Very OT: Good lake towns to raise a family in Michigan?
I could use the collective Michigan wisdom of those who seek a brief respite from CC 2024 and draft announcement armageddon.
I live just outside of NYC. I live here because I work in finance but I've always hated NYC. Since COVID, my job has turned more and more to a work from home basis (yes, I recognize this entails risks). We are a family of five with kids ranging in ages from 6 to 15. Despite my best efforts not to indoctrinate them, they have all expressed interests in attending U of M - shocker, I know. I can't stomach paying 3 sets of out-of-state tuitions, but in addition, both my wife and I have pined to return to Michigan and get away from NYC.
I've lived in Ann Arbor for about 10 non-continuous years of my life - last in 2009, so I know A2 well. Recently, I researched the home prices in A2 - holy smokes. The escalation in prices reminded me of Donovan's two jet blaster runs in the NCG.
Anyway, this got me thinking that maybe I needed to broaden my search, and my wife has always expressed some desire to live by a lake. It seems Lake Michigan is most in demand. Is there a reason that Lake Huron is less in demand? Maybe the eastern side of Michigan is generally less populated and less developed? Too cold? Did some of you live in a lake town and come to regret it? (I'm aware that Michigan also has many interior lakes but I don't know much about them either.)
I know some of you will respond that the lake towns are just as expensive as A2 but given the vast coastline of Michigan I'm hoping that some of you will share some hidden gems that provide good value to raise a family. (Don't worry, this thread will be buried into obscurity within a matter of hours and your hidden gems will stay hidden but to me.)
I'm looking for the type of things that you would think someone in my situation would look for: low crime, family-friendly neighborhoods with plentiful family-centered activities in the community - but I'm also happy to take advice here that I'm being too parochial with my variables; the older I get the more I realize that I know less than I thought I did. Good scenery and good park systems seem like they would be positives too.
Appreciate any insights.
January 15th, 2024 at 9:21 PM ^
Have used a South Haven sunset pic as my desktop background for 6 years since visiting but would be way out of my price range. Personal fave is a cabin on a small lake in the UP, but doubt that would meet some of your criteria.
January 16th, 2024 at 1:18 AM ^
As an aside, threads like these are great. Not moving to Michigan, but it's cool to learn more about it.
January 16th, 2024 at 3:54 PM ^
Just pointing out that Michigan has some shoreline along Lake Erie, too. If it doesn't have to be a Great Lake, there's Lake St. Clair. If it doesn't have to be right on a lake, eastern Macomb County or one of the Pointes would put a person near Lake St. Clair. If being in the middle of a river is okay, there's Grosse Ile.
If the lake doesn't have to be huge there are plenty in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, and Livingston Counties (e.g. Whitmore Lake, Orchard Lake). These would put one near the resources of Detroit without actually being in Detroit. These options would be close to Ann Arbor, too.