Moving to Michigan; revisited.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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A couple of months ago, I posted that I was moving to the Detroit (specifically, Grosse Pointe) area. Whew. Am I eveer glad we’re not moving to Grosse Pointe after all. Tomorrow we (well, my SO) closes on a house in Grand Blanc, near Flint. Woohoo. I cannot belive how CHEAP property is there compared to Colorado. (Is there a reason for this; apart from a depressed economy, humid buggy summers & long winters?) :slight_smile:

So. I’ve seen the house & the area. What is Flint/Grand Blanc like? Are there any good Thai or Middle Eastern restaurants? Good vet recommendations? Decent hiking/boating areas? Best supermarkets? good community theatre, colleges, music venues?

Tell me…

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hi hi hi hi hi hi!

I’m in Flint!
Are you coming to the dopefest next weekend?

For vets, I have mine that is down my street, and I love, but it might be a bit of a trek for you. I live in the cutural center.

Colleges, flint has both mott CC and a branch of U of M. If you want to snag a few classes, U of M is awesome here!

There is also the cultural center, definetly come check it out. You can take classes in everything from voice and dance to pottery and weaving and jewelry making. (There is also a planetarium and the library.)

Community theatre is rampant. In season you have to come to see a few shows at Flint Central high School. Great theatre prgeam, run by Martin Jennings, gifted man. There is also the Flint Youth theatre and many other community groups to see and join.

Drop me an e-mail and I can try to find what you want. Persephone and xploder are also familiars and can help you out.

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Wish I could make it to the DopeFest.

Hey…a neighbor; you’re my first neighbor. Hey everybody, Medea’s Child & I are neighbors! :smiley:

Yay, the cultural center sounds great. Flint is right around the corner…Ann Arbor an hour away? Pshaw, that’s next door! I may email you for vet recommendations…I have a Rottie & GSDx who are very special to me.

Keep the ideas coming! I’m really looking forward to the move because I’ll be with my sweetie; but Denver is a tough act to follow!

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Carina,

You leaving Denver too? Seems like the exodus has been cofirmed …

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Oh…I hate to be on the forefront of a trend! I’m keeping (& renting out) my house, though. You’re in Florida, right?
I’m moving to way palatial digs, though; 5 acres, pool, yadda yadda. A/C & a hot tub in the bedroom; that should make the transition easier.

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That’s the spirit…Ann Arbor kicks ass! (I’m a recent U-M grad – but I’m moving to Chicago in September [grad school]…)

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Yes, I’m in Ann Arbor and can attest that it is most definitely worth the drive. We have culture coming out your wazoo. Also lots of ethnic restaurants and fun activities going on at any time.

In fact, it’s so different than the rest of Michigan (many other parts of which are appealing too, of course, for various other reasons) it’s hard to leave. We’d like to go somewhere where we could get more house for the money, but there’s noplace like Ann Arbor.

8

Heehee.

Hahahaha!

BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! :coughkaff: BWHAHAHAHAHA!

You would have been better served by living in Grosse Pointe.

Really.

Flint sucks.

Sorry to say it Carina, but you’re screwed. Hardcore. Flint is hell.

No, it’s worse than hell. Grosse Pointe may suck for the people that think living there makes them “high class”, but I would rather felch a rabid burro than live in Flint.

The fact that you’re going to be living in Grand Blanc makes it only marginally more palatable, you will hate it.

I think I’ve gotten a sense of who you are by your posts, and feel free to tell me to go to Flint, but I really think you will be unhappy. Ann Arbor and Lansing are really the only cities that have a culture, any diversity at all. Remember that you’re moving to a state where unions rule. Ann Arbor and E.Lansing have only been spared by their Universities. Detroit* and Flint are dead.

The Pointes are white bread hell, but they at least have SOME sort of culture going on close to them. Up in Grand Blanc/Flint, you’re at least an hour away from anything culturally significant. Sure, Detroit doesn’t get great Broadway tours, but at least it has the venues.

U of M Flint is a joke. Hell, U of M Dearborn is a joke and they’re only ~20 miles from the real thing.

Oh hey, do you like to ski? You haven’t known great skiing until you’ve hit Mt Holly’s landfill. Truly world-class skiing. :rolleyes: Nothing like a good twenty second run!

Michigan, in general, is the wasteland of the dumbed down republicans. The people who believe in the right to bear arms under any circumstance, the people who believe that unions aren’t corrupt and Lee Iacocca was god. The white-trash, wife-beating, animal-abusing neanderthals that think it’s their god-given right to drink malt liquor for the rest of their natural-born lives. And Flint is ground f-ing central.

Oh, and before any Michiganders decide to flame me, let it be known that I am one of you. I was born in Royal Oak, lived there, Troy, Grand Rapids, and Detroit proper. My family is in Fenton, Holly, Linden, Grayling, Gaylord, and Lapeer. Don’t think I’m not qualified to speak on this subject.

I’ll make a bet with you…if you, in a year, can honestly (and I’ll trust you, because you seem honest) say that you enjoy your life there, I’ll send you a gift certificate for an hour massage. You’ll probably have to make a road trip for it…

Now that I read back through this, I feel kinda bad. Perhaps I should gloss it over? Nah! Better to set your expectations low and have you be pleasantly suprised, than woefully mis-informed.

Good luck Darlin’. You’re lucky you’ve got good Dopers close, you’ll need them.

SueD (so call me biased already!)

*Detroit will never die but it will be a long, hard road to get it to anything resembling glory. Flint is gone and done. Just like steaks are done, so is Flint.

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Sue Duhnym, I just about spit coffee all over my monitor laughing. Well, it’s a good thing I like a challenge :D, because I’ve been to Michigan often enough to suspect some of what you say is true…There is one Thai restaurant in Grand Blanc, along with 850 Country Style All-U-Can Swill Buffets. So maybe that’s a ray of hope. I went skiing at some little bumpy pile of ice in Wisconsin once…woohoo. But lift tickets were like $5.00…
Anyhow, this is not a move I’m making lightly, but I’m determined to make the best of it. My SO & I are already joking that I’ll have to start shopping at Talbot’s, remember to brush my hair on a daily (not weekly) basis, & I’ll be able to pout & withhold sex if I don’t get a Range Rover. Culturally it’s going to be a paradigm shift for me. But hey…I survived two years living in Colorado Springs, so I’ve had some practice!

I’ve been to Ann Arbor, and thought it was a great town.
There seem to be a lot of fairs & festivals & stuff in Michigan, which I like. Also, I’ll be close to my brother in Chicago, which I think is a very cool city. And, of course I can go visit Medea’s Child. :slight_smile:

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hey Carina you’ll have to travel to Lansing for decent Thai. (we have several Thai restaurants, one of the best is Bankok House at the corner of Saginaw & Cedar, very easy to find, I always tell people to start off with ‘mild’)

and you’re only about an hour away. Decent music? we have the Whartan center, and several other open air venues, we’re home to Elderly Instruments, several other music stores. MSU of course, lots of museums, including a hands on science museum, the Michigan Women’s museum, the state museum etc. Stuff happening all the time.

Since you’re around Flint, some of the other intersting things are Frankenmouth (home of the world’s largest Christmas stores, not to mention an interesting ‘Bavarian fest’), Montrose, the home of the blueberry festival and telephone museum, not to mention, the worlds best apples in the fall. There is nothing like Michigan Cider.

let’s see, also in that neck of the woods is Durand who has it’s railroad days, you’ve missed this years Curwood Festival in Owasso (do I know my small town fesitvals or what!), but it’s fun for next year - they have an annual chili cook off (My SO won the one year he participated)

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How wonderful that you’re moving here!

Don’t let little Sue’s negativity ruin it for you. Yeah, what she said is true, unfortunately, but she also forgot the following:

[ul]
[li] You’ll be (relatively) close to Lake Huron. Lovely, lovely.[/li][li] Michigan is a great state to hike, boat, camp and canoe in.[/li][li] Grand Blanc is close to Birch Run, a super, behomoth, gargantuan outlet mall.[/li][li] You’re close to Saginaw Bay, with some of the best walleye fishing around (that is, if you’re in to fishing).[/li][li] You’re close to Canada via the Port Huron-Sarnia bridge, land of good beer, eh![/li][li] SNOWMOBILING![/li][li] Oktoberfest in Frankenmuth - micro brews galore![/li][li] You’ll be relatively close to Pine Knob (now known as DTE Energy Music Theatre. la de da), home of great concerts![/li][/ul]

Hooray for Michigan. Michigan is also home to some wonderful culinary things. See the thread (which I’m too lazy to look up or link to, to be perfectly honest) entitled “Regional Foods” (or something close to that). I’ve got a link of good Michigan stuff in there.

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There are good and bad things anywhere you live.

But I really object to being called a dumbed down rebublican. And the people we had over for dinner last night would be horrified at the title.

I’ve lived here for all but 16 months of my life and managed to do quite well in finding culture. There are problems here in Flint, but lack of diversity is not one of them.

As for knocking U of M Flint, no it isn’t U of M Ann Arbor. But it has a better undergrauate Chemistry program the University of Pittsburgh. Its also awesome in music. They support and cherish thier undergrads and non traditional students. They aren’t in the business to be big and annoying. They are there to teach, and they do it well. The professors are often the same ones you’d get at U of M Ann Arbor, with a tenth of the students. Unless you are a big fan of 400 student classes. Personally, I’ll take my 30 person “big lecture course” from them.

if you are laughing at the music and theatre available in LFint then you have never seen it. Flint Central’s Chior routinely competes and wins on International levels. They only have the money to do so every other year, but they do it. Same for Flint Central’s threatre program. U of M has amazing theatre and music performances, as well as a summer camp for kids that produces wonderful stuff. The youth theatre and community theatre are also strongly active. Not to mention what goes on if you move out of the city. Clio Cast and Crew isn’t bad.

Flint has problems. You won’t get me arguing on that. But that they are unsolvable? Not a bit. Its just takes dedication and a true look at what we have and what we don’t have. We don’t have a very good image, even to ourselves. We have a horrible infrastructure. However, we have some very good stuff worth supporting, and I will not allow you to profane that.

MI does have wonderful nature stuff. If you like the beach this is the right state. (I’m going nuts in PA. No lakes!?!?!)

And why not the DopeFest? What better are you doing Saturday? grin

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Well…I’m still in Colorado, so no DF on Saturday! I was on Lake Huron last weekend though…SO has a place up there on the beach so we played in the water. It’s not the Pacific, but boy it is pretty up there.

Having lived in all kinds of places, I think you can find the good or the bad in each one. I’m looking for the good. :slight_smile:

hey…here’s one more not-dumbed-down republican that will be moving in! There goes the neighborhood…

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Excuse me, but didn’t Michigan go to the Democrats in the last three Presidental elections? Do we not have two Democrat Senators? Does that mean a “dumbed-down Republican” is actually a Democrat? :wink:

As Medea’s Child says there are good and bad things anywhere you live, so there are intelligent and stupid people anywhere you live. It just comes in different styles.

FTR, the Unions generally support the Democratic candidates–are you sure you lived in Michigan? Yea, the rural areas are more Republican, but how is this different from the rest of America? Familiarity apparently does breed contempt.

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Dang, you beat me to it.

Actually, in my experience, living in Kalamazoo (land of a million colleges), Michigan is a wasteland of dumbed down democrats and jesus freaks.

To avoid making it sound completely negative, there are good reasons to live in Michigan.

Interesting weather (you can get sunburned and frost-bitten in the same month, after all).

Lots of urbanization in the lower bits, balanced by lots of wilderness in the northern bits.

Close to Canada.

Lots of lakes.

The Great Lakes are here, too. And, yes, they are really, really, big. No, you can’t see across them. No, you can’t swim to Canada. You’d die of old age, first (yes, I’ve had to correct people on these points before).

There’s even a good chance that one time in your life, you might run across Ted Nugent. And that would make it all worthwile. :smiley:

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Oh please. I didn’t call you a dumbed down republican, I even said that Carina was lucky to have good Dopers around.

But honestly, how many people do you know that DON’T own a gun? :stuck_out_tongue:

Michigan is truly a beautiful state. There’s an enormous amont of things to do and see if you enjoy hiking, canoeing, boating, hunting and fishing. The UP has some of the most amazing scenery anywhere. You can be on Lake Superior and the water will be so crystal clear that you can see the fish swimming 50 feet down. Amazing. Wild blueberries, morel mushrooms, wildlife, enough lakes that you could assign everyone in the state their own personal one, it’s all unbelieveably fantastic.

My grandparents own a cottage on Big Bay de Noc and I remember being able to walk into the bathwater warm bay for hundreds of feet before I had to tread water. Waves get big enough to bodysurf. I’ve seen moose on Isle Royale.

Deer regularly walk through my parents lawn. The skies are so clear you can actually see the stars. The sunsets on Lake MI are unrivaled. Nights in the summer are warm enough to sleep outside, without a tent. If you like X-country skiing, you’ve found heaven. Not much pollution anywhere in MI (except Rouge River).

Should you NOT like nature, you are in trouble. Because outlet shopping, all-you-can-eat fried chicken in Frankenmuth and kiddie choirs from Flint ain’t gonna cut it.

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Stop it, you’re **both ** wrong. The State of Michigan has gone Democratic in the past several presidential elections, plus had both state senators Democratic (except for that brief ::shiver:: time with ol’ Spence Abraham), but, as far as state government is concerned, both houses of the state government are Republican dominated (and have been for a while), the state Supreme Court (non partisan but Republican nevertheless), as well as the Governor of the past 3 terms, the Sec of State (tho the dems had ruled that for quite some time).

So, in short, there’s no shortage of both :smiley:

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Geez, Sue, we can’t ALL live in huge cultural centers, you know. But perhaps we should leave Michigan and live somewhere else… North Dakota maybe?

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That’s right, all us smartened-up Republicans are just south of the Michigan state line here in lovely Sylvania, Ohio. We know unions are corrupt, Iacocca was actually the polyester anti-christ, and guns is good in any situation except when you’ve been drinking or children are present. Nor will we, under any circumstances whatsoever, touch malt liquor.

Anyway, let’s everyone try and cool the rhetoric, shall we?

[Edited by UncleBeer on 06-18-2001 at 04:32 PM]

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I, for one, don’t think you’re qualified to speak about Flint until you live here. Speak all you want on the rest, just leave the Flint bashing to us.

My neighborhood is a quiet little mix of white & blue collar. A million kids. Young familes just starting, older retirees living quietly. It doesn’t suck.

Flint government is, of course, a hoot. No argument there. I work at City Hall. Yeah, it’s a mess, no question. But it hasn’t always been that way, and it isn’t going to always be that way. It will change, next election. Trust me.

Flint has a very diverse culture, and in most cases, we get along pretty well. Crime is high in some parts of the city, low in others. If you want cultural entertainment, U-M Flint does have some excellent stuff. Not on the same level as Ann Arbor, but it’s there, and it’s worth seeing.

Grand Blanc, though, is a fine little town.* It’s pricier than Flint, of course, but it doesn’t have quite the cultural diversity. Not a bad place to hang out, though.

Carina, when you do get here, please look up Medea, Xploder, and me. We’ll take you out for a “New Doper In Town” mini-fest. :smiley:
*[sub]Unless you count the fact that my uncle’s house, in Grand Blanc, was broken in to ten days after he moved there last year. Prior to moving to Grand Blanc, he lived in the house I currently own. For nearly 20 years. And never had any trouble at all. Nor have I, and I’ve lived in Flint for ten years. :D[/sub]