[crazyme4878]

Lets see... MIL is in Appleton, WI, husband was in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and now we are in Arizona. My grandmother, 70 years ago, went to Minnesota then Wisconsin. Everyone was from the U.P. Really, I think a lot of younger people from the U.P. go to Wisconsin or Illinois to find jobs. The older folk go to the other places mentioned. I have met a number of older ex-Michiganders here in Arizona, but so far only one family.

You will find MN and WI to have similar cultures. We also spent a season out in New Hampshire. I think Vermont/New Hampshire share the independence one feels in Michigan, well at least in the U.P.

[YAZ]

344 other folks besides me moved to Maricopa County, Arizona from Livingston County, Michigan. Haven't seen any of 'em yet.

[azsundevil99]

I moved to (and still live in) Arizona, but hopefully not for too much longer. I've been here since 1994 and can't wait to go back home to Michigan. I also lived in the Nashville area for awhile and liked it there a lot, but didn't care for the year round stormy weather...tornadoes at Thanksgiving time, no thank you!

[michiganirish]

My husband (after being unemployed almost 2 years) found a job in Buffalo NY and we moved here in January. I read a lot of horror stories on the Buffalo Forum, and was really apprehensive about the move. Happily we found most of the nay sayers comments were unfounded. We are renting a home in a beautiful historic district called Parkside.

While some people say the "burbs" of Buffalo are the best to live, we have discovered that we are happy that we settled in the city. Summer is wonderful here, close to Michigan's but with not as many humid days, with activities galore. Free Shakespeare in the park, a zoo that is constantly busy (even weekdays), areas of unique shops, (Elmwood Ave, Hertel Ave.) and some of the friendliest neighbors we have ever had. Our neighborhood is diverse with many ethnics and ages.

While Forbes has it listed as a dying city, we can see no evidence of it. There is soooo much to do here, and colleges abound! (I'd hazard to guess that the area we live in has a young and vibrant population) Not to mention we are only 25 minutes from Niagara Falls and Lockport where you can ride the locks of the Erie Canal.

While we miss Michigan terribly and do plan to return there in 10 years when my husband retires, I am glad we found a place to live that is so nice.

I don't know what opportunities there would be for teachers here, but I would say take a look into it.

[scoronado]

We moved about a year ago to the El Paso area. We lived in the Metro Detroit area and left to escape the dying economy. Its ashame that Michigan has not made a comeback yet. I enjoyed the changing seasons. Does anyone live in a state with a simular climate and season change?
Very different down here in El Paso, and VERY VERY HOT. I think we are concidering moving back to MI since my husbands job is now Federal and we wont have to worry about finding work now. There are plenty of teaching jobs down here, but be prepared to work with a lot of ESL students and Alternative education students.

[malamute]

I left Michigan a long time ago but for the weather not the economy, I live in the El Paso area but I very much like the climate of the SW. Since there's very little humidity, the heat doesn't affect me, the nights are cool, days are warm but I prefer warm weather to cold. This wouldn't necessarily be the area for someone looking for jobs and the culture is quite different.

Now I've grown very accustomed to mountains and deserts and it's not likely I would return to the Midwest. I don't think it's so much a matter of the grass being greener but how adaptable one is or what they find to like about an area. Every place will have it's pros and cons.

[Nickc121]

My wife and I found some good opportunities in the raleigh/durham area of North Carolina. We took off from Grand Rapids at the beginning of May.

[Jamie40829]

I've been a little bit of everywhere since leaving Michigan, I am now in virginia. I miss Oakland County everyday tho

[mackinac81]

So it seems like people have pretty much gone everywhere, but mostly the sunbelt. Personally I'm looking at the SW, the carolinas and Virginia. It'd be great if another midwest state were doing well...Minnesota maybe, but it seems that my best prospects lay south of here. Oh well...

[Jara]

I have one son who had worked in Michigan. Were all from the Toledo/Sandusky Ohio area. He was caught in the auto crunch and are on route to Roswell NM and looking at Lubbock TX. Younger brother is in Hobbs NM. I live in Florida and looking at Lubbock TX. and Hobbs NM, can't forget Roswell NM.The oldest boy also wants to see whats going on in Austin TX. He's a master electrician. What I understand from the youngest is that Rio Rancho is not far from Santa Fe.That area is growing he never seen so many Home Depots. Nice thing about Texas they have the same set-up as Florida with no state tax and plenty of room to roam. The Texas panhandle seems appealing each day to us.