Best coastal Michigan town (Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo: sales, real estate, apartment complexes)

[aquadejoe]

Please give me your thoughts and some reasons why you like a particular Michigan coastal town. We love Traverse City because of all the great outdoor activities, good schools, beautiful location, beaches and fantastic downtown. The thing is, I have lived in Michigan most of my life and really haven't experienced any other cities/towns on the water that might be what we are looking for as far as a great place to work, raise a family and enjoy the water as well as fishing, camping, skiing and hiking. My husband works in the restaurant industry and I work in the medical field. We have two young boys so good schools are important. I've heard people mention Holland, Petosky, Marquette, Grand Haven (all places I have never been) but they never elaborate on what they like about these areas or what these areas are like.

[Jandur]

Grand Haven is nice as is Holland. Petosky and Marquette I can't comment on but as I understand it they are a little bit more remote and isolated. I don't think there is much around those areas.

I haven't really spent a ton of time in Holland but I always preferred Grand Haven myself. The downtown is nice and within walking distance from the beach itself, I don't think the same is true for Holland.

Holland has a quieter beach, at least when I've been there. Grand Haven on the other hand is almost always packed. Overall Grand Haven is set up more like a coastal town.

In terms of work, there is more industry in Holland and hence more jobs, but there is a good chance that at either location you would have to commute to Grand Rapids for a job.

[jimthurber]

I've been to all of those places.
Comparing Holland and Grand Haven, I would recommend Holland. There are several beaches to choose from, which leads to it being less packed. There are also more options as far as housing goes, so you'll have a better chance to score a good deal if you shop around. Also for shopping and whatnot, Holland has a mall area with more options. The access to Grand Rapids is nice as well, with Highway 196 going right into Holland.

As far as the others mentioned, Petoskey is just amazing. Gorgeous place in the summer time. The layout is kind of messed up and I imagine could be a pain in the winter.
Marquette is ok... again I HATE the way this town is laid out, though. A better bet is Escanaba, just an hour away. Escanaba isn't much smaller, but has many advantages. Way less snow than Marquette and the beach is WAAAAAAAAAY better. Lake Michigan is far warmer than Lake Superior, it's not even close. And it's much easier to get around. Everything is mostly in one place as opposed to the odd spread out way MQT is arranged.

[allbusiness]

Have to agree about Holland. Top notch downtown. Shops restaurants, pubs, galleries, etc. Not just a summer "tourist" town like Grand Haven is. It's alive all winter long too! Excellent parks, wonderful health care, good schools, Hope College, arts, theatre, symphony, farmers market, street performers, etc. There's a vibrancy that most snall towns have lost.

Plus, Holland is diverse. Your kids will learn how to get along with people of ALL races, faiths and genders. There is everything from retirement communities to apartment complexes, as well as old inner-city neighborhoods with an influx of young professionals, and high-end lakefront properies. Plus, Grand Haven is a 20 minute drive north and Saugatuck is a 15 minute drive south. Or ride your bike! Trails go all the way from one town to another!

[michmoldman]

I love all the towns mentioned in the previous posts with TC being my favorite. But....I really love the Tawas area. If we did not want to move near TC...our next choice would be East Tawas.

[syrevo]

Charlevoix---SHHH but just keep it a secret

[skyl4rk]

I have been a Lake Michigan beach bum most of my life. After looking up and down the coast, I found South Haven to be ideal. It is surrounded by a rural area, so it has a remote northern feeling to it, even though it is in Southwest MI. The Blueberry Capital of the World has great fruit production around it, and blueberries are the greatest fruit ever.

South Haven is close enough to Grand Rapids, Holland and Kalamazoo to drive out for dinner. These three cities are the nicest midsized to larger cities in Michigan, by the way. It is close enough to Chicago (2 hrs on a good day) for a day trip downtown. Chicago is the greatest megacity on the planet and is the second greatest beach town on Lake Michigan, after South Haven.

South Haven has miles of public beach on Lake MI, which is fairly warm and good for swimming for 3 to 4 months in the summer. The beach sand is wonderful and clean. Ride your bike to the beach, hang out all day, get some food downtown, watch the sunset over the Lake. Such is life on the beach.

South Haven has the downtown right next to the harbor and marinas. There are plenty of restaurants and boat slips, and fantastic views of the harbor, Lake and lighthouse from the downtown. While going about your business, you might catch a view of our tall ship entering or leaving the harbor. The town is full of businesses and restaurants. There is still a great hardware store downtown, across the street from the farmers market. You can walk from the north pier to the south pier easily, same goes for the beaches, downtown and most of the harbor. There are great residential neighborhoods with single family homes and condos right near the beach and downtown. The town is set up well and just the right size for biking.

For getting out into the woods, the Allegan Forest is not far away, and the Covert dunes are spectacular. The Kalamazoo River is great for steelhead fishing and canoeing through the Allegan Forest. There are good biking trails through the forest too. The Black River in South Haven is also very good for steelhead from the pier or the banks upriver. Fishing on Lake Michigan is good if you are trolling for coho, lake trout or steelies. I hear the perch are biting this year, if you see a lot of boats out on the Lake to the southwest of South Beach, thats where the perch are.

Another great harbor town destination is Saugatuck. South Haven and Saugatuck are very close, about 20 miles, so it is an easy drive to visit from South Haven. I see the Saugatuck-South Haven area as one of the nicest coastal areas in the US, still unspoiled by sprawl. The region is a booming retirement location.

If you have to work, the south side of Holland is an easy 30 minute commute, get on the highway and set your cruise control, there is not much traffic. Yes there is a lot of snow but usually the highway is cleared. I found it easier to commute to the south side of Holland from South Haven, than from the Ottawa Beach area due to the traffic in Holland. Many people commute to Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo, although that is 45 minutes to an hour, which is more than I would want to drive.

This probably sounds too good to be true, but it is honestly how I feel about South Haven.

[suydam]

Technically they grow more blueberries in Ottawa County (Holland/Grand Haven). Turkeys too! Who knew?

miOttawa - About Ottawa County, Michigan
"The County leads all other Michigan counties in the production of turkeys, ornamental nursery crops, blueberries and perennials."

[eztime]

Locations like Manistee, Onekama, and Frankfort are also worth understanding.

Manistee is largest city in Manistee County but it is fairly depressed. Real estate values abound there but most are very old and in need of constant maintenance. Nice new Glens grocery store. KMART is only big box alternative, nearest Walmart is Ludington or Traverse City. You'll find downtown stores with limited hours on weekends/nights (strange for a city that is trying to attract tourists) and downtown looks downtrodden. Headline in paper today had Mayor criticizing local merchants for not staying open enough hours. Manistee has two beautiful beaches and should thrive but local politics and industrial history/union mindset seems to interfere. Feeling is a problem of low morale and or low expectations for many. Larger school system. Newer high school with new pool. Larger selection of classes and sports opportunities than either Onekama or Frankfort. But the middle school and elementary school facilities are older and in need of repair.

Onekama is very small. New school facility with a solid elementary teaching staff. K-12 share the same building, only about 300 students. Onekama feels like living back to the 1950's, simple & quiet. Many public access on both Lake Michigan and Portage Lake. Great fishing, winter activities. Sparse Shopping though. Traverse City trips are required for Walmart visits or other major purchases. If you want a slower small town atomsphere, this is the place for you. Problems with this and any small town is everyone knows your business.

Frankfort is faster paced, very tourist focused. Scenic and a great waterfront marina and beach. Fun to walk the busy street in the summer. Polar opposite of Manistee. Shops open later and welcome the business. Many restaurant choices but very busy too in the summer. Large selection of homes and closer to Traverse City than the others. Small school just slightly larger than Onekama. Older facility but solid teaching staff.

Homes are usually overpriced since many local realtors, especially in Manistee/Onekama area, aren't pricing homes to move quickly. On the positive side, many low offers are being accepted in last 12 months or so. Ask to look at sales history and check out difference between sold price/asking price. Usually over a 20% difference, sometimes up to 30-40%.

[indigonation]

Sagatuck is my favorite coast town and one of my favorite towns in the USA as well. If you haven't heard of it or haven't gone down there check it out if you can, you will not regret it. Its Not too far away from Holland. its a small town linked with Douglas I really didn't have time to explore Douglas me and my family were camping on the west side of the state and we found out our campsite was not to far from Sagatuck so we drove up there having heard it was a gay resort/artist town just to see what it was like having never been to something like that, and we didn't expect much to be there with what was on the map and we got there and all of us got excited and actually ended up spending most of the day there skipping our plans for whatever else and we rode our bikes around, there were a lot of cool shops, and artwork, and interesting unique buildings, and they had live music in the park, it was beautiful watching the fog come off the water onto the sand dunes that were like tree covered hills. Really visit it its awesome. Also there are a lot of very interesting restaurants and plenty of other things to do there.