Yes, it’s true! Little City Life takes place in Okemos, Michigan!

Okemos was recently ranked 4th in the list of “Best Places to Live in America” by the data company Niche. As a matter of fact, there are two wonderful small Michigan cities making the top 10 of this list.

Now, I know this list is comprised only by data. I’m sure there are hundreds of other towns so similar to Okemos, MI but there are some pretty amazing things about this area. While I admit it was a tough transition five years ago moving from Chicago to this little city, the benefits greatly outweigh the things we miss.

These are my top 10 favorite reasons to live in Okemos:

1. SCHOOLS. The public schools here are truly amazing. We have wonderful teachers, engaged principals and a few of our schools are nationally recognized Blue Ribbon Schools. Okemos has a FREE (yes, free) Montessori program from K to 8th grade. To understand how amazing this is, just one year of Montessori for grades K to 4 in Chicago can cost around $15,000.00. I get to send my kid to Montessori and I don’t have to spend her college tuition on elementary school. If that doesn’t have you packing up your moving boxes I don’t know what will.
2. Schools. See #1. The schools are top notch, people come and stay for the school system alone.
3. Farm to Table. Literally. Michigan is state rich in agriculture. A five minute drive from Okemos will take you right to one of many small farms with apples, farm fresh eggs, and squash. Grass-fed, free range, humanely raised livestock are within a fifteen minute radius. You can always find a CSA to join and the large farms grow a huge variety of produce. Local honey? Local lettuce? It’s everywhere, even in the large grocery stores. When it’s blueberry season and you are eating berries by the handful then you are definitely living in the 4th Best Place to Live.
4. Housing. A nice, typical four bedroom two bath home sells for $230,000.00 here in Okemos that would easily go for $600,000.00 in Chicago. You can certainly find houses in every price range along with apartment rentals and house rentals all within the school district – but they go quickly. One of my great friends is a local realtor and she is super busy, because who wouldn’t want to move here?!
5. Parking. There is always parking and it’s almost always free. You won’t pay $50.00 to park all day long in downtown Okemos (yes, I’m looking at you, Chicago).
6. Parks. Loads of safe parks where your children can run around for hours, most are free and ample parking is available. There’s a nature center with several hiking trails and a learning center that runs family friendly activities all year long along with fairly affordable summer camps. There’s an adorable historical village complete with fishing pond, general store, and a chapel that does weddings. All within a 5 minute drive from your home.
7. Community. In Okemos you meet your neighbors (most of the time). You stop and chat while your kids play or someone is out walking their dog. Everyone cares about each other. You go to the local library where there’s a smile and a “good to see you” from the librarian and you can check out up to 50 books at once. During weekend soccer games you will run into at least ten people you know whose kids are playing on different teams. And almost everyone I know has seen me running around the grocery store without makeup and on day 3 of dry shampoo. That was one of the bigger shocks, always running into someone while running errands. Now I’m bummed if I don’t run into a friend at the grocery store.
8. Arts & Culture. Ten minutes down the road is Michigan State University bringing wonderful programming to the entire community. We have the truly famous Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum that had it’s own role in the recent Batman vs. Superman movie (Ben Affleck caused a few traffic jams). The fantastic Wharton Center for Performing Arts has already lined up Hamilton for the 2018-2019 Season. My fingers are already crossed for tickets!
9. Wildlife. Want to pretend you’re a Disney Princess? Move to Okemos and wake up to the happy song of birds chirping and deer wandering down the street. Our neighborhood deer family is up to 9, although they typically wander in the afternoon.
10. Whole Foods and Costco. We finally have a Whole Foods and Costco is opening in November. Life is complete.

So there you have it! My favorite things about small town life in Okemos, MI. There are so many things I love that didn’t make this list and of course it isn’t perfect but it’s a pretty darn great place to live! How about you? What’s top on your list of most important where you live?