DON'T Sleep On Saline Michigan! - So you’re thinking about making the move to Ann Arbor Michigan, or one of the fine suburbs that lies on the outskirts. Today, I want to touch on Ann Arbor’s favorite neighbor, Saline. So be sure to stick around to see if Saline Michigan is the next place you call home, or not. Let’s get to it.
PRO: PROXIMITY TO ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN
Saline, Michigan has been one of those cities that have been brought up a few times for me to touch on, and I know at a glance you might think why would anyone ask about this little town? And there’s several reasons, I’d say the main one which I'll say is pro #1 to living in Saline Michigan, is the proximity to Ann Arbor. For those of you that know of Ann Arbor or have had the opportunity to live nearby you know how awesome that is, I have several videos about this fine city that I’ll link in the description for you to queue up, but to keep things short, it’s one of a kind, unlike any other and a place most Metro Detroiters want to be near. While we are still on the topic of proximity and location, I wanted to put some perspective to this city as well as the township of Saline. The city of Saline covers 4.41 square miles with a population of around 9,000 people, whereas the township of Saline is 34.79 square miles with a population of around 2,300 people, which is very interesting, because townships are bigger than cities, and this is one of the few townships that has less people than the city, so space and privacy is a given, with those stats in mind.
PRO: COST OF LIVING & HOME PRICES IN SALINE MICHIGAN
And to further understand the township versus the city, that brings us to pro #2 of living in Saline, Michigan and that is the cost of living and home prices. That’s another big appeal for people looking to get close to Ann Arbor, is to find more affordable living in the outskirts. So for those of you that have watched my videos in the past, you know I like data and statistics, so taking a look at this graph provided by the MLS, it shows the average sale price over the last 3 years for ann arbor twp, which is in greeN, the city of Ann Arbor, which is in yellow, Saline twp, in red and the city of Saline in blue. As you may have anticipated, Ann Arbor is a lot more expensive, with the twp. of Ann Arbor coming in at just under $730,000, the city of Ann Arbor at $516,000 and some change, then almost $100,000 less, we have Saline twp just over $422,000 and the city of Saline just over $368,000. This puts a lot into perspective, and I’m sure you can now see the appeal of living in a city and township like Saline.
Think of it as someone who really enjoys downtown Ann Arbor, all the events, but gets a little overwhelmed by living in the crammed city or just the overall hustle and bustle, so they then look to places like Saline where you can capitalize on the lower home prices, the ruralness while being able to come and go into Ann Arbor without making it a full blown day event.
PRO: SCHOOLS IN SALINE MICHIGAN
Switching gears to the next pro, I don’t want you to think this is some rural one horse, tumbleweed town, because it really isn't, it has its own uniqueness like most cities across the mitten. With that in mind, pro #3 is the schools. According to NIche.com, not only does Saline earn a ranking of an A+ for schools, they have also ranked #15 out 334 suburbs with the best public schools in Michigan, and #16 places with the best public schools in Michigan. So it’s safe to say they have quite a good reputation, and I’ll be sure to link some more information pertaining to schools in the description for your curiosity.
PRO: DOWNTOWN SALINE MICHIGAN
The next pro to raise some awareness to, pro #4, is downtown Saline. Of course, it’s not Ann Arbor, but it’s that close-knit, small town that I think a lot of people out there appreciate, I can say I most definitely do. There’s not an abundance of parking garages, numerous story buildings, it’s primarily this single story town with sidewalks to get you anywhere you need to be, and to have that atmosphere is a huge plus. I can’t say this for all cities, townships or villages on the outskirts of larger cities, but a lot of them don’t have their own downtowns or something that sets them apart aside from just being close to the popular neighboring community, so this is a nice touch I’d say.
With all this good stuff, there’s gotta be some bad right? Of course! So here’s a few cons to keep in mind if you’re thinking about making the move to saline Michigan.
CON: THINGS TO DO IN SALINE MICHIGAN
Coming in at con #1, we have things to do. That might seem like a no-brainer since Ann Arbor overpowers all the nearby communities it seems, and why not go out to Ann Arbor for an event or two? There are parks in Saline, the Mill pond and all the outdoor recreation that you could need to a certain extent. The shopping options and attractions are very limited, but there are some cool little mom and pop owned restaurants and shops which typically (in my opinion have the best stuff and food), such as: Benny’s bakery, Mac’s Acadian seafood shack, Dan’s downtown Tavern, city limits diner, and Eleanor’s sweets and sodas. Those are all located off Michigan Avenue and Ann Arbor street, and if you go east a little bit you'll hit the dairy queen, taco bell, jet’s pizza, McDonalds, and CVS typically find their way into most of the Michigan cities. With all this in mind, the nightlife scene is also almost non existent and any resident would tell you just to hop over to Ann Arbor
CON: TOURISM IN SALINE MICHIGAN
Moving over to con #2, I don’t know how bad this issue is, it’s just something I have heard from residents, and that’s tourism. So as I established, Ann Arbor is an appealing place to visit, whether it’s for a U of M game, the U of M hospital for healthcare or one of their amazing events held downtown, there’s a lot of outsiders that make their way into the city, but again, it’s an expensive one, so they seek Airbnb's, and hotels in the outskirts of town with a reasonable commute, and Saline is one of those areas. There’s roughly 7-10 Airbnb’s as of recording this in the city of Saline and several more in the township, it may add a little traffic to the little town, and maybe several new faces on a daily basis, but I couldn’t imagine this is a reason anyone would move away from the area or make the decision not to move there, what do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
CON: LOCATION
Stepping over to con #3, I know I beat a dead horse already talking about Location and Ann Arbor, but that’s all there is to the location. If you look at an aerial map of the city and township of Saline Michigan, aside from being close to Ann Arbor, there’s nothing else going on. It’s not that close to Detroit, or the little Metro Detroit suburbs I touch on in several of my other videos each week. On the plus side, it’s only 25 or so miles from the Detroit Metro Airport, so that’s a little bit of a plus, but going directly east, south or west, there’s not very much diversity in nearby city amenities.
Overall, Saline Michigan is a great community, from being a little rural with the small town living and the more affordable home prices, this town becomes very appealing for anyone who not only wants to take advantage of being close to Ann Arbor, but to get some good schools as well. Yes, the cons to this city are more catered to the location and what the city lacks, but I can say with confidence, these cons may not be enough to push you away from looking more into the city and if it is, then I'm glad I helped you make an informed decision.
For those of you that have watched up until this point, what are your thoughts about Saline Michigan? Drop your thoughts in the comments below?
MENTIONED LINKS ⬇️
→Ann Arbor Pros & Cons Video: • The Pros and Cons...
→Ann Arbor Cost of Living Video: • INSANE Cost Of Li...
→Saline Michigan School Rankings: https://www.greatschools.org/michigan...
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew McManamon is a Michigan REALTOR® with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty and provides real estate services to Buyers, Sellers and Investors throughout SE Michigan including Livingston County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Genesee County & beyond. Andrew has become one of the rising stars of Michigan real estate agents. Prior to his real estate career Andrew was responsible for managing a senior living facility in Brighton, Michigan as a dining supervisor and an activities assistant. Andrew’s passion to help people is unlike any other, and he continues to strive to be best resource he can be. Andrew graduated from Cleary University in Howell, Michigan with a double major and currently resides in Brighton, Michigan.