Ann Arbour more advice needed (Ann Arbor, Lawton: buying a home, neighborhood, buying)

[margekr]

We are planning to make a trip to Ann Arbour from Toronto area.

It's been recommended as a place to move.

Those of you who have moved from elsewhere, how do you find it?

Is there a community feel? Is it easy to meet people?

Are there any specific communities for families with younger elementary kids where families live?

I'm worried about the weather, I won't lie. I hate winter and it seems same there or worse.

What do you love about Ann Arbour and what you dislike?

[craig11152]

Are you thinking of buying a home? If so what is the upper end of your price range?

Are there any specific communities for families with younger elementary kids where families live?

Not really. Most of the 18 elementary schools have kids who walk to school from their neighborhood.
Of my suggestions in the other thread Angell is least likely to fit that. But Thurston or Lawton do.

I'm worried about the weather, I won't lie. I hate winter and it seems same there or worse.

Don't know what to say there. If you lived in Long Island and Toronto then you know what northern winters are. I don't think Ann Arbor is hugely different as far as that goes. Both Toronto and Ann Arbor are colder than Long Island because of the mitigating factor of the ocean on long Island.

Is there a community feel? Is it easy to meet people?

I've always felt the ease of meeting people is about you. If you are an outgoing extrovert it's easy. For an introvert not so much. I think most people I run in to are generally friendly in a low key kind of way. They will exchange pleasantries with you in the grocery store but you aren't getting invited to a party in the checkout line. As to a community feel I don't really know what that means. As a small to midsize city of 120,000 we are pretty self contained in that most anything you need to buy can be had within the city or an 8 minute drive outside the city. (think Townships). Does that equate to a community feel? I don't know

What do you love about Ann Arbour and what you dislike?

The one thing I don't like is the rather extreme liberal leaning. I am a middle of the road moderate, my wife is a bit right leaning. This only gets frustrating with respect to local Government and the choices they make. It has nothing to do with my day to day life.

[margekr]

Thanks a lot!

Major concern is the weather. So sick of the cold!

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by craig11152

Don't know what to say there. If you lived in Long Island and Toronto then you know what northern winters are. I don't think Ann Arbor is hugely different as far as that goes. Both Toronto and Ann Arbor are colder than Long Island because of the mitigating factor of the ocean on long Island.

Colder and gloomier and drier than Long Island. DTW gets a full foot less rain a year than Long Island Airport, but because of the ocean, DTw gets a foot more snow each year.

Toronto and Ann Arbor are almost identical climate. The average highs are within 2F, the average low is within 1F, and the records are almost the same. Ann Arbor gets 2" more rain a year but 2" less snow. If you can believe it though, Toronto is even gloomier than SE MI! Toronto gets a total of 400 hours less sunlight a year - it's sunny 55% of the time at DTW and only 44% of the time in Toronto.

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Originally Posted by margekr

We are planning to make a trip to Ann Arbour from Toronto area.

It's been recommended as a place to move.

Those of you who have moved from elsewhere, how do you find it?

Is there a community feel? Is it easy to meet people?

Are there any specific communities for families with younger elementary kids where families live?

I'm worried about the weather, I won't lie. I hate winter and it seems same there or worse.

What do you love about Ann Arbour and what you dislike?

First, it's ANN ARBOR, not Ann Arbour. (My mom was English so she would spell it like you did! )

Housing has gotten insanely expensive in Ann Arbor itself, although given how expensive Toronto is, you may not even notice!

Are you Canadian or American? That will make a difference in terms of immigrating, of course.

Good luck!

[margekr]

We have lived in the USA before and getting a working visa wasn't an issue bc of the high demand for workers in the sector my husband is in. He works for one of the known tech companies so they have taken care of the immigration paperwork etc.

And yes! Toronto is way more expensive than most places in the USA.

[margekr]

We will make a trip but having the cold winter may be the biggest issue as we have had enough of that here already. Exploring other places too. Thank you!

[craig11152]

Out of curiosity what sort of winter weather would you be comfortable in?
What sort of summer heat and humidity are you comfortable with?

I've lived most of my life in Michigan. But I lived awhile in Phoenix Arizona.
For me I prefer Michigan winter to Arizona desert summer.
Right now its about 10 degrees F headed to maybe 31. I can dress for that and be warm outside.
In Phoenix in July it might be 85 at 6am headed to 112 F. I can't dress for that.

[craig11152]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

First, it's ANN ARBOR, not Ann Arbour. (My mom was English so she would spell it like you did! )

Originally it was Annarbour . I'm not sure exactly when the u was dropped and it became two words.

[margekr]

Mild with preferably little to no snow. When we lived in Switzerland for 6 years (Geneva and Zurich) temperatures were usually 0-5 C and it was perfect.

Looking at NC as well as it think at least weather wise is a great fit.