[Driller1]

I live north of Midland. When I was single, and wanted to party (slum), I drove to Saginaw.

[wanderer74]

I grew up in Saginaw and live on the outskirts of Midland now. I rented an apt in Bay City for about a year in my early 20s and didn't care much for the city at all. However, Bay City has a lot of bars on Midland St. and I think it is safer than the bar district in old town Saginaw. (Midland has no bar district to speak of...) Midland is a nice place to raise a family and it's pretty quiet, but for a young single person looking to hang out at bars or clubs occasionally, it probably wouldn't be too exciting.

There is almost *nothing* around SVSU - I should know, I graduated from there. But some of the apartment complexes others have mentioned in Saginaw are reputed to be fairly safe...Castle Way would probably be my pick in Saginaw, hands-down, if I were younger and single again. Based on the experiences of my friends, there's a lot less crime at Castle Way than at Green Acres & Normandy Square.

[jrmontag]

There's an awesome strip club by SVSU....yup.

[*Holly*]

Originally Posted by Driller1

Midland is a world apart from Saginaw. Much lower crime, very clean, shopping is the same(but safer) good recreation. Midland has not been hit as hard as the rest of the state. Much better place to live.

I would agree with Driller on this Midland is a beautiful town - low in crime... and CLEAN. Something Saginaw isn't.

I am originally from Saginaw... spent 26 or so in the area. I would say anywhere in Saginaw Township is decent. Any apartment complex has it's issues... but anything in the city is normally dirty, run-down and not safe in the daylight hours. The pathetic mall they have isn't even safe to walk around in. They closed most of the stores because people can't afford to buy anything because there aren't any jobs.... well not unless you can work a cash register @ a gas station. I have family there... and many friends that I grew up with... if it wasn't for them... I'd never visit. I worked @ one of the hospitals, so I had a good job... a nice house... a decent life. I just couldn't allow myself to be dragged down to the pits like the way Saginaw was heading. I wish you luck in your new life there - I hope it can work out for you.... Stay closer to State Street for a night life fun.... it's the safest side of town... just stay away from the East side... or you might not come back.
You'll know when you are there... boarded up homes.... grass as tall as you are.... empty ... bare.... lost forever.

[gwood]

Originally Posted by *Holly*

The pathetic mall they have isn't even safe to walk around in.

Yeah, there's black people in the mall. Be warned, they ALL rob you. I've been to the mall a few times this year, and I don't even want to say how many times I've been ROBBED. AT GUNPOINT! Okay, I'll tell you: it's zero. But IT'S STILL NOT SAFE!

Originally Posted by *Holly*

just stay away from the East side... or you might not come back. You'll know when you are there... boarded up homes.... grass as tall as you are.... empty ... bare.... lost forever.

Just stay away from it, so then you won't have to see it or talk to anyone there, so then you can be really sure of your convictions about it. As long as you look at it from a distance, you won't have anything that tells you different.

Yes I'm from Saginaw, originally from the southside and then my parents moved us out to the township where we oh so blissfully live now. Good thing we moved though, we'd DEFINITELY be dead by now. 100% sure of that. We were part of the problem; once more than 4 black families move onto the block, you move out! So who's really to blame for Saginaw's problems?

[mrkool]

Originally Posted by gwood

Yeah, there's black people in the mall. Be warned, they ALL rob you. I've been to the mall a few times this year, and I don't even want to say how many times I've been ROBBED. AT GUNPOINT! Okay, I'll tell you: it's zero. But IT'S STILL NOT SAFE!
Yes I'm from Saginaw, originally from the southside and then my parents moved us out to the township where we oh so blissfully live now. Good thing we moved though, we'd DEFINITELY be dead by now. 100% sure of that. We were part of the problem; once more than 4 black families move onto the block, you move out! So who's really to blame for Saginaw's problems?

You are a master of sarcasm, aren't you??
Since you don't seem to have any problem with the crime and demographics of Saginaw, and you imply that white flight is to blame for Saginaw's problems, here's an idea....
Leave Saginaw township and move right smack into the middle of east Saginaw. Be a trend setter. Do your part to start reversing white flight in the area. It all starts with one person.
Then, please come back to this forum in a year or so and tell us how it's going.
Come on, oh tolerant one, just do it. Talk is cheap.

[McCreative]

You could also try Freeland, MI. Its a small town but its close to the 3 "big" cities, Saginaw, Bay City & Midland. I grew up there(Freeland) and am also living there temporarily at the moment, but if I had to stay in the Saginaw area I would choose Freeland or Midland. Freeland is also nice because you can get away from the busier cities while still being close to them.

The gas is also cheaper because the town basically consists of four stations all on the same intersection.

[midlander008]

Help!Need advice on buying house in the midland area

Sorry to post this here, but my previous post got little attention and I see quite some people here live in Midland. Could you give me some good advice.
You can reply to my previous posting or send private message. Really appreciate it.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/michi...old-house.html

I Just moved to midland,MI and is now trying to decide whether to buy an old house or build a new one; whether to buy soon or wait a couple more years for further price drop. It gives me a little headache trying to make up my mind. I could really use some good advice in making my decision.

I am looking at the price range of 160,000-200,000. It seems in the 160,000 range, I could get decent houses that were built in the late 1970s (maybe not in the best neighborhood and maybe because the local real estate market is a buyer's market). In the price range of 180,000-200,000, I could get houses built in the late 80s 90s or even in 2000 in some new subdivisions.

My question is are houses built in the 70s in better quality than the new ones? Are those 70s houses built to last for another 50 years? It seems quite some homes are custom built, not sure if I am right. I know it depends on the builders and the area. Could someone give me advice on which ones were the good builders back in the 70s and 80s, the good and bad about the neighborhoods, and the school districts. I want to buy old houses since they are cheaper but are afraid i will need to do a lot of fix-up soon as I move in and spend a lot of money on that. Buying relatively newer houses in that price range means I need to be in a new subdivision which may not be as good as some mature neighborhoods. I also particularly care about the insulation of the house, the winter here is very cold. Do most houses have good insulation and double pane windows?

I got comments recently that I should get a house less than 10 years old so it will last for a while, an old house won't last long and will be worth little after more years. But some old house in midland look just as good to me as many of them look like they were custom built unlike the recently built tract houses, actually some good ones are priced higher than even new tract houses. I am in a dilemma. My friends are young so I don't want to rely solely on their comments. I think midland is different from bigger cities.

Also, do you think I should buy now or wait a year or 2, since everyone now knows the national housing slump. Overpriced houses in midland seem to seat on the market for a long time, only the ones with the best values are sold. Not sure if my observation is correct.

I really appreciate anyone here lending me your great wisdom.

[wanderer74]

In general the housing market in Michigan is bad - especially here in the Tri-Cities - but Midland tends to be better in that regard than Saginaw or Bay City. Whether you should buy now or later depends on how long you expect to stay there. If you think you'll be there less than 10 years I'd be wary.

As to your question about whether the houses built in the 70s are built to last, in my opinion (based on my experience with buying houses in this area and those I know who have) I think buying a house built in the 70s is actually a better bet than new construction in terms of how long the houses will last. Houses that were built in the 70s have already proven that they'll last that whole time, whereas the new constructions are more of an unknown quantity. I've known people who bought new construction and they had a lot of problems with them, some of which were fairly minor and some of which were pretty major.

Some people swear by new construction because at least all the appliances, furnace, air conditioners etc are new. If you buy a house from the 70s it's possible that those things could be potential problems, but only if they still have the original ones. I'm familiar with the Midland housing market (we're nearby in Auburn, and my sister bought a house in Midland last year) and I am very confident that in your price range you shouldn't have those problems - the houses you would be looking at would have updated appliances and heating/cooling systems. The advantage of the older houses is that the neighborhoods are well established and have plenty of mature trees. The house we bought in Auburn was built in 1968 and we really love it and haven't had many problems. Before we bought this, we rented a new-construction house here after moving back to the area, and honestly the benefits of the more mature neighborhood outweigh the slight asethetic advantage of the newer one.

I think you should consider the older houses and the newer ones. I don't think you should be scared of the older ones just because they're older. I think you can often get more for your money with the older houses than the newer ones.

As far as neighborhoods go, in general the areas nearest Dow are probably the ones to avoid - there isn't really bad crime anywhere in Midland, but what crime exists is most concentrated in the areas near Grove Park. In general the houses that would go to Dow High are considered the best - that's the 48640 zip code; Midland High is still a good school but the 48642 zip code that feeds into that school is more hit or miss as far as neighborhoods. If you're willing to consider areas on the outskirts of Midland, I'd also recommend Auburn and Freeland.

You can send me a private message if you have more questions that might be better taken off the boards. There are lots of good houses for you to consider and as long as you pay for a thorough inspection, you should be able to find a really great house in your price range. Whether it's older or new really shouldn't matter. Good luck!

[midlander008]

wanderer74,

Thank you so much for your valuable information. Now I feel I am more confident about buying an older house I actually admire the design and beauty of many of the older houses.

My husband and I relocated to Midland from a bigger city this year and we really love midland. No more traffic jam, more trees, affordable housing and also many nice people like you, we like midland and plan to stay. I will keep an eye on the housing market for a while but I think I will definitely buy an older house than new. My headache is now gone, a million thanks to you.