[bluebird39]

Hi there,

We moved here from S Oregon.

Probably the biggest shock for me was the lack of sun (we're in Northern Michigan and it gets less sun that further South). Oregon gets much less sun than Calif. On the up side, we don't get much wildfire smoke here during the summer.

Here's a link to the state's school report cards:

https://oeaa.state.mi.us/ayp/

It helped us when researching schools.

It's also much less culturally and racially diverse here. Even than S Oregon.

And for us, even in N Michigan, there's s lot more people than I expected. Certainly not during the winter mid-week, but sumemrs up here are nuts. The population explodes, although that might not be an issue in Grand Rapids. Thers's much less public land here, even up here, and most nice places, like lakes and rivers are surrounded by private land. We bought a boat in order to enjoy the lakes. That's the only way for many places.

Your buying power should be great. Moving from Oregon we were able to realize a dream to get a house in the woods with over an acre, and to live on one income instead of living in tract housing with a tiny yard with 2 incomes barely covering expenses.

Yes, it's much more family friendly here than out West (IMO), and a totalyl different culture. That's taken some adjustment after livign my entire adult life out West. I'm not sure which is better. I really like a lot of the Western culture. I still haven't met anyone here who's from the West. I get asked why we moved here as if we were out of out minds on a regular basis. Some people here seem to not know how good they have things, even with a bad economy. Michigan is a rich state in many ways, and I think many fail to appreciate it. I recently learned that Michigan is second only to California in the diversity of crops grown here. I love the winters here and would never want to live on the West Coast again after experiencing them. The fall is spectacular! Being around deciduous trees is awe-inspiring. The lakes are incredible, although I miss the moutains dearly. The Great Lakes are one of our nations greatest treasure, IMO. Medical facilities in MI are really good too, and much cheaper than out West. Schools are much better than in Oregon too (IMO).

Good luck with yoru decision.

PS I have a kid with some "needs" too, and we are currently getting help from a place out of Grand Rapids that's incredible:

Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services

HTH

[northernguy1960]

Bluebird, we don't have mountains like you're used to out west. But we do have some gorgeous small mountains on the west end of the Upper Penninsula. I encourage you to take a vacation to the Porcupine Mountains. They are really beautiful and Lake of the Clouds is just awesome. Take a look through this:

Porcupine Mountains Convention and Visitor Bureau

[Northman]

Originally Posted by bluebird39

Some people here seem to not know how good they have things, even with a bad economy. Michigan is a rich state in many ways, and I think many fail to appreciate it.

This is very true........sometimes the ol' "don't know what you've got 'till it's gone" axiom must be applied to understand the way some people see the world around them. I felt the same way about the people in Boston when I lived there. Most of them talked about their town like it was the worst place on earth, when I found it to be a very exciting and beautiful place.

I missed Michigan for so long that I knew if I ever returned I would never take it for granted, and I sure haven't. I moved back here despite the economy, which shows how I feel about this state. I thank Heaven above every day that I got the chance to live here again and that I'm where I'm meant to be.

[geenah03]

Thank you for your input on life, experiences and opinions re: Michigan. I appreciate you all for giving me your take on what it's been like for you. We too are looking to move there not only for my husband's job, but also because we want to be somewhere different and experience new things... California is great in many ways and I will always want to come back here. But I am looking forward to seeing and experiencing Michigan!

[Biano]

PS bring some warm clothes!! Today it was a low of 5 and a high of 18..YUCK!

[Phriend]

I feel like I just answered this question in another thread.

Well, I've lived in Michigan for 28 years now -- and I'm thinking about moving out to southern California. I just can't stand the winters here any longer. You get about five months of cold here and three-and-a-half months of snow. If you're not mentally prepared for this, you will hate it here!!!

Michigan isn't so bad (if you have a job) and I've heard some pleasant things about the Grand Rapids area. Just make sure you get a good snow-blower!

Here's some weather data for Grand Rapids. Be sure to check out the average high temperatures:
Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States of America

[Bydand]

Very cool link Phriend. Thanks.

[daisymay4me]

Some people just love the snow, but after I drove by my ninty six yo neigh. pushing a snow blower and coverd with snow, I said to myself, I will not live in a land that kicks your butt for seven months out of the year. I am not going to worry about slipping a breaking a hip, not being able to go outside and go for walks on my propery without snowshoes.
pluging in my car so the oil will not freez and it will start the next morn.
Hoping that my home was installed with ice sheild because the ice is building up eight inches thick and I do not want leakage by ice dam.
hopeing the kid next door will not shovel up the roof instead of down and rip off my shingles when I am to old to do it myself.
having to buy a subaru all wheele dirve because two wheel will not get around at times in the winter when the plow trucks are not running on time.
destroying my side walk little by little by throwing salt on them, watching my new paved road crack apart from freez thaw so it needs to be replaced every eight to ten years.
trying to find that right setting on the humidistat so my home does not dry out but if I get it to high the ice builds up on my windows.
And if I want to go any where remembering to shut off the water incase we get a hard freeze.
Replacing my mail box every year becasue of it getting destroyed by snow plow.
watching my car slow die from michigan cancer.
trying not to drive in my drive way in april as the freeze thaw makes my drive mud.
Looking to the sky and asking if I will see the sun this month.
Watching my home values plumet and people looking at me as if I said my house was on the moon when I say Michigan.
No, I got out just in the nick of time. I do not have to sit in the water waiting for a ship to pluck me out. I got on a life boat.

and it is called OUT OF MICHIGAN

[mostie]

For people who love hot weather, Cali is the place to go- the up side to that heat is I can't recall it ever being humid, unless it happened to rain one day in the summer (which is rare), and then the sun came out and jacked it up to over a hundred- the humidity here is tough for me to get used to, I'm used to the dry heat~ however....I'm not sure about S. Ca., as I lived in Central most of my life- but there, expect over a hundred degrees for the majority of the summer, spring even- and often times, clear up into the fall- it felt like summer there for 8 months out of the year, and the winter's were mild- generally 50's and 60's- the air quality is horrific where I was, but you have Yosemite and Pismo, Monterey, etc. roughly 100 miles away- Frisco in one direction, L.A. in the other- skiing roughly 40 miles away, water skiing, you name it- Shaver Lake is popular for that, I'm going to try and add a pic of it here-- there aren't 'seasons' over there, not like Michiganders are used to- it stays hot, then it gets somewhat foggy and cooler, and that's about it- Word of warning: always carry a water bottle with you, lol- I used to freeze mine overnight, and by the time I had been out in the weather for an hour, it was melted and lukewarm!

[bluebird39]

Mostie,

You describe it well.

I lived in S Oregon, and it wasn't as hot as central valley, but we always had frozen water bottles in the freezer. I almost sucumbed to heat stroke my first summer there because I moved from Louisiana, where you really felt the heat, and usually were drencehd in sweat 24/7. I didn't relize the white stuff under my arms was salt, not deoderant. It took a dangerous experience to realize how important water is there. You just don't know you're as critical as you are becasue dry heat is so different than wet heat. Here (and in Louisiana), the heat is so wet. I'm not too crazy about the mosquitoes here after living out West (but they're still not as bad as in Louisiana), but don't miss those horrible yellow jackets that are everywhere out West. I also don't miss the wildfire smoke and winter inversions. My younger son has asthma, and this climate, despite the cold, has been much better for him. He's almost symptom-free now. The air quility is much better here.

Thanks for the pictures. I miss the mountains SOOO much. Those alpine lakes are so sweet. It's nice to see a lake not surrounded by cabins too.