[gypsy88]

Hubby and I grew up in the SE Metro Detroit area. Have lived in small towns like Fair Haven and Oakland Township and really enjoyed it. Love the peace and quiet. Currently live in Albuquerque, NM and probably looking to relocate back to Michigan in a few years and considering the U.P. this time - multiple reasons: lower crime, less congestion, like the outdoors, away from family drama. I should be able to do my job remotely from home so we will have at least one income immediately.

These are the towns/cities we are considering. Can I get some commentary on bad/good points of each? We will plan a trip later this year, but trying to do as much research as possible. My sis went to NMU so I've been around that area before. I would prefer something a little less hilly even though I really love the town.

Want to live IN town with stuff to walk to, even if it's the post office or the library. Probably looking at an older frame built house and under 1500 sq. ft. We don't have any kids at home. The town doesn't need to be huge, but some basic needs like grocery store, pharmacy, a doctor's office, library, maybe some good places to eat (not fancy, just good food). A good hardware store would be a huge plus. And like I said, less hilly = better. I'm going to guess that would be the Escanaba area. But never been there so somebody please fill me in. All I can do is Google Maps/Earth and that's just not the same.

Here is the list:
Iron Mountain, Kingsford
Escanaba, Gladstone
Ishpeming, Marquette, Negaunee

Thanks in advance for your help!

[mostie]

We moved to Iron Mountain in September- so I can tell you what I know about it so far. We are in town, and bought a house here. The house prices are verrrry reasonable, and in all honesty I think you can get more bang for your buck here, so to speak, and there are a lot of houses for sale, both here and in Kingsford.

The town is definitely walkable, although we've been having some major cold the last few days, which, from what I have been hearing from the locals, is colder than normal (it was -14 two days ago, without the windchill!). You have to go up a hill to get to our house, although we are in a regular neighborhood, just a couple of blocks from Stephenson, the main street, also knows as U.S. 2. The hill isn't really that bad at all, and it's a short one- those seem to be the only kind of hills around town. One thing I can tell you, they completely keep the streets cleaned up around here, even on the side streets which is a huge relief.

Store-wise, there is a super Walmart, Kmart, and Home Depot (also several hardware stores here and in Kingsford) in the same little complex- Dickinson Hospital and the V.A. hospital- assorted Dr. and Dentist offices...there is a Super One grocery store, and Econo Foods- lots of fast food places (Taco Bell, Wendy's, Burger King, three Subways between here and Kingsford)--there are also several local restaurants, a couple of Chinese food places, Italian, etc.- these are all on Stephenson, and there are quite a few pasty places (Jean Kay's...yum, lol). We are just a couple of blocks from the library, city hall, courthouse- it's all pretty much on the main street so easy to get to, and very walkable. Gorgeous Lake Antoine on the edge of town (walkable, too), along with the mine in the middle of town (underwater, so looks like a small lake on either side of the bridge-)-the also have a bat cave out behind our place up over the side of the hill, has a look out and trail, I believe- haven't been there yet~

Kingsford is connected to Iron Mountain, the main road there is Carpenter- if you drive around three blocks over from Stephenson, you are on Carpenter- if you drive down Carpenter a few blocks, you are in Kingsford- they have a JC Penney there, Sears Outlet, Shopko, Payless Shoe Source and quite a few smaller shops as well- restaurants, etc. You didn't mention kids, but there is a High School in Iron Mountain as well as one in Kingsford- it's smaller towns, but not too terribly small (I'm guessing...13,000 or so between the two of them? And that's just a guess- someone here told me 20,000 but then someone else on these boards said, "huh-uh", so who knows, lol). They have little festivals when it's warmer, a Farmer's Market that is going on now, but inside as opposed to outside due to the weather. Lots of hunting, fishing, outdoor things during winter and spring and summer. And the fall here, omg....soooo beautiful, and I'm not kidding-just breathtaking. You can see the Northern Lights quite often outside of town, it's just a beautiful area, and we do love it.

Hope that helps a little bit- I know before we came out here, I had a really hard time trying to find things out about it, because I had never been here.

[mostie]

I forgot to add....you will never in your life meet friendlier, nicer, more helpful people than you will here. Wonderful small-town type feel, you wouldn't believe it. Everybody smiles and waves, even if you pull out in front of them on the street or something, lol.

[mostie]

Sorry, me again- I keep thinking of things to add, haha- one thing that really got me a good one around here, is people have a tendency to go into stores, etc., and leave their car running in the parking lot. Being originally from California, I was appalled, lol- but it seems to be the norm around here- I do it all the time myself, now! As far as crime, etc. go, I'm sure there are little things here and there (they make the newspaper, and there's never more than one or two at a time, lol), nothing like big city or even downstate (we lived downstate for a couple of years, as my husband is from there). Quiet, sort of sleepy, very laid back here.

[gypsy88]

Thanks Mostie, you've really got me excited about checking it out now. The crime is so bad here where I'm at, you don't dare leave your car running with the doors locked. As I get older I don't want to have eyes in the back of my head continuously. LOL

Have you been there in the summer yet? I've heard different stories about how bad the mosquitoes are. Probably depends exactly where you are, how wooded it is, how swampy it is... how is your impression in the area where you live?

I really appreciate all your input, it really helps get a visual and opinion of the place. Thank you for taking the time to write all that. It is extremely helpful!! You certainly fit in with these folks! Mmmm...can't wait to get me some pasty with gravy.

[gypsy88]

Oh yes, and who is your internet provider? Are they pretty reliable?

[yoopergal]

I have lived in both Marquette and Escanaba. Both have low crime. Marquette is a better place to live, in my opinion. It has a beautiful, walkable lakefront on Lake Superior, more restaurants, and more live music, culture, and arts thanks to NMU. Although, MQT has lots of hills, and gets WAY more snow than Escanaba.
Escanaba is in the "banana belt" (due to the location on Lake Michigan), and the weather there is much more mild. The land is definitely more flat than MQT. Nice people there in Esky, and it has most everything you need. A "must try" restaurant is The Stonehouse--fantastic food and service, I make it a point to stop there when I am in town. The lakefront park there is also really nice. The UP State Fair is located in Escanaba and runs in August. Esky is only a couple of hours from Green Bay WI, which has more larger city amenities.
If you can get out of the cold and vacation somewhere warm for a time in the winter, even for a week or two, it makes it a lot easier to bear the cold and snow.

[yoopergal]

Charter Communications services the UP. They are okay, not perfect, but it's what you get. I haven't had too many problems with their internet or cable connection. Others may have, but I have not as of yet.

[mostie]

I have Charter too- we bundled, and haven't had any problems with that- prior to that, we had Dish for just two weeks, internet only...and omg, we practically went into the poor house, terrible, terrible, terrible! They managed to pop into our bank account when they were not authorized, just ridiculous.

[mostie]

Originally Posted by gypsy88

Thanks Mostie, you've really got me excited about checking it out now. The crime is so bad here where I'm at, you don't dare leave your car running with the doors locked. As I get older I don't want to have eyes in the back of my head continuously. LOL

Have you been there in the summer yet? I've heard different stories about how bad the mosquitoes are. Probably depends exactly where you are, how wooded it is, how swampy it is... how is your impression in the area where you live?

I really appreciate all your input, it really helps get a visual and opinion of the place. Thank you for taking the time to write all that. It is extremely helpful!! You certainly fit in with these folks! Mmmm...can't wait to get me some pasty with gravy.

We landed here in early August last year- the weather was actually really nice, not too hot, not too cold- where I'm from, August is the hottest, maybe it's different here. There were mosquitoes here and there, but I don't recall being pounded by them, lol. As far as being in the woods, we aren't technically in the woods but there are woods absolutely everywhere around us- there is one pic I found of Iron Mountain that actually looks like it, lol- let me see if I can post it here, it's somewhat small....


The one thing that concerned me last year, were the wasps/hornets. Kinda scary, and I remember jumping out of our car in the middle of a parking lot a couple of times because one got in, and I don't think I've ever unbuckled my seatbelt and hopped out so fast in my life, haha. Other than that, no more than usual. I would suspect that if you're deep in the woods, it would be worse, though~