[darstar]

Originally Posted by Starrman69

That's it exactly, living wherever you thought you were a part. lol, the sailboat would make it more enjoyable (except in monsoon season), the traffic is terrible, but it keeps you on your toes and a much better defensive driver. What did people do before cell phones and textiing?

Many people are "stuck" where they are now because of the upside down mortgages.

People would yell at their dogs to be quiet when I would be at
their homes to take a complaint (I used to be a deputy in my former life). I would tell them that the dog is only doing their job, to tell "Master" that there was a stranger, that he was in their space and that they didn't like it.

I rode out the " no name storm", on the boat in Sarasota Pass, mid eighties, that was the nite the Skyway bridge fell...Living aboard was never the same after that...I sold the sailboat ( 44 ' Gulfstar)...it went to the Islands. I bought property on Gasperillia Island and built a beach house on a dune...6 months later it was sold and we moved to the NC Mountians.That was " Home" for 18 years. Living in the Blue Ridge was very nice...still not quite right ( politics). Now Upper Michigan IS home, after 35 years of travel. I think this IS the place...overlooking Lake Superior.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by YAZ

I moved to AZ 6 years ago and have MADE it my home. I don't say "Well, back home in Michigan.....yada, yada, yada...." anymore. I think my friends and coworkers were getting sick of me.....always comparing and contrasting the two states.

During our visits to the Great Lake State though......it still feels like home...

My wife still has comments like, "I could live there." She would move to Michigan in a heartbeat. I s'pose she appreciates the things that I take for granted. She's from New Mexico and I feel the same way about her "Home state." I could live there.

I'd move back if certain terms and conditions were met, e.g., I would be residing north of M-10.

I'm confident that I could be happy anywhere though.

I left Michigan for the weather quite a long time ago. I go back for summer vacations, only a couple times in winter or fall - mostly because of kids and school but I don't feel at home there. I think I feel most at home in the SW but that could change.

I think as a child I felt at home in Michigan but by age 20, I wanted the gypsy life. I didn't end up doing that, I meant to travel around and experience a lot of places but I got settled in and stayed in one. I moved back once to Michigan and couldn't adapt so I headed home again.

I could be happy anywhere where heat isn't absolutely necessary, maybe I froze to death in a previous life or something.

[YOOPERLA]

I am planning to move to the keweenaw peninsula next year. I visited houghton last couple years, december and loved it, except for the fact that there was very little snow, less than a foot! I have lived all over vermont, new hampshire, maine, and a short time in south dakota, but am from louisiana, but i love the up, and stayed about two weeks scouting around. I know this is the place for me. I love it and can't wait to move here permanently. I feel it truly is god's country! I am a retired rn. I could work a little if i wanted to, but i don't really know yet. Kinda feel like exploring the area and getting settled and making friends.

[YOOPERLA]

Anyone have an opinion as to which area of the up is the best to live as far as services, yet is heavily wooded, close to lake superior, lots of snow, not completely remote, good roads, etc, nice neighborhoods? And is it true what i hear that houghton is a nicer town than hancock?

[JimmyInGreatLakes]

The obvious reply would be Marquette, the largest city there. But, not just because it's obvious but because it IS a nice town. We just visited for the first time in a while a couple weeks ago. I was impressed with the infrastructure, activities and newer housing units, especially along the big lake. Downtown is excellent as well. Houghton perhaps on a smaller scale which includes being the gateway to my favorite county in Michigan: Keweenaw.

[michmoldman]

Marquette hands down. Along with incredible beauty, it has almost everything you need. Once you get away from town, it's nothing but woods. Of course with all that comes the most incredible lake in the world, so what more could you ask for?

[darstar]

Originally Posted by Starrman69

When I come back to Michigan to visit, I always drive past the old farmstead. My folks owned the place for nearly 50 years. So strange to look at it now. Mom and Dad are gone, someone else owns the farm, or at least some of it. Hardest job I ever had was cleaning up all their memories to sell and give away, parceling out the property to the highest bidder. Never thought that I would move out of Michigan. Now all I have are memories of growing up on the farm, doing chores, milking cows, bailing hay and straw, 4-H meetings and projects, an old one room schoolhouse, fleeting, fading glimpses of high school proms, old girlfriends, beaches, sand dunes and Lake Michigan. The "old guard" are dead and gone. Now I'm part of the older generation. The ghosts are all that's left of parents, family, neighbors and friends. While I'm living in Florida, everyday I am reminded of my own mortality by watching the others that have come here to bask in the sun and wait for their time to run out. From one peninsula to another, neither one feels like home.

This is a very good post, one of the best ever on this long going thread.. That said, I can relate too, no place feels like home, especially when you are but one , one left of the generation and the same before. In my case there are three of us left, myself and two cousins , at 74 I am the oldest. We try to meet once a year, in the fall, to join,try to remember the old days, and drive around the county, in Iowa , looking for remnants of the past. The farms we grew up on and the challenge that most have long turned to dust with corporate farms, no buildings remain.....Mostly these days I look forward to the meeting and the remembering as they say,...looking back helps us remember last week, its good therapy .......go see the movie Nebraska you will be better for it.

[darstar]

Originally Posted by YOOPERLA

Anyone have an opinion as to which area of the up is the best to live as far as services, yet is heavily wooded, close to lake superior, lots of snow, not completely remote, good roads, etc, nice neighborhoods? And is it true what i hear that houghton is a nicer town than hancock?

Sounds like you want to live in the Copper Country ?...Fine, why not Copper Harbor, thats where everyone wants to go, see, vacation , yes its a place like no other........but you wouldn't want to live there yea round.

That said , considering all the amenities you request, its a no brainer , move to Marquette. That does not mean everyone lives in the city, downtown ( waterfront a great retirement place if you can afford it ), no you must look at Marquette County as a whole. Its the largest in the state, and , has about half the population of the entire Upper Michigan. Depending on your reserves, the only negative living in Marquette area is the cost of living. That said , just go 10 min. from downtown and the lake shore , south for example, into Sands Township ( 3.3 miles from inter city ). Thats what I did, built my retirement abode on a Mountain top with a 50 mile view of Superior. That was 7 years ago now when I moved here from Downstate. No regrets, lower taxes and home prices yet all the wants and needs close at hand. As we age , health care becomes very important, thats a good plus for Marquette and its only getting better with the breaking ground in the spring of a world class state of the art Hospital complex. Long range plans are to create another "Mayo Clinic " here on the edge of the wilderness, the best of the Northern Tier places in America , Marquette.