Moving to Portage ,MI with commute to Benton harbor area (Kalamazoo: appointed, for sale)

nonz · 01-01-2009, 12:51 PM

Hi,
We are moving with our two kids ( 4 years/ 3 month) to Portage area . My husband is planning to commute to benton harbor area. We are moving from dublin,OH which is a great suburb and an excellent school district. We are looking at Portage for a similar setup. Would appreciate if someone could guide us regarding apartments which are in a good/ safe area with good elemantary schools attached to them. We have looked at lots of apartements in the area but it gets confusing after a point. We are also worried as to how long and how tiring the commute would be especially in winters? We looked at some apartments in St. Joe area but they were pretty old and there seems to be not much in that area regarding shopping/restauarants etc...We looked at Portage just because it has a lot to offer in terms of quality of life. Is it a family friendly place? Would appreciate any views regarding the apartements/schools/commute/activities/safety of the Portage..

allforcats · 01-01-2009, 01:18 PM

Hi nonz. Your thread belongs in the Michigan forum so that the people with knowledge can see and answer it. I've requested that the moderators move your thread there. Happy New Year!

skyl4rk · 01-01-2009, 06:29 PM

Portage is a good choice for a place to live. You might also consider Stevensville.

The commute will be down I-94 which is not too bad. The downside is that there will be a lot of trucks and winter driving can be tough. There have been a few multivehicle pile-ups near the I-196 exit over the years, people driving too fast during blizzards and iced up roads. Not too bad of a commute though if you take it easy when the road is snowy or icy.

Bearcat · 01-03-2009, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nonz

Hi,
We are moving with our two kids ( 4 years/ 3 month) to Portage area . My husband is planning to commute to benton harbor area. We are moving from dublin,OH which is a great suburb and an excellent school district. We are looking at Portage for a similar setup. Would appreciate if someone could guide us regarding apartments which are in a good/ safe area with good elemantary schools attached to them. We have looked at lots of apartements in the area but it gets confusing after a point. We are also worried as to how long and how tiring the commute would be especially in winters? We looked at some apartments in St. Joe area but they were pretty old and there seems to be not much in that area regarding shopping/restauarants etc...We looked at Portage just because it has a lot to offer in terms of quality of life. Is it a family friendly place? Would appreciate any views regarding the apartements/schools/commute/activities/safety of the Portage..

I've been eye balling St.Joe for many years now, St.Joe has two good schools there which rate very high so you should have no problems with the schools.(St.Joseph city and lakeshore)
Now I can tell you I have noticed the cost of living is cheaper in St.Joe than Portage, the taxes in Portage are on the high side (I have a friend of mine with a small house for sale in Portage for the past 3 years, he might rent to you) Portage have some of the BEST schools in the state and has alot to offer so you must ask yourself what am I truely looking for?
You want a calm peaceful area with a great view of the Lake, you pick St.Joe. Shopping you would pick Portage.
Schools are nearly equal
Housing is cheaper in St.Joe
lake Michigan - St.Joe
Many lakes- Portage
Park system - PORTAGE (Austin Lake comes to mind)

I can on and on but if you have any questions please feel free to email me or PM me here. I had an interview with Whirlpool back in the Summer but that was before the big slow down so after 3 weeks of them calling me and letting me know Your a top candidate,then nothing.

Portage and St.Joe trip is about 45-50 miles ONE WAY trip so to me you need to live closer to where you work now days.

Winter in the area I have seen in the past and I can tell you Dublin Ohio compared to St.Joe or Portage is warmer and far less snow.

Outside of that if I had the choice I would pick St.Joesph(Stephensville is not a bad area either if you like country)

nonz · 01-03-2009, 08:34 AM

Thanks so much bearcat..u have been a great help..we are planning to be in the area around second week of january and would be interested in looking at the house for rent you are suggesting...please feel free to message me with the details and location and school/rent with that home. Also wanted to check with you how much would be the one way commute time on the highway assuming you would be knowing the traffic in that area? Also how about the crime /safety issue with both the places?Also any particular apartment complexes which are better than other in terms of location/people/proximity to things to do etc.?Truly appreciate all your help on this....
We went to st. Joe last week,was truly disappointed with rental apartments there as they all are old (1960) construction and worn out ( that was the sad part). Don't know anyone in that area who could probably suggest some new homes for rent ( maybe owner homes too). Compared to that apartments in Portage look really luxurious and new( though we just checked on the internet and not personally).

Thanks again for yr time on this.
Regards

Bearcat · 01-03-2009, 10:22 AM

Not a problem!

The main thing is during a normal driving times it's going to take you 45-50 minutes to drive between
Portage and St.Joseph. So you figure snow and ice and you add double that time for the trip as a good guess. The same trip in the Cincinnati area would take me nearly 5 hours to get home during a snow storm!

Now the house I think is located at 123 Lexington Ave Portage Mi 49001, if I can find the link to the site I know it's sale price was around 85k!
I think Portage Central is the High school and lakeshore? grade school would be the one.

here is a link for you: City of Portage - News

Also link I sent to you in email.

http://www.sjtoday.org/site/
http://www.sjcity.com/
http://www.cornerstonechamber.com/home/home.taf
http://www.berriencounty.org/

That will answer some of your questions.

Westbury · 01-08-2009, 02:15 PM

I lived and worked in the Kalamazoo/Portage area for 15 years; anywhere in Portage is a good/safe area to live in and the schools are very good. I used to live in Mattawan which is west and puts you closer to the Benton Harbor/St. Joe area. It is more of a rural setup but you may be able to find some reasonable houses to rent and their school system is also good. My former boss used to live in St. Joe and make the commute to Portage every day; except for the winter weather it's not a bad drive. Traffic on I-94 is normally not unreasonable so the drive is pretty easy; you won't be stuck in stop and go traffic normally. The winter commute west takes you into the heart of the lake effect snow belt so if possible some days during winter may be better to work from home. For longer term planning, if you live in Kalamazoo they have the Promise program which offers free college tuition if you graduate through the Kalamazoo school system. Downside to that is the city of Kalamazoo has some bad areas (and some good areas) but the school system is not as good as Portage, however, they may get better over time...just something to be aware of. I loved living there. It has a lot to offer. Kalamazoo and Portage blend together so you really have a pretty good sized metro area. Good luck.

Bearcat · 01-22-2009, 06:13 PM

So NONZ how are things going up there and how is your search working out for you?

deslok · 01-22-2009, 06:20 PM

I would not commute that far just to live in Portage. Driving on 94 in the winter isn't pleasant, in the summers there is plenty of construction as well. I lived in Bridgman Michigan for a time, and have to say that the people in that area around Stevensville, Bridgman, are all very friendly. There is a relaxing feeling about being near The lake in the summer, or walking by it in winter. As far as being near shopping, you are closer to Chicago, which is easy to get to by train if you like long treks. ( which apparently you don't mind) Think of it this way, live in St. Joe, kids go to lakeshore schools, you shop for clothes in Chicago by making a weekend out of it, you avoid the long trips, and live by lake michigan in the summer! Portage to me is just a giant suburban area with no real culture and missing Lake Michigan. Bearcat seems to have summed up the differences quite nicely, so I echo his sentiments.