Is Michigan and Detroit really that bad? (Flint, Hart: home, find a job)

[mrgrinch]

Everybody on TV talks about the gloom and doom of MI and that there is no hope for economic recovery and that MI will see 20% unemployment in the next 2 yrs and your only option is to leave the state. Another transplant I met compared Detroit to Baghdad. One lady I met said that suicides are common. Wow

Is it true?

[Jwo85]

When the rest of the country is seeing economic and housing boom (Going way back 4-5 years ago) and you are the only state in a recession. I would say it's that bad.

[LIS123]

I have never lived in the Detroit area, but I hear it's really bad. I know someone near Flint who says things are worse than TV portrays them. The true unemployment rate nationwide is much higher than the 9.4% they claim since it excludes people who have stopped looking for work. It has been estimated that the true nationwide unemployment rate is 16-17% (using some of the methods we used in the past). If this is true, the MI unemployment rate should be well above 20%. My guess is that the official unemployment rate (currently around 13%) will easily break 15%, meaning the true unemployment rate could be much higher than that. I would be surprised if the official unemployment rate (issued by the BLS) breaks 20%.

[michsnowlvr]

Michigan is one of the most beautiful states in the country. While there is no denying the unemployment is high, things are not as depressing or bad as people on TV (or many on this board) make them, they overdramatize everything. Over 10 million people live in this state, and many of them love it and leaving is simply not an option. Many who try to leave are right back within a year or so, finding out the grass is not greener on the other side. Some leave and love having done so. To each their own. Economic recovery will be a slow process, but there are signs that the future will probably be looking up.

[lovindfw]

I moved here about a year ago and unfortunately, I hate it here (snow, unemployment, fake niceness, money hungry cities issuing tickets for nothing, etc). The first few months here all we ever heard was "Why did you move up here?" Now, my answer is that I made one of those stupid decisions. I've stopped taking my stupid pills now and am looking to leave.

[Coldjensens]

Ilive in a subu7rb and work in Dowontown Detroit. I lived in Orange County CA for 18 years prior to moving here.

Michigan is a beautiful State with terrific people. The economy is terrible. There are parts of Detroit that are horrid. Probably do resemble bagdad, but I have never been to bagdad so I do nto know. I would bet that the people who compare Detroit to Bagdad have never actually been to either place. I stay out of those parts of Detroit

Downtown Detroit is pretty neat. It has some nice areas and there are some decent places to visit. It is very empty on weekends,except in certain areas or when htere are events.

Detroit Metro has a better collection of really nice suburbs and small towns than anywhere I have ever been. the variety is amazing. Other places have some suburbs that are as nice or nicer, but no where that I have ever seen has so many nicesuburbs and so much variety in types of suburbs. It really is a wonderful place.

Michigan is neat. There is reasoonably clean fresh water everywhere. Forests abound even in the towns and smaller cities. Wherever you are, you can drive half an hour or less and find roadside farm stands during the harvesting seasons. Since we are cooped up for at elast some of the time in the winter, people really let go and enjoy the outdoors in thenice weather. Winter cna actually be fun too. (It just lasts too long())

The economy is a mess. It is not destroyed entirely, but things are very tough. Unemployment is high and it is climbing. The State lacks good leadership and many of the cities are worse. There are soem jobs, not many, but they are out there. Uemployment would be higher, but a lot of the people who get laid off, leave. The economy will probably get somewhat worse before it begins to get better. We are probably looking at another two years before there is any sign of recovery. Michigan will probably be a bit behind the rest of the country in recovery and it will never fully recover. OTher industries will step in to replace the auto industry, but Michigan will not likely be the powerhouse of industry that it was. One thing that will turn things around is all of the fresh water. Water is becomming a precious and rare commpodity and we have loads of it.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by mrgrinch

Everybody on TV talks about the gloom and doom of MI and that there is no hope for economic recovery and that MI will see 20% unemployment in the next 2 yrs and your only option is to leave the state. Another transplant I met compared Detroit to Baghdad. One lady I met said that suicides are common. Wow

Is it true?

Except for the suicide rumors (there has only been a half dozen or so who went off over-passes)---- the rest is painfully true...

[gwinn_raptor]

Michigan sucks, i cant wait to leave.
Winters get harder and harder by the year.
I am sick of being on anti-depressants all winter long.
I am young, ready to see the sun, and am ready to start living my life all year rough, not just 3 months out of the year!

[Va-Cat]

Although I will readily admit that I haven't lived in the Detroit area or Michigan in over 20 years, there are good things about Detroit. The majority of the people in Detroit are still some of the best I've ever had the pleasure to meet. I have many many memories of Detroit. Partying down at Cobo during concerts, screaming my head off cheering for the Tigers and the Red Wings, chowing down at the fesivals at Hart Plaza, staying up all night to get a place right on the break wall for the hydroplane races and almost getting my eyebrows singed from flaming cheese in Greek Town. These are all things I can't find anywhere else in the world. Are there problems? Of course and its gonna take someone a whole lot smarter than me to find the fix for those problems. It all comes down to one question.... Would I move back to Michigan and the Detroit area? Yup in a heartbeat- even with all of its problems it still is and will always be home to me. I bet there are a lot of us out here in other parts of the country that feel the same way.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by gwinn_raptor

Michigan sucks, i cant wait to leave.
Winters get harder and harder by the year.
I am sick of being on anti-depressants all winter long.
I am young, ready to see the sun, and am ready to start living my life all year rough, not just 3 months out of the year!

Go outside. THe sun is shining now.

If you cannot get out and enjoy spring, fall, and winter, then you really need to get out of here. This is not a place for summer only types. If you are a summer only type of person, look at San Diego CA and the surrounding towns. That is the closest thing to year round summer that you will find where it is no intolerably humid. Just bring loads of money or a half dozen roommates. It is expensive.

Parts of Aridzona are warm and dry pretty much year round too. Not as expensive there.

For either place, bring some water with you. They will be out soon. However you will really like living in either place.

For the OP, if you are thinking about coming here, make sure that you like all four seasons. If you feel like you cannot live except in the summer, you will be miserable here. If you like all four seasons and you can find a job, you will love it here.