[PoeticMom77]

Hello. My husband has a possible job in St. Joe. We are a family of 4, kids are 7 & 6. We want to know a good family oriented, non-racial place to live instead of commuting. Doesn't have to be St. Joe persay but somewhere less than 30mins away. Thanks in advance.

[PoeticMom77]

Also, we were checking some of the surroundings. Saw Fair Plain, does anyone know where the kids would go to school?

[notdeconcentrate]

Originally Posted by PoeticMom77

Hello. My husband has a possible job in St. Joe. We are a family of 4, kids are 7 & 6. We want to know a good family oriented, non-racial place to live instead of commuting. Doesn't have to be St. Joe persay but somewhere less than 30mins away. Thanks in advance.

Can you please explain what you mean by "non-racial"? I believe Fairplain is in the Benton Harbor School District.

[PoeticMom77]

I was worried that Fair plain would be in the Benton Harbor school district.

I mean open-minded, to many races and ethnic backgrounds. We came from Tennessee, and don't want to move to another close minded place.

[notdeconcentrate]

Since your kids are under high school age there is always Countryside Charter School and Brookview Montessori School. There are also a few parochial schools in the area.

[Softballfan]

Just live in St. Joe. Its a great town. You can't beat Lake Michigan in the summer. I don't know if its a racial town, but any where you live there is racism.

A little farther North is South Haven. Its another beach town that has a mix of races in the schools. White, Black, Latino.

[northstar22]

Originally Posted by Softballfan

Just live in St. Joe. Its a great town. You can't beat Lake Michigan in the summer. I don't know if its a racial town, but any where you live there is racism.

This is true, but St. Joe is known for its racism. It's one of the most segregated areas of the state -- virtually all white, next to virtually all-black Benton Harbor. There is a lot of racial tension in that area.

A little farther North is South Haven. Its another beach town that has a mix of races in the schools. White, Black, Latino.

I would definitely choose South Haven over St. Joe. It's much more diverse and there is much less racial tension in the area. The one negative of South Haven is that it's overrun with tourists from Illinois during the summer months. Additionally, during the summer, plenty of Western Michigan University students head to South Haven to hang out and party at the beach on the weekends. If you don't like tourists and college students, I'd recommend staying away from South Haven.

Niles is another good town that's about 20 minutes from St. Joe. Although it's not on the beach, one good thing about Niles is that it borders the much larger city of South Bend, Indiana, where you can go for major shopping or other "big city" activities. The Niles area -- along with South Bend -- is really progressive, and has a large intellectual and professional population due to the presence of Notre Dame.

[notdeconcentrate]

I'm from South Haven and I work in St. Joe. I mostly agree with what was previously said about each of the two places. However, I would not choose one over the other.

I would stick with Fairplain. There is a less to do in South Haven than in the Benton Harbor/St. Joe area. You have to drive 25-30 minutes (to Holland, Kalamazoo, or Benton Harbor) to get to a mall. Every winter I want to move just to avoid the drive down I-196 or Blue Star Hwy/M-63 to get to work.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE South Haven, but I think that it is not as convenient. On the plus side, I love the beach here, the downtown area, and I feel like I received a decent education in South Haven public schools.

I also have a 3 1/2 year old daughter and there is not very much variety in kid's activities.

[PoeticMom77]

Originally Posted by notdeconcentrate

Since your kids are under high school age there is always Countryside Charter School and Brookview Montessori School. There are also a few parochial schools in the area.

Thanks, they both look like great schools.

[PoeticMom77]

Originally Posted by northstar22

This is true, but St. Joe is known for its racism. It's one of the most segregated areas of the state -- virtually all white, next to virtually all-black Benton Harbor. There is a lot of racial tension in that area.



I would definitely choose South Haven over St. Joe. It's much more diverse and there is much less racial tension in the area. The one negative of South Haven is that it's overrun with tourists from Illinois during the summer months. Additionally, during the summer, plenty of Western Michigan University students head to South Haven to hang out and party at the beach on the weekends. If you don't like tourists and college students, I'd recommend staying away from South Haven.

Niles is another good town that's about 20 minutes from St. Joe. Although it's not on the beach, one good thing about Niles is that it borders the much larger city of South Bend, Indiana, where you can go for major shopping or other "big city" activities. The Niles area -- along with South Bend -- is really progressive, and has a large intellectual and professional population due to the presence of Notre Dame.

Thanks. South Haven doesn't sound like a fit, due to the tourism. Possibly Niles, we also saw Buchanan near Niles, do you know anything about it?