[KMSFLA]

I lived in Marshall back in the 60's and 70's as a kid (until we moved to Wisconsin). It was a great place to live. Great schools, great people.

Is Marshall still a great place to live for a family with children? Has the impact of the depressed economy taken its toll?

Thanks.

[deslok]

It to me is a very close knit community, not necessarily nice to outsiders all the time.

[Softballfan]

Marshall is a great place to raise kids. They have good youth and high school sports.

[dreambuilderz]

We moved here in 88 and raised our three children here. All of them had a great experience. Like any small town you get back depending on the vibes you give out. If you are out going and friendly those types of people will gravitate to you. Marshall has its base of locals but because of its proximity to I 69 and I 94 there are a lot of people here who commute around the state for their jobs and that makes for an interesting mix of folks. We will always be very fond of Marshall. Great Memories.

[Bydand]

I lived in Marshall years ago and loved it. My Nephews all graduated from Marshall (just a couple years ago for the youngest) and they still loved the schools. I still have friends and family there and they are raising their kids there and wouldn't go anyplace else in that area. One of them (one of the "Money is no object" type lifestyles) could live ANYPLACE they wanted and still choose to stay in Marshall. If I had to chose another place in the State to raise my own family, Marshall would be my second choice behind where I am right now.

[Coldjensens]

We looked a lot at Marshal when we moved to Michigan because we love historic architecture and the small town atmosphere. We met some people there and they were wonderful and welcoming. It seemed to offer every thing we wanted inclding decent schools, lots of opportunities for outdoor activities, low crime, and a cute small town with loads of historic charm, but there is not a lot in the way of things to do on a Friday night and the main issue for us is that it is just too far from anything that we needed to be near (specifically DTW, Detroit, and my family who are scattered about Oakland, Wayne, and Washtenaw Counties).

[jeanniepep]

If you have kids and enjoy gardening & decorating you'll love it.

We bought a gorgeous old historic home there about 7 years ago, and sold it 4 years later. I found that the people were very kind and welcoming to tourists & visitors, but pretty darn evil to newcomers wanting to make a life there. Everyone tends to talk in terms of how many generations of their family have lived there. Our neighbor was literally born in his house next door! Our first experience with him was when we were having an invisible fence installed so our dog would not poop in his prize-winning garden, and he came over to physically threaten the guy doing the installation. We went over to apologize and find out what we could do to make things right, and he yelled "F*** YOU!!!" and slammed the door in our faces (the man was literally at least 60 yrs old, acting like a teenager). After that our contact was limited to having him perform loud mowing right next to our deck every time we had our family visit.

We did meet some nice people there too, but in truth we just never really connected. I always suspected that if we had kids and got involved in the PTA, we might have made some friends. The garden club and historical society are also HUGE there, so that might have been a way for us to fit in better - we just aren't really into gardening and fussing with the house that much. Don't get me wrong, my hat is off to the people who are good at that! It's just not my cup of tea.

It is a very beautiful neighborhood, and about as safe as you can get. As much as I felt like a square peg there, I would have felt absolutely 100% comfortable leaving my car unlocked and running in the middle of Main St for hours and nobody would mess with it. The worst thing that might happen is that someone might shut it off so I didn't run out of gas. I also have to say that the Marshall Animal Care veterinary clinic is the best I have ever experienced; my pets and I miss them terribly. Dr. Jim and Dr. Randy and their staff are beyond world-class.

There definitely is not much to do at night or on the weekends if that is important to you. It's the only town I've ever lived in where the sports bars were closed on Sundays during football season!

Anyway, it's a lovely town but we didn't find it very friendly. I'm pretty outgoing but just didn't fit in; I was miserably lonely there and couldn't wait to leave. But, I would say that if you have kids and love gardening, you will probably enjoy it very much. Since you have already lived there, they might welcome you back as one of their own! I understand the schools are excellent. Plus it has the best microbrew on earth (Dark Horse) as far as I'm concerned. It has a lot of positive points, but it isn't necessarily for everybody.