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My fiancé really wants to move to Michigan once we get married. He grew up in a small town near Ann Arbor. I grew up in Colorado and I absolutely love it. Pros and cons of Michigan? Do you guys enjoy living there/would you suggest it a good place to raise a family? I went there to meet his, and I tried so hard to enjoy it but it just wasn’t my place :/ it felt super grey, a tad bit depressing, and boring. Nice people though and pretty areas. Of course I also visited during the winter when that’s probably what the weather is like, and I can’t judge it.
Some questions:
-How much sunshine do you guys have on average? Is it always that gloomy? I am used to living in VERY sunny places so that would be something to get used to.
-things to do?
-economy?
-jobs?
-quality of life?
I am going to graduate college and be an RN, then an NP ultimately. I hear UM has a lot of nursing jobs which is cool.
Thanks!! It’s been a struggle for us arguing about where we should end up. I do like that he has all of his family in MI.
XOXOX ❤️
My wife and I are planning to move to Michigan (where she was born and raised) in a couple of years.
This is coming from someone who does not live there, so take it with a grain of salt. From my reading, talking with her, and somewhat limited experience in the state:
-Sunshine is pretty similar in total hours to the Pacific Northwest or Northeast, which is to say, gloomy for half the year. It's less seasonal than the PNW but pretty similar to what you'd see in Vermont/NH/Maine. Overall one of the worse places to live if you like blue skies and sunshine.
-I've heard Ann Arbor is pretty happening. Detroit has a great arts scene. There are some pretty cool towns on the west coast and up north, some great camping, the dunes are supposed to be incredible. What sorts of things are you interested in?
-Economy near Detroit is pretty boom and bust, more stable the farther you get away. Things tend to fall apart when the auto industry has a downturn. Get a job that isn't dependent on the auto industry, unless you like being unemployed when everyone else is getting laid off. Ann Arbor has some stability from the school. A downturn, on the flip side, tends to mean a fire sale on real estate.
-Jobs market seems pretty average. If you have some skills you'll find something to do. North of Detroit seems to be where most of the work is. Wages are lower on average than I'm used to in Vermont and cost of living is pretty much a wash, housing is cheaper but insurance is a lot more.
There's a lot more racial diversity than I'm used to here, which for me is a plus.
It's very cloudy in the winter. Not that cloudy in the summer, but never over 70% of the time. It gets really stormy in the summer at times - thunderstorms, but hail is rare.
Washtenaw county has some of the best schools in the state. World class entertainment, arts at Michigan. Lots of outdoors. BUT is VERY flat. You'll be insulted if you go to Mt Brighton to ski.
Washtenaw county is Ann Arbor focused. Some people commute into Detroit and work in automotive related jobs. Most jobs are university related (30,000 people work directly for the school) or pharma. But Lotus, Toyota, Subaru, Mercedes all have engineering in Ann Arbor. The hospital has over 1000 beds, so there are more than a couple nurses . There's also a VA hospital down the street (~150 beds) and St Joseph's (~550 beds) technically just outside of town.
Sunshine varies, but during the winter you get times (like now) where it is endlessly cloudy day after day after day, sometimes for weeks or even a month. It can wear on you.
Clear winter days are super clear as there is no moisture in the air. It can be stunningly beautiful.
Much of the nicer weather periods are subject to constant radical change. It can be cold and waterfall deluge for two hours then instantly clear and warm and sunny for three hours. 30 degree temperature swings in 24 hours (or less)can happen.
The cloudiness is amplified by the very short days. IN the winter we have days where it does not get light until about 9 a.m. and it is getting dark by 5 p.m. This is balanced out by summers where daylight can go from about 6 am to almost 10 p.m.
We moved (back) to Michigan from Southern California after 18 years. Our kids were all born in California. Here are soem of the things we found pllus and minus.
Michigan:
Cleaner.
More natural (tress, grass)
Water water everywhere.
Far fewer restaurant choices. Far fewer true ethnic variety. (Yes, there ar people here who actually thing Taco Bell is Mexican food).
Generally less crowded.
Massively less expensive (except car insurance).
More outdoor oriented (despite cold snow and missing sun).
Far better medical treatment/options for the ordinary Joe.
Incredibly aggressive drivers.
Road kill everywhere.
Trees and forests and lakes and rivers and ponds and streams everywhere.
People are far less transient. this means it is harder to make friends. Most people have the same friends for 20 - 40 years, and they are not really looking for new friends. That does not mean you cannot make friends, ut it does mean you have to work at it more.
A touch of different societal values. More value seems to be placed on "(S)He is a hard worker" Than on income, what someone drives, clothing brands or how much they know about wine. Yes that stuff is all here too, but less prevalent.
It is our perception that people here are more giving, less self-centered less "What do I get?" but that may just be the people we happen to have encountered.
OUr daughter lives in Denver now. Some of thein things we have notices that are different are minor:
Denver gets a lot more sun.
Denver has almost as crazy weather swings, but usually not as dramatic and somewhat less often.
Drivers in Denver seem to have no awareness that there are other people/cars around them.
Walgreen's stores every three blocks in Denver. (You do not find that here).
Mountains are neat to see and to go to. there are no real mountains here, and none anywhere near here. You need to drive about 10 hours.
Denver had an explosion of growth and the infrastructure has not kept up. Michigan, at least int eh Detroit area was built for more people than there are currently, but the infrastructure is decaying. (we still have the best water of any municipality).
Our weather is not substantially different from Denver. Denver gets more sun (usually) Denver has shorter winters and does not tend to get as much snow build up on the ground. It also does not get quite as cold in Denver as it can here. However this year, we have not had any days below 0 degrees (typically we get windchill days in the -20 or even colder at least for a few days). This year, Denver got snow earlier and got more snow than we did (so far).
IN warm months Denver gets a little hotter than here and gets nowhere near the amount of rain we do. Also Denver has lower humidity. (And more smog).
Last edited by Coldjensens; 01-27-2020 at 12:10 PM..
It really depends on where you live how transient your specific area will be.
Ann Arbor is really transient because of the student population at U of M. That said, there are core residents who live there year-round, but it's very noticeable when the student population leaves and moves back based on their school calendar.
A lot of people who live here are either boomers or millennials or Gen Z. A lot of people in my generation (gen x) left a long time ago because they couldn't find work.
Older people are less transient. The population of most of the towns around here are older - with a few exceptions that trend younger because they are currently "trendy". (I'm talking Detroit/the suburbs.... Ann Arbor has a different dynamic going on because of U of M.) A lot of the people around my age group that I've worked with over the years were transplants (like me) and immigrants, not too many locals. (That was my experience and I can't change how things played out.)
It will also depend on if you live in a high growth area as well - the people I meet in my latest town are split pretty evenly 50-50 townies vs transplants because new subdivisions are filling up all the time. And there are still more subdivisions being built.
Who you meet will also depend on whether you spend a lot of time living in apartments or a single family home. And if you are doing the single family home it will matter if that home is in a new or an established neighborhood.
However, I do agree that for the townies I've met - it's pretty hard to get into their friend groups, but once you are in - you're in. It takes a lot of effort and persistence. I've found that it's a lot easier to make friends with people who are also transplants. And if you work in Ann Arbor, then it won't be hard to meet other people in the same situation as you - new to the area and looking for friends. Good luck on your decision.
I genuinely hate living in Michigan and I have wanted to move ever since I was a child. Though I will say that I think that Ann Arbor is the best place to live in Michigan.
*How much sun? -The weather here is very inconsistent often, though I can safely say the skies are gray more often than not during the year. I'd say for at least 6 months of the year, though often more.
*Things to do? -Outdoorsy stuff mostly.
*Economy? -I don't really have an answer for this because I don't know enough about it, sorry. I am moving out of the state so I never bothered to keep up on it. However I've always been told that it's really bad.
*Jobs? -You're going to be fine if you're in the medical field. There are very few opportunities for people outside of high-demand fields. My therapist told me that she ALWAYS encourages young people to get out of Michigan if they can because of so few jobs that pay a living wage outside of jobs like medicine, accounting, etc.
*Quality of life? -This is difficult to answer because it depends on what you value in your life and living conditions. Most people I know hate it and apparently there have been a lot of people leaving ever since the 80's. Though a lot of people love it for some reason and get angry at people who dislike living here.
As I said, I personally really hate it. The roads are infamously horrible, I think a lot of the cities are hideous, I hate the infrastructure, the way the state is structured is just extremely uncomfortable for me in general, many areas of the state are unsafe because of violence (particularly the mid-Michigan and southern Michigan areas that I'm aware of), you pretty much have to have a car to survive here because everything is either really far away from each other or not walking-friendly/safe, car insurance is the highest in the country here, and the climate affects me a LOT because I have a Raynaud's Disease; which makes me experience extreme pain from cold.
Thankfully, I'm leaving to live in a state with much better aesthetics, climate, and job opportunities very soon.
My fiancé really wants to move to Michigan once we get married. He grew up in a small town near Ann Arbor. I grew up in Colorado and I absolutely love it. Pros and cons of Michigan? Do you guys enjoy living there/would you suggest it a good place to raise a family? I went there to meet his, and I tried so hard to enjoy it but it just wasn’t my place :/ it felt super grey, a tad bit depressing, and boring. Nice people though and pretty areas. Of course I also visited during the winter when that’s probably what the weather is like, and I can’t judge it.
Some questions:
-How much sunshine do you guys have on average? Is it always that gloomy? I am used to living in VERY sunny places so that would be something to get used to.
-things to do?
-economy?
-jobs?
-quality of life?
I am going to graduate college and be an RN, then an NP ultimately. I hear UM has a lot of nursing jobs which is cool.
Thanks!! It’s been a struggle for us arguing about where we should end up. I do like that he has all of his family in MI.
XOXOX ❤️
I have a sister in Colorado and have visited probably 10 times, up to 2 1/2 weeks. I live in Michigan just outside of Ann Arbor.
Detroit (this would include Ann Arbor) gets 183 sunny days per year. Denver gets 245. Although, partially sunny is common here, so those days aren't in that total. Cloudy days--you will have days here that it is cloudy all day long without seeing the sun at all. Sometimes it rains for 2 days straight. Whatever the weatherman predicts, expect it to change. The joke in Michigan is: Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes.
It is very humid in the summer. I tanned by my sister's pool in Colorado, it was 105 degrees, I felt no need to jump in the pool because the air is so dry. Here, half an hour in direct sunlight on a 85 degree humid day (or even cloudy) and you'll be sweating.
Highs and lows are about the same as Colorado, although you warm up during the day higher, your snow may melt by noon, in Michigan we rarely get above 40 degrees on a winter day, and sometimes the cold snap means that it never gets above freezing for weeks on end. We have a handfull of days above 90 each summer and never above 100. The layering of clothing that you probably do because of warmer afternoons is usually not necessary here.
Come in the summer next time to check it out and see how you feel about humidity.
There are as many outdoor things to do as Colorado, it's just different in that there are no mountains. Hiking, fishing, camping, swimming, boating, are prevalent here and everywhere. There are trees everywhere, there are no wide open spaces.
An RN, or any medical degree, and you'll have a job in any state you go to without worries.
Your assessment of Michigan was pretty spot on. There is less of a hipster up and coming crowd here outside of pockets of the newly gentrified Detroit. People are more of what you consider "depressing". They are more low key, and yes, they are more used to it being "boring". Some things like microbreweries were starting to really take off before this darn virus took us all down.
Your Ann Arbor and small surrounding towns like Saline, Dexter, or Chelsea are all fairly traditional, an older age base, and more homebodies than what you are used to. Far more people who live here grew up here. Far less diversity in backgrounds in the Ann Arbor surrounding areas. You will always find transplants though wherever you go, and there are always interesting people if you are looking for them.
Economy is more depressed, jobs are harder to come by, but probably not in nursing, at least not before this virus, right now I can't say for sure.
Your biggest problem outside of the sunshine may be that you must not wave an Avalanche flag here. You know the rules on that one already
I genuinely hate living in Michigan and I have wanted to move ever since I was a child. Though I will say that I think that Ann Arbor is the best place to live in Michigan.
*How much sun? -The weather here is very inconsistent often, though I can safely say the skies are gray more often than not during the year. I'd say for at least 6 months of the year, though often more.
*Things to do? -Outdoorsy stuff mostly.
*Economy? -I don't really have an answer for this because I don't know enough about it, sorry. I am moving out of the state so I never bothered to keep up on it. However I've always been told that it's really bad.
*Jobs? -You're going to be fine if you're in the medical field. There are very few opportunities for people outside of high-demand fields. My therapist told me that she ALWAYS encourages young people to get out of Michigan if they can because of so few jobs that pay a living wage outside of jobs like medicine, accounting, etc.
*Quality of life? -This is difficult to answer because it depends on what you value in your life and living conditions. Most people I know hate it and apparently there have been a lot of people leaving ever since the 80's. Though a lot of people love it for some reason and get angry at people who dislike living here.
As I said, I personally really hate it. The roads are infamously horrible, I think a lot of the cities are hideous, I hate the infrastructure, the way the state is structured is just extremely uncomfortable for me in general, many areas of the state are unsafe because of violence (particularly the mid-Michigan and southern Michigan areas that I'm aware of), you pretty much have to have a car to survive here because everything is either really far away from each other or not walking-friendly/safe, car insurance is the highest in the country here, and the climate affects me a LOT because I have a Raynaud's Disease; which makes me experience extreme pain from cold.
Thankfully, I'm leaving to live in a state with much better aesthetics, climate, and job opportunities very soon.
Where are you planning to go, if you don't mind my asking? My wife has Raynaud's as well.
Last summer, I had the opportunity to extensively travel Michigan, mostly on two-lane country roads in the northern and western Lower Peninsula. Here are several major observations and perspectives of mine:
Overall, residential neighborhoods in Michigan seemed impeccably maintained. Private properties and public spaces were very neat and tidy, even in counties where the average household income is relatively low by national standards.
On a related note, road-surface quality in Michigan, especially in exurban and rural areas of the state, is exemplary. Perhaps, the infrastructure of inner-city neighborhoods in Detroit, Flint and Saginaw is deteriorated, but in areas of Michigan where normal middle-class people reside, that could not be further from the truth. To add, there is a noticeable change in road-surface quality when cross into Michigan from Indiana.
Many fast-food restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, hotels and medical clinics and offices in suburban areas throughout much of Michigan seem as if they are either newly constructed or recently rehabilitated, which gave me the impression that many areas of the state were "newly minted," for lack of a better term.
Even in seemingly desolate areas, many farms and homesteads in Michigan appear to be in excellent overall condition. In much of Appalachia and the South, many homes and barns in rural areas are very dilapidated, whether occupied/in use or not, and, consequently, creates the illusion of extensive rural blight.
Although there is plenty of beautiful farmland in Michigan, most of the state seems to be densely forested, which was more reminiscent of the Northeast than the rest of the Midwest. I have a close friend from southern Illinois who often remarks that Michigan, where her sister has lived for many years, "has a lot of trees."
The sand dunes along the western shore of Lake Michigan, especially those in the northern Lower Peninsula in and around Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, are some of the most incredible natural wonders in the United States of America and not replicated elsewhere.
Many small towns and villages in Michigan are quite charming and quaint, often built around a traditional main street with brick storefronts and tree-lined sidewalks. Often the beaten path, Michigan feels more like Vermont or western New York than Illinois or Iowa. Traverse City in particular bears a striking resemblance to Burlington, Vermont.
The water of Lakes Michigan and Huron is crystal-clear, and both of those Great Lakes, along with hundreds of other smaller lakes and ponds in Michigan, provide ample recreational opportunities to the state's residents throughout much of the year.
By Sun Belt standards, there was very little racial diversity in Michigan. Also, many place names in Michigan are derived from English names and words instead of Spanish names and words. After spending many years of my life in California and Florida, traveling to Michigan felt akin to stepping back into my own country. Of course, your mileage may vary.
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. There's also a VA hospital down the street (~150 beds) and St Joseph's (~550 beds) technically just outside of town.
