[Balmoral]

My initial job prospect in Detroit did not go through but may have another in East Lansing. Does anyone have any feedback on the cities between East Lansing and Flint? Any recommendations? Thanks for any feedback!

[cmuguy25]

Is there anything specific you are looking for in a place to live? Honestly, the roads between Flint and EL don't have much, but I'll lend you a hand as best I can.

[chiroptera]

There's not much in the way of cities. But some of the smaller cities/towns are attractive, depending what you are looking for. It's mostly rural/farming communities. Durand, Perry, Williamston (to the south), Corunna, Swartz Creek (closest to Flint), Owosso....

Owosso is nice - cute older downtown, close to I69, decent hospital and city services, the basic big box stores for shopping. I think it's probably the largest town between Lansing and Flint.

//www.city-data.com/city/Owosso-Michigan.html

If you are possibly going to be working in East Lansing, why not look right around there?

[JoulesMSU]

There is virtually nothing between East Lansing and Flint unless you want to live right by one city or the other (aka something like Haslett or Swartz Creek, but neither are anywhere close to being in the "middle")... sorry.

Owosso looks like it is "in the middle" on the map, but there isn't a highway that goes by it, so it's actually pretty far out of the way. It takes about just as long to go from Owosso to EITHER Flint or East Lansing as it does to go FROM Flint to East Lansing... so you might as well just live in one city or the other instead of Owosso.

For example, it takes 35 minutes to get to either East Lansing or Flint from Owosso, but it only takes like 48 minutes to go from Flint to East Lansing... so instead of having to drive 35 minutes to get to either, might as well live next to one and only have to drive 5 minutes one way and 40 minutes the other.

If you are going to be working in East Lansing then why not just live by it? The Lansing area is much nicer than the Flint area.

[chiroptera]

Originally Posted by JoulesMSU

There is virtually nothing between East Lansing and Flint unless you want to live right by one city or the other (aka something like Haslett or Swartz Creek, but neither are anywhere close to being in the "middle")... sorry.

Owosso looks like it is "in the middle" on the map, but there isn't a highway that goes by it, so it's actually pretty far out of the way. It takes about just as long to go from Owosso to EITHER Flint or East Lansing as it does to go FROM Flint to East Lansing... so you might as well just live in one city or the other instead of Owosso.

For example, it takes 35 minutes to get to either East Lansing or Flint from Owosso, but it only takes like 48 minutes to go from Flint to East Lansing... so instead of having to drive 35 minutes to get to either, might as well live next to one and only have to drive 5 minutes one way and 40 minutes the other.

If you are going to be working in East Lansing then why not just live by it? The Lansing area is much nicer than the Flint area.

Well not quite; downtown Owosso is about 5-6 miles north of I69 though. I was wrong when I said it was close to 69....when I go there from the Flint area I usually take M21 and forgot about the jog north.

I do agree that between Lansing and its suburbs, and Flint and its suburbs, in general Lansing is nicer and if you're going to be working there it makes sense to look closer to Lansing.

[DTWflyer]

Owosso, Corunna, and Durand are nice small towns. However if not familar with small town living, they will most definetely be culture shock is used to living in Metro Detroit and/or suburban living.

If you are looking for small-town living, those would be the places to look. If you are looking for more suburban living then you would probably want to look closer to either Flint or Lansing.

[Balmoral]

Thanks for the feedback! when I looked at the map it definitely did not look like there was much. We are coming from NYC so a little activity (even if it's a college town) would probably be better.

We will probably try to find a place in EL but I wanted to see if I could minimize my fiance's drive. It looks like a straight shot. I assume the roads are fine and the traffic is pretty minimal?

[chiroptera]

I69 is a straight shot and rarely congested. Unless they're doing construction (and there's a fair amount on 69 this summer.) But even so it's almost always a pretty easy drive.

Yah, NYC v any small town or city in MI is going to be a major culture shock!

[DTWflyer]

Yep, then you probably won't want to look at the small towns between Flint and Lansing. Owosso, Corunna, Durand are nice, quiet, small towns, kind of like going back in time. That would be huge culture shock coming from NYC though.

As said, traffic between Flint and Lansing is generally non-existant.
East Lansing,Okemos, or Haslett may be decent options and you will have the proximity of Michigan State University.

I remember you originally posting about possibily working in Flint and your significant other in Detroit and you were looking to live in Troy or Auburn Hills. It sounds like the position in Flint is locked-in, but the other is still searching for employment.

[cmuguy25]

Sounds like EL will be a good place for you guys. Cool town with plenty to do, with MSU right there. (No place in MI is like NYC, but you can find plenty to do in EL.)

As stated before, there isn't much but smaller towns (farm towns) between EL and Flint. If you really wanted to cut the commute time I would suggest Swartz Creek or Owosso, fine towns, but pretty quiet.

69 traffic is minimal. Shouldn't have any issues with that. Commute can be kind of long, but at least it's not gridlock traffic.

Best of luck!