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my husband is from the UP and joined the army, moved and met me ... im a big time city girl! ... i'm from jersey close to nyc ... so he wants to move back to ishpeming... but from when i was there in the summer there is not much to do ! is there any shopping within an hr away ? meaning BIG malls or do i have to really drive far out to get to civilization?... i need your opinions if a 22 yr old couple with a one yr old baby will really fit in up there?
my husband is from the UP and joined the army, moved and met me ... im a big time city girl! ... i'm from jersey close to nyc ... so he wants to move back to ishpeming... but from when i was there in the summer there is not much to do ! is there any shopping within an hr away ? meaning BIG malls or do i have to really drive far out to get to civilization?... i need your opinions if a 22 yr old couple with a one yr old baby will really fit in up there?
Well, to answer your question on BIG malls within an hour, the answer is no. I'm sure the mall in Marquette would not come close to that definition. You are probably three hours from anything that might fit your criteria (Green Bay) and that might not be what you are after.
To answer the second question about a 22 year old couple and baby fitting in, the answer is of course. But only if you are open to the fact that the living will be a lot different than anyplace close to NYC.
There are lots of poeple who love to live here, but it just depends on the lifestyle that you are looking for. So I'm not going to give you the Chamber of Commerce answer. It is certainly not urban living.
my husband is from the UP and joined the army, moved and met me ... im a big time city girl! ... i'm from jersey close to nyc ... so he wants to move back to ishpeming... but from when i was there in the summer there is not much to do ! is there any shopping within an hr away ? meaning BIG malls or do i have to really drive far out to get to civilization?... i need your opinions if a 22 yr old couple with a one yr old baby will really fit in up there?
If you didn't see much to do there in the summer, just wait until you're living there in the winter.
Big malls are elsewhere. There's a lot to do up there however, hiking, camping out, checking out waterfalls, enjoying Lake Superior and the woods.
In the winter there's cross country skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, that kind of thing.
Not everyone is cut out for every place. You might be too much of a city person to enjoy small town living.
When I was going to grad school at Michigan Tech in Houghton -- which is even more isolated than Marquette -- I heard more than one well-educated woman say, "When I first moved up here I thought I could never get used to it. Now I wouldn't live anywhere else." If you keep an open mind, you'll see what it has to offer, and it's a much better place to raise a young family than any major metro area.
If you grew up in Jersey near NYC, you will be bored out of your mind. Not to mention, the area is a culinary wasteland compared to NYC area. No good Chinese food, Italian food, or Greek food anywhere. If u can deal with that & love winter, you'll be very happy.
I attended college in Marquette (Northern Michigan Univ.) and am a native of Michigan, and by the time I graduated and moved to Chicago, I was dying to get out. I am now 35 and would love to live in Marquette again. However, that's because I got big-city living out of my system in Chicago and now would love to be by Lake Superior, the bike trail, Sugarloaf Mountain (awesome views), etc. etc. You don't have to to be a hard-core nature person; you can hang out on the beach, stroll along the lake, or whatever. But you would likely need some sort of appreciation for nature to truly enjoy Marquette.
In terms of city living, the other posts are right. There are a couple of good restaurants, but it's not a huge variety to choose from. There's a handful of independent shops, and the mall is small and typical. There's a Target and a Wal-Mart. I did drive to Green Bay (three hours away) in college once in order to find a formal dress. =)
You will get some cultural events due to the presence of NMU; some big names occasionally come in, and there will be readings, art shows, dance, etc. They have a Quaystone arts series (last time I knew) that regularly brings that type of thing to town. The college has a theater department and brings in outside shows as well. So it's not a cultural wasteland; however, it's definitely not the same as having big-city living at your fingertips. (I'm sure if you look at nmu.edu it will list any upcoming cultural events - this will give you an idea of what shows up regularly.)
I can say I would love nothing better than to raise my 11-month-old daughter there. But I would also make sure she got to visit Chicago (about 8 hours away) a lot, and that we traveled frequently so she could see more of the world. Marquette is very isolated - this is part of its charm, as it's very unspoiled and beautiful, but you do pay a price if you are looking for the perfect blend of nature and culture. It's a decent mix, but definitely tipped in favor of nature.
Personally, if I were to move back to the area, I would either want to live in the woods somewhere or else right in Marquette. The town has some beautiful homes and there's just enough bustle in the downtown that it would be fun to be within walking distance of the shops and library and such. If your husband's from Ishpeming I understand him wanting to move there, but that's a far smaller town than Marquette, and would likely be even more culture shock for you.
One last note - in the summer the place is empty of college students. You get a bit more bustle in the fall, so it might feel a little less boring then. The winters are harsh and long, but it does give you many "went to school in a blizzard" stories to tell your friends. =)
I hope this helps. If you'd like any more information put another post up or I can e-mail you - I'd be happy to give you any other info I have! My husband and I were married in Presque Isle Park on Lake Superior, and I love Marquette dearly, but since I am older I am more ready to settle down somewhere quiet. I understand its limitations to someone in her early 20s. Good luck!
If you bring that attitude you will be miserable. If you refer to "civilization" as somewhere else you will make no friends and think everybody is rude.
I would strike a compromise with your husband and move to Marquette, not Ishpeming. Ishpeming is very rooted in people born and raised in the mining town. Marquette is a much more vibrant university town where a lot of doctors, professors, and people who own wildly successful West Coast businesses live. There is something there called the "second income". Many people live there from all over the country (LA, DC, Chicago come to mind) and are offered lucrative positions elsewhere, but turn them down to keep living in Marquette. When people in California asked one such person why in the world he didn't move to a very well known and wealthy coastal city, he said it's so much better in the U.P. There are many interesting artists living there as well.
If you look at it as a cultured frontier city that draws people looking for something a little different out of life, you might begin to appreciate it. If you spend all of your time saying, "When I lived in New York..." you will not. I did that when I first moved here from DC. I was quite proud of how much more sophisticated I was. Then I slowly began to realize that people didn't care and that many had already lived that life and moved on from it. That's when I began to get to know the really interesting people. I can assure you that there are many people living there who are smarter than you, more sophisticated than you, and more cultured than you or anyone from "the big city". That's not reflective of you - they certainly trump me as well.
Do they stay for the shopping? No. The shopping sucks - and that's simply wonderful for most transplants (natives often disagree, as they want all the creature comforts that transplants left behind). They stay because Marquette has a nice mix for a certain lifestyle (decent urban nightlife / music scene for a city of 20,000, good theatre and arts scene, a lot of outdoor activities within minutes of your front door, beaches right downtown). Marquette also has the best Thai restaurant I have personally ever eaten in - and I have eaten Thai from New York to LA. Guy grew up in Thailand and knows how to cook a mean Pad See Ew.
But yeah - definitely Marquette, not Ishpeming. That would be too harsh of a transition for you.
my husband is from the UP and joined the army, moved and met me ... im a big time city girl! ... i'm from jersey close to nyc ... so he wants to move back to ishpeming... but from when i was there in the summer there is not much to do ! is there any shopping within an hr away ? meaning BIG malls or do i have to really drive far out to get to civilization?... i need your opinions if a 22 yr old couple with a one yr old baby will really fit in up there?
I really don't think there ARE any large malls in that area at all. I'm afraid if you move there then you will have to do a roadtrip for shopping.
If you bring that attitude you will be miserable. If you refer to "civilization" as somewhere else you will make no friends and think everybody is rude.
I would strike a compromise with your husband and move to Marquette, not Ishpeming. Ishpeming is very rooted in people born and raised in the mining town. Marquette is a much more vibrant university town where a lot of doctors, professors, and people who own wildly successful West Coast businesses live. There is something there called the "second income". Many people live there from all over the country (LA, DC, Chicago come to mind) and are offered lucrative positions elsewhere, but turn them down to keep living in Marquette. When people in California asked one such person why in the world he didn't move to a very well known and wealthy coastal city, he said it's so much better in the U.P. There are many interesting artists living there as well.
If you look at it as a cultured frontier city that draws people looking for something a little different out of life, you might begin to appreciate it. If you spend all of your time saying, "When I lived in New York..." you will not. I did that when I first moved here from DC. I was quite proud of how much more sophisticated I was. Then I slowly began to realize that people didn't care and that many had already lived that life and moved on from it. That's when I began to get to know the really interesting people. I can assure you that there are many people living there who are smarter than you, more sophisticated than you, and more cultured than you or anyone from "the big city". That's not reflective of you - they certainly trump me as well.
Do they stay for the shopping? No. The shopping sucks - and that's simply wonderful for most transplants (natives often disagree, as they want all the creature comforts that transplants left behind). They stay because Marquette has a nice mix for a certain lifestyle (decent urban nightlife / music scene for a city of 20,000, good theatre and arts scene, a lot of outdoor activities within minutes of your front door, beaches right downtown). Marquette also has the best Thai restaurant I have personally ever eaten in - and I have eaten Thai from New York to LA. Guy grew up in Thailand and knows how to cook a mean Pad See Ew.
But yeah - definitely Marquette, not Ishpeming. That would be too harsh of a transition for you.
Awesome post!
Very, very true. I just can't stand the ignorance of many city people, who went to Marquette once and thought there was nothing to do, and all there was to do was to go to bars, ski, and hunt.
That was specifically said by a girl I know, kind of princessy, 22, cute, lived a good chunk of her life in Michigan, and thinks Chicago is the promised land (or Illinois as she calls, because she thinks all Illinois is suburbs).
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