Is there anyone here from Michigan?

[RobS]

Hey Roy, same with us though our move from Indiana to Michigan will only be about three miles (less as the preverbial crow flies).

Of course Mancelona is a lot further north where Michigan and Indiana no longer resemble each other. It's georgeous up there! Just curious, what is taking you to a relatively remote area like that? Not far from Traverse City and all the tourists /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>Will you be changing your TBN name to MikeMI.</font color=blue>

It's Roy who is moving to Michigan. I'm staying put. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RoyJackson]

"Just curious, what is taking you to a relatively remote area like that? Not far from Traverse City and all the tourists"

It's a job move. I'm going there for an interview in a week or so. Already done the preliminary (phone)interviews.
We like PA, but the job market is soft in my industry. We lost a couple major manufacturers. The company I'd be going to work for is pretty big (I normally work smaller companies) with a number of divisions in the Midwest and Canada.

So, we're looking for the good and bad aspects of northern Michigan life. We're pretty countrified, so the rural aspects don't bother us...in fact, we prefer it. I prefer Winter over the other seasons..(Boy, I might regret that statement!!!). I expect we'd have to rig up one of those satellite modems if we want anything like the cable modem we've got now. We've got ~ 3 acres here with a log house. The properties we've looked at (on the internet) for properties in the Mancolena/Traverse City/Gaylord ares seem to be comparable.
Brilliant People.com (job recruiting website) has some relocation tools such as a comparable salary calculator. It appears the cost of living in that area is about 11% higher then here in southern York County (my last salary was in the low 40's...the calculator indicated I'd need upper mid 40's for a comparable salary).

This is, of course, a pretty big move for us. We're trying to obtain as much information as possible.

This is all quite tentative, by the way. The question I asked is to help us make the decision should a job offer be made.

For those of you with solid, first hand information...you're welcome to e-mail me directly if you wish.

 

[RobS]

SK, you anywhere near the infamous Zilwaukee bridge? I lived in Detroit (area) for a few years and had the opportunity to drive by the bridge during construction. Quite the sight but what a fiasco!

Being a non-native (and not even a resident yet), I fail the quiz. Curious to hear the answer though /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RobS]

Here's another Michigan observation some of you natives may be able to confirm...

To most of the world it's pronounced deh-TROYT' but to the Detroiters it is DEE'-troyt.

Also, to everyone in the rest of the state, Detroit might as well be a different country. I think the imaginary boundary at Eight Mile Road is bigger than the Straits of Mackinac /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RobS]

It sounds like you're doing the right research Roy. Probably the biggest difference (since you said you like winter) will be the "type" of snowfall. You'll be smack in the Lake Effect Snowbelt and there will be lots of it. Pretty much whenever the wind blows across Lake Michigan you'll get some snow. Could be just a couple of inches, could be a couple of feet. Down here at the southern end we don't get as much but have been up that way skiing before. It's fun to see how the communities deal with it. The favored mode of transportation in the winter turns into the snowmobile. Sidewalks turn into tunnels. Lakes become ice-fishing cities. It is kind of neat and obviously hundreds (?) of thousands of people live with it year after year. I'd make sure you have the appropriate "snow attitude" before moving. If not, it could be miserable /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[JayC]

Ya, you are right. We got a boat too. Really banged the prop a couple times because of the low water levels. Had to get that fixed and cost a pretty penny to do it too. But it is a good harbor to cruise around in and has some good fishing spots. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif There is a sign south of town a little ways that says "Home of the world's greatest manmade harbor." It used to say "Home of the world's largest manmade harbor." but I guess someone else grabbed that status. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[rdln]

Roy, By looking at your Bio, its seems like you would fit in up there and most anywhere in
Militiagan/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. Except, the governemnt only allows us to hang carpenters levels in our gun racks.

You would be in a great trout fishing area along with golf and skiing if you like those.

Mancelona has a nice little breakfast place except they dont serve pancakes.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Roy,

It sounds like Rob has given you a pretty good idea of what to expect. I believe the biggest shock will be dealing with the snow. I've been to PA in the winter and was surprised everyone was wearing heavy clothes. It was a balmy 45 degrees and I was in a T-shirt.

Mancelona, Kalkaska and Gaylord are in what they call "the snow belt". There are a lot of times when it'll snow like heck in Kalkaska and by the time you get 30 miles or so South it tapers right off. The whole area gets hit with the worst lake effect due to the prevailing winds. It's okay though, the lake effect doesn't last all winter. Only until Lake Michigan freezes over. (Usually late February /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif).

The other thing you get is summer humidity. I haven't been to PA in the summer, so I'm not sure what it's like. But we can get pretty hot with a real high humidity level.

Mancelona is a little more remote that Kalkaska due to the distance to Traverse City which has grown into a small metro area (at least for Northern Michigan). If they ever get the expressway extended that far, the area should see some growth. They're working on the Manton bypass, but it'll still end quite a way South of Kalkaska.


SHF

 

[butzkeg]

Rob, did you hear the dee-troyt bit on Sports Radio 1130 a few days back?