[mizjaxon76]

Does anyone know how things are down in Jackson? Such as schools, crime rate, cost of living, and so on. Any info would be a huge help, thank you

[Jacksonista]

Jackson has some beautiful old homes, very reasonably priced. Contrary to what many have stated, there are still many nice areas/neighborhoods in which to live. Public schools are okay but my child is still in elementary so I can't speak of middle and high schools. They have a nice charter school (Paragon) which is free and many private parochial schools. There is plenty to do and quite a few family-oriented events throughout the year, although I'd like to see more, but many in Jackson are working on making things better. Jackson sits at the crossroads of I-94/Hwy 127 smack dab in the middle of Lansing, Ann Arbor/Battle Creek, so a commute is a snap. We have an awesome old train station (that is still used) and we hope to be placed on the high speed rail system from Chicago and Kalamazoo to Detroit. A new Armory Arts Village is in development, it's an artists colony and things are looking good, the historic downtown is making a comeback, even in this tough economy, slowly and surely.

The city offers many amenities so that you don't have to go far to shop. We have a bus system. Higher-end upscale shopping can be done in Ann Arbor and Battle Creek but we are supposed to be gettting a high-end mall built north of I-94 at Hwy 127 which should help, it will include an Imax theatre.

Many will talk about the state prison, which sits outside of town in a semi-rural area. Big deal. there are max security prisons all over Michigan, just take a drive to Milan from A2, you'll pass two of them! But still, Jackson has it's black eye from this.

The crime rate is higher than normal, but I've never had trouble and most of the bad things happen at 2AM amongst people who are up to no good, in not-so-good areas. cost of living is reasonable, like i said, you can get a great house for next to nothing, we have many parks, lots of wildlife, it's a pretty place.