Michigan negativity? (Detroit, Lansing: jobs, housing, university)

[jkc]

I have lived in Michigan my entire life and I will do whatever I have to do to stay in this state. It is one of the most beautiful states and it is my home.

[tasdad4701]

That is what me and my wife wanted to do, stay that is.
It comes down to what we want for our children, and
when we retire. Do we want our kids to have every thing
they need, do we want to retire flat broke or with a pension.
We have came to the conclusion that you have to do what is best
for your family, and Michigan's beauty does not pay our bills,
and give us the life our family deserves. I commend you for sticking
with Michigan and pray that you and your family prosper here.

[cassy1]

Originally Posted by tasdad4701

That is what me and my wife wanted to do, stay that is.
It comes down to what we want for our children, and
when we retire. Do we want our kids to have every thing
they need, do we want to retire flat broke or with a pension.
We have came to the conclusion that you have to do what is best
for your family, and Michigan's beauty does not pay our bills,
and give us the life our family deserves. I commend you for sticking
with Michigan and pray that you and your family prosper here.

I second you on this, we left Michigan so we could retire in the future. As far as Michigan goes, well it will always be home and I wish everyone who can stay a very good future. Peace

[jacques doe]

I'm new at this, so I hope I'm doing it properly! My hat's off to Wabbit for an excellent post which darn near moved me to tears regarding the beauty of northern lower Michigan. I was born and raised in this region and am extremely grateful for the wonderful childhood of which I enjoyed immensely. I have been living on the west coast of Florida for twenty two long years and not a day goes by that I do not long to be back in Michigan.

I have been a police officer in this area (Florida) for seventeen years, and have grown weary by the relentless crime, (two homicides last night where two separate individuals were robbed and shot in the head), traffic, race issues, horrific public schools, and overall not being a place I want my children to be raised. Albeit, the weather is nice if you enjoy 11 1/2 months of summer with humidity similar to a rain forest and heat so oppressive it's difficult to breathe.

My family and I frequent NLM as often as possible and each trip gets harder and harder to leave. The people, the beauty, and the wholesomeness of the region are the things we long to get back to. Unfortunately, the pessimistic authors are correct regarding the lagging economy. This being said, the economy certainly cannot be blamed on the hardworking citizens of NLM (cannot speak for southern Michigan, since I have never lived there) and their impeccable work ethics. I can only hope that the economy will turn around, and reverse the damaging migratory trend of the past decade.

I hope to someday very soon return to Michigan, and raise my five boys there, as did my father and his father before. My wife and I are certain that this dream will bring sacrifices, but with God's grace the sacrifices will be warranted.

Originally Posted by Wabbit

Paintballer,

Great post, I agree with everything you said.
I don’t think there is any doubt that the Great Lakes are
the most under ‘exploited/utilized’ natural wonders in
the country.
A great article that highlights this can be found here:.
Michigan negativity?
It’s about three guys from the Boston Globe who want to
‘get back to nature’ and are (initially) depressed that
all they can only afford is Michigan. They go none the less are
stunned by what they find: Here’s a snippet.


On our final day, we drove west of Traverse City to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. When we climbed the ridge to one of several lookout points, the three of us were stunned. Laid out before us were magnificent sand dunes rising as much as 450 feet above Lake Michigan's shoreline. The view was surreal: part tropical, part Saharan, part heaven. Below was a pristine white sand beach with the aqua-colored water of the Caribbean. People were running and sliding down the dunes all the way to the water, though the climb back up was not for the faint of heart.
I looked at my travel partners and said for about the 10th time: "This can't be Michigan."
We drove south to a small town called Empire, where Barry and I took a refreshing swim in the lake. With waves and current and a seemingly endless shoreline, the only thing that convinced us we were not in the ocean was the absence of salt in the water.
We only scratched the surface in our five days, but as Paul Simon once wrote, "Michigan seems like a dream to me now."

This should be what people think of when you mention Michigan.

[Angel Bear]

The complaining here is nothing compared to the complaining at the Los Angeles forum LOL...OMG! I spend time over there 'cause that is where I'm looking at relocating...well, not LA proper, but Orange County.

I don't bad-mouth my state...I'm proud to say I live here and was born here and raised here. It's just that I need a change and I want to move while I'm still relatively young. It's time

There's always good and bad points about every place you live--that's how I tend to see things. Life is what you make it. I realize moving won't solve all of my problems, but I just feel like a change...New horizons, new people, and of course, warmer weather...that's the only drawback to Michigan. I love the beauty here, but I need to be by the ocean...Mother Ocean calls to me.

So, I'm going to enjoy this gorgeous state while I can...I have some things on my list to do before I move...I still need to go to the Sand Dunes

Hugz...

[Sanveann]

I'm new here ... but I just had to pipe up and say that I love Michigan! I grew up in the Flint area and now live near Lansing, and I can't ever imagine leaving. The job market isn't the greatest (though, thankfully, my husband and I are both doing well), and the winters are cold, but this is home. It's beautiful, the people are friendly, and there's no risk of earthquakes or hurricanes

[BetseeT]

Hurry back Yooper! There is definitely something about the U.P. My husband couldn't live there, not enough people for him, but I could stay forever, me and my satellite internet

[tamvb]

We love Michigan and we are sorry that we have to leave our families and our children that are in Michigan colleges. But after both of us losing our jobs we can no longer hang on. We have tried everything and nothing is happening. We will be moving to South Carolina and we both already have jobs. Hopefully, Michigan will turn around and we can come back. But for now we have to say goodbye to the state we love.

[RedWingsFan]

Originally Posted by tamvb

We love Michigan and we are sorry that we have to leave our families and our children that are in Michigan colleges. But after both of us losing our jobs we can no longer hang on. We have tried everything and nothing is happening. We will be moving to South Carolina and we both already have jobs. Hopefully, Michigan will turn around and we can come back. But for now we have to say goodbye to the state we love.

Your situation is exactly like most people that are leaving the state. Many wonder why there is so much negativity about Michigan. But right now Michigan is on hard economic times. It doesn't matter how much you love a state because in the end loving a state doesn't pay the bills or give you a good quality of life. You have to first earn a decent living and many in Michigan are struggling to do that right now.

[KimmyLynn]

i dont get it people complain all over these boards and i am trying to decide if we should take the plunge and move there!! i have lived in ohio all my life we visited this weekend the troy area while we were there searching for places to live we saw birmingham we love!!! grosse pointe which i really liked and royal oak and a few other places and people are always complaining about no jobs but yet ny hubby just got offered a job there making almost 80,000 a year and then people we met in the hotel were locating there because they both got great job offers etc maybe people are not looking in the right place... if you sit and complain nothing changes you need to make the change!!!! i didnt think it was like anyone on here said i went there expecting to actually hate it!! guess what?? i did not!!!!!!