ann Arbor, with a sizable Asian-American population.

[Lion11]

As far as a Montessori school in Ann Arbor, look at Ann Arbor Hills: Ann Arbor Hills Child Development Center. Not named "Montessori" but the director is Montessori trained and a lot of their teaching is Montessori based. They have classes for 2 year olds through second grade. Many families living in the Ann Arbor Hills neighborhood and Burns Park send there children there. Most children transition into the public schools or another private school, such as Emerson. Check it out!

[klmquiroz]

Born and raised Ann Arborite. IMO Montessori I like over the public schools .All 3 kids of my kids grew up and graduated through Ann Arbor school District. (only one stayed until HS in Public)

Dexter is a great town so is Scio ( still ann arbor school district) Dexter however if you use public is not Ann Arbor public school district. Scio feeds eventually into Pioner HS. My kids loved Abbott Elementry but didn't like the middle or HS( Forsythe Middle School and Pioneer) so we switched to Private.


Before leaping to GA We resided in Dexter/ Scio township area. Before that we resided in Barton Hills

As a child I resided in Old West Side which was basically a residential neighborhood bounded by South Main Street and the ann arbor railroad tracks tracks on the east, West Huron on the north. crest , soule and South seventh on the west and Pauline on the south

Areas i tend to recommend is near and the area zeeb and wagner.

[davemtu56]

Thanks so much for the information, it has been a huge help. My family and I are excited about moving to Ann Arbor and this definitely helps narrow our search.

Again, I appreciate all the help,

Cheers,
Dave