[JannieJan]

Hello everyone ! My family and I will soon be relocating to Michigan from Melbourne, Australia. We are originally from the UK and have lived in Australia for 4 years. My husband is a Ford employee. I'm a feltmaker and painter. I have a 12 year old boy and a 7 year old girl. We looking for a town with a good cultural base, lots going on, cafe's, family friendly, a good choice of schools, with maybe produce/craft markets (I don't want much huh? hahhahaaha) I've only just started researching, I like the look of Ann Arbor. Any thoughts? Or other suggestions? Many thanks for you time xx

[dragon_fly_12]

It would depend on where your husband needed to be located for his job, but my first impression was Ann Arbor. There are several craft/art festivals that happen every year throughout the area including Ann Arbor, East Lansing, and going down into Ohio.

[Coldjensens]

Ann Arbor is a great place to live. It is somewhat more expensive than other areas. It would be great to be in walking distance of downtown, but then you have to put up with rowdy students.

[underink]

Originally Posted by JannieJan

Hello everyone ! My family and I will soon be relocating to Michigan from Melbourne, Australia. We are originally from the UK and have lived in Australia for 4 years. My husband is a Ford employee. I'm a feltmaker and painter. I have a 12 year old boy and a 7 year old girl. We looking for a town with a good cultural base, lots going on, cafe's, family friendly, a good choice of schools, with maybe produce/craft markets (I don't want much huh? hahhahaaha) I've only just started researching, I like the look of Ann Arbor. Any thoughts? Or other suggestions? Many thanks for you time xx

I moved to Michigan from Pennsylvania. Something I noticed up in this area is that the schools are monumentally better as far as curriculum offered. I would suggest looking into Macomb, Sterling Heights, or Utica. It's still a part of Metro Detroit, so it's very city atmosphere, but there's a large ethnic diversity here, a lot of cafes and nice areas for family to sit (there's a strip called Hall Road filled with businesses, restaurants, malls, and everything else you'll ever need, all for easy access), and the school district is apparently really good. I actually looked over my fiance's transcript who went to school here and half of it was filled with classes I've never seen offered in a high school like mine, and we were a good school. It seems you have a lot of options here, especially because there's a lost-cost community college right in Macomb. I would look a bit into Dakota schools here in Macomb and maybe give them a call and ask about their classes if you're concerned about that. I'm glad my daughter is growing up in this area myself.

There's no real set housing rate it seems. It's far more expensive than living in PA (where my rent could be as low as 300 flat a month for a little apartment), with apartments here being more like 600/mo plus some utilities, but they tend to have several bedrooms and a fireplace as well, like a small house. Actual houses are obviously more expensive to rent, but really nice. I've never lived anywhere else in Michigan to tell you what's better, but I really like it here a lot and it's a short drive to the heart of Detroit to visit the zoo, et cetera.

[Coldjensens]

If you figure out how to search for other posts, you will find that this has been discussed in great detail a dozen or so times. Some threads contain a complete discussion of all of the nicer areas in S.E. Michigan. There are dozens of great options. You are not limited to North Oakland County/Macomb and Ann Arbor. There are marvelous places to live all over the place. Often people from one area, think that their particular area is the only suburb that has it going on, but that is because they are unfamiliar with other areas. You would die before you have the chance to live in and get to know all of the terrific places to live within 50 - 60 miles of Detroit. You often hear horrible things about the city, but the downtown is pretty neat for singles or DINKS (married couples with no children - Double income no kids). The collection of surrounding suburbs has more variety and more extremely pleasant options for evry imagainable type of llifestyle (except true urban living), than anyplace that I am aware of in the US. Some other large cities have a few comparable or evne nicer subrubs, but no other city has so many and so much variety.

Your best bet is to search through the prior threads, read the discussions of various suburbs and then come back and ask questions about the ones that appeal to you.



Or you can shortcut all that and just move to Ann Arbor.

[JannieJan]

Thank you guys, I'm new to this site so I'll have a go at searching threads! Thanks for taking the time to answer my question, I'm still in shock to be honest, was not expecting to be moving to another country again!

[indigonation]

I live in Ann Arbor I would suggest here because it is very nice and there are many parks over 100 some of which have miles of trails, a lot to do outside, and there is always something going on for someone of just about any interest, or belief, Ann Arbor is very multicultural so you will fit in fine here, there is plenty to do all year long. Also its not expensive at all in my opinion although if you don't make a lot of money you will have to look around a lot for affordable apartments other than housing (if you happen upon a great deal here you'll find Ann Arbor might actually be cheaper than some places in Michigan) you'll find just about everything else very affordable (I don't make a lot of money about 800 a month) people of all incomes will have plenty to do and unless you feel envious of ritch people or hate there being a lot of million dollar mansions and beautiful neighborhoods youll be fine, I actually love walking through those neighborhoods myself I find it very peaceful and beautiful. Here are some pics Ann Arbor, Michigan: Photos good luck.

[Coldjensens]

Nice pictures!

[Newtgirl]

Grand Rapids is pretty culturally thriving as well. And I'm an MSU Grad, so I can't bring myself to suggest Ann Arbor

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by JannieJan

I'm a feltmaker and painter.

Does that mean that you are the creator of Velvet Elvises? If that is what you do, maybe Taylor would be a better choice than Ann Arbor.