[bburk14]

Hi all,
I would want to live on a great lake! ( meaning close like 10-20 min.)
The more inland lakes nearby the better!
I want to try to avoid lake superior snow, but I am open to ideas
I need to be near a major town like 10,000 people or more
Needs to be secluded beaches
I want a non-touristy place too!
I know this is asking a lot but I know michigan has to have what I'm looking for!

[zthatzmanz28]

You can find everything you want--except the non-touristy part. I do not think that exists within 10-15 minutes of a Great Lake.

The over 10,000 population will eliminate many nice places. Alpena area, Traverse City Area, Grand Haven Port Huron Area, are all 10K, but tend to be tourist destination.
Look around Kzoo area between South Haven and Paw Paw?

[bburk14]

Can you tell me about the alpena area?

[zthatzmanz28]

Typical northern town. Oscoda is just south on US 23. Fishing and hunting are cause to have a holiday. They used to close school the the first 2 or 3 days of deer season.
There are most of the franchise stores in town. Even Oscoda has a K-Mart (Unless it was closed?)
It is touristy in the summer, and most of hunting season, especially starting November 14. Being close to the 45th parallel it does snow during a normal winter.

[Luzette]

I wouldn't rule out Traverse solely based on the 10,000 population number you've established. What is it you most want out of the nearest city? Living close to a Great Lake is wonderful. You can always find places out of the way even if you're in a tourist area. Really in the summertime just about everywhere has tourists. As for inland lakes we've got them at every turn in northern Michigan. You won't have to travel much more than 5 miles to find one.

[bburk14]

Welll I need the big stores like wal mart and sams club, but I want to be in a tight knit communinity that doesn't die at dusk, (I want a little bit of night life)

[Luzette]

Traverse has Wal-mart and Sam's Club. It's got a night life too. Unless you're looking for 5th Ave type shopping then I don't know what a person could need an not find in TC. At times downtown has so much going on you can hardly walk around in it. You could be in a 10,000 plus populated city and have it be one of the deadest places around if it's a high crime area. So far, Traverse is minus that element. If you want good food TC has that too. We've got vineyards and top of the line coffee companies. Winter is the only down side in my view.

[notdeconcentrate]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Look around Kzoo area between South Haven and Paw Paw?

There are a ton of inland lakes in Van Buren County. Actually, here's a list with maps. Here are some good descriptions of the locations within the county, which could be helpful.

VBC is close to Lake Michigan but there is usually lots of snow in winter. The population for the "city of" South Haven is under 5k but there are more than 10k people in the greater South Haven area...it's also very touristy in the summer. As for "night life", there is definitely more going on in the summer. There's a Walmart and soon to be a Meijer. The only secluded beach in the area I can think of right now would be in Glenn, which is in Allegan County just North of South Haven...I'm not sure if the beach I'm thinking of is public, though.

[ManoftheNorth]

Originally Posted by notdeconcentrate

There are a ton of inland lakes in Van Buren County. Actually, here's a list with maps. Here are some good descriptions of the locations within the county, which could be helpful.

VBC is close to Lake Michigan but there is usually lots of snow in winter. The population for the "city of" South Haven is under 5k but there are more than 10k people in the greater South Haven area...it's also very touristy in the summer. As for "night life", there is definitely more going on in the summer. There's a Walmart and soon to be a Meijer. The only secluded beach in the area I can think of right now would be in Glenn, which is in Allegan County just North of South Haven...I'm not sure if the beach I'm thinking of is public, though.

I used to have a friend who lived in St. Joseph around there and she loved it. I think the Kalamazoo area is one of the ideal regions of Michigan... halfway between Detroit and Chicago (about two and a half hours from each), near Grand Rapids, two nearby zoos (Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek and John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids), plenty of things going on in Kzoo itself,and still lots of nice little communities like that.
The Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan are beautiful, beautiful areas with tons of lovely small towns, but that 5+ hour drive if you want to get to a big city is a killer.
(I'd like to boost my own home town of Sault Ste. Marie here :-p, but the original poster did mention that they want to avoid Lake Superior and it's extra snow...)

[notdeconcentrate]

Originally Posted by ManoftheNorth

I used to have a friend who lived in St. Joseph around there and she loved it. I think the Kalamazoo area is one of the ideal regions of Michigan... halfway between Detroit and Chicago (about two and a half hours from each), near Grand Rapids, two nearby zoos (Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek and John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids), plenty of things going on in Kzoo itself,and still lots of nice little communities like that.
The Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan are beautiful, beautiful areas with tons of lovely small towns, but that 5+ hour drive if you want to get to a big city is a killer.
(I'd like to boost my own home town of Sault Ste. Marie here :-p, but the original poster did mention that they want to avoid Lake Superior and it's extra snow...)

I agree, Kalamazoo is a great location, but I don't think it meets his criteria of living within 20 minutes from one of the great lakes. One great thing about South Haven is that you can basically drive about 30 minutes in any direction (except West...that might get a little wet) and get anything you need from Holland, Kalamazoo, or Benton Harbor/St. Joe.