[6.7traveler]

Hello, my wife and I are looking for a place to settle down with our kids. She is a RN and we have been travel nursing in our 5th wheel for the past year. With the kids now we want to settle down within 30-40 mins of a nice small city that has a hospital. My wife can get a job in either traverse city or marquette. We have been snowmobiling in kalkaska and loved it but never have made it to traverse city. We have family in the thumb that are dying to have us move back there even offering us 40 acres of wooded land at a great price which is very tempting. However I am a furniture builder/entrepreneur/carpenter and have bigger dreams and goals then the farmland area of the thumb can offer me. I would love to have a shop in a big town/ small city that people actually want to come visit. We are not afraid of the cold or long winters. I would like to buy acreage 30 mins outside either traverse city or marquette settle down and live out whats left of the american dream. If you were me would you rather live in traverse city or Marquette and why? Or would you take the easy way and take the 40 acres in the thumb by family? We are planning on visiting family in the thumb while we decide but want to focus our search and narrow it down. Thanks.

[michmoldman]

Tough choice. We also had that same problem...TC or Marquette, but we chose TC because it is closer to quite a few more tourist areas which is very good for my business. I would probably rather live in Marquette and the U.P., and I think we will eventually get there.
Oh...we are not in TC yet, but planning on moving soon. Headed there this weekend though!! WHOO!

[Jswee]

Traverse City but then I'm kind of biased having lived here my whole life. Love visiting the UP but like the convenience of being able to drive down and back to GR, Lansing or AA in one day if I need to. Plus Lake Superior is just too damn cold!

If you are an artisan furniture maker, I'd guess that there would be a substantially larger market in the Traverse City area for high end custom pieces than there would be in Marquette.

[dude1984]

Having spent a couple of years in Marquette for school, I would automatically go with TC. There isn't a whole lot in Marquette, which is why it is a great place to get a way from the city and relax, but living there would be tough economically.

One last thing, a sub-par winter in Marquette usually has 7 to 8 feet of snow and the all time record is around 20 feet! Expect somewhere in the middle. They don't really plow that well once you get about 10 to 15 miles outside of town. If you currently don't have 4 wheel or AWD, you'll need to get it if you move up there, and if you plan on building a place, your doors need to be off the ground so you don't get snowed in.

[6.7traveler]

Thanks for the quick replies! I have a brand new 4x4 truck so that shouldnt be a problem. I would be a lot closer to family in the thumb area if I was in traverse city but there is something about the U.P. that intrigues me... Land prices seem a lot more affordable in the U.P. as well. But if traverse city would be better fit for my custom furniture building business that would be a huge factor to consider.

[michigan83]

Your tough decision is a good problem to have. I love both of those towns, and, believe it or not, I also really like The Thumb. Especially when you get up to the tip of the thumb near Lake Huron, it's kind of a cool area.

Basically, I have no idea what you should do. But I'm jealous of the position you are in.

[darstar]

What Marquette has going overTC is we were not effected by the recession.Home values are on the increase. We are in a growth period , I find that interesting, it's like living on the frontier. There are not enough homes for our future, and the demand. Those in building are doing well here, lots of work, they just keep building, never stopped during the recession, did slow down some, ether way they keep building. Land is starting to go up in value as there becomes more demand to be in the city or close by.
Marquette was my choice 5 years ago, after doing my rearsch on CD.I am retired, this being my final house ( took four years to build, as I was my own GC ). I have lots of company as we are becoming a great place to retire. There is a demand for services here over anywhere in the UP.. I want the area to grow some more. Am considering another build for something to do. Investment here is really exciting, I think the door is closing on the best deals, looking at current prices.
Forget about the snow issue. In five years here only one winter with huge amounts of the white stuff, and they have the state of the art equipment. Temps are never all that cold the Big Lake. We get more sun than GR and it's warmer in the winter. I do not like TC, much of the shore line is private. Marquette is a green city, with lots of protected public frontage. From almost every angle you see that shining water, that inland Ocean they call Superior, and, it is ! O' by the way, we have the largest medical complex. Marquette General has been bought by the Duke group. There goal is to become like a .Mayo type of medical system.Many people in medical, more coming, they say 75 more doctors with all the support that demands.These are exciting times on the Northern Tier, which TC is not a part of, still in troll land, reason enough to move here. lol I say to everyone, come check us out. Surprising that so many just move here without checking us out first. Maybe it's because we are sort of remote, yet, it's only 45 min, to Chicago from Sawyer International.

[Tyryztoll]

IMO, the only reason one would pick Marquette over TC would be to live in a more remote and much less populated region. It's a heck of a drive to even get to Green Bay from Marquette, and if you want Minneapolis, Detroit, or Chicago, then that's a full out long haul, unless you're flying......but even then, airfares out of small towns like Marquette, where there is minimal competition between carriers, are outrageous. People live in Marquette to get away - I mean REALLY get away - from it all.

Business wise, this is a no brainer. There are many more people, with much more money to spend in TC. Moreso than Marquette, TC incorporates a wide populace into their economy, including nearby communities such as Petoskey, Charlevoix, and Gaylord. Of course, that also means more competition for ones dollar, but the point is that the action is there. Not that you couldn't run a business in Marquette, but that is not a town where people are out and about looking to lighten their wallets the way TC is. TC has loads more money from Chicago and Detroit circulating through it, and if you establish an enterprise worth frequenting, you could make an excellent go of it there.......plus, you still have some of the most beautiful scenery in the entire USA at your doorstep.

Again, not disparaging Marquette in any way. Lovely town in a spectacular natural setting, but I would definitely weigh all the factors before moving to such an isolated place.

[rotwein]

Traverse City should be your choice. We looked very closely at both Marquette and Traverse City before we moved here from Florida. Traverse City has many more restaurants, shopping, entertainment and airline flights. Also Interlochen has great music. When we considered everything Traverse City won hands down.

[6.7traveler]

Thank you for the replies. I have a few moremore questions though. Marquette has a population of around 20k and Traverse city has a population if around 15k. Is there a noticeable difference in size? Or does traverse city actually seem bigger because of tourists and surrounding communities? My aunt and uncle have a cabin in kalkaska so that could be our home base for checking out traverse city. Is a commute from kalkaska to traverse city doable? She only works 3 days a week but would need to be to work in all weather conditions. We would like to buy some acreage not live in the town itself. Also If we decide on marquette I have found lots of acreage is in champion and claims to be 25 to 30 miles to marquette. Would this commute be possible in the winter. Like i said I do have a new reliable 4x4 truck but want my wife to be safe none the less. We are in arizona so a 30 mile commute to us is nothing out here but wonder with the snow how much of a difference that would make.