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Michigan has no jobs. It has no BIG cities apart from Detroit which is a very bad place to live in. So I don't think he should move there unless he wants to live in the burbs of Detroit which are very vibrant compared to the city.
Actually if you look, I never said the OP would like MI if they were looking for really big cities. As for jobs, yes Michigan has jobs, you just have to have the skills needed for those jobs. The days of being a high school drop-out and landing a plush Union job are gone though. No skills=no job. Just like everywhere else.
News flash: Two posters posting lies in this forum will not to improve the reality of Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. The city has spent millions of dollars on TV adds trying to do it and that didn't work. What makes you think a couple guys on an internet forum are going to make it happen.
Fact is, even the suburbs which were formerly some of the most affluent suburbs in the Country are crushed at the moment. The problem is that most of our economy was based on the automotive industry and when GM and Chrysler tanked, it created a ripple effect that devastated our entire economy. One can now drive through Bloomfield Hills which was the wealthiest City per capita in the US for decades and see multi-million dollar homes with foreclosure stickers on them. Just about everyone that owns a home owes far more than what they can sell it for and a lot of people are simply walking away from their mortgages.
Also, business' are closing left and right because nobody has any money and isn't spending. And I'm not just talking mom and pop places but big box stores too. Near me we have lost a JC Penny, Men's Warehouse, Boater's Supply, Kohl's, etc. I personally know building contractors that were successful for decades and are now dropping like flies. Entire shopping centers built before the lending crisis are now sitting vacant.
If we could get our house together and bring business to the area it would certainly help. But lying to some guy and his wife to get them to move here from the UK isn't going to revive the economy. I can not comment on Grand Rapids because I've never been there, but I wouldn't advise anyone to move to the metro Detroit area right now. It is one of the hardest hit areas by this recession and most of us are trying to find out how to get the hell out. And BTW, it is absolutely true that the sky is gray damn near all winter long.
News flash: Two posters posting lies in this forum will not to improve the reality of Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. The city has spent millions of dollars on TV adds trying to do it and that didn't work. What makes you think a couple guys on an internet forum are going to make it happen.
Fact is, even the suburbs which were formerly some of the most affluent suburbs in the Country are crushed at the moment. The problem is that most of our economy was based on the automotive industry and when GM and Chrysler tanked, it created a ripple effect that devastated our entire economy. One can now drive through Bloomfield Hills which was the wealthiest City per capita in the US for decades and see multi-million dollar homes with foreclosure stickers on them. Just about everyone that owns a home owes far more than what they can sell it for and a lot of people are simply walking away from their mortgages.
Also, business' are closing left and right because nobody has any money and isn't spending. And I'm not just talking mom and pop places but big box stores too. Near me we have lost a JC Penny, Men's Warehouse, Boater's Supply, Kohl's, etc. I personally know building contractors that were successful for decades and are now dropping like flies. Entire shopping centers built before the lending crisis are now sitting vacant.
If we could get our house together and bring business to the area it would certainly help. But lying to some guy and his wife to get them to move here from the UK isn't going to revive the economy. I can not comment on Grand Rapids because I've never been there, but I wouldn't advise anyone to move to the metro Detroit area right now. It is one of the hardest hit areas by this recession and most of us are trying to find out how to get the hell out. And BTW, it is absolutely true that the sky is gray damn near all winter long.
News flash: Two posters posting lies in this forum will not to improve the reality of Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. The city has spent millions of dollars on TV adds trying to do it and that didn't work. What makes you think a couple guys on an internet forum are going to make it happen.
One of us happens to NOT be talking about Detroit OR it's suburbs. There is a LOT more to the state than the armpit in the Southeast. Most people are smart enough to realize that one area that makes up less than 10% of a state total area, does NOT indicate how ALL areas of a state are doing or what the rest of the states economy is based on.
The sky is NOT gray all winter either. What a doof.
I am not too sure. I hear that the East has terrible Hurricanes, and is prone to "hillbillies".
And west has earthquakes, and is prone to materialistic arrogant types.
Be careful what you read -- much is hugely exagerated. I know lots of peope who live in hurricane central (south Alabama and coastal Florida) and never have a problem. I have lived in a hillbilly area and found the locals to be quite charming.
Given your criteria, I would recommend Northern Virginia. Because you can afford $800K, I would recommend: McLean, Great Falls, and Oakton. If you want a truly anglophile experience (but further out), I would recommend Middleburg. On the Maryland side, you might want to consider Potomac and Bethesda. Those 'hoods are more international in flavor as well.
Charleston or Savannah would give you the heat in summer and mild winters,
Somewhat on the ocean with easy access to beaches..
I'm not sure how much Charleston and Savannah fit the OP's stipulations, but if he's willing to stretch his requirements a little, they're great options. Charleston probably comes closer than Savannah.
I absolutely love both these cities. They're not big cities, which is why I didn't think of them. Both have similar populations, but the difference is that Charleston is the anchor of a larger metropolitan area, whereas Savannah is pretty much just Savannah. I remember driving down there from Charleston and wondering where the city was -- the landscape looked exactly like it had through the preceding two-hour drive through the country, and my GPS said my hotel was five minutes away. Then I crossed a bridge, and suddenly I was in this beautiful city.
Both places are beautiful, actually. Savannah is more beautiful -- it's been called the prettiest city in America. Its system of public squares every few blocks in the historic district is pretty much the best urban-planning idea anyone ever had. But Charleston also has great old architecture and public spaces.
The food! I'd gone to Barcelona the previous year and thought that was the best food I'd ever had while traveling, but the food in Charleston and Savannah might have been even better. I learned that if you've never had Southern food in the South, you've never really had Southern food. Charleston had the better overall restaurant scene, but Savannah had Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House, maybe the best single meal I've ever had.
The culture of these places isn't what you see in internationally distributed TV shows and movies. It's kind of a different America, but I liked it much more than I was raised to expect as a lifelong Yankee. True to the stereotype, people are very very nice, and there was a sort of everybody-knows-everybody feel. When you get out of the city proper, you start to notice an increasing religious-conservative strain that might make people from secular Europe -- or the secular Northeast of the U.S. -- uncomfortable. South Carolina, for example, offers drivers the option of an "In God We Trust" license plate as a free alternative to the standard one. In Charleston, when at one point I left the downtown area and pulled into a fast-food place in a more residential neighborhood, I noticed that almost every car in the parking lot had the In God We Trust plate. It ain't Seattle, that's for sure. But I think anyone who's comfortable with that atmosphere would be very happy in either city. And these are also sophisticated places with a large degree of ideological diversity.
Guys, let me tell you how truly inspiring it is to have so many people care about the well being of my wife and I, and how much we both appreciate the fact that you have posted us places to live. Charleston looks quite nice. Another thing i guess i should have added in is that we are both orthodox Jews. Giving up our religion would hurt us, but we would move on, but going somewhere like the Carolinas, where i hear is anti-Semitic, seems pretty dangerous. Is New Mexico any nice? I hear Santa Fe and Albuquerque is also nice.
Guys, let me tell you how truly inspiring it is to have so many people care about the well being of my wife and I, and how much we both appreciate the fact that you have posted us places to live. Charleston looks quite nice. Another thing i guess i should have added in is that we are both orthodox Jews. Giving up our religion would hurt us, but we would move on, but going somewhere like the Carolinas, where i hear is anti-Semitic, seems pretty dangerous. Is New Mexico any nice? I hear Santa Fe and Albuquerque is also nice.
NM has a problem with border control.
It can be nice.
The Carolinas would be anti-Semitic. Its in the South so it might be intolerant.Not always.
Charleston is a small city in SC. A very nice place. Its only around 110,000 people.Not that big of a place.
Not a diverse city at all. Its just White and Black people and no where in between
Last edited by nycistheplace2; 07-24-2010 at 06:51 PM..
As for Santa eE. It is a small city of about 75,000 people. Its mainly Mexican as it is near the border.
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