[jrmontag]

A lot of times I find myself reading through threads and wondering "why would you want to move there?" or "what on earth made you choose that city/town/etc".

So the premise is simple enough, let everyone know why or how you ended up where you did. For time's sake I'll post mine later.

[MICoastieMom]

This is easy, my husband owned his home when we got married and it was nearly paid off. Not bad for a 35 year old.

[suydam]

East Grand Rapids - I was sick of driving 75 minutes to work every day from Kalamazoo. We had criteria for our move: Good schools, walkable neighborhoods, trees and if possible walk/bike access to some sort of retail destination (we started with "must have downtown" but changed that).

EGR had all those things (even a little downtown) as well as a lake that we can walk to. Our kids will walk to school, and my job is now 3 miles away. Provided I'm still working where I'm working, I cannot see us moving.

[Va-Cat]

Married a man from Virginia that was offered a job here in Houston Tx that just couldn't be passed up.

[Coldjensens]

We wanted to move near my extended family and several college friends. That means S.E. Michigan. We needed to be near a major airport. We wanted a change from living in a City with neighbors just a few feet way. We wanted an older home, small excellent public schools with bus pick up, low crime rate, a friendly and close knit active community, reasonably affordable property. We also wanted a place that was not so crazy busy and crowded as Southern California, a more wholesome ethical atmosphere, less pretentiousness, more emphasis on who you are than what you wear or what you drive, and a somewhat slower paced lifestyle. We wanted to find a place where we would be happy to just stay home for vacations. We wanted a small town atmosphere and few to no snobby people. We do not like cookie cutter architecture. We wanted to find a variety of different styles of homes from different periods in neighborhoods with lots of character. Living in a subdivision was out of the question.

We also were interested in an acre or so of land, water front/water, access and woods/wildlife in the area. Given this specific criteria it was surprising that we found anyplace. However we found a lot of places that met most of these criteria. e had a substantial budget so we had a lot of choices.

Grosse Ile met almost all of our criteria. Plymouth was a close second. Rochester, Ann Arbor, Wyandotte, South Lyon, Northville, Chelsea, Tecumseh, Franklin and about a dozen other cities were runners up. There are a lot of great communities around here.

We actually bid on a house auction in Northville and looked seriously at a house in Lyon Township before choosing Grosse Ile. (We also looked at a house in Taylor before we learned more about their schools). Grosse Ile added the general coolness factor of living on an Island.

[theboysmom]

The things that were important to us when moving were:

*Staying in MI.
*Awesome schools.
*Safe. My fav time to go running is at night. My Dh does NOT like this,lol.
*Fun. Community resources and events.
*Young families our age.
*Decent size backyard with room for play structure and pool down the line.
*NOT downriver (I grew up in Wyandotte and it's not the same down there anymore at all in my own personal opinion.)

I also love big old houses with lots of hardwood and moulding and things like that.

We bought in Plymouth and with living here I have all the above and then some. I could do with more diversity at the schools but I'm not gonna complain.


It's also close to Ann Arbor, which is great since I practically live at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's (grocery shopping is a bane to my existence so this was important). We also eat out there often. It's not far at all to Detroit and we're always going to a game or a concert. It's about a half an hour to my husband's job.

Bascially it's the perfect place for us.

[stan4]

Just find Dallas to have the right mix of everything I want: atmosphere, great job, activities, friends/family nearby.

[Joanie B]

We wanted to...
be near Lake Michigan
be able to walk to the beach
live near a wonderful downtown
be close to great restaurants
Did I mention being near the water?
find affordable housing and by that I mean under $175K
have a big lot with an extra garage
have a lot of room to garden and hang out outdoors
experience 4 seasons
live in a beautiful area with a lot of things to do
be close to bigger cities (Grand Rapids and Chicago)
feel like we were on vacation every day

We fell in love with Michigan and decided to make it home

[khfar]

We had to. My husband got transferred here.

[jeeg]

Have lived all over central and west Michigan (couple other states too). Wanted a taste of true wilderness which can't be found in the lower peninsula. Wanted to get away from all the people..... yet be near some culture & entertainment when the need arises.
Started watching the internal job openings at spouses workplace. Saw one for Escanaba. Hopped in the van that night and drove up to look around. Really liked it. Went home and applied that Monday. Two days later, saw an opening for Marquette. Applied for that one as well (sight unseen, just loved the U.P.). Was granted an interview for both, drove up Friday. Hit Escanaba first then up to Marquette (for the first time). Fell in love instantly with the Marquette area and Lake Superior. Was offered both positions, we chose Marquette.
We have never been happier!!!