Here are 7 things you may not know about Michigan if you are moving here. I love Michigan and all it has to offer. I believe that once you move here you will too. It's that nice of a place. Many times people from out of state have a negative opinion of Michigan because of the bad news the national media puts out. Remember the media likes to put out information that will startle you or get your attention.
The thing you have to remember that the City of Detroit is just one small part of Michigan. You may be surprised to learn that you really never have to go into the city if you do not want to. There are so many great things about SE Michigan. I think once you move here or even spend a little time here you will be pleasantly surprised how amazing South eastern Michigan really is. I am going to share seven different things that you may not even know about Michigan. Check out my list of things you may not know when moving to Michigan. You may be surprised to learn about some of these things.
I am a metro Detroit realtor and know the area well. In my youth I lived in other states and I can tell you that Michigan has so many wonderful communities and lots to do no matter what you like. So if you are moving to Michigan feel free to reach out and call me with questions. I will be glad to help you find a home and community that fits you and your family. My cell is (248) 310-6239 so call or text anytime.
Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
If you are into history Dearborn and South Eastern Michigan has one of the best musuems in the US. Some call the Henry Ford Musuem the "Smithsonian Museum of the midwest". It is the largest indoor-outdoor museum complex in the United States. It is a historic landmark with an amazing collection of artifacts from over 300 years of American history. Over 1.7 million visitors come to the complex. Henry Ford with his wealth started collecting pieces of history as early as 1906.
There are so many things to see from large locomotives to the first Holiday Inn sign to all sorts of cars, and planes.
Some of the great memoriabile and artifacts are:
- Charles Lindbergh's plane
- JFK's presidential limousine that he was shot in
- George Washingtons camp bed
- The chair Abraham Lincoln was shot in at the Ford Theatre
- The bus Rosa Park refused to give up her seat on
- The Wright Brother's bicycle shop
- Thomas Edison's laboratory
Ford had houses and building trucked in from around the country. It is so many amazing items that you can spend hours at the musuem. I believe you should split it up in several days there is so much to see. Whether you are just visiting the Detroit area or moving to the Detroit suburbs the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village is a place you need to visit more than once.
Golf to your hearts content
If you love golfing you are moving to the right state. Whether you want to golf up north in the woods, or over looking Lake Michigan our state still ranks in the top 5 nationwide for number of golf courses and is the top state for public courses. There are over 650 public golf courses in Michigan that you can enjoy and a total of about 770 golf courses to enjoy during our beautiful spring, summer, and fall months. Then you could always join one of the private golf clubs, or country clubs if you want. There are fifty private golf clubs right in the metro Detroit area that you could join. each year more course owners are selling to real estate developers or are forced to close for financial reasons. Very few new courses are getting built because of the glut of golf course. If you are looking to live in the suburbs of Metro Detroit you will be able to get to a golf course in a manner of minutes no matter where you live. You could be teeing up the ball after work or be part of a golf league on one of the beautiful golf courses in Michigan.
Water, lakes, and Rivers
We have water every where, yet we do not have the major flooding like so many other places have. Many of our rivers have flood plains. A flood plain is natural area, or low lying area, or park where the water floods when it rains. Many rivers in the metro Detroit area never flood homes. We sometimes have basements in homes flood after a torrential rain because a city's sewer system fails. That is usually the extent of our flooding. It is rare to see large areas of a community flooded. It is rare to have flooding on the main floor of a home here in south eastern Michigan. So even though we have lots of rivers and lakes we do not have the flooding that many other states do. The last major floods in Michigan were on the Muskegon River in 1986 and the Lansing area flood in 1975.
Michigan is home to one fifth of the world's fresh water supply. They say that you are never more than 6 miles from water any where in Michigan or 85 miles from one of the great lakes. I always say that if global warming keeps going we are going to be the new Florida. Everybody will want to come here to Michigan because it is too hot and dry every where else. Michigan has 26,266 lakes that over an acre in size and 10 lakes over 10,000 acres in size. Then we have another 36,532 ponds that are less than an acre. Add in 120 rivers and 200 named waterfalls. All but one of the waterfalls are located in the Upper Peninsula. However most of those falls are quite small.
Add in the 5 great lakes and you have lots of places to boat to your hearts content. Whether you want to kayak, or canoe quietly down one of Michigan's rivers. You can enjoying paddling through forest and seeing the wildlife on the banks of the river. There are many places in Michigan that you can rent canoes to enjoy the rivers. Some of Michigan's rivers are good trout fishing rivers.
There is a divide on boaters. Some are big water boaters that want a 25' or larger boat. Other prefer the inland lakes to tube, water ski, and wake board on. You may want to float around on your pontoon Just depends on what your family wants to do on the water. Or maybe you want to sail on one of the great lakes on your sail boat. Whether you are up north Michigan or on a lake in Oakland County you will find beautiful places to enjoy
warm summer days!
The Four Seasons
With the four seasons you get beautiful fall colors. Sometimes they are so stunning. The brilliant red, yellow, and orange follage will make you stop the car just to admire God's handiwork. A trip to one of the local cider mills with the family will become an annual tradition for your family. Another fun thing to do in the fall here in Michigan is to take a road trip to the wineries near Traverse city or a fall color road tour. If you are a hunter then there are thousands of acres of national and state parks to hunt on.
Many people moving to Michigan from the southern states or warmer states fear the winter. If you are moving to the metro Detroit area you will be glad to learn that we only get about forty inches of snow a year and that is spread out over 5 months. That is about 10 inches a month in November, December, 
January, and February. Our cold winter months are sort of the worst hot months in the south. You stay in more. You cozy up to the fire.
Though there are plenty of things to do outside if you are an active person. You can go snow skiing, ice skating, cross country skiing, or ice fishing if you want. We do not have huge mountains for snow skiing, but they will due if you want to get out. All of these activities are popular here in Michigan.
If your children have never experienced snow they will love making their first snow man and playing in it. Handling the cold weather is all about having the right clothing for it. There is nothing like Christmas lights sparkling in snow. It makes Christmas even more special!
Of course the best two seasons here in Michigan are spring in summer. Spring brings all the beautiful flowering trees to bloom. Our summer temperatures here in Michigan are not scorchers like down south or out west. We do not have a lot of days over 90 degrees and very, very few days over a hundred. They are rare
Colleges
The main college rivalry in Michigan is University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (go blue) and Michigan State University in East Lansing (go green). This an old fashioned nice college rivalry. No destruction of the other teams cars or fights leaving the stadium. The fans are very proud of their schools, and want bragging rights. Now if you mention Ohio State to a Michigan resident then there is bad blood. Still no violence, or destruction but Michganders do not have a soft spot for a Buckeye fan.
University of Michigan is the harder school to get accepted into. You have to have a higher grade point to get in there. Though the minimum grade point requirement at MSU is very high too. U of M has an excellent medical and engineering school. Michigan State has a veterinary school and also has a agricultural school. It was nicknamed Moo U in the past. As agriculture as a career diminished so has the curriculum.
If you are moving to SE Michigan you will be glad to note that there are many local colleges, and community colleges to chose from in the suburbs of Detroit. You have Wayne State in Detroit, Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Lawrence Tech in Farmington Hills, Oakland Community College, Walsh College, Washtenaw College, Madonna University, University of Detroit Mercy, Baker College, and Eastern Michigan University. Some of these local colleges specialize in nursing, engineering, or accounting. One has a medical program and a law program. So whatever your children are looking to specialize in you are sure to find a college that has their career choice. You never have to leave home and can save a lot of money on housing expenses with all of these local colleges.
Coney Dogs
Well I have to say the most common restaurant in Michigan is going to be our coney islands. You will find at least one or more coney islands in any community in SE Michigan. They are usually very reasonable breakfast places and usually will serve you breakfast anytime of the day or night. Our coney island restaurants have a Greek influence to them. Many of them will have Gyros, and Greek salads as part of their menus.
But the main dish in any coney island restaurant is a coney itself. It is a hot dog in a bun smothered in chili with a squiggle of mustard and onions on top. It's a little messy but sooooooo good. The chili is a loose, almost soupy concoction that traditionally gets an extra-meaty punch from ground beef and a variety of spices. A slight variation is the loose coney which is non hot dog, just loose beef in sauce in the bun. You have to eat that one with a fork. There are several chains of coney islands in the Detroit area. It's not a high class hot dog, but if you have a craving for a coney nothing will satisfy it.
The two famous coney island restaurants in Detroit are American Coney Island, and Lafeyette Coney Island. They are side by side on W Lafayette in Detroit and started back in 1919. They are as much Detroit as Joe Louis.
Low Crime Rates
If you took the City of Detroit crime stats out of the state Michigan would have a low crime rate. Like many major cities across the country Detroit has a high murder and violent crime rate by a few of the residents of Detroit. The majority of the people are good, but like every major city with low income and education levels the crime tends to be higher. It is no different than Chicago or Baltimore where a certain element or population of the city cause the biggest problems. However, once you get out into the suburbs of Detroit the crime rate drops dramatically. The majority of the suburbs have very little crime. The safest Michigan cities buck that trend—75% of them kept violent crime below 10 total incidents. Many of them are domestic violence issues. Michigan's property crime numbers are on the lower end. Michigan came out with 5.53 violent crimes per 1,000 people, while the national rate is 4.49.
In the suburbs I would call it random crime. Vandalism by a local kid, somebody breaking into a car. You do not have gangs, or drug houses, or car jackings out in the suburbs. Whether you live in Allen Park, Royal Oak, or Brighton you will find safe communities with a good police force. Crime is basically a non issue that you don't have to worry about in most communities in Michigan. Yes, in Detroit, and a few other select cities you do have issues but the majority of Michigan is very safe. In 95% of the communities you can feel comfortable walking around your neighborhood almost any time. You can park your car and it will be there in the morning. You can leave your house and it is not going to get broken into. That's the norm in most of Michigan. Michigan was lower than the national rate for property crime, boasting just 21.47 incidents per 1,000, versus 27.11 nationwide. Among the safest cities in the state, 90% saw fewer than 10 property crimes per 1,000 people, with no city exceeding more than 21.
If you are moving to Michigan and need a good real estate agent I will be glad to apply for the job. I work with all the relocation companies and will sign the paperwork they require. So give me a call or text today to find the right community for you and your family. I am a full time, 19 year experienced real estate agent that knows the SE Michigan area very well. Call or text me at (248) 310-6239 or email me at yesmyrealtor@gmail.com
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