[evoque]

What kind of dating and residential prospects would a young newly-graduated male engineer working at Howmet in Whitehall have? Not Dutch and not really religious. Zillow doesn't show many decent apartment or house rentals for the area. In what adjacent towns do most Howmet employees live?

[mjlo]

The areas around Muskegon aren't known for being particularly Dutch or religious(this includes Whitehall). Most of that is in Ottawa County to the south. Muskegon has a different vibe and history from the rest of W. Michigan. I would just commute the 15-20 minutes from Muskegon or one of it's suburbs. Whitehall is a little bit north, but still more or less part of Muskegon. My guess is most folks commute from the urbanized portions of Muskegon. Muskegon's UA has about 170K people and should have a decent amount of apartment options near shopping corridors, along with gyms and all the other things. You're also only 40-45 min drive from Grand Rapids if you want do to things in a more major metro.

If you choose to stay in Whitehall it might be a little sleepy but you're still close enough to Muskegon for day to day trips for bigger ticket items.

[michigan lizard]

Whitehall/Montague is closer to 30 minutes from Muskegon, and not considered part of it, but pretty much your best bet, that is true.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by michigan lizard

Whitehall/Montague is closer to 30 minutes from Muskegon, and not considered part of it, but pretty much your best bet, that is true.

Closer to 30?? I used to drive that stretch all the time. The only time it took longer than 20mins for me was if there was snow. What am I missing?


Also from a non Muskegon, non Whitehall perspective I still say it's more or less still a part of MKG when you consider shopping and dining etc. I'm sure folks from Whitehall would beg to differ.

[michigan lizard]

Originally Posted by mjlo

Closer to 30?? I used to drive that stretch all the time. The only time it took longer than 20mins for me was if there was snow. What am I missing?


Also from a non Muskegon, non Whitehall perspective I still say it's more or less still a part of MKG when you consider shopping and dining etc. I'm sure folks from Whitehall would beg to differ.

28 minutes for me, 29 to Howmet currently. I used to get my hair done in Montague, way back when gas was cheap, and that was 35. Dated guy for a while who lived in Whitehall. It was 30, and his house wasn't far off of 31.

Grand Haven is half as far, yet not considered part of Muskegon, but I guess folks up there would come to Muskegon for more shopping options. Doesn't mean people in Muskegon would think Whitehall was part of the greater Muskegon area, because there's a lot of not much traveling between the two.

[secondbreakfast]

As far as dating prospects go, you'll probably have to go to Grand Rapids, which is about 50 miles away.

[Luzette]

Originally Posted by secondbreakfast

As far as dating prospects go, you'll probably have to go to Grand Rapids, which is about 50 miles away.

I had to respond to this because I'm 50 miles away from the closest good size city where there were any type of options to meet someone. This is going back a lot of years now, but as someone who lived in this situation please understand 50 miles is a long way (2 hour round trip). It's not like being able to just run around the corner to find a place for social gatherings. Add the issue of what it is to work all day then go home and drive those 2 hours in hopes of meeting someone, and it's just not feasible over the long haul.

Small town life can be wonderful but not for everyone. If you don't marry your high school sweetheart then there are just not many places to go to meet people. I'd forget the idea of driving hours to a bigger town as a potential option. You need places to go to that are only 15 or 20 minutes away. Thirty minutes is still doable but not 2 hour drives.

[mjlo]

There are nearly 200k people that live in Muskegon’s urbanized area, and it encompasses as far south as Grand Haven. It’s not that small. I’m not sure a reference to childhood sweat hearts, and small town life is relevant in this conversation. Not to mention it’s only a 45 minute drive from downtown to downtown, when talking about Grand Rapids.

[pghhklNK]

Originally Posted by evoque

What kind of dating and residential prospects would a young newly-graduated male engineer working at Howmet in Whitehall have? Not Dutch and not really religious. Zillow doesn't show many decent apartment or house rentals for the area. In what adjacent towns do most Howmet employees live?

Probably living nearby

[6uFAwcUw]

Originally Posted by evoque

What kind of dating and residential prospects would a young newly-graduated male engineer working at Howmet in Whitehall have? Not Dutch and not really religious. Zillow doesn't show many decent apartment or house rentals for the area. In what adjacent towns do most Howmet employees live?

not sure