WHAT IF YOU COULD SETTLE IN HOUGHTON VS MARQUETTE VS SAULT STE. MARIE?

[Navigate]

Any thoughts on Pros/Cons of these cities? Is weather pretty much the same?
Cost of living? Cultural differences? Tks/John

[zuzu]

If you need to work and are not self-employed or have a job already, you might
end up driving from Houghton to Marquette, (quite the commute in
winter!)...which be the largest city in the area..of course, if you only have to
work in the summertime this would be great, unfortunately, you need a snowplow
on your vehicle to commute in the winter time..:) Sault St Marie, altho only
about 5,000 smaller in population than Marquette, is more of a tourist area, the
cost of living appears to be slightly higher, and the winter weather is just a
tad worse..
Marquette is more of a college town and seems to be getting kind of
'artsy/folksy' lately..Houghton is also very very pretty, weather is the
same..nice in summer, lot o'snow in winter..cold..not much in the way of
employment in most of the region....

[Dave Moorman]

In article <36D81279...@yourhouse.com>, zuzu <nob...@yourhouse.com> wrote:

>Sault St Marie, altho only
>about 5,000 smaller in population than Marquette, is more of a tourist
area, the
>cost of living appears to be slightly higher, and the winter weather is just a
>tad worse..

Another plus for SSM is that SSM, Ontario, is across the bridge. It's big
and fairly cosmopolitan.

Dave

[DVK]

zuzu wrote:

> If you need to work and are not self-employed or have a job already, you might
> end up driving from Houghton to Marquette, (quite the commute in
> winter!)...which be the largest city in the area..of course, if you only have to
> work in the summertime this would be great, unfortunately, you need a snowplow

> on your vehicle to commute in the winter time..:) Sault St Marie, altho only

> about 5,000 smaller in population than Marquette, is more of a tourist area, the
> cost of living appears to be slightly higher, and the winter weather is just a
> tad worse..

> Marquette is more of a college town and seems to be getting kind of
> 'artsy/folksy' lately..

Yes, I've heard that the hippies have taken over this town. True?

Despite what these yoopers say, the UP is a tad bit over-rated. Kind of like
Colorado; its a nice place to visit . . . I sense snobbish uppitism (yoopertism?)
similar to that found among many residents of Birmingham, MI or Hollywood, CA. Of
course, unlike those truly $$ ritsy $$ areas, there do exist a majority of excellent
folks in the UP that mind their own business. If you are into socializing, I'd
recommend limiting "barhopping" to those establishments with saunas!

Regards from the west-central lower (I'm here to stay!)
--good hunting
--good fishing
--good mushrooming
--good snowmobiling (usually)
--good abandoned farmland that is still affordable (although you do need patience)
--proximity to large expanses of public lands (if you are into some of those things
above)
--picturesque "hilly" terrain
--decent soils
--excellent forest composition (locally variable due to glacial deposits)

[Ronald V. Overton]

"Navigate" (navi...@m2.sprynet.com) writes:
> Any thoughts on Pros/Cons of these cities? Is weather pretty much the same?
> Cost of living? Cultural differences? Tks/John

AS one other poster mentioned, Marquette has more available jobs than H/H
and a lot more population. I suppose this will matter or not, depending
upon your situation. H/H gets absolutely hammered in the winter with an
average annual snowfall of ~144". [read: 12 f'kng feet]. On the bright
side, they've got the very best cable TV of any city I've ever seen.
Another bright side factor for H/H, is that I personally believe it's much
prettier country. However, in all fairness, anything west of Marquette is
gorgeous . . . bones of the earth, what. For a retirement type place, I
wouldn't even consider anything east of the Mqt/Escanaba line.

What I would suggest, is for you and the family to visit both and spend a
few days. Check them out. Talk to the people. Hit a couple of bars and
have a beer or two. See the 'fudgie' sites [read: tourist traps]. They
are only about an hour or so apart - in good weather ;-). Lastly, Mqt is
iron and H/H is copper, FWIW.

goodluck and welcome home,

rono - a troll living in wonderful wacousta

--
random ron from wacousta gx...@cleveland.freenet.edu
'when the going gets weird, dq...@ncf.carleton.ca
the weird turn pro" hst over...@aol.com

[Mark James]

"Navigate" <navi...@m2.sprynet.com> writes:

>Any thoughts on Pros/Cons of these cities? Is weather pretty much the same?
>Cost of living? Cultural differences? Tks/John

Sault Ste. Marie, ONT reminded me a little of Gary, Ind. I remember
driving around seeing a flame comming from smokestack, and the area had an
odor. (Is Algoma still running? or was it st. mary's river?)

Marquette and Houghton are both beautiful cities with well educated
residents thanks to the local colleges. I lived in Marquette for quite a
few years, but I could see how someone could enjoy living in Houghton if
their job or education took them there.
--
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mark560 __ __ ____ ___ ___ ____
mar...@primenet.com /__)/__) / / / / /_ /\ / /_ /
/ / \ / / / / /__ / \/ /___ /

[Robert]

I wish I had this choice to make.

R.

"Navigate" <navi...@m2.sprynet.com> wrote:

>Any thoughts on Pros/Cons of these cities? Is weather pretty much the same?
>Cost of living? Cultural differences? Tks/John
>

( modify address for return email )

[Its Mingo]

>I wish I had this choice to make.
>
>R.

Robert:

We all have choices. It's just what you are willing to give up to get
something else.

[zuzu]

>
>
> We all have choices. It's just what you are willing to give up to get
> something else.

Aint it the truth tho? ~~

[Kris Lipman]

It is difficult to find cost-of-living data on towns in the UP. Very little, if any, on the ground price surveying is done. Free online services, such as Salary Calculator, only include Escanaba and Marquette. (http://www.homefair.com/homefair/cmr/salcalc.html) But as part of a faculty salary study performed by the student government of Michigan Tech last year, we bought a more comprehensive data set the military provides to outgoing personnel. The data set relied more heavily on statisical modeling to capture places like Houghton. As I recall, the cost-of-living in Houghton was slightly higher than Marquette, around 5 percent. But we were primarily focused on the cost-of-living of the highest paid strata of the community, so I hesitate to say whether it may be more broadly indicative.

The crime picture looks somewhat different in Sault Ste. Marie / Houghton / Marquette, according to the State Police Uniform Crime Reports. (http://www.state.mi.us/msp/crd/crime/) For 1996, here are the rates of incidence of property crime and violent crime for each county, the UP, and the state:

                    Property Crime
                    Incident Rate per
                    100,000 Population

   State Avg         4,138 / 100,000  (1 in 24)
   UP Avg            2,062 / 100,000  (1 in 48)
   Chippewa County   2,718 / 100,000  (1 in 37)
   Houghton County   1,597 / 100,000  (1 in 63)
   Marquette County  2,343 / 100,000  (1 in 43)

Some may find it interesting the incidence of property crime in Mackinac County is the only UP county above the state average and represents a spike in the UP at double the rate of the next highest county in the UP, Chippewa County. I guess there's as much wallet pulling as taffy pulling going on over there.

                    Violent Crime
                    Incident Rate per
                    100,000 Population

   State Avg           605 / 100,000  (1 in 165)
   UP Avg              131 / 100,000  (1 in 763)
   Chippewa County     106 / 100,000  (1 in 943)
   Houghton County     141 / 100,000  (1 in 709)
   Marquette County    122 / 100,000  (1 in 820)

No stand outs in violent crime. I wish the State Police broke out violent crime stats according to random vs acquaintance incidents. It might be interesting to see if there is a lower rate of random violence in the UP vs below the bridge. My anecdotal hunch is you're more likely to be done in by a friend or relative in the UP, as long as you don't hunt in someone else's blind...

"Navigate" <navi...@m2.sprynet.com> wrote:

>Any thoughts on Pros/Cons of these cities?  Is weather pretty much the same?
>Cost of living?  Cultural differences?  Tks/John

=====================================================================
Kris Lipman            "...let Facts be submitted to a candid world."
kali...@NOSPAM.up.net             -- The Declaration of Independence
        "We can try to understand the New York Times' effect on man."
                                       -- Stayin' Alive, The Bee Gees
=====================================================================
 

[TIMnCHGO]

>I sense snobbish uppitism (yoopertism?)
>similar to that found among many residents of Birmingham, MI or Hollywood,
>CA. Of
>course, unlike those truly $$ ritsy $$ areas

Hollywood is actually kind of sleezy...you must be thinking of Beverly Hills,
or someplace like that.

[James Tuttle]

Maybe he means Hollywood as the symbolic capital of the entertainment
industry. Just like Broadway plays don't have to be on Broadway, do
they. Have you ever heard of a "45th Street play"? Of course, there
are "Off-Broadway plays." And some snobby uppity Hollywood types live
in Connecticut.

[DVK]

James Tuttle wrote:

Thanks James.

Ya'll know the type of folk I'm talking about -- sunburns on the bottom
portions of the nose that would normally be shaded (even in the UP!).
Again, stick to the Saunas (but only if they serve beer -- are there any
that don't?).

Regards.

[bunny]

> Again, stick to the Saunas (but only if they serve beer -- are there any
> that don't?).

> do you have any personal recommendations in the marquette area?

[Roland Burgan]

Someone would actually consider anywhere other than Hancock? :-)

[Dave Moorman]

In article <36E81271...@up.net>, Roland Burgan <rbu...@up.net> wrote:

>Someone would actually consider anywhere other than Hancock? :-)

It's hard to believe, isn't it.

Dave

Dave Moorman
Downers Grove,
Illinois, USA
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~dmoorman/index.html