Farewell Michigan – 10 Things I Will Miss Most

Photo by Cameron Stewart on Unsplash

I am going to be moving back to California. My wife and I are excited to be going back to our home state and moving closer to our parents, however, a part of us does not want to leave Michigan. Michigan had just begun to feel like home when we were presented with the opportunity to move back to California.

Why I’m moving back to California

Whether it was to pick up groceries or to just stop by and chat, many of my friends and co-workers who grew up in Michigan were lucky enough to live close to their parents when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States. The ability to be near to your parents, especially when they’re older, and see them whenever you want with just a short drive is an invaluable luxury. One day, our parents won’t be here and this reality was made ever more clear this year. As of December 2020, I will officially be writing from California.

What I will miss most about Michigan

I first landed in Detroit in June of 2015 and my immediate reaction was how empty the airport was compared to LAX. It took a while to warm up to Michigan; the roads were really bad, street lights were hanging on a rope, buildings seemed old and run down, people from Michigan kept asking me “why on earth did you move from California to here,” and the saying that “there are only 2 seasons in Michigan: winter, and construction season” turned out to be more truth than a joke. 

After a couple of years of exploring and navigating through Michigan, I began to enjoy the Mitten State. Here’s my list of what I will miss the most about Michigan from my brief 5-year stay.

1. Housing Affordability –  A nice house, large enough for a family of 5 with pets, in a great school district is completely affordable for a young yuppy couple in Michigan. For example, the median home price in an area such as Troy or Novi (cities with schools ranked in the top 400 nationally) is around $350,000-400,000, whereas a home in a similar neighborhood in California would cost you at least $900,000.
2. Food Gems –  There are some great restaurants in Michigan if you’re willing to spend the time driving and searching. A couple of my favorites include :
   • Taqueria El Rey in Detroit
   • Fresh Fish House in Detroit
   • Detroit Pho and Crab in Detroit
   • Marrow in Detroit
   • Schramm’s Mead in Ferndale
   • House of Falafel in Farmington
   • Smoke Street BBQ in Milford
   • Dearborn Meat Market in Dearborn
   • Toast in Ferndale
3. Craft Beer – Michigan has arguably one of the best craft beer scenes in the entire country. Some of the best beer I’ve had has been brewed in Grand Rapids.
4. Political Activeness –  People are very politically active in Michigan. It’s very much a battleground state. During the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election, there were Trump and Biden signs on the lawns of neighbors who literally lived right next to each other. Michigan has a voter turnout of 73.9%, putting it in the top 10 states for voter participation.
5. Life Centered Culture –  In my personal opinion, Michiganders have a mentality of “I work to live” rather than “I live to work.” People I met there relish their free time. Everyone is out of the office by 4 pm and when you come in on Monday people talk about how they went hunting, fishing, golfing, sailing, camping, or about how they coached their kid’s little league game or baked an incredibly delicious sourdough pizza. A co-worker once told me that after telling his manager that he wants to be an Engineering Director one day, his manager responded by saying “Why would you ever want to be a director? You have no life, no free time, and will spend your nights and maybe weekends working and calling into meetings.” Don’t get me wrong, people are extremely hard working in Michigan, but there is a sense of “chill”, and being happy living their lives as they see fit.
6. The Fall – Cinnamon donuts and fresh, hot apple cider. Fall is by far my favorite season and I will miss experiencing all the leaves changing to shades of red, purple, orange, and yellow.
7. Detroit – During my time in Michigan I was lucky enough to volunteer at the Downtown Youth Boxing Gym. Seeing the students and the staff there gave me a glimpse of the resilience and tenacity, as well as the feeling of care and community, that embody the city and people of Detroit.
8. Outdoor Adventures – I won’t miss logging onto Michigan’s DNR website in early February to try and find a camping spot for the summer, but I will miss going to places such as Sleeping Bear Dunes, Torch Lake in Traverse City, and Miner’s Beach in the Upper Peninsula. There are amazing parks in Michigan that aren’t crowded, and at times isolated to a point where you could have a whole beach to yourself.
9. Eastern Market – I will miss going to Eastern Market every Saturday to get fresh food from farmers. I will never forget the time I was able to buy a whole crate of tomatoes for $5 and a large watermelon for $1. This was the best farmers market I have been to and I will miss having something like it to get my fresh produce.
10. Sustainability – I was surprised to find that so many people in Michigan care about sustainability and preserving their forests, rivers, and lakes. When I spoke to friends about hunting, for many it was all about sustainability. The dear population in Michigan go unchecked, causing over breeding, so hunting is a way to control the population. For example, a lot of co-workers who go hunting every year me that they never need to buy meat at a grocery store, and on his 2-acres of land he grows most of his vegetables and legumes.