Oakland Township

Living in Oakland Township

Oakland Township sits at the northern edge of Oakland County’s affluent corridor, immediately north of Rochester and Rochester Hills. The character here is deliberately rural — winding two-lane roads, horse fencing, mature hardwoods, and homes set well back on parcels of an acre or more. The township government has spent the last two decades aggressively buying open space rather than letting it convert to subdivisions, and the result is a residential community that still feels like countryside.

Land preservation is the defining civic story. In 2000, residents approved a dedicated land-preservation millage, renewed in 2006 and again in 2018 by a 68 percent margin. The Parks & Recreation Commission has used millage revenue and matching grants to acquire and protect properties including Bear Creek Nature Park, Lost Lake Nature Park, Draper Twin Lake Park, Cranberry Lake Park, and the Paint Creek Heritage Area. The Paint Creek Trail — a former rail bed converted to a crushed-limestone path — threads the township from Lake Orion south to Rochester, and Bald Mountain Recreation Area’s 4,600-plus acres extend along the township’s eastern flank.

Housing is overwhelmingly luxury single-family on large lots — custom builds, estate-scale architecture, and gated enclaves such as Bear Creek of Rochester, The Pinnacle at Oaklands, and Wynstone of Oakland. Starter homes and townhome stock are limited by design; the township’s zoning and acquisition program both favor low density. Buyers come for privacy, acreage, and the ability to keep horses or build out a custom property close to Rochester’s amenities and the M-59 / I-75 corridor.

Most of the township is served by Rochester Community Schools — a perennially top-rated district in Michigan — with a portion in the northeast assigned to Lake Orion Community Schools, also highly rated. Day-to-day shopping, dining, and downtown street life happen a short drive south in downtown Rochester, while Great Lakes Crossing and the broader Auburn Hills / Troy employment base sit within a 15-to-20-minute commute. The trade-off residents accept is walkability — this is rural-suburban by intent, and a car is essential — in exchange for space, quiet, and protected views that won’t be redeveloped.