[mjhelme]

My husband and I are looking to buy our first home. He's working in Clarkston so we would like somewhere near there, preferable there or North to be closer to my folks (in Saginaw).
We want something with other young couples and children. We don't have any yet but would like to soon.

Here's the feeling I have so far.
Looking here on city-data, Clarkston seems home to .......older folks........ Are there younger areas?
Burton is close, but I grew up hearing endless bad things about it on the news.
Grand Blanc seems far, is it? It would be cool if his commute was under 1/2 hour.

I want something young, diverse, vibrant. BUT I'd be open to living in the country.

Any opinions?

[stanman13]

There are a wide variety of people of all ages in Clarkston, but it tends toward pricey, so maybe a higher percentage of older ages than you might otherwise see. It does have easy access to the rest of Oakland county and Detroit. You can also find some good deals on homes there, too.

Grand Blanc is going to be about a half hour drive, depending on where, specifically. You also might check out Holly, Ortonville (though not really much there to attract younger couples). Since you want to stay toward the north side, there isn't much in the way of trendy upscale towns. You're in rural country mostly.

I would recommend staying away from Burton, though it isn't truly awful. Its not a great area anymorean though. Grand Blanc is better.

I am very familiar with the area, I'll answer any of your questions the best I can.

[tjay]

I would recommend Flushing or Grand Blanc over Clarkston. They are both within a half hour drive to his work and not as far from Saginaw as Clarkston. I find that Genessee County is a bit more friendly than Oakland County. While I'm not sure about the sense of community in Grand Blanc, Flushing has a great sense of community. The downtown is cute with walking trails along the Flint River. Its a small town with a decent sized population, good schools (that are actually doing ok financially), and everyone seems to know each other. I work there and have gotten to know many people, as well as many of the teachers in the schools.

I used to live and work in Clarkston, and while I do think its also a cute town, the people are not as friendly nor have I heard good things about the social aspect of the schools. There's alot of money in Clarkston and many kids who are given whatever they want. My cousins went there and the picture I got was that these kinds of kids outnumber the regular ones by far. But maybe that has changed or isn't the case now. I'm more of a country/small town person and Clarkston is just too uppity for me.

I live in Ortonville now, which is a small town and I like it. But the schools are not doing good financially. (I plan to homeschool). I seem to find plenty to do with my 4 year old (we have 4 beaches within 15 min drive, 2 dairy farms, parks, sledding hill, great library programs for kids (I hear Clarkston does too), Farmer's Market, local festivals, etc). It does take about 15 minutes to get to I-75/Clarkston, which would be further and less convenient to get to Saginaw.

[stanman13]

I have to strongly disagree with your assessment of Clarkston schools. I have found them to be very good, with much less fuss made about how much a parent earns than where I previously lived. In fact, despite the fact that there is, indeed, a lot of money in Clarkston, I have not run into the attitudes you are talking about in any significant way.

Flushing is over a half hour to Clarkston. It's about 40 miles.