Moving from Florida to michigan (Detroit, Lansing: homes, transfer, buy)
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It''s a big adjustment even in southern Lower Michigan. Michigan winters are long, hard, and bleak. They may not be as brutally cold as those in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, or the Dakotas at the same latitude but Michigan gets snow, and lots of it -- especially in the western Lower Peninsula. The snow can be so heavy that it makes travel practically impossible at times. Around the winter solstice you will experience sunset before 5PM. You plan all optional and deferrable trips according to the weather. Michigan winters are cloudy so if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder, you might choose some other place even if it is colder.
Michigan has winter thaws in which temperatures rising above 50F in January and February, up to about 70F in March but all of Michigan can have snowstorms as late as early April. The heaviest snowstorm may strike in April after you have seen some almost summer-like conditions, when cold Canadian air hits warm, moist air with a drop of as much as 50F in temperature and two feet of snow.
A Michigan winter will expose whatever inadequacies exist in your life or in the community in which you live. You will be snowbound at times. You will shovel huge amounts of snow or pay someone to shovel it for you. Every week or so you hear of someone dying of a heart attack while shoveling snow... the secret is to use the shovel as a plow.
Michigan salts roads, and the salt slush will rust your car out. You need to wash your car frequently in a Michigan winter to avoid having a car rust out in six years.
Bad as the snows are, the late winter is ugly, the antithesis of the bright color of fall. All colors other than those of paint will be shades of gray.
Whatever you do, solve all personal problems before you set foot in Michigan between Thanksgiving and Tax Day. A Michigan winter is one possible image of Hell. You are warned. Make sure to have a strong attachment to the community in which you live, have an excellent collection of video, music, and books.
Hahaha. Someone thinks he or she is a poet. That was good.
I won't pick apart the factual inaccuracies in your post, I'll just let them sit there, rot and fall from the tree.
It''s a big adjustment even in southern Lower Michigan. Michigan winters are long, hard, and bleak. They may not be as brutally cold as those in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, or the Dakotas at the same latitude but Michigan gets snow, and lots of it -- especially in the western Lower Peninsula. The snow can be so heavy that it makes travel practically impossible at times. Around the winter solstice you will experience sunset before 5PM. You plan all optional and deferrable trips according to the weather. Michigan winters are cloudy so if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder, you might choose some other place even if it is colder.
Michigan has winter thaws in which temperatures rising above 50F in January and February, up to about 70F in March but all of Michigan can have snowstorms as late as early April. The heaviest snowstorm may strike in April after you have seen some almost summer-like conditions, when cold Canadian air hits warm, moist air with a drop of as much as 50F in temperature and two feet of snow.
A Michigan winter will expose whatever inadequacies exist in your life or in the community in which you live. You will be snowbound at times. You will shovel huge amounts of snow or pay someone to shovel it for you. Every week or so you hear of someone dying of a heart attack while shoveling snow... the secret is to use the shovel as a plow.
Michigan salts roads, and the salt slush will rust your car out. You need to wash your car frequently in a Michigan winter to avoid having a car rust out in six years.
Bad as the snows are, the late winter is ugly, the antithesis of the bright color of fall. All colors other than those of paint will be shades of gray.
Whatever you do, solve all personal problems before you set foot in Michigan between Thanksgiving and Tax Day. A Michigan winter is one possible image of Hell. You are warned. Make sure to have a strong attachment to the community in which you live, have an excellent collection of video, music, and books.
LOL! This post brings back some memories. Sounds like how my DH felt before we left MI...Although some times I feel like an AZ summer is also "one possible image of Hell".
Eastern US Winters have been bad lately--maybe wait a bit
Hi:
I moved back to Michigan to take care of my Mom (90's and ill) in September of 2013, and stayed until her death in August 2015. When I moved,I knew it was not forever, but didn't know exactly how long it would be. There are pluses and minuses:
Plus: Rent is cheap and people are nice. I was located in Lansing. Plus: There are service jobs opening up--in the last 2 years I saw many "help wanted" signs. These are not good jobs, they are just retail and restaurant jobs. But there ARE jobs at places like Kroger, Panera, etc. Plus: compared with Florida, I didn't feel that Michigan was overrun with urban sprawl, too much concrete, and constant development, the way Florida seems to be. I don't know where you are in FL, but the coasts are filling up with strip malls and wall-to-wall people. It also depends on where you go in MI, but there are still plenty of green places and places to breathe the air in MI. Plus: the tap water was very good in Lansing, I never bought bottled water there because the tap water tasted so good.
Minus: Both winters I spent (2013-14, and 2014-15) were VERY hard. The eastern US is going through a patch of hard winters, lots of snow and extreme cold. People in MI were always telling me that the recent winters were not typical, and were harder than they'd ever seen. Low temperatures and precipitation broke records while I was there. So be aware of that: it's unknown how long this trend will contintue. Minus: a lot of people smoke in MI. Minus: in general, I found Michiganians to not be very well-traveled or aware of the world around them. They love their state, and don't want to hear about anything else (except Las Vegas). It's somewhat charming, but I got tired of people who didn't know or care about history or very basic geography. Minus: because the economy has been very bad for a very long time in MI, there are a lot of people who live precariously, such as on disability, or on practically nothing. You will be asked for loans and financial help by friends and relatives.
So that's what I know. You might like the novelty of the hard winter--the snow can be very beautiful. But the number of dark, cloudy, cold days eventually got to me.
Best of luck!
That's one way of looking at it, and it is very well-described.
But if you dress for the cold, you can be just fine. I was an out-of-stater while I was there (for 2 years), and admitted it to everyone, so they understood why I wore so many layers, socks, double-scarves--even those nerdy ice cleats on my boots....
I didn't have a car at all while I was there, and walked and took the bus everywhere--it was actually fun at times.
Also, the darkness can be fun and interesting too. Night walks when the traffic dies down when you can go right down the middle of a street that would be busy in the daytime. And the BEST thing: when there is so much snow that no one can drive--a good time to get out and enjoy the silence and beauty and sheer pure extreme hell of a Michigan winter. I wished and hoped for those days.
But I will NEVER understand those really hardy Michiganians who can go out in the cold in a halter top or shorts in January. That was absolutely nuts, but they really do it.
I grew up in Northern Indiana and then moved to Sarasota FL in my mid 20s. Lived there for 24 yrs until my hubby decided he didn't want to be married anymore. My mom was sick and I had never got over missing the north and my family. The change of seasons, the less expensive to live here were also incentives for me to leave the sand behind. I moved back in 2000. The only regret is I didn't do it sooner. My mom passed and I lost a nephew who was a little boy when I left. I am so sorry I didn't get to spend more time with them.
I NEVER got used to the heat humidity and crowds of FL and it just kept getting worse. I would never live in a hot climate again. I visited this year for 4 days, ate my weight in seafood and was ready to head north. It was a nice visit, but I was shocked at the growth that happened since I left and Sarasota is getting to be like the west coast version of Lauderdale...ick
I still and always will miss shopping for groceries at Publix and I long for real FRESH seafood (not a Red Lobster fan), but thats about all!
So pack it up and dont worry about the cold. Buy a good snowblower with an electric start (I am a single woman 65 years old and I can clear my double drive in under 30min) and rejoice in your snow days! Just when I think I am getting tired of winter, the crocus start peaking up and I know spring is coming and I smile
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhiannonfl1
I am originally from Michigan and have lived in S FL for 13 years. I miss my family and friends and am thinking of moving back.
Has anyone done this? I haven't had to deal winter in 13 years - how hard is the adustment? I love all the other seasons.
Never been to Michigan but my daughter has been looking and found two locations in Michigan she thinks she would really like to live. She had never been father north than grandfather mountain in NC so there will definitely be an adjustment. Been in Florida for 25 years. I'd adjustment possible? For a 63 year old? She won't move without me going too
A Michigan Winter is one possible image of hell? Lol
I guess if you go around finding everything wrong with it and try not to enjoy it! Believe it or not, there are those of us who LOVE Winter because we get outside and enjoy it instead of sit inside and curse it.
It also really depends on where you live. Here in Northern MI our Winters are amazing because we get a lot of snow, and keep it most of Winter, and if it does melt we usually get it back pretty fast, so we can actually get out and enjoy Winter activities. The only part I hate is March when the transition to Spring means mud and fog most days, BUT...I know what's coming after that, so I have no problem dealing with the ugly parts of Winter.
I refer to southern Michigan, in which winter weather typically ranges from blah to horrible. Winter is more stable in northern Michigan, where winter thaws are rare. We can get fog and mud any time in the winter around the Indiana or Ohio state lines. Our blizzards have more juice to transform into snow. The transition to Spring? We get much the same weather throughout the winter, only it is a transition from one wave of winter to a thaw and then to another wave of winter.
It''s a big adjustment even in southern Lower Michigan. Michigan winters are long, hard, and bleak. They may not be as brutally cold as those in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, or the Dakotas at the same latitude but Michigan gets snow, and lots of it -- especially in the western Lower Peninsula. The snow can be so heavy that it makes travel practically impossible at times. Around the winter solstice you will experience sunset before 5PM. You plan all optional and deferrable trips according to the weather. Michigan winters are cloudy so if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder, you might choose some other place even if it is colder.
Michigan has winter thaws in which temperatures rising above 50F in January and February, up to about 70F in March but all of Michigan can have snowstorms as late as early April. The heaviest snowstorm may strike in April after you have seen some almost summer-like conditions, when cold Canadian air hits warm, moist air with a drop of as much as 50F in temperature and two feet of snow.
A Michigan winter will expose whatever inadequacies exist in your life or in the community in which you live. You will be snowbound at times. You will shovel huge amounts of snow or pay someone to shovel it for you. Every week or so you hear of someone dying of a heart attack while shoveling snow... the secret is to use the shovel as a plow.
Michigan salts roads, and the salt slush will rust your car out. You need to wash your car frequently in a Michigan winter to avoid having a car rust out in six years.
Bad as the snows are, the late winter is ugly, the antithesis of the bright color of fall. All colors other than those of paint will be shades of gray.
Whatever you do, solve all personal problems before you set foot in Michigan between Thanksgiving and Tax Day. A Michigan winter is one possible image of Hell. You are warned. Make sure to have a strong attachment to the community in which you live, have an excellent collection of video, music, and books.
I refer to southern Michigan, in which winter weather typically ranges from blah to horrible. Winter is more stable in northern Michigan, where winter thaws are rare. We can get fog and mud any time in the winter around the Indiana or Ohio state lines. Our blizzards have more juice to transform into snow. The transition to Spring? We get much the same weather throughout the winter, only it is a transition from one wave of winter to a thaw and then to another wave of winter.
I was out biking in this weather for about an hour, and then took the dog for a 20 minute walk afterward. Felt great. I mean, so did the hot shower afterward, but I don't mind the weather. I hate bugs, and humidity, and I really don't like sweating, so it suits me.
I'm going to guess that I was outside longer today than any Floridian is in May - September.
Last edited by magellan; 01-05-2016 at 05:04 PM..
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That was good.
Eastern US Winters have been bad lately--maybe wait a bit
that's one way of looking at it
The winter isn't that bad here- embellish much?
