[Karen Ferency]

Oh, my gosh! I can not believe that the Jackson you are talking about is the one where I live. I love it here...I am retired and could live anywhere in the country, but I choose here. I have lived in many other places over the years, and none much worse or better than Jackson. Jackson is like a perfect slice of the USA. Rich and poor, black and white (and other).

Years ago, Jackson was a manufacturing town, as Michigan was a manufacturing state. Now it is basically a "bedroom community" for high priced Ann Arbor and Lansing.

As for the "high crime rate" that others complain about on this site, I have yet to see it. Many of my friends do not even lock their doors when they go on vacation! I would not feel uncomfortable walking from the west side (where I live) over to Francis Street when I exercise. I have done it many times, and have not only NOT been accosted, I have never even been approached by anyone. Sure, the homes are older there, and there are poor people in that area, but they are all still God's children. Poor does not mean crook.

Yes, Jackson is going thru a hard time financially, and has many homes for sale, but if you ever turn on the TV you can see that is a nation wide problem. The good part about that is, people are fixing up their old homes instead of moving to a "better" home.

What Jackson needs is someone to have faith. Some of the downtown area has beautiful old homes that a few yuppies could work wonders with. I have lived in other cities where the older neighborhoods became the highest priced, because people who appreciated the old craftmanship (which today can not be bought at any price) bought them up cheaply and refurbished them.

Jackson needs to get out of the "we need to bring back more manufacturing" mindset, and bring in the future. If Michigan would promise businesses NO TAXES, we would have loads of places for people to work...and the income taxes would cover whatever loss on taxing the business.

Michigan is a beautiful state, with four seasons to enjoy. Jackson is smack dab in the middle of it, and an easy drive to Lansing and Ann Arbor if you want to see theater or high dollar shopping. And housing for much less than those other places. "Rush Hour" means 15 cars at a light. Beautiful free fireworks, free concerts in the park, things going on at the Dahlem Nature Center and the library (which is one of the few Carnegie Librarys still in business), Ella Sharpe Museum, ect. Broadway shows at JCC. Local music is great. Fab bike trail.

I love it here!

[MittenDweller82]

Originally Posted by Karen Ferency

Oh, my gosh! I can not believe that the Jackson you are talking about is the one where I live. I love it here...I am retired and could live anywhere in the country, but I choose here. I have lived in many other places over the years, and none much worse or better than Jackson. Jackson is like a perfect slice of the USA. Rich and poor, black and white (and other).

Years ago, Jackson was a manufacturing town, as Michigan was a manufacturing state. Now it is basically a "bedroom community" for high priced Ann Arbor and Lansing.

As for the "high crime rate" that others complain about on this site, I have yet to see it. Many of my friends do not even lock their doors when they go on vacation! I would not feel uncomfortable walking from the west side (where I live) over to Francis Street when I exercise. I have done it many times, and have not only NOT been accosted, I have never even been approached by anyone. Sure, the homes are older there, and there are poor people in that area, but they are all still God's children. Poor does not mean crook.

Yes, Jackson is going thru a hard time financially, and has many homes for sale, but if you ever turn on the TV you can see that is a nation wide problem. The good part about that is, people are fixing up their old homes instead of moving to a "better" home.

What Jackson needs is someone to have faith. Some of the downtown area has beautiful old homes that a few yuppies could work wonders with. I have lived in other cities where the older neighborhoods became the highest priced, because people who appreciated the old craftmanship (which today can not be bought at any price) bought them up cheaply and refurbished them.

Jackson needs to get out of the "we need to bring back more manufacturing" mindset, and bring in the future. If Michigan would promise businesses NO TAXES, we would have loads of places for people to work...and the income taxes would cover whatever loss on taxing the business.

Michigan is a beautiful state, with four seasons to enjoy. Jackson is smack dab in the middle of it, and an easy drive to Lansing and Ann Arbor if you want to see theater or high dollar shopping. And housing for much less than those other places. "Rush Hour" means 15 cars at a light. Beautiful free fireworks, free concerts in the park, things going on at the Dahlem Nature Center and the library (which is one of the few Carnegie Librarys still in business), Ella Sharpe Museum, ect. Broadway shows at JCC. Local music is great. Fab bike trail.

I love it here!

I imagine that few would agree with your statements about Jackson, first of all, a "Bedroom" community is something that Jackson will never be. An example of this would be Bloomfield Hills, where house prices average over 600,000. Being retired, it would be easy to enjoy it "anywhere", if you were not in need of finding employment...however if you were looking for a job in Jackson at the current time, the nearly 11% unemployment rate would give you a very hard time. I had the unfortunate experience of living near the Jackson area, and yes, if you are older and retired it would seem nice. However if your younger and looking to make more than 8.50 per hour suddenly your view changes. Local schools have yet to obtain local support for desperately needed funding for expansion, and as a result the city has shrunk for the last two decades. The "library" system if you want to call it that, has also failed to receive public support for obtaining new materials for many years. I may sound negative, but have lived near the area, its angering to see local government officials turn their heads at the most pressing issues: unemployment, poverty, and education of young individuals. Jackson has few "yuppies", and often the younger people in Jackson are stuck working retail jobs that cannot support a mortgage payment (another huge issue in that area). What Jackson needs is a new slate of leaders who are concerned with bringing younger educated people to the area, creating a pool of qualified candidates, and finally put to death the mantra of "manufacturing will come back hopefully", until this happens, it will be a shrinking town. Jackson is a tragedy that could have been avoided if the proper planning had been implemented when manufacturing began to leave the area.

[deslok]

Most of the folks that like Jackson are indeed retired. HOw did Ann ARbor come into the discussion as a comparison to Jackson? Out of all the places in the state, AA is one of the few that actually is doing well and has educated, diverse people.
Try Marshall Michigan. The town is quaint, sort of like Hill Valley in back to the future. Hillsdale, more akin to say funny farm. ( the movie)

[APPLEI]

Originally Posted by Sociologist

Having lived in the area for most of my life I must say that the city government has its head in the sand and refuses to change the mode of living for its residents. Certainly there is a strong feeling of resentment towards young professionals in the area, just visit Kroger or Meijers and you will find middle aged people at the register grinding their teeth at you. Is it their fault? No, many manufacturing jobs dried and gone, where are they to go? Well they take the job most teens and college kids need. Its no surprise the average household income (that is all people residing at that address) is less that 40K, that bucks to around 13K per person....retail pay and people are trying to pay mortgages with that. Not seemingly it would happen that Jackson has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state, (even higher than some det suburbs), and the highest unemployment rate next to Flint. Go down town, they'll tell you their trying to build a "cool" city, as people leave in droves. Thousands of 40-60K houses for sale that you can see on every block, people desperate to leave. I know to many real life tragedies to say that the city counsel and government of Jackson care about that dying city. A liquor store at every turn, a bar within every 100 feet, and thats about all there is to do.

Jackson also has one of the highest rates of Wife Beatings of any city in the State of Michigan and slogan about Jackson is "life begins at 65"

[APPLEI]

Originally Posted by Sociologist

Having lived in the area for most of my life I must say that the city government has its head in the sand and refuses to change the mode of living for its residents. Certainly there is a strong feeling of resentment towards young professionals in the area, just visit Kroger or Meijers and you will find middle aged people at the register grinding their teeth at you. Is it their fault? No, many manufacturing jobs dried and gone, where are they to go? Well they take the job most teens and college kids need. Its no surprise the average household income (that is all people residing at that address) is less that 40K, that bucks to around 13K per person....retail pay and people are trying to pay mortgages with that. Not seemingly it would happen that Jackson has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state, (even higher than some det suburbs), and the highest unemployment rate next to Flint. Go down town, they'll tell you their trying to build a "cool" city, as people leave in droves. Thousands of 40-60K houses for sale that you can see on every block, people desperate to leave. I know to many real life tragedies to say that the city counsel and government of Jackson care about that dying city. A liquor store at every turn, a bar within every 100 feet, and thats about all there is to do.

I must say that the City Goverment in Jackson has its head up "where the Sun don't shine"

[Jacksonista]

Oops Karen! You messed up. You had the nerve to say something positive about Jackson. There is nothing wrong with good news and optimism.

I'd like to say that I moved here, not anywhere near retirement age, from big, huge, everything is greener over there, Texas. Let me tell you, everything isn't greener over there and the griping that's going on in this forum is being done by many who have never hardly left Jackson. My advice to them is, pack it in, move to the Promised Land and be happy. Really, I did it in the 80's. I went on a camping trip and stayed in Texas for 20 years. I worked hard, I gained experience, I earned a degree while working. Come on guys, go, move, get out there and make your way. Quit whining. Just do it.

If you are homebuying age, and have lived elsewhere, say, in Texas, in a gigantic metropolis where the rest of the nation knows there is plenty of work so they are moving there, and you try to sell your nice home for a decent price, it won't sell. How do you like that? When I left Dallas in late 2005, there were twice as many homes for sale as there are here in Jackson, and nobody was buying! It's true that Michigan's unemployment is the highest in the nation, due to loss of automotive mfg. jobs, but it stinks everywhere and until you have gone out there youself, the weight of what you say has little bearing.

Yes Karen, Jackson is stuck in a mindset, even though the past 30 years should have taught us that the path of "high school to mfg. job to retirement" is no longer a path that exists. Am I happy that these jobs are gone? No, I'm not, I'm disgusted, in fact, I'm angry. That being said, it's time for us to move forward. If we continue to put all of our eggs in one basket, in the old "we need mfg. jobs",Jackson will most certainly die. I'm glad there are many here who have looked to new ideas. The Armory Arts Village is fantasic, it brings people here, it brings culture, it's hope. The expansion of Ella Sharp museum, the capital campaign for the JSO and Cascades Falls Park are all positive outlooks. The downtown too, in the past 10 years, in this poor economy, has made a surprising comeback. There is still a long way to go of course, but it is changing for the better and people around here are realizing that Jackson has a wonderful history and the downtown is something to be cherished, not forgotten.

It is very unfortunate that the millage for the library system didn't pass, which was really off-putting. Now I realize that those who do so much griping about what Jackson doesn't offer are most likely the ones who didn't vote for the millage because the tax increase would have been on average about $25/year/houshold. Nevermind that a dying library system is a good way of keeping new residents and businesses away. Who wants to invest in a community that thinks so little of it's public libraries?

And also, there are many living in Jackson who used to live in Ann Arbor. They still work there. Jackson's cheap home prices and reasonable taxes are attractive to many. Check out house prices in Ann Arbor and when you get over that shocker, look at what they pay in taxes, it's unreal.

[alleghenyangel]

I am sickened by all the negative attacks on Jackson. It's actually a really neat city -- especially the downtown. There is beautiful historic architecture, much of it restored and in use. There are early 20th century skyscrapers, Victorians, a vintage movie palace restored and in use, lots of antique shops and some boutique stores, a restored 1800s train depot, an original carnegie library, a historic high school still in use. There is a lot to love about Jackson. Obviously, it's going to be hard to find a job in Michigan (that's why I left the state), but I have been all over the place and Jackson is still one of the coolest small cities I have been to. It may not be "hip" in the sense of having a whole foods store or huge population growth, or a bunch of parking lots and glass box commercial buildings and snobby overeducated yuppies (cough *Ann Arbor* cough), but it is an endearing slice of Americana.

Why avoid the city of Jackson? Unless you are afraid of seeing African Americans, dense urban architecture and streets, and old buildings, I really see no reason to avoid it other than the obvious jobs situation, which you are going to run into anywhere these days. Jackson has so much potential. It could be a miniature version of Pittsburgh. Obviously the people who live there don't have enough faith or pride in their city.