Living in Northern MI, is it that hard ? (Traverse City, Ludington: jobs, home)

[BurtsBees]

For those who don't know, SCS means St. Clair Shores.

[DRD]

Originally Posted by missfyr

We live in northern lower Michigan just south of Alpena in a small village called Ossineke. We used to live in Joburg (Johannesburg) and frankly, had I not grown up in Alpena I probably wouldn't have survived! I miss Joburg, especially Paul's Pub and their spectacular cream of mushroom soup (you gotta try it!)

Our lifestyle is a culture shock to out of towners, they make me feel like I should be in a museum.......think back to mid to late 1800's! We do things on a daily basis that most out of towners look forward to doing for a week in the summer, then can't wait to get back to 'civilization.' Chopping wood, hauling water, planting and harvesting all season long, then canning, freezing and preserving, getting up at 5 am to start laundry so it can be hung outside to dry before nightfall, cooking dinner over an open fire, stuff like that. Though we have modern conveniences like a computer (obviously, haha), tv, microwave oven, we live frugally and as cheaply as possible. Doing alot of hard work really does pay off!

As I mentioned, the winters.......I have snowshoes and they can be a blast, especially after the snow falls all night long. You can see things that 'city slickers' only dream about! Oh, and don't forget the northern lights. With little to no light pollution up here, it's a grand show.

Experiencing a summer here can be a bit deceiving for most people. That's what happened to my better half, one of those previously mentioned 'city slickers' who commuted to work 2 hours every day, living in a small apartment, making some $30-40/hour doing design. Then the cutbacks came. And he decided it was time to move up here for good. Thinking he'd 'live the easy life,' as he put it.

Nope.

He's gone from sitting in an office in front of a computer to being a lumberjack/mechanic/construction worker/maintenance/go-fer. He lands temporary design jobs here and there, and stays current with his skills by using autocad and unigraphics on a regular basis to just design something to build.

Oddly enough, he says he's never been happier! So, it's possible to make it up here. You just have to really and truly want to do the work and downgrade your lifestyle somewhat.

I know what you're talking about when you mention the 1800's type life.

When I was a kid in Canada, my Mom used to cook on a woodstove all year and in the summer we ate a lot of barbecue stuff. The woodstove was also the only source of heat except for small heaters placed in the doorways of each bedroom on nights it would dip to -40.

Mom had a clothes line and an old wringer washer that she would set up in the kitchen on wash days.

We also had a large garden in the summer and "did down" everything.

We never starved and we looked forward to bedtime after all the chores were done in the evening.

As cold as it got in our corner of northern ontario, I don't remember spending much time indoors. Kids nowadays can't remember the last time they actually did something outside short of waiting for the school bus.

As strange as it sounds I'm looking forward to going back up north, around the Soo, and to the type of life where one is forced to be more self sufficent.

Bottom line is I guess is if you're willing to put the time in you'll reap the benefits. You have to pay for a descent life one way or another.

[scarabchuck]

MissFYR,
Sounds like your husband and myself had similar careers. I make my living currently as a design/engineer. I've stayed employed this long by being able to work on all three of the major design softwares.
the girlfriend is a licensed financial planner, so we were thinking she could keep her current job and work from the house or get a job as a FP in one of the banks.
For me I figured I would work all the short term contract jobs , and then do the ATV/Snowmobile/boat repair on the side. And fall back on trying to get an oil field job but I keep hearing conflicting things on that. I've heard there isn't any jobs and if you find one it won't pay or it pays well and you will be working 70 hours a week and be on call all the time.
I just spent the last year an a half working in a small rural town in OH, probably in between the size of Gaylord and Lewiston. I figured it would be a nice test to see if I like rural living. I had absolutley no problems with it. Now
I feel her and I are on the fence with choosing this move. I think the job thing is what is keeping us from doing it. I know we would love living up there, we enjoy both the winters and the summers. And our idea of vacations are spending as much time as we can at our cabin. We aren't afraid of that, it's not being able to make a living. I guess for now we will be content with just driving up there as much as possible, which is getting very expensive with the price of gas.
Thanks for the replies.

[Freedom Fries]

Northern Michigan = expensive housing on the shores owned by the wealthy and inland people who service them. Lots of retirees, young folks don't stick around. IMHO...best wishes.

[Michigansnowflake]

We moved from Clinton Township to Charlevoix. Best thing we ever did! We are both so happy up here. The pace of life is slower, the people are friendlier, the air is cleaner, the water is a captivating blue. We live on 35 acres, no neighbors, no lights, no cement, no noise but Mother Nature herself.

We were lucky that my husband had a job to come to up here, the job market isnt the greatest and you know about the housing market........could be great for a buyer up here, lots of people trying to get out. If you can get a good job up here, nows the time to make the move IMO.

[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

Originally Posted by Freedom Fries

Northern Michigan = expensive housing on the shores owned by the wealthy and inland people who service them. Lots of retirees, young folks don't stick around. IMHO...best wishes.

i grew up in cheboygan and at least there i have to disagree-sure some subdivisions on the water are For downstate wealthier-but MANY homes and cottages on the lake have been in families for generations-many of my friends lived on lake huron or had cottages-not to mention all the inland lakes-most of my summers were spent on the water....sure i babysat in one of the wealthier neighborhoods full of downstaters-but i loved it!

so far i LOVE all the positive comments by people

[Waves5]

It's pretty..... and pretty expensive. I live at the tip of the mit; Cheboygan/Petoskey area. Unless you have a good healthcare job, good luck buying a home or living a relatively modest life. The tourist and seasonal residence from the city have driven our land and home prices through the roof and make it difficult for us to survive. They also bestow on us seasonal jobs that make squat and then we hibernate in the winter because everything is pretty well frozen over and there is no jobs, high prices and nothing to do besides ski and snowmobile. Our whole economy is reliant on city folks who drop their money and trash in the summer and a little in the winter if we are lucky. For example I currently work a part time local govenment job that pays minimum wage, plus sell what I can on Ebay, clean a couple houses for people who have summer homes here and do odd jobs and I still live in government subsidized housing because I can't afford a 5 acres piece of land that is $75,000 or a house that is $200,000. Sure, I love to live frugally, though it is getting to the point where even that is becoming expensive. I mean what is the point of living in a shack on a $75,000, when I can't even get a job to pay for the land alone. I am sorry it sounds shrewed, but I am just giving you a raw account of life up here, but it is the story of many people I know.

[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

Originally Posted by Waves5

It's pretty..... and pretty expensive. I live at the tip of the mit; Cheboygan/Petoskey area. Unless you have a good healthcare job, good luck buying a home or living a relatively modest life. The tourist and seasonal residence from the city have driven our land and home prices through the roof and make it difficult for us to survive. They also bestow on us seasonal jobs that make squat and then we hibernate in the winter because everything is pretty well frozen over and there is no jobs, high prices and nothing to do besides ski and snowmobile. Our whole economy is reliant on city folks who drop their money and trash in the summer and a little in the winter if we are lucky. For example I currently work a part time local govenment job that pays minimum wage, plus sell what I can on Ebay, clean a couple houses for people who have summer homes here and do odd jobs and I still live in government subsidized housing because I can't afford a 5 acres piece of land that is $75,000 or a house that is $200,000. Sure, I love to live frugally, though it is getting to the point where even that is becoming expensive. I mean what is the point of living in a shack on a $75,000, when I can't even get a job to pay for the land alone. I am sorry it sounds shrewed, but I am just giving you a raw account of life up here, but it is the story of many people I know.

you say "cheboygan/petoskey area" they are 45 min apart-if you are closer to p-town then yes i see maybe it is harder-but it is not like that EVERYWHERE up north...if this person has skills then they will be able to work hard and be happy up north...i worked for the government up north and made mroe than min wage and at that time i wasn't even done with my college career.....if someone is willing to take a little sacrifice to enjoy the most beautiful surroundings then please encourage them....

[Waves5]

Originally Posted by mofromcheboygankalamazoo

you say "cheboygan/petoskey area" they are 45 min apart-if you are closer to p-town then yes i see maybe it is harder-but it is not like that EVERYWHERE up north...if this person has skills then they will be able to work hard and be happy up north...i worked for the government up north and made mroe than min wage and at that time i wasn't even done with my college career.....if someone is willing to take a little sacrifice to enjoy the most beautiful surroundings then please encourage them....

I live in Levering and have lived in Petoskey and Alanson. They can do what they like, I am just telling it like it has been for me and many of my friends and family. I'm sure someone who moves up here and hasn't sacrificed and lived up here their whole life will have better luck. But it makes me mad that someone who has lived up here their whole life can't even afford to live in their own backyard, and people from the city can move up here with their money and life the great life and still get a great view, not to mention the hundreds/thousands of seasonal residents. I have skills and ability to work hard, there just isn't jobs for a average skilled person, that pay enough to survive up here.

[bluebird39]

I don't think it's "hard" to live up here. t's not really expensive either. One reason we moved here was because it wasn't expensive. Yes, it does cost money to heat for the long winter. We chop our own wood, and heat with wood. As gas prices get more and mroe expensive it's getting harder and harder to live up here. Cities with healthcare and basic shopping are few and far between. If you didn't need to drive for these thigns and jobs, it'd be less expensive. We have a ton of houses, all on an acre or more, that are under 100,000. Other than the deep south, I can't think of many places that have houses that cheap. I wouldn't move here without a secure job lined up though...

It's somewhat true though that there are a lot of retirees up here. I was shocked when I moved up here that I didn't see a whole range of population, and it's hard to make friends when there's a whole segment of the population missing. There are some of us up here between the ages of 18 and 60, but not as much as in a lot of places. Yes, a lot of year round folks have either grown up here, or have buisineses that are very dependent on seasonal folks. I'd guess that 80% of the houses around here are second homes and some are only used a few weeks out of the year. I think there was some "investment buying" that sent house prices up, but that's done. I actually had my taxes lowered this year by the county without my intervention. You know things have got to be bad when that happens. We've lost a ton of money by buying in the summer of 2006, but still enjoy living here for the most part. For those who do live up here year round, it's a very tight-knit community. We are amused by the city folk who come up here and are glad that we don't live in a big city.