Oakland County, Michigan

Oakland County is a in the  of. , the population was estimated at 1,214,361. The is. Oakland County is part of the, though the actual city of is located in neighboring , south of. Oakland County is home to 62 cities, villages and townships. These communities range from blue-collar, inner-ring suburbs like, to wealthy cities such as the renowned municipalities of and. The white-collar cities of, , and  host a rich mix of Fortune 500 companies. The city of, home of the , attracts many young people to its mature downtown, which has many trendy restaurants, shops and night clubs. Oakland County is also home to, located in.

's suburbs are among the most affluent in the nation. Oakland County is the fourth wealthiest county in the United States among counties with more than one million people. The county's automotive-oriented economic base, coined "", is one of the largest employment centers for engineering and related occupations in the United States. Oakland County has shared in the recent economic hardships brought on by troubles at, , and , although it has fared better than and , as its economy is more diverse and less reliant on manufacturing jobs. All three automotive companies are major employers within, and have significant investments within Oakland County.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 908 s (2,352 ). Of that, 873 square miles (2,260 km²) is land and 35 square miles (92 km²) of it (3.91%) is water.

Oakland County was originally divided into 25 separate, which are listed below. Each township is roughly equal in size at six miles by six miles for a total township area of 36 square miles. The roots of this design were born out of the and the subsequent  of. Oakland County itself is a prime example of the land policy that was established, as all townships are equal in size (save for slight variations due to waterways). Section 16 in each township was reserved for financing and maintaining public education, and even today many schools in Oakland County townships are located within that section.

, where the city of is located, borders Oakland County to the south. The southern boundary is, also known as "Baseline Road" in some areas. The baseline was used during the original surveying for Michigan, and serves as the northern/southern boundaries for counties from all the way to. This divide (8 Mile Road) has been widely known as an unofficial racial dividing line between the largely city and mostly  suburbs, although this pattern of de facto  has lessened somewhat in recent years, particularly in communities west of, where the African-American population has been on the increase.

Adjacent counties

 * (northeast)
 * (northwest)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 1,194,156 people, 471,115 households, and 315,175 families residing in the county. The was 1,369  people per square mile (528/km²). There were 492,006 housing units at an average density of 564 per square mile (218/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 82.75%, 10.11% or , 0.27% , 4.14% , 0.02% , 0.84% from , and 1.86% from two or more races. 2.43% of the population were or  of any race. 87.4% spoke, 2.0% , 1.3% and 1.0%  as their first language.

The 2000 census showed two Native American tribes with over 1,000 members in Oakland County. There were 2,095 Cherokee and 1,458 Chippewa.

There were 471,115 households out of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.20% were living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.10% were non-families. 27.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.09.

Among Asian Americans, eight ethnic groups had over 1,000 members in the county. The most numerous were those of decent, with 20,705. Next were those of heritage, numbering 10,018. Next were those of (5,589),  (5,450)  (5,351),  (1,687),  (1,458) and  (1,210) ancestry.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.20% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 32.40% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $61,907, and the median income for a family was $75,540. Males had a median income of $55,833 versus $35,890 for females. The for the county was $32,534. About 3.80% of families and 5.50% of the population were below the, including 6.50% of those under age 18 and 6.50% of those age 65 or over.

In 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that non-Hispanic whites (including Arabs and Chaldeans) were 78.6% of the population; African Americans, 11.8%; Asian Americans, 5.3%; and Hispanic or Latino people (of any race) 2.8%.

History
Created by territorial Gov. in 1819, sparsely settled Oakland was twice its current size at first, but shrank as Michigan's population grew and new counties were established. Woodward Avenue and the helped draw settlers in the 1840s. By 1840, Oakland had more than fifty mills. Pontiac, located on the Clinton River, was Oakland's first town and became the county seat. After the Civil War, Oakland was mainly an agricultural county with numerous isolated villages. By the end of the 19th Century, three rail lines served Pontiacand the city attracted carriage and wagon factories. Streetcars began moving people in the late 1890s.

Developers turned southern Oakland County into a suburb of Detroit in the 1890s, when a Cincinnati firm platted a section of Royal Oak called "Urbanrest." Migration worked both ways. Several thousand people moved from Oakland County farms to Detroit as the city attracted factories. By 1910, a number of rich had summer homes and some year-round residences in what became Bloomfield Hills. The auto age enveloped Pontiac in the early 1900s. The was born in 1907 and became a part of General Motors Corp., which was soon Pontiac's dominate firm.

In the 1950s, jobs and people began leaving Detroit. opened in 1954. Oakland County passed Wayne County in effective buying power by 1961, when it ranked 28th in the nation in household income. It ranked second-highest nationally in income for counties of more than a million people, behind. The median price of a home in Oakland County skyrocketed to $164,697, more than $30,000 above the national median.

Government
The county government operates the, operates the major local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains , administers  regulations, and participates with the state in the provision of welfare and other social services. The controls the budget but has only limited authority to make laws or ordinances. In Michigan, most local government functions — police and fire, building and zoning, tax assessment, street maintenance, etc. — are the responsibility of individual cities and townships.

Roads that are not maintained by a local community (city/village) are maintained by the Road Commission for Oakland County, which is governed by three board members appointed by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners.

Oakland County Elected Officials

 * : (Republican)
 * : (Republican)
 * /: (Republican)
 * : (Republican)
 * : (Republican)
 * : 25 members, elected from districts (13 Republicans, 12 Democrats)
 * : 25 members, elected from districts (13 Republicans, 12 Democrats)

(information as of January 2007)

Cities
1In the 2000 Census, Farmington Hills was the most populous city in the county. As of the 2005 Census estimates, Troy is now the most populous city.

Townships
* Township has been incorporated into a city: Avon to the, Farmington to the , Pontiac to the and , and Troy to the. For survey purposes, these areas are still referred to by the assigned township name.

Programs
Oakland County established the first County-level Main Street program in the U.S. in February 2000.

Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) is housed within the Planning Group of the Planning & Economic Development Services Division of Oakland County's Department of Community & Economic Development. Oakland County is now a partner with the National Trust's Main Street Center and contracts with them for services to the County and local communities.

MSOC...
 * Empowers Oakland County's traditional downtowns to establish and/or maintain successful, comprehensive, ongoing revitalization programs
 * Builds a greater awareness of the economic and quality of life importance of revitalizing and maintaining the County's historic commercial districts
 * Provides the stakeholders of Oakland County's traditional downtowns with technical assistance and training resources
 * Provides information about downtown revitalization to the County's communities, business organizations, and residents
 * Assists communities in implementing the "Main Street Four Point Approach" to downtown management in each of the County's traditional downtowns and corridors
 * Facilitates networking and communication between communities about downtown revitalization
 * Provides information about County business finance programs and other economic development resources to existing downtown businesses and to those considering downtown locations
 * Monitors and measures progress and success in local downtown revitalization efforts
 * Assists each of the 30 traditional downtowns and town centers in the County to help them realize their full economic development potential while preserving their sense of place.

MSOC is currently working with 12 downtowns in Oakland County. These communities were selected after a detailed application process where they demonstrated their readiness and commitment to participating in the National Trust Main Street program.

Oakland County's Main Street Communities

Colleges and Universities
Oakland County is home to several important institutions of higher education.

, located in, is a growing research university with more than 18,000 students. Rated as one of the country's 82 Doctoral/Research universities by the, OU announced plans in the Spring of 2007 to establish a on its campus in collaboration with William Beamont Hospital. The Medical School, which will be the fourth in the state of Michigan to offer the M.D. degree, is slated to open in 2010. The also operates one of its campuses at OU.

, located in, has a current enrollment of around 4,000 students. Lawrence Tech, which was originally founded in 1932 as Lawrence Institute of Technology, is consistently ranked in the top tier of Midwestern Master's Universities in the annual rankings.

, located in, has a current enrollment of approximately 1,000 students. Affiliated with the, Rochester College offers a variety of academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, business, and education.

, officially, has campuses in , , and in.

, which is one of Michigan's largest community colleges, operates 5 campuses throughout Oakland County: Orchard Ridge, Auburn Hills, Southfield, Highland Lakes, and Royal Oak.

Primary and Secondary Education
Many of the public school districts in Oakland County boast multiple "National Exemplary" Schools. The (IA), which is part of the, has been ranked by  as one of the top 10 public high schools in the nation every year since 2003, when IA was ranked the top public high school in the United States.

Oakland County also boasts a number of prestigious private schools, including the, the , and the.