[Zippyman]

As someone who has spent a *lot* of time in Owosso, I can recommend it over Flint or Lansing, with the main caveat being *where* in lansing or flint these jobs are. Having lived in Owosso & commuted to Flint, Lansing, and even Detroit, commuting time is often inflated by those who've never actually driven the roads there. When working in East Lansing, my commute from Owosso to there was often shorter in duration than my co-workers who lived *in* other parts of Lansing. 1 mile of uncongested two-lane goes a lot faster than city-streets.

The primary benefits of Owosso are the lack of crime, low property taxes compared to the nearby metro areas, and decent schools. $200k in the areas around Owosso will buy some really great houses, with acreage if you want it. You might only be trading an extra 15 minutes on the road for a bigger/better/cheaper house in a very safe area. It's worth looking at.

Fwiw, Owosso is becoming a bit of a "college town" as well, Baker College owns a fair bit of real-estate there now.

[JoulesMSU]

Owosso would make the overall commute longer though.


If you both live in Owosso, you will be driving on average a total of 140-150 minutes combined (split fairly evenly) per day.

If you live in East Lansing, you will only be driving a total of about 110-120 minutes combined (although one person will be driving much further than the other) per day.

Ditto, if you live in Flint (wouldn't recommend) then you will only be driving 110-120 minutes combined (again, one person much more than the other) per day.


So you could save up to 2 and a half hours of total driving each week by living in East Lansing or Flint as opposed to Owosso.

And if you live in Owosso, you both will pretty much have a 70-75 mile round trip commute every day. If you live in one of the other cities, one of you will have ~100 mile round trip commute and the other will have a 10-20 mile round trip commute. 100 isn't really that much more than 70-75 (especially on I-69 where there is hardly any traffic), but 10-20 is a lot less than 70-75!

Lansing is also a growing city with new jobs coming in all the time (partially due to partnership with the state government, partially due to partnership with Michigan State, and partially due to other factors), so perhaps after a while the person who is working in Flint will be able to get a job in Lansing. And then instead of both of you having long drives from Owosso, you'll already be right there with short drives for each of you.


Here's one other tip for traffic - stay away from I-496 during rush hour. It gets congested from all the people leaving downtown Lansing, since that is the only highway that is near downtown. There are plenty of other routes around it, so avoid the noobs who sit in bumper to bumper traffic every day and take Michigan Ave or Kalamazoo St or something like that instead during those times.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by JoulesMSU

Owosso would make the overall commute longer though.


If you both live in Owosso, you will be driving on average a total of 140-150 minutes combined (split fairly evenly) per day.

If you live in East Lansing, you will only be driving a total of about 110-120 minutes combined (although one person will be driving much further than the other) per day.

Ditto, if you live in Flint (wouldn't recommend) then you will only be driving 110-120 minutes combined (again, one person much more than the other) per day.


So you could save up to 2 and a half hours of total driving each week by living in East Lansing or Flint as opposed to Owosso.

And if you live in Owosso, you both will pretty much have a 70-75 mile round trip commute every day. If you live in one of the other cities, one of you will have ~100 mile round trip commute and the other will have a 10-20 mile round trip commute. 100 isn't really that much more than 70-75 (especially on I-69 where there is hardly any traffic), but 10-20 is a lot less than 70-75!

Lansing is also a growing city with new jobs coming in all the time (partially due to partnership with the state government, partially due to partnership with Michigan State, and partially due to other factors), so perhaps after a while the person who is working in Flint will be able to get a job in Lansing. And then instead of both of you having long drives from Owosso, you'll already be right there with short drives for each of you.


Here's one other tip for traffic - stay away from I-496 during rush hour. It gets congested from all the people leaving downtown Lansing, since that is the only highway that is near downtown. There are plenty of other routes around it, so avoid the noobs who sit in bumper to bumper traffic every day and take Michigan Ave or Kalamazoo St or something like that instead during those times.

Lol.. you'll "spend more time on the road" if you live in Owosso, but "avoid I-496, because it's congested".. I would submit that there are areas near Owosso where your drive time would likely be less than if you lived in East Lansing proper.

For one -
Lake Manitou, Owosso, Michigan Welcome

That's just off I-69, and still in Owosso schools. An easy commute to either east lansing or Flint. You'll see deer on M-52 and M-21, but you won't *ever* encounter a traffic jam.

[DTWflyer]

As I said hey Owosso is a nice small town, but I highly doubt it would be high on the list for anyone leaving NYC

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by DTWflyer

As I said hey Owosso is a nice small town, but I highly doubt it would be high on the list for anyone leaving NYC

There isnt anywhere in Michigan that is "like" NYC.. and frankly, I suspect that is part of the appeal. East Lansing is not "urban" in the way that NYC is, and no one wants the "urban feel" that Flint offers.

You're trading off that mass of human population for the possibilty of having deer eating your flowers, being able to leave your door unlocked & the ability to *know* most everyone in your town. Owosso is just big enough to offer some services, (like a decent hospital), and small enough that you can actually meet (and influence) the mayor if you need to.

[chiroptera]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

There isnt anywhere in Michigan that is "like" NYC.. and frankly, I suspect that is part of the appeal. East Lansing is not "urban" in the way that NYC is, and no one wants the "urban feel" that Flint offers.

You're trading off that mass of human population for the possibilty of having deer eating your flowers, being able to leave your door unlocked & the ability to *know* most everyone in your town. Owosso is just big enough to offer some services, (like a decent hospital), and small enough that you can actually meet (and influence) the mayor if you need to.

LOL @ your status.

I agree. Seems like Balmoral wants a little more activity but were I to move to a small town in the region, Owosso would be in my top ten places to look at more closely.

I love NYC (a brother lived there for a while and it was great visiting him, it is a wonderful walking city with so much to do and great places to eat) but couldn't imagine living there.

[michigan83]

I don't buy the idea that it's better for one person to have a short commute while the other person has a terrible commute. That does not seem like a recipe for success.

Also, depending on where in East Lansing you live, you could waste 20 minutes just trying to get to the nearest freeway. I've experienced this first hand... I work in EL. For a while I lived 3 miles from work, and it took at least ten minutes to get there, sometimes 15, because there were a ton of red lights and a 25 mph speed limit between me and work. Now I live 20 miles away and I can get there in 18 minutes if I drive fast. I'll take the 20 mile commute any day over living in East Lansing.

I think it is worth consideration to live in between the two. One town that hasn't been mentioned is Laingsburg... a very nice little town with easy freeway access.

[dragon_fly_12]

If you're both willing to have about equal drives, you could also consider Brighton, MI. Closer to the metro area for entertainment and shopping, easy commute to both locations. Brighton - Flint about 38 miles, Brighton - EL about 45 miles.

[Balmoral]

Thanks for the feedback. We thought about Brighton and it looks like a nice town but it does add mileage. If we end up living in EL we would probably try to live as far east as possible and close to 69. Owosso also looks interesting but it might add gas/mileage/car maintenance costs.

In regards to activity, it seems like EL might be a good place to start. Not an undergrad anymore but I assume there are some fun places for an early career couple like us. Being close to MSU might also allow some adjunct opportunities.

Thanks for the feedback! Our move is less than 2 months and still no definite job so the crunch is on!

[teachbeach]

East Lansing/Haslett/Bath section would be a great location to look. About 3 to 5 miles to campus, all of the shopping/strip malls/restaurants you would want, and a quick trip south to 96 would get you to an east/west highway to get to most any location. Living near Business 69 (also called Saginaw in some of the more residential areas) gets you to Highway 69 (to get to Flint) easily and to downtown Lansing or west to Grand Rapids. There is a lot to do in this area, but it's going to be a much, much slower pace than NYC. It may be refreshing! I lived in metro NY area for 27 years, and get back to visit regularly. The traffic here is NOTHING in comparison to what I experience in the east. You have to watch more carefully for deer darting out in front of you than crazy drivers or 18 wheelers crawling into your back seat.

Two major hospitals with great medical care in the area (MSU has both an Osteo and MD program), on campus is a terrific performing arts center (The Wharton). There are lots of little bars and restaurants in the downtown area, and the college bars are decent (if you have the patience to wait to get in to them). Avoid the campus area on home game days, only because of the craziness that ensues, but then again, you may like that energy, coming from NYC. There are several small communities with neat boutiques of art work, small town antique places, lots of museums, lots of parks/trails for walking or biking. A home town baseball team and tons of festivals. Great Art Festival in East Lansing in May, celebrate the sun in June, Taste of Lansing in July, Jazz festivals, a week of Common Ground during July, Octoberfest etc., and you could attend a free concert any night somewhere nearby (parks, shopping centers, city squares, campus) during the summer.

There are plenty of day/get away options; Grand Rapids is a great town, as is Ann Arbor. Great overnights would be to Chicago (only $21 each way on the train, from the edge of campus straight into Union Station), Traverse City, Petosky, any of the beach towns or even Mackinac Island. We have a lot to offer to residents and visitors.

There is water everywhere (canoe, kayak, small boats) to the open waters of the large lakes and of course the Great Lakes (Michigan is still my favorite).

If you need a realtor, I can recommend one for you, or if you'd like me to recommend apartment complexes, I can help you out with that as well. Please send me private message if you want names/places etc., so it won't be cut by a moderator. Most of them come with covered parking, some might have garages. You'll find you can get a great apartment or townhouse, without the NYC prices. Anything along Marsh Road would be a great location for easy access to 69.

The only downside to this area is the long gray days of winter. It's not really much colder than NYC, but the gray factor just makes the winter months seem so long.

If you are looking in academia or health care you would probably do very well in the Lansing area. There are a number of smaller schools (Davenport is prepping to open a new facility), there is Lansing Community College and Siena Heights, tons of positions at MSU (look at their opening/employment section on line). There are two major hospitals and several smaller trade/technical schools with healthcare services degree/certificate granting programs. There is a satellite campus for Central Michigan University, Great Lakes Christian College.