Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett greets guests during the 2025 State of the City address at Stoney Creek High School Sept. 18.
By: Mary Beth Almond | Rochester Post | Published September 30, 2025
ROCHESTER HILLS — Mayor Bryan Barnett brought the gates of the Emerald City to Rochester Hills Sept. 18 for his “Wicked”-themed 2025 State of the City address.
“Tonight, we are going to celebrate the year that was equal parts enchanting, challenging and ultimately, transformative,” Barnett said, as he entered the stage at Stoney Creek High School in an emerald blazer, holding a gold cane.
The evening’s performance — which included singers, dance routines, flashy costumes and more — highlighted why “There’s No Place Like Home” in Rochester Hills.
Over the years, the city of Rochester Hills has become well known for its parks.
“I can say, without reservation, that we have one of the best park networks anywhere in the state of Michigan,” Barnett said. “But we don’t want to just be one of the best. We want to be the best — and not just in Michigan. I want our city to be known as having the best park system of any city in the entire Midwest.”
Last year was another record year for the city in park attendance, with more than 1.7 million people visiting Rochester Hills’ parks — the most in the city’s history.
And soon, the city will be offering some new green spaces.
In a few months, Barnett said, he plans to open the city’s newest park, Brooklands Plaza, located immediately adjacent to the city’s first splash pad at 1585 E. Auburn Road.
“A new playground, water features, innovative lighting and seating areas, and cool new family-friendly features, will more than triple the size of the current splash pad there,” he said.
This spring, the city will break ground on its first new park development in the northwest part of the city, at Nowicki Park. The park will feature walking trails, a playground, pollinator gardens, the city’s first dog park with separate areas for large and small dogs, and more.
After Nowicki Park is complete, the city plans to add a splash pad, reimaged beachfront, improved playgrounds and a boardwalk that will take people out over the water at Spencer Park.
Updates are coming to Bloomer Park with additional pavilions, wildlife observation decks and a pump track for bike enthusiasts in 2027.
Rochester Hills has also purchased over 9 acres of undeveloped property at 694 S. Rochester Road, known as The BeeKeeper property, which Barnett said will bring more green space to the city.
“Our quiet purchase of this land will permanently protect this valuable property for the enjoyment of our residents, a huge part of keeping our Emerald City so green,” he said.
Officials hope to transform the property — which was once an old bee farm — into a trailhead of sorts, with access to the city’s Cloverport Green Space and the Clinton River Trail. The combination of mature trees, the topography and the surrounding green space on the property will provide the public with scenic views and valuable passive recreational opportunities, according to city officials.
As the nation, state and many cities struggle with burdensome debt, Barnett said he’s proud Rochester Hills is the first city of its size to be completely debt free in the state of Michigan.
“We owe no one anything, and that feels really, really good,” he said.
Of the 31 cities in Oakland County, Barnett shared that Rochester Hills has the second lowest tax rate, only behind Troy.
“We’re doubling down on our investments, paying in cash and keeping the lowest taxes in the region,” he added.
The city has a commercial vacancy rate of just over 6%, which Barnett said is 22% lower than Oakland County; and an unemployment rate of 3%, which is about 33% lower than the national average.
The city, the mayor said, has brought in over $85 million in grants over the last three years, supporting everything from roads to parks to election equipment to new pathways to stewardship of greenspaces.
“I can tell you that there is no community in southeast Michigan, with the possible exception of the city of Detroit, that has received more state grants than we have over the past two years.”
Rochester Hills residents have come to expect an exceptionally high level of service in a financially prudent way, Barnett said.
Conducted by Probolsky Research in June, the recent 2025 Community Survey showed 94% of residents rated the city’s quality of life excellent/good, while 95% said they would recommend living in Rochester Hills to someone who asks. Residents were also extremely satisfied with Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and Rochester Hills Fire Department, with 99% saying they feel safe in their home and 98% satisfied with fire, rescue, and EMS.
“When we received the results of this survey, and we do them all over the country, we all kept doing a double-take at the data,” said Alyce Basil, managing researcher for Probolsky Research. “We just don’t see numbers this high. The numbers are really, really outstanding.”
Some other bragging points in the mayor’s speech included U.S. News & World Report ranking the city the best place to live in Michigan and the ninth best place to live in America, and that the city was ranked the safest place to live in Michigan and the fifth safest place to live anywhere in the United States, according to FBI crime data.
The Community Excellence Award, given to individuals and groups for their outstanding contributions to the city, was given to the Gifts For All God’s Children, accepted by Executive Director and Co-Founder Patti Jacques. The nonprofit organization, which has been serving families since 1937, provides essential supplies, programs and spiritual guidance to underserved children in southeastern Michigan.
“We were incredibly blessed to receive the Rochester Hills Michigan Community Excellence Award 2025. We thank the Lord and Mayor Bryan Barnett and his team for the moving presentation of this award to us,” Jacques said in a statement. “Our volunteers, staff, donors and anyone who has ever bought a Christmas gift for a child, are the true award winners and the children we serve will be the beneficiaries.”
To watch the full State of the City address, visit www.youtube.com/rochesterhillstv.