[kaypurdue]

Homes regularly go like that in Flint... sometimes I browse the $10K-and-under listings just to see what kind of dumps are out there.

I am buying my first home this summer in Flint (am I crazy? yes, probably), with the price range I'm looking at between $45-$65K. I can't afford the suburbs right now, and I certainly can't afford to live in Oakland County where I work. The luxury car company I work for *easily* sells cars for well over that amount!!

It just depends on what you are comparing. If you're comparing a ramshackle cottage in downtown Detroit or Flint, to a Lexus SUV or something... then yeah, you can see who the clear winner is there. But don't forget it works the other way around too... there are certainly many more cars that sell for less than houses go for!

[Virginia1]

My fiance lives in Burton at the Flint border. I live in Virginia Beach. Impossible to compare the two. I have strongly considered moving to Michigan because it would be just easier for me then for her. I am looking at Grand Rapids because it just seems to be the only area that seems to have an immediate chance vs. the rest of Michigan. But the more I visit Michigan and read threads on this Michigan forum the more I get discouraged. My fiance and I talk about this all the time. It's not only the job market, but other factors also. We compare prices such as gas, car insurance, real estate taxes, what the cities provide to it's citizens. The only benefit I see to moving up is the real estate prices are certainly low. My fiance loves to swim laps. When she visits me we go to one of the 5 city Rec. centers which have raquetball courts, two gyms, weight rooms, full size swimming pool, aerobic rooms and showers, etc. and they are spotless clean. She asked me how much my membership is, I told her $50, she said a month, nope $50 a year, she about fell over. It's not perferct here but it's nice, people are moving to this area all the time. I have considered even buying in Flint as the previous poster because of the cheap houses, but one has to live there each day and I don't know if I am up for that. I have been reading some of Granholms "solutions" and they appear to have no bite. Don't get me wrong, even with the cold weather I like Michigan, particulary the western and northern areas, but Granholm has no business sense, nor does she want to clamp down on crime, I believe they cut some State Trooper jobs and wants to release prisoners. A few months ago I had a great attitude about moving up and making the best of it, but there are too many indicators telling me I should re-think this. We'll see.

[kaypurdue]

Virginia, I totally agree with you that Granholm doesn't seem to have any business sense whatsoever. Education is great and all, but we need to have jobs here for those educated folks to work at once they're done! We need to make Michigan an attractive place to start and conduct business, because that is the moneymaker right there.

As far as moving to Flint... I grew up in the area and am willing to give it a chance. It's got no place to go but up. Maybe I am just idealistic, or young and stupid... who knows!! The political scene already has too many cooks in the kitchen, so my plan is just to live simply, quietly and cheaply, and behave myself... I'm sure the city could use a lot more people like that!

[green_mariner]

Crime, race riots, loss in jobs, etc. Michigan has suffered the wrath of race riots(the 1960's), massive layoffs in the automobile industry and other factory jobs(1970's-1990's), rapid rise in crime crime(since the 1960's)-the things that have plagued other parts of the Midwest seemed to have dealt Michigan an even worse blow. Michigan(the LP anyway) will have to rebuild from the ashes of the late-20th century. People are leaving in droves from what I here. Houses are cheap, but unless good jobs are plentiful, people will keep leaving.