Is Ann Arbor the only area in that area doing good? (Grand Rapids: housing, condo)

[remy186]

I heard the city of Ann Arbor was doing good economically. Is that the only city in the area doing well?



Remy

[allbusiness]

Many of us are doing great in West Michigan! Grand Rapids, Holland and Grand Haven have seen manufacturing losses, sut the service industry is doing quite well.

[Coldjensens]

Aside from west Michigan, yes. Ann Arbor is more or less holding its own. Nearby areas are mostly having trouble, but that always changes. if you are going to stay more than two years, expect the economic climate to be different.

[magellan]

In addition, Lansing is not doing too badly. Much like GR, I think they've gained a couple thousand jobs since 06. There are a lot of insurance companies in Lansing/East Lansing/Okemos that are expanding.

Actually, with the now closing of Pfizer, AA has a long slog ahead, but I think prospects are good.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by magellan

In addition, Lansing is not doing too badly. Much like GR, I think they've gained a couple thousand jobs since 06. There are a lot of insurance companies in Lansing/East Lansing/Okemos that are expanding.

Actually, with the now closing of Pfizer, AA has a long slog ahead, but I think prospects are good.

Esp. East Lansing. New condo, hotel projects are going up right and left. A $30M art museum is being built on Michigan State's campus along Grand River and a new City Center project is being built to house retail, housing and MSU's natural history museum. Grand River ave is a red hot RE ticket right now...

[Brent85]

Midland county is pretty good, unemployment is comparable to the national average.

[100%Michigan]

not at all

[Sociologist]

Remy.... if your talking technically (and not what you hear on the news) yes Ann Arbor has the lowest unemployment rate in the state for its size. Not to say other cities are doing horrible, but Ann Arbor is one of the only cities to not have a dramatic rise in unemployment even after phizer had plans to leave. This site as well as other have good information regarding detailed employment data. Cheers!

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Sociologist

Remy.... if your talking technically (and not what you hear on the news) yes Ann Arbor has the lowest unemployment rate in the state for its size. Not to say other cities are doing horrible, but Ann Arbor is one of the only cities to not have a dramatic rise in unemployment even after phizer had plans to leave. This site as well as other have good information regarding detailed employment data. Cheers!

Phizer has just recently begun its shutdown mode, so of course the unemployment figures wouldn't be effected yet. Goes back to my point that unemployment is a red herring stat. You have to look at raw non-farm employment numbers. While unemployment has stayed low in AA, there are fewer jobs today in Ann Arbor than there were in 2003, or 2004, 2005 or 2006. It's trending downward.

Lansing/EL and GR are trending upward (more people are employed today than last year, the year before, or the year before that). But the "labor force" has also increased, so the unemployment rate has stayed static, but still only about 6%.

[100%Michigan]

Grand Rapids, Lansing, East Lansing are doing well also