Moving To Possibly The Kalamazoo Area (Portage, Hillsdale: property taxes, insurance, work)

[Ashada]

Hi...I am Moving back to Michigan.I want some land for horses I also have kids so want good schools not far from shopping and am going back to school so somewhere by a Nursing teaching facility..And a low crime area preferred.I unfortunatly am not going to be able to check areas out in person thus is why am on this list ..I found a few ranches I liked in Gobles area??Hillsdale area as well..Any info on these areas or something like I descibed above I would appreciate ..Thanks Barb OOps almost forgot lower property taxes would be a lot better .Also I heard auto insurance is higher in Mi..Any truth to this...??

[M TYPE X]

Auto insurance might be higher in Michigan than elsewhere, but where is elsewhere? Where are you now?

[pjmiami]

Ashada: I don't know anything specific about the schools in Gobles or Hillsdale but you might want to check out the Mattawan area. It's rural but an easy 15 to 20 minute drive to Kalamazoo where you could attend either WMU, KVCC or Davenport (and there may be others) for Nursing school. Mattawan schools have a great reputation and its a pretty area. Good luck!

[suydam]

Mattawan is a great area with good schools (my wife taught there...loved it).

Land with room for horses might be a real challenge though.

You might consider the east side of Kalamazoo..you can get into Galesburg with some acreage and I know a few people who keep horses there. It's a horse-friendly area for sure.

[Catherine D]

I presently live in Mattawan and have horses. We live in Texas Township, the taxes are very high. But most of Mattawan is not in Texas Township. Mattawan does have great schools. I've raised two boys through the school system and have one daughter still in middle school. We have school of choice out here, so you could also look at any property in the Van Buren school district like Lawton or Paw Paw. property with acreage might be cheaper, if that's an issue. Galesburg is closet to the Kalamazoo side of town (East). The mall, shopping and KVCC (community college for nursing) would be closer to the Portage side/mattawan side (west).

Galesburg is also a nice area, just further from the colleges and shopping. My friend lives there and is very happy and she works at KVCC, so don't think it's out of the question. I used to volunteer at the Cheff Center (theraputic riding center) in Augusta (close to Galesburg). Driving out here is easy, open rodes and no rush hour!

Hope that helps some!

[mcoll22]

I live in the Galesburg-Augusta area, and even though people think it is somewhat a "hick-town" it is just a very nice, small town with lots of land. I work on Westnedge (where the mall is) and without construction it takes me about 20 mins to get there. Kalamazoo Valley and Kellogg Community Colleges are have very good nursing programs, as well as Western Michigan University. Which are all within 20-30 mins from Galesburg-Augusta. The schools are good, and have improved since I graduated just a few years back. I don't feel that they insurance is really high, but I have not experienced many places either. And once you are done with school you have two great hospitals Bronson and Borgess nearby. I feel Bronson is a much better facility, but that is just me...I definately recommend this area for what you are looking for.

[Catherine D]

I agree, that Galesburg-Augusta are very nice areas. But...I drive fast and I only live 5 minutes from KVCC, in Mattawan. It takes 50 minutes for me to get to Augusta in good weather, the same goes for Galesburg. The mall...I don't know about. Obviously, you drive it all the time, so you are a better judge.