[daniellegose]

Hi there,

We are moving to West Michigan from Littleton, Colorado (suburb of Denver). I have a job offer to work 100% remote so there is not an issue with finding a job. We are in our early 40's have 2 small boys (3 and 5). We love to be involved with church and are pretty low key. We are excited about having a slower lifestyle and love the idea of having so many lakes around. We are looking for an area that we can buy a house with land in the $300-350K range. We have been to Traverse City but have never been to Holland/Zeeland/Grand Haven area. What area is the best for families? Thanks in advance!

[Bondurant]

Both areas are nice areas. They are roughly 2.5 hours apart. I am assuming your aim is to be near water? According to Zillow average home quotes all are within your budget. Grand Haven and Traverse City are hot summer spots which you may or may not like. Honestly, I do not think you can go wrong with any of them. I am of Dutch extraction and biased toward the Grand Haven/Holland/Zeeland area.

[DTWflyer]

As said both are nice areas.

Traverse City area is the regional economic hub of Northern Lower Michigan. Inundated with tourist/vacationers from Memorial Day - October.
Grand Haven is a summer hot-spot beach town.

There are some notable differences to the two areas:

Grand Haven/Holland/Zeeland are part of a broader region of the west side of the state that is anchored within a 30-45 min drive of Grand Rapids. Many of those places are defacto bedroom communities from Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids is metro area it itself that has a lot more city-like amenities than anything you will find around Traverse City. Lots more in terms of arts, restaurants, museums, gardens, concerts, minor-league sports. The diversity of the job market and economy is a lot more robust than TC region. Grand Rapids has a much larger airport with much better year-round air service. The west side area is about 2.5 drive to Detroit area or Chicago. TC is about 4 hours to Detroit and 5-6 hours to Chicago.

Traverse City is a much smaller region. More anchored around the tourism / resorter communities, but also a lot of outdoor

Both areas are a lot of recreation activities tied to woods & water (e.g, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, boating, sailing, kayaking, beach) in the surrounding areas.

TC being a bit farther north has a bit longer of a winter on both sides. Both areas get lake effect snow, but TC tends to get a bit more, it sticks around longer, and is a bit colder being farther north.

Can't go wrong with either.

[beachmouse]

Do note that either way, western Michigan winters, though relatively mild compared to the other side of the lake, do involve not really seeing the sun much from about November through March. It’s far gloomier than a Colorado winter, especially right along the lakeshore.

I’d go for Grand Haven for the relatively short trip into Grand Rapids for when you need bigger city things and another relatively short trip to get Up North, which I tend to think of starting once you get north of Muskegon.

[daniellegose]

Originally Posted by Bondurant

Both areas are nice areas. They are roughly 2.5 hours apart. I am assuming your aim is to be near water? According to Zillow average home quotes all are within your budget. Grand Haven and Traverse City are hot summer spots which you may or may not like. Honestly, I do not think you can go wrong with any of them. I am of Dutch extraction and biased toward the Grand Haven/Holland/Zeeland area.

Thanks so much! We are moving to be closer to my husband's family who live around Kalamazoo. If we are moving to MI, we want to be closer to the water.

[daniellegose]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

Do note that either way, western Michigan winters, though relatively mild compared to the other side of the lake, do involve not really seeing the sun much from about November through March. It’s far gloomier than a Colorado winter, especially right along the lakeshore.

I’d go for Grand Haven for the relatively short trip into Grand Rapids for when you need bigger city things and another relatively short trip to get Up North, which I tend to think of starting once you get north of Muskegon.

Yes, I'm trying to prepare my self for colder and gloomier winters in Michigan! Thanks for the advice. Although, TC is beautiful, I'm starting to think that Grand Haven area might be better long term.

[daniellegose]

Originally Posted by DTWflyer

As said both are nice areas.

Traverse City area is the regional economic hub of Northern Lower Michigan. Inundated with tourist/vacationers from Memorial Day - October.
Grand Haven is a summer hot-spot beach town.

There are some notable differences to the two areas:

Grand Haven/Holland/Zeeland are part of a broader region of the west side of the state that is anchored within a 30-45 min drive of Grand Rapids. Many of those places are defacto bedroom communities from Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids is metro area it itself that has a lot more city-like amenities than anything you will find around Traverse City. Lots more in terms of arts, restaurants, museums, gardens, concerts, minor-league sports. The diversity of the job market and economy is a lot more robust than TC region. Grand Rapids has a much larger airport with much better year-round air service. The west side area is about 2.5 drive to Detroit area or Chicago. TC is about 4 hours to Detroit and 5-6 hours to Chicago.

Traverse City is a much smaller region. More anchored around the tourism / resorter communities, but also a lot of outdoor

Both areas are a lot of recreation activities tied to woods & water (e.g, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, boating, sailing, kayaking, beach) in the surrounding areas.

TC being a bit farther north has a bit longer of a winter on both sides. Both areas get lake effect snow, but TC tends to get a bit more, it sticks around longer, and is a bit colder being farther north.

Can't go wrong with either.

Thanks so much! Great info. My husband will be job searching once we are out there and it seem like being in the outskirts of Grand Rapids may be the wiser choice.

[djmilf]

Originally Posted by daniellegose

Thanks so much! We are moving to be closer to my husband's family who live around Kalamazoo. If we are moving to MI, we want to be closer to the water.

That dragged a quotation out of long term memory...

"In Michigan you're never more than 6 miles from a body of water or 85 miles from a Great Lake." - unknown.

If you seek access to a body of water, you'll get it.

But you might have your heart set on a particular lake...can't fault anyone for that.

[phoebesmom]

We've lived in Traverse City area for 7 years. It's my favorite, but if your husband's family lives in Kalamazoo, I'd pick Grand Haven for sure. And Grand Haven is wonderful. And how great to be near the grandparents. My husband went to Hope, so you have that nearby as well. You can always make day trips to Traverse and Sleeping Bear Dunes etc.