[canudigit]

It would be interesting to start a parallel thread entitled, "How Many People Left Michigan in Search of Greener Pastures and Ended Up Coming Back?" That would be us, for one. I sympathize with people who can't find work in Michigan right now, but PLEASE...make sure that the state that you have set your sights on actually does have jobs before you get there. We recently relocated to the SW, to a state that many people on this forum seem to idolize from afar. Job situation there? Great, if you want to be in line behind a hundred other people who want the same job or if you are willing to make $8/hr. Oh, and if you want to hear the people who are locals in that location on this forum and elsewhere beefing about people coming from places like Michigan when "there aren't enough jobs for the people who already live here".

Maybe we are the exception to the rule, but after my dh lost the job that we moved out there for a couple of months after we went due to downsizing (it might have been nice if he had been given a heads up that the company was planning to downsize BEFORE we moved all of our stuff, but oh well...)and I couldn't find anything there, we came back to Michigan and immediately found employment, and decent paying employment at that. I guess every situation is different.

[Sparrow_temp]

Well, most places will suck if you don't have a job. I find southern NM nice but if I had no employment prospects here I'd be moving to wherever they were. Unfortunately, a lot of the places where there are jobs I would prefer not to live. Most employment is in high density urban areas and I'd much rather be in a more rural area.

If I lost my job here though, I doubt I'd just by default move back to MI. There are other states with more opportunity at the moment.

[canudigit]

Originally Posted by Sparrow_temp

Well, most places will suck if you don't have a job. I find southern NM nice but if I had no employment prospects here I'd be moving to wherever they were. Unfortunately, a lot of the places where there are jobs I would prefer not to live. Most employment is in high density urban areas and I'd much rather be in a more rural area.

If I lost my job here though, I doubt I'd just by default move back to MI. There are other states with more opportunity at the moment.

Probably so, but we were blessed enough to find our opportunity right back here in Michigan. God willing, we will never leave again!

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by canudigit

It would be interesting to start a parallel thread entitled, "How Many People Left Michigan in Search of Greener Pastures and Ended Up Coming Back?" That would be us, for one.

Originally Posted by canudigit

[/b]

Probably so, but we were blessed enough to find our opportunity right back here in Michigan. God willing, we will never leave again!

That would be us also. I left back in 1987 with the thought that Michigan was a good place to visit, but it sure sucked living here. Well, life has a way of changing things around. I got married to my dream girl, and when we came back to where I was born and raised she fell in love with the area. I remember driving down the main drag toward Lake Michigan and having her turn and ask why we didn't move back here to start a family and what would it take to get me to come back to the area. My response (and I get reminded of this on a regular basis now) was that wild horses couldn't drag me back to this dump. Couple years, kids of our own; and attitudes changed. Now I couldn't be selfish and the more we wanted to get out of the Northeast, the more we looked around, the more Michigan made sense. Good schools, the Lakes, for us- good paying jobs, and more opportunities than any place else in the US. As hard as that is for people to grasp, after looking at every state and every place we wanted, Michigan was the best for us. Still is, and now I cannot fathom ever leaving again. I no longer feel restless, I'm where I am supposed to be in this World. Surrounded by Great Lakes, dunes, real friendly people, decent jobs, good housing prices, great fishing, and everything else I wanted and didn't want to admit I already had at one time.

[canudigit]

Originally Posted by Bydand

That would be us also. I left back in 1987 with the thought that Michigan was a good place to visit, but it sure sucked living here. Well, life has a way of changing things around. I got married to my dream girl, and when we came back to where I was born and raised she fell in love with the area. I remember driving down the main drag toward Lake Michigan and having her turn and ask why we didn't move back here to start a family and what would it take to get me to come back to the area. My response (and I get reminded of this on a regular basis now) was that wild horses couldn't drag me back to this dump. Couple years, kids of our own; and attitudes changed. Now I couldn't be selfish and the more we wanted to get out of the Northeast, the more we looked around, the more Michigan made sense. Good schools, the Lakes, for us- good paying jobs, and more opportunities than any place else in the US. As hard as that is for people to grasp, after looking at every state and every place we wanted, Michigan was the best for us. Still is, and now I cannot fathom ever leaving again. I no longer feel restless, I'm where I am supposed to be in this World. Surrounded by Great Lakes, dunes, real friendly people, decent jobs, good housing prices, great fishing, and everything else I wanted and didn't want to admit I already had at one time.

Yep. You summed up how I feel exactly. Sometimes you have to go somewhere else to appreciate what you have at home, KWIM? I think that's especially true when you live somewhere where that people are continuously bashing for whatever reason.

[MTUCache]

Originally Posted by Bydand

That would be us also.

I'm on the list as well.

Left. Came back. Left again.

Can't seem to get the Michigan out of my blood, no matter how much I try.

[canudigit]

Michigan is gorgeous and, with the exception of Florida, the only state that is surrounded on three sides by beautiful, expansive bodies of water--without the risk of hurricanes! The summers are temperate, the winters offer skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and just cuddling by the fireplace, and the falls are...magnificent!!! No wonder you can't get our fantastic state out of your blood.

[junior 88 fan]

Perfect. Now we all have to do is have the people in this state wake up and vote for a governor with a business attitude instead of a liberal attorney who dreams of taxes and blames her predecessors. I want to stay here and enjoy the virtues of this state like everyone else, but, without a career or any future opps, what the sense? Something like "Blown Away".

[YAZ]

Re:

Moving back to Michigan.

We're planning a trip to the U.P. next summer and I'm VERY afraid that I won't be able to get my wife on the plane back to AZ.

Driving around SE MI the first time with her....she just gazed out of the car window the whole time marveling about all of the water, the greenery, and how beautiful the weather was.

I laughed at her, explaining that when we come back in 6 months for Christmas, she'll have a different opinion.

So, we went back for Christmas.

Cold, snowed half of the time that we were there, and all of the trees looked dead. And we never saw the sun.

I could not get her to come in the house.

Makin' snowmen with all of the kids, sledding, and then I decided to give her the experience of driving in that white stuff.

She thought it was fun.


Puts a little different perspective on things, eh?

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by YAZ

Re:

Moving back to Michigan.

We're planning a trip to the U.P. next summer and I'm VERY afraid that I won't be able to get my wife on the plane back to AZ.

Driving around SE MI the first time with her....she just gazed out of the car window the whole time marveling about all of the water, the greenery, and how beautiful the weather was.

you are so screwed when she see's the UP then.