The Best Independent Living Communities in Genesee County, MI

"I love StoryPoint Fenton, but it's too expensive for my brother-in-law. It's beautiful. The whole facility is top-notch. It is very open and welcoming. There is a huge gathering area. The receptionist is right there to greet you. They had the director right away, and they took me to a model room that was set up. It was a one-bedroom and it had a refrigerator. It was very, very nice. However, that was an assisted living senior community, and that was not what I was looking for. I was looking for memory care-assisted living. They would do an assessment of my brother-in-law before he was allowed to live there. He probably could fit into the assisted part of it, but that part was too big for him. It's all one level, which is good, but I think that with him getting himself from his room to where they have to go and eat would have been difficult, because the layout wasn't good for him in the memory state that he is in right now. I also went to memory care. It was beautiful. We walked through it. It was very nice. They have a nice little area where you could go in and sit by a fireplace and watch movies. The kitchen was right there. They only have 16 residents, which is nice. They were finishing up lunch when I got there. They have several little areas where you could sit down and have a conversation or play a game. The windows were on each side of a nice wide hallway. They showed me a room that my brother-in-law would have. It was a studio. Somebody had just moved out of there, and they were in the process of painting it and getting it freshened up for the next person to come in. It had a nice view out the window where you could put a bird feeder or whatever. All of his furniture could go in the room, too. Then the staff showed me where the patio was, and it was very nice. They have a grill out there where they would grill food for the people. It is also backed up to a wooded little area where you could see nature and sit out there. It was very welcoming and very comfortable. I told her that I would move in there myself right now, so that part of it was very, very nice. The residents that were there were more in line with what level my brother-in-law was at physically. He's very mobile, and he has no medical issues with his heart, legs, or lungs -- nothing. It is just his mind right now is having a problem. If money were not an object, I would have him go to StoryPoint just because of the aesthetics of everything."

"I love living at Lockwood of Fenton. Except for this problem that I'm having right now with the manager, the staff here is really good. They have different types of residents. I get along with everybody here except for about five people, but this is a big apartment building. I love everybody here. I help wherever I can, and they appreciate that. There is an activity director here; she is young, but the things she comes up with to do are amazing, and I tell her that. They will take the bus on a lunch trip once a month, they go for ice cream, and they go shopping. Today, they're going to Walmart on the bus. There are a lot of good things about this place. Good food, too. I'm in one of the smallest apartments here because it needed to be rented. The kitchen and bathroom are upgraded. I have a very nice apartment. The biggest apartments they have are two-bedroom-two-bath, and they go down from there: Two-bedroom-one bath, and one-bedroom-one bath. I'm in a corner and my apartment is small, but it's tolerable."

"I've moved into Vicinia Gardens Independent Living. It's beautiful. The staff is happy and helpful. Everything's great. Maintenance and cleanliness are perfect."

"My sister has moved into Vibrant Life, The Lodge of Durand. It was by far the best, as far as staff, pricing, and what they had to offer. The other ones were much higher in price, didn't seem to have the room size, and weren't as up-to-date as Vibrant was. I have no complaints with the staff or the food. The food is fine. The activities appear to have helped her; they're excellent."

"I live at Devonshire Retirement Village. We have a lot of activities. We have a calendar for the whole month. On Monday, we're going to the Goodwill, in December we have a Christmas ball, and we all dress up. We go into the other building, and the cooks make a meal for us. We get to dance. We went down and saw a Tiger baseball game twice since I've lived here. We play euchre, and once a month we have forums where if you have any problems you tell Sarah, and she tries to fix whatever the problem is. I have a dog, so they let us have animals. We get to go down and eat lunch in the cafeteria from 12:00 to 1:00, and today we had hamburgers, butterscotch pudding, and cheesy potatoes. They have coffee and orange juice. You have to pay for the soup and salad. They didn't use to charge, but now they charge $3 for the soup and $4 for the salad. The food is not bad. I pay $150 a month, and they bring my supper to my apartment at 4:30. This week on the menu, it says that I'm having tuna melt. I've eaten them here before, and I don't like them. I asked our cook Michael today if I could have something different. He said, "Sure, what would you like?" He's a great cook. Anthony is always in the other building cooking for them, but he comes over here once in a while, and he makes wonderful squash soup and he made it for my birthday. He's a super nice guy. On Sunday nights and Thursday nights, we can put our garbage in the hall, and they pick it up. Every other Tuesday, they come in and clean my whole apartment. They dust and they vacuum. Laura is wonderful. She does an excellent job. She has the key to my apartment, and I totally trust her. I saw her today and she washed the pee pads for my dog because they had urine and feces dried on them. She's a perfect girl. It's a locked place, so nobody can come in to your apartment, like off the street. You have to punch in a code. They have a storage unit here, and mine is loaded. We can put shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, body wash, clothes, suitcases and everything. They do excellent taking care of us. I'm happy with the staff. I've had disagreements with some of them, though. They told me I couldn't let somebody come in here and watch my dog while I went on vacation with my boyfriend unless they were a relative. They have pull cords in my bathroom, my bedroom and my living room. So if I fell or needed anything, someone comes from the building across the street and knocks on my door. They have a key to get in, and they come in and see if I'm all right. I'm happy with the food. I'm totally happy here. I've lived here for three years. I have a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, hall closet and laundry room. We can get manicures once a month. We play bingo. We have a bingo store and they give you bingo bucks and then you can buy stuff. They have all kinds of cookies, crackers, dried fruit, potato chips, and nuts. I pay $3,200 a month. I have to buy my breakfast food and if I want ice cream or extra stuff, I have to buy that myself."

"My dad moved to Village Manor Retirement. The atmosphere is vibrant. It seemed like there was a lot of activity. The rooms were clean. There's a lot of light and everyone was very, very nice. They had a really good follow up. After I inquired, they got back to me fairly quickly and were very responsive. The administration staff is wonderful. My dad says the food is good. They have a lot of different things going on for everybody and anybody to pick and choose from. They are very active there. Knowing what the competitors charge, it's a good value."

"We toured Canterbury on the Lake. It was very nice. The person that gave the tour was very helpful and very knowledgeable about the facility. We got to walk through from the front door all the way through the dining room and the common areas. We got to see a couple of different apartments with different floor plans. So that was nice to be able to do that. We got a sample of their menu, activity, and calendars, and then we got a packet of floor plans and applications. We got to sit down and have our questions answered. The building itself is beautiful. They're small apartments basically, but they have all the necessities. They have a kitchenette and they have their closet space. It looked clean."

"We had picked out the very best choice, we thought, for us, which is American House Milford. We really were thrilled to get a two-bedroom apartment. It had just been newly redone and had new cabinets and all new paint, and everything. However, knowing what I know, facing the markets in the next few months, and with this government shutdown, I decided not to go ahead with that and not sign the lease. It was independent living with a nurse 24/7 and doctors who gave up their time to come to the facility and see patients, but if I needed each amount of help in a unit, they had it bracketed to what you needed, and each one added to that $5,000 cost. I like that they have a lot of activities directed at seniors. My daughter and I both said the manager was an absolute plus. He was very, very positive and lovely to be around. He did a non-denominational service on Sundays at the facility. So, management was definitely 5. I spoke with housekeeping and the nurse on the day shift. Everybody that I spoke with, I would have given a 5. We saw the dining room and the food that was being provided. They asked us to eat lunch with them. You always have a choice of chicken or fish, and then other things that they serve. On the first visit, they gave me an apple pie, and it was wonderful. They have outdoor amenities, too."

"Oakhaven Manor had better parking and lower prices. We put our name over there and we're waiting for a call. They had an art room and exercise. I saw a two-bedroom place and it was nice. It was clean and very nice."

"I toured Elmhaven Manor. It's very clean, neat, and organized. I didn't spend a lot of time there. I didn't get the comfort feeling with that one as much. The hallways and stuff are nice. I didn't get to see the rooms and stuff, but just one apartment. So, it was a small one. It was just a small one-bedroom, and the kitchen was pretty small. It was not homie. A few people I met on the elevator weren't friendly, but that's the people though, you can't control that."

"Baldwin House Senior Living Oakland was clean. It was bright and cheery. The office person went over things well and answered questions well. We were impressed with them. They had ceramic stuff in one room that people were working on. They also have bingo, cards, and dinners out where they take the bus. It all sounded wonderful. The staff was very nice and informative."

"My mother is in McFarlan Home. It's a very nice facility. I think it's one of the best that I've seen. She's been there for almost two years now. The staff is great. The only thing they did not have is therapy or anything like that. A lot of the things that they would've had that they don't have now were because of COVID. It would require a lot of people to be coming in, but I think they do their best. It would be on the top of the list because I haven't seen anything like that around here. If they want to participate, they have bingo and other games in the facility. They do a pretty good job. They have them up and dancing and they have music and other things that they do with them. I can only just go by what my mom does and what she enjoys doing. She's satisfied with the particular activities that she participates in. I have a list of what they provide and how much it costs. The price is dependent upon the room that you get, and I guess it's a pretty good price. In comparison to a nursing home, they're really good as far as price is concerned."

"I toured Woodhaven Senior Community. Overall, I think it was wonderful. It had what I was looking for because I was looking for an attached condo or facility, and they had that. They had a one-bedroom with a garage and two bedrooms with a garage, and that was nice for independent living. The staff was wonderful. They were so attentive and everyone was just with open arms. They answered all the questions and gave you all the information. It was a nice experience. When I got to that point and had to leave this house, I would go there. The rooms were very nice. They had a little kitchenette, a little dining area, and the bedrooms, and the bathrooms were roomy. The doorways were wide, in case someone needed the extra room, very accommodating. The clubhouse was nice. They had a swimming pool. They had a gym area. They had classes going on in some of the rooms. They have plenty of activities that they would have in other rooms. And you could rent out the space for a special occasion or something."

"The security at Hampton Manor of Burton was good. It was beautiful there. The only thing is, they did not have any one-bedrooms. They had studios and those were small, but they had great common areas. It is like a square and they had a common area in each point of it as well as a cafeteria. It was great and that was one of my favorite ones after the other facility I visited. The staff was very, very friendly. The facility was very clean. Each room was clean. I think at the time we were there, they may have had a leak that they were trying to dry. The only downfall was that sometimes there was no one waiting at the door. So, if you want to come in, they will have to push the button and let you in. You couldn't just enter it. You had to have somebody let you in. The food looked and smelled good."