Leaving Michigan (Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor: property taxes, houses, rent)

[jeffncandace]

Originally Posted by suydam

There should be a choice for "Not Leaving"
...and maybe one for "Moving to Michigan"

That's what other threads and polls are for! So many are leaving or are talking about leaving I figured I would make a thread for them to vent, so to speak. Everyone has the ability to make a thread and a poll...feel free!

[MidwesternBookWorm]

The spouse and I are native Michiganians (he from Kalamazoo, me from Royal Oak, north of Detroit). We both loved living there, had family near by, and hoped to spend our lives there. But we were confronted with a choice between scraping by on a subsistence-level existence, or leaving.

He got his Bachelor's degree in bio-medical science in 1977. The best job he could get was counting dirty sheets in an industrial laundry. He went back to school in 1980 for his teaching certificate, and did his student teaching in the spring of 1981. He had two mentor teachers, one for biology and one for chemistry. One had been with the district 11 years, the other for 12. Both were laid off at the end of the school year.

I got a business degree in 1979. The only job I could get was running the cash register in a Chinese restaurant.

He spent 24 hours in one region of South Texas, interviewed with three school districts, and got three job offers. I got an entry-level job in the accounting department of a local retailer in the same community where he took a science teaching position.

We hated leaving Michigan, and never, ever felt the sense of belonging or comfort in Texas that we had in Michigan. But at least in Texas, we were both working in our fields, both had insurance, could afford to have children, bought a house, and achieved a modest level of success.

We've since returned to the Midwest, and are living in Madison, Wisconsin, a community that reminds us both a lot of what Kalamazoo felt like three decades ago. The biggest difference is that the industries here are widely diversified, heavily tech oriented, and the economy is extremely robust, with unemployment around the 2% level.

We've returned to Michigan for visits at times over the years, and there's always a sense of wistful sadness. On a fundamental level, it will always truly be home to us, but living there doesn't seem to be a viable option.

I wish Michigan and its residents nothing but the best, and I truly hope that things turn around there. That hasn't happened in the past three decades, but perhaps some day it will. It would be nice to think that maybe our grandkids might be able to make a decent living there; maybe they'll have the homecoming we've never had.

[pjmiami]

Great post, Bookworm; our experiences and the attendant emotions are remarkably similar to yours except that we moved to S. Florida instead of to Texas. Lucky you to have found your way back to the Midwest, especially to a place as vibrant as Madison (we are still in Florida). Although I am now 100% mobile with my job and, therefore, could live anywhere, my husband's very good job that he loves could keep him here indefinitely. Our best solution so far is to plan for a modest second home (read: cottage!) on one of the many beautiful lakes in Michigan so that we can at least spend part of our time in the place we still consider "home."

[xmichigander06]

After 6 months of searching, I found a company willing to relocate me and my family from Michigan. We moved 1 year ago to NC, and we are all very happy for the change. Simply put, salaries are higher and everthing else is lower. We no longer hear the daily doom and gloom of plant closings and dreadful unemployment. We have sunny winters, new jobs, and believe it or not even the boating is better! The state actaully has a tax surplus, despite the fact that my taxes are 1/3 of what I paid in Michigan. Add to this, friendly upbeat people, better restaurants, better healthcare providers, and money to build new roads (not just rebuild the old ones), and new parks and bike trails. In Michigan I was trying desparately to sell my boat, here I am now looking to trade for a bigger boat- life is good!

And to the question about riding a rice burner out of the state, the answer is - you better believe it!
I traded my Mexican-built POS American car for a reliable Indiana built Subaru, seems even the Japanese car-makers care more about American workers (and American car-buyers) than our own Big 3!

[lady blue]

Originally I left MI for several reasons mainly for my kid's sake and I got a scholarship to an Indiana College as a returning single mom student. I couldn't pass this up. I had been to many states as a child and didn't think it would be difficult to move, esp. to Indiana. But Indiana is a strange state. Once I graduate I will be selling my home and moving back to MI. And I will have a job first, thanks for the advice. The only thing I can say is there is not much crime down here and it's cheaper to live here, but it has it's drawbacks. There are no sports teams (except the Colts) no hockey, no baseball and no good shopping malls!! We finally got an Applebees but it took 5 years! If you're not 'hoosier' born people are indifferent to you. If you don't attend a church it's even worse and when you tell them you are from Detroit, they run away...

[magellan]

Originally Posted by xmichigander06

After 6 months of searching, I found a company willing to relocate me and my family from Michigan. We moved 1 year ago to NC, and we are all very happy for the change. Simply put, salaries are higher and everthing else is lower. We no longer hear the daily doom and gloom of plant closings and dreadful unemployment. We have sunny winters, new jobs, and believe it or not even the boating is better! The state actaully has a tax surplus, despite the fact that my taxes are 1/3 of what I paid in Michigan. Add to this, friendly upbeat people, better restaurants, better healthcare providers, and money to build new roads (not just rebuild the old ones), and new parks and bike trails. In Michigan I was trying desparately to sell my boat, here I am now looking to trade for a bigger boat- life is good!

And to the question about riding a rice burner out of the state, the answer is - you better believe it!
I traded my Mexican-built POS American car for a reliable Indiana built Subaru, seems even the Japanese car-makers care more about American workers (and American car-buyers) than our own Big 3!

Wow! You're like a rock star or something.

[rjmerrick]

I am leaving Michigan due to my job being relocated. I just started working for this company barely 2 years ago and the company I worked with prior was just bought out by a California company. So, either way, if I stay I would have to start looking for employment once AGAIN and I don't want to do it.

I have lived in Michigan all of my life and I HATE to leave but, there is nothing here (I have a college degree but, it is not engineering, IT or automotive related in anyway). I believe we are in the mess we are due to decisions the auto companies AND our state government made 2-3 decades ago. And, the current state legislature's squabbling is NOT helping matters (or, giving me any confidence that things are going to turn around any time soon).

I already get too much grief on what kind of car I drive - I drive what is the most fuel efficient and what I could afford. The Big 3 at the time did not have a car that fit that criteria so, I did not buy from them. Maybe they do now but, it is too little, too late.

I do have one suggestion - why don't we start shouting at the rest of the states about our existence outside of city limits of Detroit? I mean don't other people realize we have a longer coastline than Florida and have more wilderness that most states east of the Mississippi? It seems whenever I am outside of Michigan - people's perception seems to center only on Detroit and never outside of it!

[TeacherMan]

Originally Posted by Great Lake Boy

And what your driving! Would be interesting to see the amount of people leaving driving **** rides.

There are Hondas made in OH, Toyota trucks made in TX and Fords made in Mexico... so what difference does the brand make?

(And WHY must you use an ethnic slur?? )

By the way, I am moving out and drive a Dodge and a Saturn...does that make my vote more valid??

-TM

[magellan]

Originally Posted by TeacherMan

There are Hondas made in OH, Toyota trucks made in TX and Fords made in Mexico... so what difference does the brand make?

(And WHY must you use an ethnic slur?? )

By the way, I am moving out and drive a Dodge and a Saturn...does that make my vote more valid??

-TM

I'm staying and have always driven Hondas and Nissans, so maybe our votes cancel each other out?

I too don't get the ethnic slurs and Japanese bashing to make a (any) point.

[bubbagirl]

Originally Posted by magellan

I'm staying and have always driven Hondas and Nissans, so maybe our votes cancel each other out?

You know..... stranger things have happened......

How do you calculate a family of 2 toyotas, 1 honda, 1 chevy truck? The truck uses 20x more gas than all 3 rice burners put together, so does that swing any votes??