[khfar]

We ventured over to Milford this evening, and I fell in love with it! I almost wish we had looked at homes there. Unless I am missing something about it, it seemed like a cute, laid back, pretty, cool town. And Kensington is there, too! I can't WAIT to go there.

Anyone else like this area?

[and the]

Go during rush hour and get back to us.

[M TYPE X]

General Motors owns Milford, lock, schlock, and carburetor barrel.

"We'll always have Paris" ... or at least Ann Arbor, which is better anyway!

[TracyLynnS]

Nah, I live in Milford and disagree with the negative posts.

I've been here 5 years, after living in places like waterford, garden city, commerce twp, white lake, and others.

A job change is forcing us to leave our favorite "home town". If not for the new job, I would never leave milford, it has everything I ever wanted. I'm going to miss it terribly! I love it here.

Every time my husband and I go for a walk downtown, stop in to eat on the patio of one of the main street restaurants, stroll through central park, or hear the train whistle blow, I mention to him how much I will miss it when we relocate.

The new job is located west of ann arbor, so we've told our real estate agent that our next house has to be near dexter or chelsea (they have a lot of the same charm as milford) because I *need* to live somewhere just like home. I've been spoiled!

Do a search in the michigan forum for "milford". I think I have a more detailed post to another person about the lifestyle in milford.

And come back to see us the weekend of august 10th, milford memories starts then and there's going be arts and crafts, civil war reenactors encampment, food, games, music and fun fun fun!

[Angel Bear]

Lived in that area for 4 years. Loved being in close proximity to Island Lake State Park and Kensington Metropark. I enjoy the small town feel. You're super close to Novi, Brighton, Wixom, and other areas if you need to shop, etc.

Yes, rush hour on I-96 can be hellish, but you can play different games with the times you leave, etc.

Enjoy!

[milfordrules]

I have lived in Milford for about three years now and it is by far the best place I have ever lived and or visited! I have a hellish commute to work, The Fisher Building in Detroit, but I am never dissapointed in the welcome home feeling I get when I arrive in Milford. The support for the schools and local buisiness is amazing! The over all feeling of being a part of a community not just taking up space there is why I love Milford! I hope Milford retains its small town feel, but it really is a destination spot with its amazing resturants, beautiful parks,charming shops, etc..If a short easy drive is all you look for well then perhaps you are cheating yourself of the prize you get for the extra effort.

[nordwulf]

I lived in Milford for about 4 years and it is a great town. The commute from Milford to downtown Detroit? Not so great as other mentioned. But if I had to live in the Metro Detroit area again, Milford would be on the top of my list.

[Coldjensens]

Milford is a nice town. THe proximity to Kensington is a huge added plus. It has a lot of quaint older homes and a quaint downtown to go with it. It is kind of away from everything, but that is the only downside that I know of. The proving gorunds are nto real ptretty and I would not want ot live real close, but there are plenty of other great places to choose in town, on the other side of town, or a few select houses even back right up to Kensington. That is hard to beat.

Personally other than the commute, Milford's primary weakness is the schools. They are not bad schools, but they are not one of the really good school districts either. But then of course there IS Kensington to balance that out. It left us syaing to ourselves do we really need top schools for a good education if our kids are bright and motivated? Good schools may well be good enough. We ended up looking elsewhere due to my need to be near DTW among other reasons, but we went as far as visiting Milford and looking at some houses that were for sale. Several made our initial list of houses that we might make offers on, but they sold before we got that far (this was in 2004 - 2005 when houses still sold before you could make an offer).

[JGatti]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Milford is a nice town. THe proximity to Kensington is a huge added plus. It has a lot of quaint older homes and a quaint downtown to go with it. It is kind of away from everything, but that is the only downside that I know of. The proving gorunds are nto real ptretty and I would not want ot live real close, but there are plenty of other great places to choose in town, on the other side of town, or a few select houses even back right up to Kensington. That is hard to beat.

Personally other than the commute, Milford's primary weakness is the schools. They are not bad schools, but they are not one of the really good school districts either. But then of course there IS Kensington to balance that out. It left us syaing to ourselves do we really need top schools for a good education if our kids are bright and motivated? Good schools may well be good enough. We ended up looking elsewhere due to my need to be near DTW among other reasons, but we went as far as visiting Milford and looking at some houses that were for sale. Several made our initial list of houses that we might make offers on, but they sold before we got that far (this was in 2004 - 2005 when houses still sold before you could make an offer).

I have to argue with you on your point of the schools. I think Huron Valley schools are pretty darn good. I have a 15 year old and an 8 year old in school. We're thrilled with both their schools and yes one is Milford High School. For a smaller area the high school is top notch. I'm not going to say they are the best school's but the schools are hardly a weakness. Huron Valley has school of choice. So if your not happy with the school your child does too you can enroll him/her in any one of the other schools. You have to drive em but hey, if you want the change you need to deal with it.
The GM proving grounds are ugly you say? Unless your driving by the entrance you have no idea what the heck the place is. A fence with tree's for miles and miles. Hardly what I would call ugly.
To the OP. Milford is a nice town. Believe it or not it has grown leaps and bounds over the last 15 years or so. Not so much the downtown but residential growth. Kensington is one of the nicest metro parks around. I cannot believe it is not busier on many days. What a gem we have right here in our own backyard with that park. I frequent the nature trails with my son, and used to rollerblade the bike trail every weekend. ( when I was in shape lol) I love this whole area. I am in Highland, we border Milford on the north side. Been here for ten years and really love the entire area.

[Coldjensens]

When comparing simlar communities the schools are a weakness. Possibly the only weakness. As I said, they are good schools, but they are not great schools. Comparing Milford to Northville, Novi, Plymouth, West Bloomfiled, and South Lyon - schools is the one area that Milford is less competitive than other nice communities in the area. That is what gave us some hesitation. The remoteness/distance to the airport and downtown was the other issue. However if someone was considering that general area, I would certainly put Milford high on the list. It has a nicer downtown than South Lyon; it is less crowded, trafficy, and expensive than Northville; and Novi and West Bloomfield do not even compare when to comes to a nice small town atmosphere.

There are a lot of factors to weigh. For example, Northville has a bigger and somewhat nicer downtown, it is more centrally located and it has better schools, but it is crowded, has more traffic issues, and is more yuppified (plus no Kensington). Which one is better? It depends on you.

Everyone has to create their own balance. How important is it to have top 20% schools, or top 10%? How much does having the kids learn and exercise at Kensington balance against a community that has a top 20% school? How important are your kids school rankings compared to your personal tastes, happiness and quality of life? Everyone has their own formula of what makes the best place for them to live.

I mentioned before that before we moved to Michgian, our kids attended a school distrcit that is considered absolutely terrible. However they did great and got a fine education. So I am not sure that top ranking schools matters a great deal. They may provide greater opportunities in some ways. Personally we chose a small school over other schools that offered more. To us the whole know everyone, see ALL of your neighbors at the football games and silly parades, type atmosphere was more important than attending a school that is bigger than many towns and have hundreds of classes and clubs offered.