Farmington Hills, Michigan

Farmington Hills is the second largest city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 79,740 at the 2010 census. It is part of the northwestern suburbs of Metropolitan Detroit and is about  northeast of downtown Ann Arbor.

Farmington Hills consistently ranks as one of the safest cities in the United States, as well as in the state of Michigan. In 2010, the area ranked as the 30th safest city in the U.S. Farmington Hills also ranks as the 36th highest-income place in the United States with a population of 50,000 or more and ranks as 14th America's best cities to live by 24/7 Wall St.

Although the two cities have separate services and addresses, Farmington and Farmington Hills are often thought of as the same community. These two cities combined were part of Farmington Township in the time of the Northwest Territory. Features of the community include a recently renovated downtown, boutiques, a vintage cinema, numerous restaurants, exotic car dealerships, art galleries, and public parks including Heritage Park. There are several historical sites including the Longacre House and the Governor Warner Mansion. Both cities are served by Farmington Public Schools. Farmington Hills serves as a major business center for the greater Detroit area.

Farmington Hills is the home of the Holocaust Memorial Center, the only Holocaust Memorial in the State of Michigan. The Center's mission is to educate the public about the tragedy and evils of the Holocaust.  The Holocaust Memorial Center was originally located in neighboring West Bloomfield Township, but has since expanded and moved to its current facility.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which  is land and  is water.

History
The first white settler in what became Farmington Township was a Quaker from Farmington, New York, named Arthur Power. He purchased land in 1823 and returned in 1824 with a group of families and associates to clear the land. The settlement became known as Quakertown. A post office was established in February 1826 with the name of Farmington. The original post office is still standing today, and is a designated historical site. The township of Farmington was organized in 1827, and the settlement was incorporated as the village of Farmington in the winter of 1866-67. A fire on October 9, 1872 destroyed many buildings in the village center. Farmington was incorporated as a city in 1926.

A small settlement was also developed in Clarenceville, in the extreme southeast corner of the township on the boundary with Livonia in Wayne County. Stephen Jennings built a tavern and a general store to accommodate travelers on the plank road between Detroit and Howell. The name remains in the Clarenceville School District. Even though the school buildings for Clarenceville are in Livonia in Wayne County, the school district serves a portion of Farmington Hills.

In 1847, a post office named North Farmington was established a mile south of the township line as Wolcott's Corners. After the death of postmaster Chauncey D. Walcott in 1865, the office moved to the township line in the northeast quarter of section 4 (near the intersection of 14 Mile Road and Farmington Road). The post office functioned until September 1902.

In 1839, a post office named East Farmington was opened, but it closed in 1842.

Before the remainder of Farmington Township was incorporated as the city of Farmington Hills, there were two other incorporated entities within its boundaries. The first began as a subdivision named Quaker Valley Farms that was incorporated as the village of Quakertown in 1959. The other was Wood Creek Farms, developed in 1937 as a subdivision by George Wellington of Franklin, who named it after a New England estate. It was incorporated as a village in 1957. The villages, together with the remainder of Farmington Township, were incorporated into the City of Farmington Hills in 1973.

In 1964, the city of Farmington started a tradition that became known as the Founders Festival. The festival is held in mid-July each summer, and a fair is held in downtown Farmington which has exhibits of arts and crafts, stage entertainment, street food, friends and family, and a fun atmosphere.

Economy

Gale, an educational publishing company owned by Cengage Learning, and the auto loan company TD Auto Finance, are located in Farmington Hills. Other large corporations also have branches in newly-built office buildings.

The Nissan Technical Center North America  and Nissan Trading Corp. are located in Farmington Hills. The Nissan technical center handled project engineering of vehicle bodies used in North America and Latin America. It also has a small laboratory, where as of 2012, several scientists were doing research on fuel cells. The company planned to add electrical battery and recharging of electrical vehicle research to the laboratory. As of January 2012 the technical center had 800 full-time employees. At that time Nissan planned to hire 150 more engineers to work in the technical center. The technical center opened in November 1991 at a cost of $80 million. In 2005 Nissan opened a $14 million design studio in Farmington Hills, and the Nissan AZEAL was the first car to be designed there.

Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc. operates the Farmington Hills Office in Farmington Hills. Hino Motors Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc. has its headquarters in Farmington Hills. The office is a sales and service office of Hino Motors, a truck subsidiary of Toyota. In 2005 Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm celebrated the office's opening.

A business park in the 12 Mile and Halsted area houses offices of Panasonic, Greenpath, and Mercedes Benz. Panasonic moved into  of leased space there in 2012, with plans to hire 60 full-time employees for a research and design center. That space was unoccupied for four years and was previously leased by Motorola. Mango Languages, a language learning software company, is also headquartered here.

According to the city's 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top local employers are:

Government
Farmington Hills utilizes the Council-Manager form of government, and thus is governed by a City Council consisting of a Mayor who can serve two 2-year terms (Dr. Ken Massey, elected in 2015) and six council members serving an unlimited number of 4-year terms (Dr. Randy Bruce, Richard Lerner, Michael Bridges, Valerie Knol, Samantha Steckloff elected in 2013 and Dr. Theresa Rich elected in 2015). The city council appoints a City Manager (currently: Dave Boyer), who manages the day-to-day operations of the city; a City Clerk who maintains all City Codes, Ordinances, Resolutions and other legal documents (currently Pam Smith); and a City Attorney who acts as legal advisor and representative for all City matters (currently Steve Joppich).

Farmington Hills is neighbor to Farmington. Together, the cities form a district represented in Michigan's State House District 37 by Democrat Christine Greig. Farmington Hills is part of State Senate District 14, represented by Democrat Brenda Lawrence.

The Mayor's Youth Council is an active teen committee/council who work under the city to help address teen problems and issues. This council helped to build the Riley Skate Park (the largest skate park in the Midwest), and sends delegates to the National League of Cities (NLC) conferences, has articles published in the local newspaper, helps run citywide events, organizes battle of the bands, and hosts their own talk show.
The Commission for Children, Youth and Families - operated in partnership with neighboring Farmington - is dedicated to creating a welcoming community for individuals of all ages and backgrounds.  With a special emphasis on volunteerism, community service and education, the Commission partners with the Multi-Racial Multi-Cultural Commission (MRMC), the Commission on Aging, Farmington Public School District and the Farmington Public Library to inform residents on a variety of quality-of-life issues designed to promote wellness, access and knowledge.

In 2006, a public meeting was held in Farmington Hills to discuss the possible merger of the two cities as a money saving venture, and also as a way to keep the two communities vibrant. Farmington and Farmington Hills already share several services, such as a school district, a library system and a district court, however, both cities utilize their own fire departments, and Farmington has a public safety department rather than a police department.

Demographics

According to a 2015 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $93,274, and the median income for a family was $198,136. Males had a median income of $61,757 versus $39,540 for females. The per capita income for the city was $36,134. Farmington Hills is well known for its luxury estates, its rolling hills, and is also listed on Forbes as one the most prosperous suburbs in the nation with a household net worth of $725,120. About 2.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 79,740 people, 33,559 households, and 21,412 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 36,178 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 69.7% White, 17.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 10.1% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.9% of the population.

There were 33,559 households of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.2% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.00.

The median age in the city was 42.1 years. 21.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.2% were from 25 to 44; 30.2% were from 45 to 64; and 15.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.1% male and 52.9% female.

In April 2013, Farmington Hills had the fourth largest Japanese national population in the state of Michigan, at 589.

2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 82,111 people, 33,559 households, and 21,813 families residing in the city.  The population density was 2,466.4 per square mile (952.3/km²).  There were 34,858 housing units at an average density of 1,047.0 per square mile (404.3/km²).  The racial makeup of the city was 82.95% White, 6.94% African American, 0.17% Native American, 7.54% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 1.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.47% of the population. 12.6% were of German, 9.1% Polish, 8.3% Irish, 7.1% English and 5.5% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 33,559 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city, the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.

Education

Most of Farmington Hills is served by Farmington Public Schools, which is shared with nearby Farmington. It is home to North Farmington High School, while Farmington High School in Farmington serves portions of Farmington Hills. In addition, the alternative school Farmington Central High School is in Farmington Hills.

Farmington Hills also encompasses parts of the Clarenceville School District, and the Walled Lake Consolidated School District.

The city includes several private schools, including two parochial Catholic schools, Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Fabian, run by the Archdiocese of Detroit, an all-girls Catholic high school, Mercy High School, one Lutheran school, Concordia Lutheran School/St. Paul's Lutheran Preschool, and a non-denominational Jewish day school, Hillel Day School.

Farmington Hills is also home to multiple elementary schools, and middle schools.  The elementary schools consist of grades Kindergarten through 5th and the middle schools take grades 6 through 8.  The elementary schools include Beechview Elementary School, Forest Elementary School, Gill Elementary School, Highmeadow Common Campus, Hillside Elementary School, Kenbrook Elementary School, Lanigan Elementary School, Longacre Elementary School, and Wood Creek Elementary School.  The three middle schools are East Middle School, Power Middle School and Warner Middle School.  O.E. Dunckel Middle School was closed in the spring of 2016 with a view to being relaunched as a K-8 STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics) school.

The city also contains branches of Oakland Community College and Wayne State University, and is the home of the Michigan School of Professional Psychology.

Transportation
Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) operates local and regional bus transit.

The major thoroughfares in the city are (M-5), Orchard Lake Road, 12 Mile Road, 8 Mile Road, Northwestern Highway, I-696, and I-275.  The city contains several freeway interchanges connecting local roads to the two interstates.

Facilities
Hunters Square (formerly the Tally Hall food court) is a Shopping Center on Orchard Lake and 14 Mile.
Orchard 12 Plaza is a Shopping Center on Orchard Lake and 12 Mile.

Notable people
Notable current and former residents include:
 Jena Irene Asciutto, singer, American Idol runner-up
 Steve Ballmer, businessman, former CEO of Microsoft, owner of NBA's Los Angeles Clippers
 Elizabeth Berkley, actress
 Manoj Bhargava, founder and CEO, 5-hour Energy
 Pam Dawber, actress
 Alex DeBrincat, NHL hockey player
 Colin Egglesfield, actor
 Donald Foss (born 1945), billionaire founder of subprime car finance company Credit Acceptance
 Cam Fowler, NHL hockey player for Anaheim Ducks
 Devin Funchess, wide receiver for NFL's Indianapolis Colts
 Tatiana Gutsu, two-time Olympic champion gymnast
 Kirsten Haglund, winner of Miss Michigan (2007) and Miss America (2008)
 Arthur Hanlon, Latin musician
 Al Jean, writer/producer, The Simpsons 
 Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems
 Meg Mallon, professional golfer in Hall of Fame
 Emily Morse, sex therapist
 Jason Miller (rabbi), rabbi and entrepreneur
 Larry Nassar, osteopathic physician and convicted child molester
 Jaime Ray Newman, actress
 Eren Ozker, puppeteer, Muppeteer
 Neal Rubin, columnist (The Detroit News)
 Barry Sanders, Hall of Fame running back for Detroit Lions; resident
 Martha Smith, model and actress, Miss July 1973 Playboy centerfold
 Drew Stanton, quarterback for Michigan State and NFL's Cleveland Browns
 Tally Hall, indie rock band based in Ann Arbor
 Fred Toucher, Boston radio DJ for 98.5 The Sports Hub
 James Wolk, actor

See also

 Farmington Community Library
 Farmington
 Metropolitan Detroit

References

Sources

External links

City of Farmington Hills official website

Category:Cities in Oakland County, Michigan
Category:Metro Detroit
 
Category:1973 establishments in Michigan