Which town in southwest Michigan would be most desireable to re-locate for early retirees?

May 28, 2007 7:48 PM

I'm considering buying a house on the southwestern coast of Michigan on Lake Michigan - New Buffalo, Saugatuck, Coloma, Union Pier, Douglas, Holland , etc. - which would be the best place to buy -pro's and con's of each community.
posted by Tullyogallaghan to home & garden (5 comments total)

Warning: the job market in W. MI is hell right now, unless you're very lucky. Go too far north and you reduce your chances of being able to commute. New Buffalo is closer to Chicago than Grand Rapids/Holland/Zeeland, and here in Chicago, we have (some) jobs.
Saugatuck and Holland are really very nice communities--small-town feel, historic, beautiful lakeshore. Holland-area is quite conservative politically and religiously, with, obviously, a good deal of Dutch heritage.
Can't say much in detail about the others. I live(d) less than 10 minutes from Holland for 18 years, so if you have specific questions about that area at all, contact's in the profile.
posted by rhoticity at 8:35 PM on May 28, 2007

New Buffalo is going to see a lot of growth from the new casino, so consider that it's going to be seeing a lot of change. Union Pier is pretty close to New Buffalo.

Saugatuck/Douglas is probably the best bet for the average MeFite as it's the most liberal of those.

Holland is a bit bigger than the others you've mentioned and has more ethnic diversity and is more of a real town rather than a tourist one.
posted by dagnyscott at 8:40 PM on May 28, 2007

My aunt lives near Douglas. It used to be such a nothing town, no one ever heard of it. Saugatuck has really changed since I was a kid; used to be very little there except for the yacht club. Now there's a huge shopping district with a quaint European cobbled-streets feel. It's also very gay-friendly and I think Oval Beach even has a section reserved for all-male nude swimming/recreating. Years ago, you had to drive all the way to Holland to find a restaurant other than a hot dog stand; now Saugatuck/Douglas is filled with all sorts of eateries. I don't know if it's still this way, but the entire area went pretty dead after the Summer tourist season ended.
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:58 PM on May 28, 2007

Saugutuck is a nice town, but it gets quite crowded in the summer, especially on week-ends. It has become quite touristy.
posted by caddis at 7:58 AM on May 29, 2007

Saugatuck is very very touristy (rich tourists from Chicago) during the summer, but is also very liberal (ie: gay couples attend Catholic services without the blink of an eye.) Saugatuck has lots of little art shops and restaurants. And if you cross over to the Douglas side of the channel, there are lots of pretty summer houses.

Holland is much much much larger. Saugatuck has a class D size high school, while Holland has three class A high schools. There are some particularly beautiful areas of Holland though. I lived in West Olive (which is basically the northern boundary of Holland) and it's very very lovely. You can find property out there with lake front. The best part of West Olive is that it's nice and cool during the summer and warmer in the winter. It's literally ten degrees cooler at the house when it's hot in town.

Some other places you might want to check out are southern Holland between the city and Saugatuck by the lake, like Castle Park. I don't know how often those houses go on sale (if ever) but L. Frank Baum built himself a castle there supposedly. Also, if it's in your price range, Macatawa is also very nice, but very very expensive. Macatawa is a tiny strip of land on the Macatawa Bay side of Holland.

Holland is also big enough that you can expect digital cable, high speed internet, Starbucks, Best Buy, and the Gap. Downtown has a lot of locally owned and very nice shops, like the Outpost which sells all manner of hiking/camping/outdoorsy gear and some women's apparel. The Peanut Shop is an old school candy shop. JPs has excellent coffee (but is typically crowded with Hope College students.) And there's a non Barnes & Noble book shop downtown as well. Near Hope College, there's a skate park which was built about 10 years ago and is filled with skater kids. On the south side of town near Holland High, there's a great mexican restaurant along the lines of Qdoba. It's like high-quality taco bell.

The main drawback to Holland is it's conservative nature. When I moved to Holland in '97, I was surprised to see so many churches. This is the proverbial church-on-every-corner city. I am not kidding. And for all the churches, there is one Catholic church downtown on 14th street (or so) and one out on the north side of town. Otherwise, you're heading to Spring Lake/Grand Haven or Saugatuck.
posted by santojulieta at 9:25 AM on May 29, 2007