[quietmum]

Hello everyone. We are a family with 3 boys from VT doing a little relocating research. We are hoping to move in 1-3 yrs depending on the economy. I am curious about the area but we have never been there before and I was wondering if anyone could help us out.

We are looking for an area preferably a coastal region, with schools with strong athletics (football & baseball are priority here), low crime rates, and we are trying to stick to a 150,000 budget for a house (my husband is an electrician and I am a SAHM).

Any suggestions on areas we should look at? Thanks!

[xlabel]

I like it over here in Paw Paw. Not to big, not to small. I can get to some nice Lake Michigan beaches in 30 to 40 minutes. I live right in town and don't lock my car,my garage, or the house. Crime is minimal. The high schools around here are very sports oriented. Mattawan,Lawton,Paw Paw are pretty decent size schools and get a lot of community support. Your larger cities Grand Rapids, e.g. are normally going to produce the state tile contenders, but all 3 schools previuosly mentioned have state tiles in variuos sports. Mattawan is a beautiful HS, class 5a, I believe.

[SpaceGhost79]

I don't know too much about the west side of the state, but an option over there right on the coast is Muskegon. It's not too far away from Grand Rapids.

Their football team has produced some top talent over the past handful of years. Terrance Taylor just finished up at Michigan and will probably be a mid-round pick in the NFL draft this spring, and Ronald Johnson was rated a five-star recruit by the major scouting services and is out at the University of Southern California right now, which is a major powerhouse in college football. Taylor was also a state high school wrestling champion, I believe. Don't know how good their baseball team is, though.

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by quietmum

Hello everyone. We are a family with 3 boys from VT doing a little relocating research. We are hoping to move in 1-3 yrs depending on the economy. I am curious about the area but we have never been there before and I was wondering if anyone could help us out.

We are looking for an area preferably a coastal region, with schools with strong athletics (football & baseball are priority here), low crime rates, and we are trying to stick to a 150,000 budget for a house (my husband is an electrician and I am a SAHM).

Any suggestions on areas we should look at? Thanks!

Crikey, a lot of Michigan is pretty goshdarned coastal. It it generally agreed that the west coast of Michigan is much prettier and more scenic, but the weather is more brutal because of the lake effect. (I'm sure it will be nothing compared to your yearly 6' VT snowdrifts. ) The farther north you go, in general, the cheaper the real estate and the lower the crime rates. I know nothing about the schools on the lakes except for the hellhole I attended on the east side of Detroit -- we had a good football team though.

I would look NOW, while foreclosures are rife and prices are so low you can buy a decent place near the water for the price of a new motorcycle. I'm not kidding. When the economy recovers and people have jobs again, the real-estate market is going to skyrocket and you'll be asked to pay $350,000 or something crazy for a place smaller than what you need.

[suydam]

There are some fantastic schooling options along the West Michigan lakeshore.
Do you have jobs already?
I would not come to Michigan unless you have a job in-hand.
If you do, the northwest corner (Traverse City) is the prettiest.
Sports are better near Grand Rapids or Muskegon (as mentioned).
Holland and Grand Haven are nice areas but have not produced the football talent you'll find elsewhere in the Grand Rapids area.

If it were me, I'd do some research on academics first. We have a wide range of academic options here... some fantastic, some not so much. If you get it narrowed down to good schools with a $150,000 house there should be a few good football programs to choose from.

$150,000 should be fine for a house too... especially in this economy there will be lots of options.
You will not be on the water for that price (add a zero) but you can be within walking distance in Grand Haven (city of) or a short bike ride in Holland and I'm sure other towns as well (St. Joseph, South Haven, Ludington, Traverse City, Petoskey).

There are a few great places to research schools, but I usually recommend people start with SchoolMatters - Home (http://www.schoolmatters.com/ - broken link)

[allbusiness]

You gotta watch the "So you're thinking about moving to Holland" video!

(I get the feeling this is going to be my standard answeer from now on)

[sunshineann]

I have to second the Traverse City area. We moved here in December, and although after much thought we located right outside of TC. But we love it here.