Clarkston, Michigan

Clarkston, which also goes by the somewhat confusing official name City of the Village of Clarkston, is a city located within Independence Charter Township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 962 at the 2000 census.

The jurisdiction of the city government is limited to a relatively small downtown area commonly referred to as the village. Commonly, persons living in a much larger surrounding area of Independence Township, refer to themselves as living in Clarkston and have Clarkston as a postal address.

Police protection during the day, 7am - 11pm, is provided by the small local "Clarkston Police", which only have two police cars. While overnight protection is provided by the much larger Oakland County Sheriff's Department. Fire Protection is provided by the Independence Township Fire Department.

Clarkston was the summer retreat for Henry Ford where he maintained a summer home and weekend cottage on Main Street. The building still stands today. Ford also owned a mill which operated on the water from what is now called "Mill Pond" in Clarkston. This building still exists in part but has been modernized into a small mall which includes art galleries and office space.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.3 km² (0.5 mi²). 1.2 km² (0.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (9.80%) is water.

Clarkston is ideally situated as a "bedroom community" in the northern Detroit Suburbs. Located with easy access to I-75 Clarkston offers residents an opportunity to be connected to the Detroit Suburban life, while not engorging them in the traffic of towns located farther south in Oakland County.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 962 people, 406 households, and 265 families residing in the city. The population density was 807.5/km² (2,106.0/mi²). There were 424 housing units at an average density of 355.9/km² (928.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.78% White, 0.31% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.10% from other races, and 2.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.04% of the population.

There were 406 households out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $62,667, and the median income for a family was $90,189. Males had a median income of $66,250 versus $37,604 for females. The per capita income for the city was $36,838. About 2.2% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.4% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

While Clarkston has traditionally been a small town, the population is rapidly increasing and major housing and commercial developments are being built. Clarkston High School recently had to reorganize in order to alleviate the overcrowded enrollment of around 2,500.