[scolls]

Marion is fantastic. It's also near Cadillac where there are plenty of jobs. You just need to be positive and have marketable skills. Cadillac is also the major shopping hub near Marion. They have all kinds of ameneties. The bakers also know your name. It's wonderful. You're also near Harrison where you can go to Airport Auto for all of your auto needs. You can also skip over to Gladwin and buy baked goods from the Amish.

[Justplainjoe]

Thank you folks, this is exactly the type of stuff I was looking for. What about winter? Is it to daunting? If you could find work there, would YOU live there (Osceola county MI)? I know there is an Amish community there however I rather LIKE the Amish. They work hard, and they are honest and fair. Seems the Marion community appears to be like this. Thoughts?

[scolls]

Originally Posted by Justplainjoe

Thank you folks, this is exactly the type of stuff I was looking for. What about winter? Is it to daunting? If you could find work there, would YOU live there (Osceola county MI)? I know there is an Amish community there however I rather LIKE the Amish. They work hard, and they are honest and fair. Seems the Marion community appears to be like this. Thoughts?

Nope. Pick a town of 2k at random in Maryland. Go there and see if you like it. If you do you'll like Marion. Make sure the town you pick is 3 hours from Baltimor-DC-Philadelphia and isn't within 2 hours of a city of 100k people. You may have to go into Pennsylvania or Virginia for this. If so, subtract a couple points because the scenery is nicer in those states than Marion.

[snoshoewalkr]

Justplainjoe,
I live near Marion. Your visit come October will help you form your own opinion about the area, but posts # 2,4, and 8 come closest to the truth. And I would disregard posts # 11 and 13. Scolls is a master of negative sarcasm, which doesn't really help someone looking for solid information.
And, if you are in A-land serving our country, I thank you for your service. My BIL was there a year ago. It was a happy day when he returned! Godspeed!

[scolls]

Originally Posted by snoshoewalkr

Justplainjoe,
I live near Marion. Your visit come October will help you form your own opinion about the area, but posts # 2,4, and 8 come closest to the truth. And I would disregard posts # 11 and 13. Scolls is a master of negative sarcasm, which doesn't really help someone looking for solid information.
And, if you are in A-land serving our country, I thank you for your service. My BIL was there a year ago. It was a happy day when he returned! Godspeed!

Disregard post # 13 because you'll soon find out any post that isn't glowing about northern Michigan tends to be disregarded. Marion is just a random small town in Michigan. There is nothing special or unique about it. There are hundreds just like it in Michigan.

If you don't have a job lined up, good luck. You'll have to drive to Cadillac to work at the Walmart.

[1coolcustomer]

Originally Posted by scolls

Disregard post # 13 because you'll soon find out any post that isn't glowing about northern Michigan tends to be disregarded. Marion is just a random small town in Michigan. There is nothing special or unique about it. There are hundreds just like it in Michigan.

If you don't have a job lined up, good luck. You'll have to drive to Cadillac to work at the Walmart.

Sounds good, I can look forward to seeing your bright sunshiny face when you hand me my coffee at Mcdonald's drive thru on the way to work.

[scolls]

Originally Posted by 1coolcustomer

Sounds good, I can look forward to seeing your bright sunshiny face when you hand me my coffee at Mcdonald's drive thru on the way to work.

Huh?

[Justplainjoe]

Ok, work and money is not really a big issue. I COULD actually work at wal-mart (haha). I am interested in small town living. My friends who grew up in Marion love it and they have a very nice place to live, it is not too expensive and it appears to be very woodsy and pretty (New England where I grew up is like this too). They tell me the cold is lousy in the winter but I actually have the ability to head south if I feel like it, almost at will sooo that's not too much of an issue.

[Justplainjoe]

Thank you snoshoewalkr. Your opinions and insights are worth reading.

-Scolls, I have lived in a small town in maryland, one does not really get the "feel" of a small town here, also it is so expensive and congested here, that it is hard to equate it to a northern MI town. I appreciate your comments and certainly will take them into consideration.

[wagonman76]

I've driven through Marion maybe once or twice, but never stopped.

I grew up near Ellsworth which is another place with the heavy Dutch presence. They even have the "Wooden Shoe Park". I'm not Dutch, so the standoffishness is probably the same in any small town where you're not the native bloodline. One thing about so many tall thin Dutch folks is the basketball team was great.