WILL THE LAST ONE TO LEAVE MICHIGAN PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHTS

Thanks Jacqueline! If I'm not close enough I've made many a contact here on AR. It doesn't hurt to ask them! Maybe bring in a referral fee! I hope you're doing well there all by yourself. LOL,

Later in the rain~Deb

Jacqueline, look at all the elbow room were going to have though. My Brother in-law and sister in-law headed for Florida from the Grand Rapids area. They haven't regretted it yet.

Jacqueline, lots of people come here to Arizona for the winter...but the ones from Michigan - though it's cold there, still love it and go home when it starts heating up here. ;-)

Jacqueline, Mom is doing a bit better every day, thank you. Elbow Room is good, but then so are neighbors because they become sellers and buyers.

After living away from home in SW FL for over 25 yrs, this replanted Hoosier is very happy I came home, despite the depressed economy and all the other problems the midwest as a whole is facing.

What those new transplants may not have thought about is their cost of living is going to be just as high if not higher where they are going and the wages arent going to be much better.

Why? Property taxes are higher, housing costs can be much higher, even in this buyers market. In hurricane prone areas cost of home owner insurance is going through the ROOF and last I heard many in my former part of Florida that can are just dropping their insurance and taking the chance that it wont be damaged. How scarey is that? For those heading to tourist areas...dealing with tourists can be an issue, especially if you still need to work at your new destination. I tried to be accomodating, but it was hard when you support a restaurant with your business year in, year out and yet, because they dont take reservations, in the tourist time, you would just not GO there, because you didnt have time to wait an hour or more for dinner.

Air Conditioning costs are much higher than heating costs and last longer.  I used to run my AC continously for 7+mos. every year.  I used to CHEER when I heard the weatherman say "we are going to have a gray, rainy day". You get just as tired of the sun beating down on you as we do of winter here.

One positive note on the down turn. My daughter who lives in Ann Arbor is now considering buying a home there, since costs have moderated to a point where she can consider it. That was not possible 3 yrs ago!

I've never been to Michigan but I here it is beautiful there. The grass is not always greener on the other side; so maybe they will come back home. Best of luck Brenda :)

Michigan is still a great state - and many other states are having nearly as many challenges.  Those who leave will miss the beauty of Michigan and the variety of seasons and be back someday soon!

To me Jacqueline - it is the other way around- my good friend moved to Plymouth a few years ago and LOVES IT and our oldest daughter is now a permanent Michigan resident ( Grand Rapids) after finishing 3 years of law school in Michigan even with a job offer in Chicago she turned down because she loves your state ( and now we will be frequent visitors as well )....LOL

Sincerely,

Grace

p.s I have a brochure for a future trip to Golf at Treetops in Gaylord - how far is Cheboygan, MI from there?

The same thing was said about San Diego when the Navy Ship Yard industry was shut down.  Same thing about Seattle when the lumber industry failed.  We're just the last big manufacturing city to go through this and that's why Michigan is feeling economic woes.  What doesn't help is negative thinking.

There are a lot of good things going on with Michigan that all the negative people and media don't tell you about because it doesn't support their doom and gloom mentality.  What about all of the development (new and rehab) in Downtown Detroit and metro-Detroit as a whole?  Billions of dollars.  What about the development of Detroit's Aerotropolis that's going to bring 64,000 jobs and billions of dollars a year in revenue (direct and indirect)?  No, it's probably just easier to say that Michigan and Detroit are just going to go away.

Check out information on Detroit's Aerotropolis and Detroit Development.

Jared

Jacqueline - That is so sad.  It has to be really hard to be forced to leave your home, because there are no longer jobs.  I hope that some more industries discover what a great place Michigan is.

Florida is facing the same problems as Michigan except it's worse here.  Property values have dropped 30% in 18 months and we won't hit bottom for at least another 18.  From what we're seeing Michigan is finally bottoming out.

Hanna wasn't that big of a worry.  We were more worried about Ike because it was a Category 4 but it went south and hammered Cuba.  Now it's heading toward Texas.