Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Michigan
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 07-19-2016, 07:28 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,509 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hello. Me and my husband are looking to buy affordable property in the thumb area and as we get closer to retirement will maybe want to make it our permanent residence. Thinking Caro, Ubly, Bad Axe, etc. We are winter people and love the snow. Can someone tell me what life is like up there? Are there issues with drugs, crime, etc. Also, is there a lot of racism? My husband is a fairly dark skinned, Mexican descent and I am mixed. We currently live in Auburn Hills where we don't have any issues here but we know there probably isn't much diversity up there. We both have professional careers in our 40's, no children, keep mostly to ourselves. We were thinking about even further north MI (not in the thumb), but we don't want to be too far away from this area (no more than 2 hours) as most of our family is still here. Any advice? Maybe other recommendations? Thanks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-20-2016, 09:48 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,701 posts, read 79,330,237 times
Reputation: 39408
Friends who live up that way really love tawas
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 10:23 AM
 
2,210 posts, read 3,468,871 times
Reputation: 2240
What do you consider to be affordable?

The region is the least densely populated in the lower peninsula. The winters are long and cold. If you are looking for complete isolation that is definitely the place to find it in the LP.

My family had a vacation home in Harbor Beach for many years and we enjoyed it, but rarely went up in the winter as there is literally nothing to do. I don't know of racism being an issue, but can honestly say I can't recall ever seeing a non-white person in the entire region. The communities in the region are small and tight knit. Whatever your race is, you'll likely be an outsider for many years.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-20-2016, 04:38 PM
 
Location: Michigan
2,741 posts, read 2,955,416 times
Reputation: 6540
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
Friends who live up that way really love tawas
Tawas City or East Tawas would work perfect for them, but they are asking about the THUMB, and Tawas isn't in the thumb.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-22-2016, 01:25 PM
 
1,149 posts, read 1,579,061 times
Reputation: 1398
Isolation is exactly the word. And you'll see constant reminders of a time gone past. Abandoned 19th century schoolhouses, farmhouses, boarded up buildings at random intersections that signify it used to be a small town. And saying there is nothing to do cannot be overstated. Most of the towns in the thumb aren't really towns. Off the top of my head Bad Axe, Cass City and Caro could qualify as very, very small towns. There's simply not enough population density to have anything to do, and you'd have to travel quite a while for many basic conveniences.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-22-2016, 02:34 PM
 
2,210 posts, read 3,468,871 times
Reputation: 2240
Quote:
Originally Posted by VM1138 View Post
Isolation is exactly the word. And you'll see constant reminders of a time gone past. Abandoned 19th century schoolhouses, farmhouses, boarded up buildings at random intersections that signify it used to be a small town. And saying there is nothing to do cannot be overstated. Most of the towns in the thumb aren't really towns. Off the top of my head Bad Axe, Cass City and Caro could qualify as very, very small towns. There's simply not enough population density to have anything to do, and you'd have to travel quite a while for many basic conveniences.
I forgot about this. Plan on having to travel 30 minutes or more every time you need groceries, fuel or any other basic necessities.

After taking a recent vacation on the Lake Michigan side of Northern Michigan, it really struck me how the Thumb is really a world apart from the rest of the state. There is absolutely no industry or economy to speak of outside of farming. The only tourist towns I can think of are Lexington and Port Austin, and they absolutely pale in comparison to places like Saugatuck, Petoskey or Traverse City.

It's an interesting place, but I can't imagine why anyone would choose to live there full time. We had a neighbor who stayed an entire year up there and swore he would never do it again. The winters are that desolate.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Michigan
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top