[teachbeach]

You might want to also check out the area in/around East Lansing. It's a little more centrally located, and you have the MSU campus, great medical facilities and hospitals as well as senior living complexes, the proximity to 3 airports (Detroit, Lansing and Flint) and are dead center in the middle of just south center of the state. There is always something going on in Ingham/Ionia/Clinton County and Lansing has a good number of cultural events. East Lansing (check out their website) has summer concerts, a very low cost community center with pool and gym facilities, and lots of events happening throughout the year. The college itself has athletics, the Wharton Center, speakers series, museums, gardens, and audit class options for seniors. Easy trip to Chicago, Detroit, north on 127 to Mt. Pleasant and points north, and hour + from Grand Rapids. Housing would definitely be in your price range as there are a number of foreclosures and short sale homes available due to the poor economy after the auto industry left town. It does seem to be making a little bit of a recovery with the tech, medical, and insurance industry big names. The towns/municipalities of Okemos, Haslett, East Lansing all have excellent schools for the high school student. On the west side of town, Grand Ledge and Waverly area have good reputations.

[caspper69]

Originally Posted by Rathagos

I currently live in a relatively small city in Texas (population about 90k). I have always said that I'd love to take this city and move it up into Michigan somewhere because all the photos I've seen, it's one of the most beautiful states.

So, I'm curious. Does Michigan host any cities that would be comparable to the one I live in? Here are some things I tout about the city I live in:

1. Shopping: We have 2 super-Walmarts and one Sam's (Costco equivalent). We have a mall, albeit small, but we have a Sears and JC Penneys, along with other regional stores (Dillards, Beales, etc.). We have Target, Office Max and Depot, Academy Sports, and Best Buy. We have Lowes, Home Depot, and Ace for hardware. So, essentially we have all the basics you'd need to get by.

2. Restaurants. We have more Chinese buffets than you can shake a stick at. We also have some national chains (Carino's, Olive Garden, Outback) and most of the fast food (McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, etc.). And, of course, we are aplenty with steak houses and Mexican/Tex-Mex. We even have a couple Japanese style restaurants.

3. Schools. We have three high schools, 4-5 middle/jr. high schools, and, of course lots of elementary (I think 7-10). We have a university here as well, and a community college.

4. Crime: Crime is very low here, and normally kept to one specific area of the city, and normally committed between parties that know each other (drugs, assault, etc.). Random crimes or assaults are very rare, and even more rare are the serious crimes (rape, murder, etc.).

5. Housing: I'm curious about comparable housing there as well. I own my house I bought in 1999. It's about 1600 sqft. It's 4 bedroom, two bath, two car garage. There's about 5000 sqft of yard (front and back combined). I paid roughly $84k when I bought it, but it's worth about $130-140k based on what houses in the area are selling for. What would something comparable go for in Michigan in similar cities/towns?

I would like to know if anyone could/would recommend a city/town they live in or know that could be comparable (50-100k people) with similar amenities to those above.

I'm retired Navy, but still active in the work force as I'm only mid-late 40's. My wife is a nurse, so there's almost always work for her wherever we'd go. Schools aren't as important as my two oldest are almost done with college, and our youngest is a freshman in HS. I don't mind the cold/snow, in fact, I'd prefer it and that's my only complaint about the city I live in... it's hot all the time. In the winter it only gets down to 30's at night and still up to 60s+ in the day (this week will be near 70s). I want seasons.

Thanks for all/any advice any of you can throw my way!

~ Rath

Honestly, if you're looking for a change in the seasons and scenery, the western side of the state is going to be less of a culture shock for you coming from Texas. The west side is much less dependent on the auto industry (but is still industrialized), and is much more conservative in pockets. Grand Rapids is a (regional) world-class city where things are actually happening, and business is booming. There are plenty of opportunities for your wife to work, and you are close to a big area with all of the amenities you mentioned (Walmart, Sams, Costco, Outback, etc.), but you are not too far away from the lake or nature. The west side does get hit a bit harder with snow (but not nearly as bad as up north or the UP), due to the lake effect. But you are within 3 hours of downtown Chicago for the big-city get aways, within a couple of hours or so of Traverse City, and within an hour of several great beach towns during the summer.

You really can't beat it, and other than the accent being different, you'll likely be surrounded with like-minded, good people.

*I should qualify that I'm from rural NC, went to high school in Metro Detroit and currently live in East Lansing, so this isn't homerism. Grand Rapids and the surrounding towns are great areas, and you can truly have it all within 3 hours of your home base, to keep the traveling and recreation costs cheap. And within the budget you mentioned in a later post, you can find a great home in a great community. Be sure to check out Holland too. It's 30 minutes or so from the greater GR area, but close enough that if you really need something you can get there and back pretty quickly.

[TXtoMI]

We currently live in Fort Worth and Bought our retirement property/house in the Newaygo area. The west side of the State is beautiful. We looked in many areas in the LP (did not look in the UP at all) and fell in love with the west central part of Michigan. Of course we were looking for a much smaller town feel that was within 50 miles or so of good hospitals and big shopping. We did not want to be in the middle of it again. Good luck and from one Texan to another, Welcome to Michigan.

Clay

[detwahDJ]

Shopping was near the top of your list. Grand Haven is a summer playground, has one mall area of its own (on US-31), and it's a short jump to Holland or Muskegon which have more and bigger malls. The Lake Michigan coastline is the state's playground and you should make it up to Sleeping Bear at some point.
The Official Website of the Sleeping Bear Dunes Visitors Bureau
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Most Beautiful Place in America Revealed: Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan | Video - ABC News

Why Leelanau? Summertime fun! - YouTube
One can get carried away with these videos, but google Leelanau, Sleeping Bear, Fishtown, Glen Arbor, GlenLake, etc for more.

[dragon_fly_12]

My first thought would be East Lansing / Okemos-Haslett. Meets everything you just described (right down to the Chinese Buffets - Lansing / EL has one on every corner it seems!). Housing might be priced a little higher due to EL being a college town, but the nice areas have very nice, charming neighborhoods.

[Yogi86]

Try looking into the Brighton / Hamburg area. Brighton is a city with all the shopping and amenities you need, and both its neighbor township Hamburg and Brighton boast rolling hills LOTS of lakes, state recreation areas, and great metro parks. It is close to freeways and about halfway between Lansing and Detroit.