Lake Orion

Lake Orion (ORR-ee-n) is a village in the northern outskirts of Metro Detroit in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The population was 2,973 at the 2010 census. "Lake Orion" can refer to either the village or the much larger Orion Township, of which the village is a part. Lake Orion was served by trains on the Michigan Central Railroad from 1872 to 1976, and the Detroit United Railway interurban system from 1899 to 1931. In 1929, Amelia Earhart visited Lake Orion at the invitation of Orion resident and fellow aviator William Edmund Scripps. In 1993, a federal grant was awarded and matched by the DNR to purchase the right-of-way from the Grand Trunk Trunk Railway to connect the Orion Assembly plant with the main line in Pontiac, Michigan. A section of the track is still in use as of 2014, operated by Canadian National Railway, specifically to connect to the General Motors General Motors plant inPontiac, but all track north of Orion Assembly was eliminated by 1985. The line from the village north to Oxford exists now only as a narrow path, but still passes over the historic Indian Lake Road Stone Arch Bridge, a small limestone bridge constructed over Indian Lake road in 1891. In 1828, a power dam was built uniting several small lakes and forming the mile-wide Lake Canandaigua, just west of the village. The settlement grew into a bustling commercial center with a sawmill, tavern, post office, general store and blacksmith shop.

History

Lake Orion is the primary city name, but also Orion are acceptable city names or spellings, Orion Township on the other hand no longer accepted or obsolete and are no longer used as a designation. The official name is Village of Lake Orion. Jesse Decker arrived from upstate New York with his wife, Mary, in 1825. The settlement grew into a bustling commercial center with a sawmill, tavern, post office, general store, blacksmith shop, school and cemetery. The Village of Lake Orion was served by trains on the Michigan Central Railroad from 1872 to 1976, and the Detroit United Railway interurban system from 1899 to 1931. Lake Orion also had a flag stop, Rudds Station, on the MCC line east of the village near Clarkston and Kern Roads. Amelia Earhart visited Lake Orion at the invitation of Orion resident and fellow aviator William Edmund Scripps. In 1929, the village known as "Orion" was officially renamed "Lake Orion" Amusement park Orion was an amusement destination for residents of Metro Detroit in the first half of the century. The Grand Trunk Western Railroad set the stage for Lake Orion as a major summer resort for those traveling between Detroit and Lake Addison in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The park is still open to the public today, but it has been closed to visitors since the early 1990s. It is now home to a number of nature trails, including the Polly Ann Trail, connecting Lake Orion with Oxford, Michigan and the Addison Lake Trail, which runs from Addison to Rochester, Michigan. The lake is also home to the Lake Orion Aquarium, which opened in the early 2000s and is one of the largest aquariums in the United States.

Geography

Lake Orion is a medium-sized inland lake, with area of 506 acres. It has a maximum depth of 80 feet and an average depth of 16 feet. It is the eighth largest lake by area in Oakland County. There are several islands in Lake Orion, some of which feature seasonal and year-round residences. The residences on all islands except for Bellevue and Park require the use of watercraft to travel to and from the mainland. Sweet's Island is home to the Lake Orion Boat Club, and features a private boathouse and docks for LOBC members. A smaller island, Squaw Island, was home to a single residence from the 1850s to the 1950s. Little remains of the island due to erosion save for a solitary tree, and the shallow waters can be a hazard to boaters. The current area of the lake was formed by a collection of smaller lakes over time, beginning with the damming of Paint Creek in the 1830s. Canals have also been dredged to maximize lake frontage. The lake is administered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and is located in the Village of Lake Orion and Orion Township. The village has a total area of 1.30 square miles (3.37 km²) according to the U.S. Census Bureau, of which 0.79 sq miles (2.05 km²), is land and 0.51sq miles (1.32km²) is water. There is a public access boat launch on the northern side of theLake Orion.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,973 people, 1,304 households, and 709 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,763.3 inhabitants per square mile (1,453.0/km²) The racial makeup of the village was 94.2% White, 1.6% African American, 0. 2% Native American, 1%.1% Asian, 0,9% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.5% of the population. The demographics below are for the village only. Refer to Orion Township for the demographics of the entire township. The median age in the Village of Orion was 41.2 years. The village is located in Orion Township, which has a population of 2.7 million. It is the largest township in Orion County, Michigan, and is home to the U.S. National Football League's Green Bay Packers. The town is located on the banks of the Detroit River, which runs through Orion Township and into the city of Lake Orion. The city of Orion is located near Lake Orion, which is in Lake Orion Township. It has an population of 1.8 million, and a population density of 1,877.2 per sq mile (724.8/km 2) The village has a median age of 41 years, and the median population age is 41. 2 years. There are 1,303 households, of which 27.0 percent have children under the age of 18.

Government

The Village of Lake Orion is a Michigan home rule village with a council-manager form of government. The village's legislative body is its village council, comprising a President and six council members. Current Village Manager Joe Young was appointed as interim manager in February 2017 and was appointed permanently on July 1, 2017.Lake Orion is provided assessing, counties and school districts tax collecting and elections administration for county, state and national by Orion Township. The Lake Orion Community Schools school district is served by the Lake Orion Elementary School District, which is part of the Orion Township Public Schools system. The school district has a combined enrollment of more than 2,000 students. The district has an enrollment of about 1,500 students, with an average of about 2,200 students per year. The high school has a population of around 1,100 students, making it one of the smallest high schools in the state. It has an average enrollment of just over 1,300 students, the lowest of any Michigan high school. It is the only school district in Orion Township, which has a total enrollment of around 2,400 students. It also has a high school population of about 975 students, which makes it the second largest high school in the county. The university has a student population of approximately 1,400, the largest in the Michigan state. The University of Michigan-Oshkosh has a campus of about 800 students, and has a mascot, the Lions, which was founded in 1894. The college has a sports program that has won numerous awards for excellence in sports and academics.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Lake Orion, Oakland County, Michigan = 61.2. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 27. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 30. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Lake Orion = 3.2 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 2,876 individuals with a median age of 42.8 age the population dropped by -10.14% in Lake Orion, Oakland County, Michigan population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 3,631.31 residents per square mile of area (1,402.29/km²). There are average 2.1 people per household in the 1,108 households with an average household income of $57,744 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 15.00% of the available work force and has dropped -10.42% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 4.16%. The number of physicians in Lake Orion per 100,000 population = 456.1.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Lake Orion = 30.1 inches and the annual snowfall = 31.7 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 89. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 180. 83 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 16.1 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 51, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Lake Orion, Oakland County, Michigan which are owned by the occupant = 49.14%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 55 years with median home cost = $181,270 and home appreciation of -9.18%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $13.73 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,351 per student. There are 18.8 students for each teacher in the school, 693 students for each Librarian and 591 students for each Counselor. 7.02% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 18.33% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 10.86% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).