[courie969]

My husband and I are a young couple and new to the Flint area... he's from Ohio and I actually am from Grand Blanc. That being said, we're not familiar with the Flint area -at all- We're searching for an apartment or even a small house to rent and I have found TONS of them for really great prices.
The problem is.... I Don't know what is considered a bad area or not. I've been told that you want to stay away from anything East of 475 and N. Dort Hwy. What about north of that, past 69 and in between Corunna and Pierson?
Any help and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!

[Tricia819]

Going north of Corunna rd you're starting to get into the north end of Flint which is somewhere you DEFINATELY don't want to be. Unless you're in over in the Miller/Linden rd/Carman Ainsworth area.

There is a small pocket on the east side (North of Davison Rd, east of Dexter, south of Richfield, and west of Center) that is decent. The houses are small and cheap, but it's not in a good school district. Schools of choice program is an option there.

Genesee township (which is still in the 48506 zip code and thus still Flint even though it is politically separate) is good. It's in the Kearsley school district so you're going to end up paying more than on the west side of Center rd.

[chiroptera]

If you're from Grand Blanc, you are only 10 miles from Flint...driving around the city is a good way to get a feel for how desireable a neighborhood is. The areas Tricia mentioned are fine for the most part. College Cultural are is nice although not really cheap for rentals, I don't think. Most of Flint township is OK, and around Miller Rd to the west of downtown...but I'd stay well south of Pierson personally.

Why Flint? And, why rent? You can purchase much cheaper than renting.

[courie969]

We currently live down Perry Rd. off of Belsay Rd. and to where my husband works close to the mall it takes us nearly a half hour to get him to work every day. I realize it's only around 15 miles but the back and forth (we only have one car) is starting to take its toll on us.
I'd love to purchase but we just don't have enough money to do that - we're coming into a "lump sum" of about $3,000 within the next month so we'd like to pay a few months in advance for an apartment plus furniture... but ultimately, we need to stay under $500 a month for a place.
We've thought about Burton and Mt. Morris and Swartz Creek. So, going that route if you guys have heard of or know any decent places to rent from, any help would be appreciated.
Thanks again.
(PS. We don't have kids so we're not worried about the school district - by the time we do have kids that are school age, we'll be in a better place to stick with Grand Blanc schools)

[chiroptera]

I have a friend who lives in the River Forest apartments just west of McLaren...they're nice enough, nothing fancy, and cheap plus not too far from the mall. Other than that I don't know much about renting around here...I'd check craigslist or with one of the property management companies.

Renting in Burton won't cut your commute time much, if that's your primary reason for moving I'd look in Flint township over on the west side of the city. Some of the neighborhoods along Miller Rd near the mall are pretty decent and it seems to me there's apartment complexes up around Linden Road north of Miller. It's not bad there either.

Really it shouldn't be that difficult, and since you live nearby you can drive around some of those areas and see for yourself.

[LP10]

Flint township Is Nice west of I-75 and anything East Of I-475 Is good and anything south Of Corunna Road, the only good neighborhood north of the river Is Off Pierson Rd on the north side between Jennings And Clio Rd, its safe and the houses are very affordable

[chiroptera]

I souldn't say anything east of 475, since that comprises the "north end" which is by far the highest-crime part of Flint. The neighborhoods around Fenton and Atherton were OK until recently but there's been a big up-tick in crime around there. Of course our mayor laying off a big chunk of the police force hasn't helped one bit.

Most anything west of 75 is pretty nice though.

[NewLife11]

The best advice I could give ANYONE who is unfortunately moving to Flint is to never live in the 48505 area code - ever! Look at this post - http://commonsensereportblog.blogspot.com (broken link)
that about sums it up.

[NewLife11]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MNpS3MD3LA...fe%2Bzones.jpg

Stay out of red and orange. Green is the safest.

[mike0618]

Why not westknoll apts on hill rd? Close to 23, you would be at mall in about 5-10 mins and you will be in grand blanc