Moving back to Michigan (Detroit, Grand Rapids: homes, theater, best schools)

[terenskid]

Hello all,

This is my first post, and I'm so happy to say we are moving back to Michigan from Louisiana. We are, however, from the Grand Rapids area, and my husband is going to be working in Novi.

So the question is, where do we settle our family? We have 4 children ages 12-4 yrs old, and we want to have opportunities for them with a commute that is less than 1/2 an hour for my husband (on average). Having been out of the state for 5 years, we feel out of touch with the economic/housing situation in MI.

We want fairly quick access to outdoor recreation like golf, skiing, and watersports. We also love cultural activities like theater and dance (for my 5 yr old girl). We also want to have learning experiences for our whole family to enjoy. We homeschool, so school district is not as crucial as it might be for other people. We want to have unique experiences, and don't want to live in cookie cutter suburbia. We seem to be drawn to "small-town" type places, but would be willing to enter the "urban jungle" if it were safe for our kids and something we could really enjoy. Right now, we can send the kids out on their bikes without a teather for safety, and we would love to not have to clip their wings.

We welcome any advice on coming home. We move in June.

Thanks!

[minestaken]

Northville, plymouth, novi even further west toward ann arbor (and everything in between). They are all great places for golf, mountainbiking, outdoor stuff. Lots of lakes out that way too.

[Coldjensens]

Milford Northville or P;ymouth..South Lyon/Lyon Township

If you like subdivisions and strip malls then Novi, or Canton or Brighton

All have good scholls all are very safe. The first list are really quaint small towns. Northville and plymouth have the best schools, milford robably leeaast best, but they are all good
]
Brighton Twp on The West side of Kensington Park is really cool for rural area


Milford or New Hudson (lyon twp) near kensington's east side would be great too.

[terenskid]

Thanks for the input!

[danielj72]

I would look at Livingston county. Brighton and Howell are right off I-96 and would be very commutable to Novi. Howell area is also not that bad of a drive to Grand Rapids. Howell to GR would maybe take you 1hour 20 min. Livingston county is also very much on the fringe of the Detroit area, so it is not as overwhelming. Much more rural and maybe a tiny bit suburban.