[JD59]

Thinking about moving to Clare to buy a home. Never been to Clare and just wondering if Clare has a Wal-mart or any resturants? Friend of mine wants me to buy a house next door to them. How much snow does Clare get a year?


Thanks, John

[caspper69]

Originally Posted by John1960

Thinking about moving to Clare to buy a home. Never been to Clare and just wondering if Clare has a Wal-mart or any resturants? Friend of mine wants me to buy a house next door to them. How much snow does Clare get a year?


Thanks, John

Clare is a fairly small resort town. There are restaurants, and the main drag has all of the usual suspects (McD's, BK, Taco Bell, Subway). There are a couple of Glen's supermarkets in the area.

You will have to drive down to Mt. Pleasant though in order to find a Wal-Mart or Meijer. It's not too far, depending upon where in/around Clare you live. City center to city center is under 20 miles.

Clare gets about 93" of snowfall per year, so not nearly as bad as further north, but the temps tend to be slightly cooler. Certainly less snowfall than GR gets with the lake effect.

Clare is in an ok location though, since you're already up there pretty far if you want to venture up north or to the UP, and you're only 20 minutes from Mt. Pleasant, 1.5 hours from Lansing, a little under 2 hours to GR, and probably 2.5 hours to metro Detroit.

[GraniteStater]

It is good if you are looking for cheap real estate in Clare and the surrounding area. The county is extremely economically depressed so very few jobs and a distrubingly high percentage of the population below the poverty line. The scenery is good, though.

[JD59]

Thanks for the information. I'm from Ann Arbor but I've been gone for 19 years to Tennessee and it will be hard to get back into shoveling snow again and dealing with the cold.

[michmoldman]

Clare is a kinda boring town...I could think of 100 better places. But, if your afraid of snow and cold...you best stay put.

[JD59]

Instead of buying a place in Clare I think I would visit in the summer. What about buying a lot and parking a travel trailer?

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by caspper69

Clare is in an ok location though, since you're already up there pretty far if you want to venture up north or to the UP, and you're only 20 minutes from Mt. Pleasant, 1.5 hours from Lansing, a little under 2 hours to GR, and probably 2.5 hours to metro Detroit.

And 30 minutes from Midland, which has much better shopping options than Mt. Pleasant.

Really, there isn't too much "urban" to do in Clare - a couple decent restaurants, a couple shops, etc. Anything major needs to happen in Midland or Mt Pleasant. Even Harrison (20 minutes north) is more vibrant than Clare. My mom used to have a place in Lake George (15 min west of Harrison, but still officially Harrison - the P.O. only has boxes), if you want a better selection of groceries than Glen's, you've got to trek. She now lives in Clare, and travel distances are better, but there is really less close.

Now doing stuff in the country - fishing, hunting, hiking, snowmobiling, etc - Clare is a pretty good starting point. I'd still suggest Harrison though, or even Gladwin (20 min. east of Harrison)

[michmoldman]

Big Rapids...West of Clare is a very cool town , but still relatively close.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Clare is a huge dump. Lots of swamps and 'billies on welfare. I would highly recommend checking it out before deciding to move there. Ann Arbor to Clare would be a shock to the system.

[Mihai V.]

My neighbor has family who lives in Clare and I showed him this thread and his input is that Clare is a very poor area, the whole county is especially near Harrison, and that Clare has crime issues. I agree, that doesn't sound much like Ann Arbor.