The area around Haisley Elementary is a close-knit neighborhood of ranches and 1½-story Cape Cods where parents push tots in strollers to nearby Wellington Park and seniors chat with neighbors on front lawns. But the zoning area has a noncontiguous section that sprawls west of Wagner and includes newer subdivisions between Liberty and I-94 in Scio Twp.
Not far from the school, Miller Nature Area is a hidden pocket of woods. During the summer months, neighbors gather at Veterans Memorial Park Pool on Jackson Ave. near Maple. At the park, the evenings come alive with the crack of bats and the sound of wild cheering as ball teams compete. All ages of rollerblading and skateboarding enthusiasts enjoy the 30,000-square-foot, world-class Ann Arbor Skatepark that is free for the public to use at the northwest corner of the park. In the winter, children sled down the steep hills behind the indoor skating rink.
Outside the beltway in Scio Twp., kids are bused in from developments along Jackson Rd. West of Zeeb is the upscale Trailwoods subdivision off Staebler, with one- and two-story homes and a ten-acre park. Big-box stores, light industry, and restaurants pack the corridor, providing a commercial node for the condos and subdivisions, in line with the township’s plan to concentrate development there and try to preserve rural character elsewhere.
Arbor Chase, a ninety-six-unit condominium development, and the 171-home Arbor Pointe subdivision sit back from Zeeb behind the Meijer on Jackson Rd. Off of Liberty, new homesites are available in Scioview and related Traditions of Scio, as well as in the Gallery of Scio. The Polo Fields, off Zeeb north of Liberty, boasts imposing homes clustering around a golf course and country club. Beyond, Scio’s dirt roads are dotted with individual country houses, large and small.
Apartments on Zeeb include the Cambridge Club, with 108 one- and two-bedroom units, and the 106-unit Scio Village, which has its own nature preserve; the 144-unit Lakestone is hidden away off Parkland behind the Jackson Rd. business strip. Haisley also serves three cohousing complexes south of Jackson Rd., and part of the huge Scio Farms manufactured housing community.
Haisley grads in the older neighborhood closest to the school go to Forsythe or Slauson middle schools, whereas the western portions of the zoning area go to Forsythe. All feed into Skyline High.
Bike lanes: The portions of the neighborhood within the city of Ann Arbor are served by bike lanes on Dexter Rd. and Jackson Rd. Bike lanes run along Miller all the way to central Ann Arbor, on N. Maple, and along the segment of Wagner Rd. from Jackson Rd. to Liberty.
Walking: Haisley Elementary’s Walk Score is 60. The suburban sections of this neighborhood, clustered around Jackson Rd. and Zeeb shopping, are actually more walkable than the older parts in the city.