[Orwelleaut]

The thing about Battle Creek that you must be prepared for is that this city is extremely blue collar. This is not a college town. This is a place where very few college grads live, much like Flint. Battle Creek is almost a polar opposite of East Lansing in this respect. I am not saying that this is bad, but merely pointing out that this is true. If you enjoy going to places like Barnes and Noble, I would avoid Battle Creek and focus on Kalamazoo.

[deslok]

Having lived in St joe, I hardly had any interaction with the crime of Benton Harbor. The areas are very segregated, and do not interract very much unless you are right on the border. Why on earth would they live there? Lake Michigan in the summer is quite reminicent of Orange county California, at least to me it is, and family members of mine that have visited me both places.
I never said the words Pumping for information. And who mentioned lansing or flint, those are not Battle Creek or Kalamazoo. ( are you on the correct forum?) What I am saying is, to someone coming from Orange county where people are not as "conversational", it can be a big adjustment at first having a bunch of strangers talk your ear off about what you like to do, where are you from, etc... That might sound very weird to you ( as your one way of getting to know people comment would indicate), but it is not coming from OC to Michigan.
PJMiami says = Perhaps if, as you say, Battle Creek actually WAS a bigger, dressed up version of itself with a large university.... I never said this, please look that over. I said the opposite, as Kalamazoo was a bigger version of Battle Creek.
Kalamazoo does have more to do, and does have decent universities. Be prepared though, this forum is indication of that. The people are very much the same. Everyone I had visit me in Kalamazoo said that it wasn't any different then Battle Creek, this is after going to Bars, eating out, walking around, shopping, etc... It's just a people thing, BC/Kzoo people have a very comfortable, down to earth, vibe about them. Not saying that is bad, but it is miles and miles away from OC people.

[bcnightlife]

I live in Battle Creek and it really is getting better. There are things to do here and plus they are building a casino here.
The crime rate is high but it is limited to certain areas. It has it's good parts and bad parts just as all city's do. Emmet Township, Lakeview and Pennfeild are all good areas to live and raise a family.
As far as things to do, we have Gary Fields comedy court, which books big name comics which you can view at garyfieldscomedyclub.com, we have the Vibe, which is a upscale night club and has myspace page myspace.com/thehottestnightclub We have the Waterfront which is located on the lake that has a upscale setting. We have the Hunt Club which is a great place to relax and meet with friends and family. We Snickkers which is about to reopen with some big name bands that play a verity of music, you can go to snickkers.net/bands to see what bands we are booking and we have a myspace page too myspace.com/bcnightlife.
You can talk with people on the local newspapers forum at battlecreekenquirer.com you can also read about what is going on in battle creek by reading the news paper on line for free.
Battle Creek is starting to make some positive changes and you may want to check it out yourself before you make any decisions.

[bcnightlife]

That’s funny, Battle Creek does have a Barnes and Noble too. It's a nice place. Kalamazoo is more of a college town then a family town. It maybe bigger and it does have more to offer for entertainment but you are subjected to allot more traffic and a faster pace where as Battle Creek is more laid back. I would consider Battle Creek being more family friendly then Kalamazoo due to the zoo, lakes and all the family entertainment events.

[bleppard]

Battle Creek is a small city, having financial trouble. It is experiencing the symptoms of shrinking economy. Those being declining property values, crime, and drugs.

HOWEVER, if you have a good paying stable job lined up I'd say you won't find a better place to move. Living outside the city in one of the small towns you mentioned will be extremely affordable and virtually crime free. SW Michigan is a beautiful area full of down to earth friendly people. There is absolutely no traffic and all the outdoor activity you could want.

[JBL123]

If you want to live in a rural area, then the area around Richland, Augusta, And Hickory Corners is VERY nice. You don't have to live on Gull Lake, but live close to it. Its a wonderful community, with a very nice school district. (Gull Lake Community Schools, Google it!) This area is very close to both Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo. About 30 minutes top. There are alot of things to do around here, whether you like being outdoors to indoors, or shopping, to parks and recreation. This area is wonderful. As far as the crime goes, yea we do have some crime in the cities (Battle Creek, more than Kalamazoo) but Law Enforcement has done a good job recently in keeping it down. There are alot of nice people around here, that are willing to help. Not to mention Richland has some of the cheapest gas prices around! I live in a nice size house, with about 5 acres in between Richland, Augusta, and Hickory corners, with all 3 towns about 3-6 minutes away. M89 is right by so you can get into Both Battle Creek and Kalamazoo very fast. Where I live you have many attractions and we live in Michigan State Land, with alot of Michigan State attractions, such as the Bird Sanctuary, and Kellogg Forest. It is so peaceful and nice where I live. You see birds, deer and all types of wild life all the time. We live just down the road from Gull Lake as well. This is the perfect place to live...for me. You can go into the city, but come home and relax in the rural/peaceful area! Nothing better than that!

[JENNMIKE]

IM LOOKING FOR A GREAT PLACE TO SPEND THE FOURTH OF JULY IN 2010. I AM LOOKING FOR A SMALL COUNTRY TOWN THAT LOVES AMERICA. HAS A PARADE AND SMALL TOWN PICNIC ON A LAKE OR A RIVERAND THEN THE FIREWORKS. IM FROM SAN DIEGO CA AND AM SICK OF CITY FIREWORKS. I WOULD NEED SOMEWHERE WHERE WE COULD STAY A FEW NIGHTS ALSO,TO VISIT THE PLACE AND RELAX.IS THIS YOUR TOWN? PLEASE E MAIL ME BACK AT jmszoo@juno.com. THANX, JEN