[mike jones]

I have lived in southeastern lower Michigan all my life. (42 years)
I really in all honestly want to stay.
However economic reasons are forcing my hand.

I do work, but do not make as much money as I could else where.
What scares me silly is that if my job disappears I am going to be up the proverbial creek. That is why I am agressively marketing myself out of state.
I want to stay ahead of the curve.

I have 3 pre-teen boys, soon they will want to look for their first jobs.
They should not have to compete against adults who are working minimum wage level jobs to support their families.
As much I love this state I do not see a turn around coming within in the next 2 or 3 years. More than likely it is going to be 15 to 20 years.
Are any of you who are struggling to raise a family willing to wait that long?

Folks you have to realize the problems in Michigan are structural not cyclical .
The manufacturing jobs that have been eliminated are gone forever, they are not coming back.

[Shellie1]

The Michigan economy stinks. And I agree, it is going to be years before (and if) it turns around. Many, many of our 30 something friends are struggling. We are seriously thinking about leaving. Its really not our first choice as the majority of our family is here. However, we dont want to worry about money & bills all the time like we have had to this last year. Also we want to be able to provide a good life for our child. Our careers are not related to the auto industry, but the whole state is in a downward sprial. This is the first time in my "parental life" that we are actually stressed about Christmas. That is unacceptable.

[nini]

Ann Arbor is very nice, great people, lots to do with kids, but pricey. I grew up in Midland and it is also very nice for families. It has grown a lot and good schools. Homes are affordable.

[GAisGreat]

nini, thanks for the actual suggestions and no mini-story about how bad your life sucks and its all Michigans fault ;-)
We looked at Ann Arbor, it is a bit out of our range, Midland is still on our short list, though my wife is really liking the west side of the state around GR.

Shellie1 if this is the first time in your 'parental life' things have been tight around Christmas then consider yourself pretty **** lucky.

Seriousely, what do all you people do for a living that things are that grave in MI? Not trying to start anything, I'll be the first one to admit I sounded like all of you when I left MI 5yrs ago...And I will admit moving to the South probably did open a lot of doors that otherwise wouldn't have happened staying up there, but I also had no formal education and little job skills at the time. But if we had stuck it out, we could've made it, granted it may not have been as easy as it would be to move somewhere w/tons of growth.

At this point been there, done that, spent 10yrs combined in the South & Texas, can't wait to get back to MI!!!

[Blue Grass Fever]

The Marshall area is another region to look into.

[nini]

I have been to GR only once. I have friends who live on the west side of the state and they say it is beautiful. Much different than SE MI. There was a write up a couple of years ago how the west side is like the Hamptons, in that is very pretty with great beaches. The Michigan economy is cyclical. This has happened in the 70's from what my father has told me. I was a too young to remember that time period. Good luck and things will rebound here.

[Shellie1]

InGA~

No offense taken in your post. Seriously, we really dont want to leave. Our friends and family are here. We grew up here, we moved to a smaller town when our child started school and planned to raise him there until he graduated from HS. We love going up north, the lakes and all the great things MI has to offer. Hubby works in construction, so obviously that has slowed down. We have had great earnings the last 5 years due to his job. Now it sucks. And yes, maybe part of that was being spoiled by the "boom" that is now over. Its just so frustrating, there was no gradual slow down, it was more a cut off. My job is extremely secure and a good one as it is in the insurance industry, I am very blessed. But I make decent $$, but not great. We are sticking it out until the school year is at least over, hopefully things will great better.

I wasnt blaming it all on MI or Granham or the Senate or whatever. Its part of life, doesnt mean I always have to like it.

[CashDaddy]

Glad you are comming back home. But the first thing I think you should consider is what type of work you do. This will determine what area of Michigan you will be able to survive in. If you are starting a new business then you will do good just about anywhere in Michigan. But if you are looking for a job that requires you have certain skills you will have to research which area is best suited for your job skills. With the gas prices and comuting 20 to 50 miles each day can be quite costly. This is something you will have to consider. I know Bay City is doing very well with new small businesses starting up. Our downtown area is almost full and the cost of living isn't that bad. The schools are great, of course Essexville schools are better yet. Housing ranges from 15k to 500k quite a aray of different style homes. I live close to Midland and out here they are building new homes all the time. I wish you luck and hope your choice is one you can live with. (just a little joke) No I wish you and yours the very best. Tim

[kate_12]

I'm going to second the motion for Grand Rapids. Its a great place to live/grow up...I should know, I did it! I also agree with the Lowell, Caledonia, Ada comments. They are very nice. To get a little away from "Bible Thumping" Christians, I'd say head for somewhere like Wayland, its about 25 minutes south of GR and 25 minutes north of K-zoo. It has good schools, decent sports, etc. Its rural without being too country. Other places might be Byron Center, Coopersville (maybe a little too country). Rockford is a wonderful school district for sports, but if your kids aren't super, then they might struggle a little in high school, due to the size of the school.

[asinglerayofhope]

Good luck with the job deal. We live in Portage, Michigan and have been very pleased with the area (beautiful, well-kept city with nice parks and lots of bikeways). The school system is excellent with great sport programs.

Kalamazoo is nice....trying to beef up the downtown...just got a new cinema there which should really help. Kalamazoo has its good and not so good parts of town. The Kalamazoo Promise is drawing people to the area because of the free college incentive. This is making the schools work at providing stronger education in Kalamazoo. There are plenty of private schools as well.

http://www.discoverkalamazoo.com/

http://www.kazoochamber.com/

http://www.kalamazoocity.org/portal/...hp?page_id=305 (you can look up the addresses/parcels of the homes and get home value)

If you want to send me a private email, I may be able to provide more information for you. Good luck!