Northeast-side Thurston Elementary is surrounded by a pond, a prairie, and a nature area, and its 1960s-era ranches and colonials are filled with families who walk to school and the neighborhood pool and parks via nature trails and sidewalks. Older neighborhoods comprise a well-manicured mixture of subdivisions, condominiums, townhouses, and apartment complexes.

Business professionals, U-M faculty and staff, children, and retirees all mix in this diverse area. The single-family subdivisions west of Green were first known as Ford Motor Company neighborhoods, for their high commuter population with US–23 nearby. Young families are very much in evidence. The neighborhoods are fairly stable, with an extremely high rate of home ownership. Many children live within walking distance of school, and shopping at Traver Village and Plymouth Road Plaza is just a stone’s throw away.

The hamlet of Dixboro, along Plymouth Rd. at the western edge of Superior Township, has a small core of historic homes. The Thurston area continues deep into the township, where exclusive subdivisions are mixed in with old and new country homes on huge lots with views of the remaining farms. Some homes in the Glennborough sub off Gale have sold for more than $1.5 million.

Some students are bused from the 350-unit Arrowwood Hills Co-op.

The Chapel Hill condos, east of Green, have a fairly high turnover, as U-M graduate students, staff, and foreign visitors come and go from 425 townhouses. The newer 291-unit Barclay Park complex is nearby, as are the Villas at Northstar, which are currently taking reservations for their 2-bedroom apartments.

Thurston students attend Clague Middle School and Huron High.

Bike lanes: Marked bike lanes on Nixon and Green and a protected bike lane on Plymouth Rd. funnel residents to shopping areas and U-M facilities. Dhu Varren has a protected lane east of Nixon and a marked lane west of Nixon.

Walking: Thurston Elementary has a Walk Score of 61, and homes in the area, with the exception of the big new apartment and condo complexes by M–14, are at least a brisk walk away from shopping.

Park & Rides: 1885 Green, 3700 Plymouth Rd.