Why did you move to Monroe, anyway?
C’mon, I know it was the first question you were going to ask. It’s the first question EVERYONE asks. I can never tell if it’s genuine curiosity or just plain confusion. Regardless, you’ll get your reasons.
First and foremost, we moved to Monroe because it is the midway point for both my fiancé and myself; he works at the Jeep plant in Toledo and I teach about 30 minutes north. We figured this was the fairest way to appease us both, although if you ask me, I still drive further.
Second, we moved to Monroe because we could get a lot more for our buck, so to speak. The house we bought here would easily cost $50,000 more in the community we previously lived in. From the moment I knew there were subdivisions on Lake Erie I was hooked. I grew up on a lake (a small one, though, more like a puddle compared to a Great Lake) and love the water.
My fiancé and I grew up in Waterford and then re-met in college. I lived in Ann Arbor during my undergraduate program and loved every minute of it, but could never imagine buying a house there – who wants to plan their wedding or weekend plans entirely around home games? I bleed maize and blue, but I certainly don’t want to schedule shopping trips and visits around football/basketball/hockey/conferences/graduations/big events for the rest of my life. Besides, the cost of living is astronomical there. Lovely city to visit, costly to live in…especially for a teacher like myself.
We then moved to Canton. Yes, another costly place but no planning around sporting events or things of that nature (at least, not at first….) And yes, we lived within walking distance from the new Ikea. We were, in fact, there opening day. A great place to live because it’s bulging with life, but living by Ikea certainly had it’s down falls – like the fact that some days we felt lucky enough to play the lotto if we could even make a left turn out of the apartment complex. Ikea opened a few months before we moved and let’s just say we weren’t too sad to leave it behind us. Again, nice to visit, but don’t want to live there.
So, there you have it: how we decided on Monroe. Next up: how we decided on a house/subdivision.
December 29th, 2006 at 4:47 am
I may be a fellow BlogsMonroe blogger, but I’m not from around here either! Mary and I met on the internet less than 3 years ago and have been married more then 2 years now. I grew up in the Flint area and work at UofM in Ann Arbor. I moved into her house in Luna Pier as she teaches down in Perrysburg, and this is kinda in-between. However, we’re down to one vehicle right now, so I drive her to Perrysburg, then head to Ann Arbor. Yup, 90 miles one-way. Good thing we make decent coffee in the morning!
December 30th, 2006 at 6:06 am
Oh my gosh - that’s quite a drive! My fiance works in Toledo and has a colleague who lives around the Flint area. You guys are brave people!
January 1st, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for the blog. I’m almost the complete opposite. I grew up in Monroe, picked up my teaching certificate at the U of M and ended up buying a house with my wife in Adrian.
I’m always interested in hearing about how people enjoy my hometown. It’s got some plusses and minuses, but it seems to grab hold of people really hard. I’m not exactly sure why that is.
When did you graduate from Michigan? I’m ‘97.
If you need any Monroe tips, shoot me an email.
Mike Ingels
January 4th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I recently married a Monroe native and since I was not working and he works in Temperence it was not even discussed where we would live. It also didn’t help that he already owned a house and selling right now is not that easy. So here we are, living in Monore. I’m from downriver (Allen Park) and to me Monroe is a change. There is a lot less to do. Not that there’s a lot to do in Allen Park but all you have to do is drive 20 mins in pretty much any direction other than south and you’ll be somewhere with tons to do. I feel very limited down here and isolated from my friends and family. A 30 min drive is not a big deal, we did when we were dating but it’s starting to get old. I don’t hate living down here as much as I though I would but I’m still not sold on it.
I hope you enjoy it and are able to find fun stuff to do close to home!
S
January 6th, 2007 at 2:44 am
Hi Jessika, Just thought I would toss my two cents in.
I grew up in Flint, met my husband at the U of M Hospital where we both worked at the time and moved to Monroe to marry him.
I fell in love with Monroe when I first came here to meet my husband’s family, not just because Monroe is sooo much better and safer than Flint, but because it just has “something” that makes me feel at home and proud to live here.
We have a teenager daughter and a toddler son. My daughter can go downtown with her friends and “hang out” and I feel she if safe. My son goes to a great private school (affordable too).
Before I became a stay at home mom I had the pleasure of working at Professional Village Pharmacy on Dixie and got to know so many people, many elderly who have been here their whole lives and some that are high up in our community.
I really hope you and your husband love it or grow to. It really is a great community.
In 2002 my husband and I moved our family to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida..we wanted a change…and we loved it in Florida…but we only stayed away 2 years, we really missed Monroe and the people here.
Also, my husband grew up in Woodland Beach and he has so many great childhood stories he makes us listen to..he really loved it out there.
And oh, about the police thing..I agree that they are thorough, to be nice about it. My husband has been pulled over 4 times in the last 2 months…headlight out…(I told him to fix it), speeding. Sometimes that can be irritating..but I am sure they will be here if we ever need them also.
Good luck to you and your husband…!!
P.S. I am an Avon rep..let mek now if would like a catalog or need anything.
maggibayer@yahoo.com
January 6th, 2007 at 5:26 am
Sarah - I completely agree with you at times about feeling isolated. I think for me that also is because my social network isn’t really tied down very well (ok, at all) in Monroe. I hope that the more involved in the community I get, the more people I meet and then I (hopefully) won’t feel like I need to drive 25 min. to get somewhere.
But then again, every community changes. I grew up in Waterford and when I was in high school we hung out at Meijer on the weekend because nothing else was open and the closest coffee place or anything else was also 30 minutes away. Now I’m jealous of my parents living there - it seems like they have everything! So maybe Monroe is on it’s way to that point as well. What do you think?
January 6th, 2007 at 5:29 am
Hi Maggie! Thanks for your post. It definitely encouraged me in a moment of isolation as Sarah and I have mentioned. I really do get a sense of safety and….comfort here. I love that. Now, if only I can convince more friends to move down here, I’d be perfectly set!
I sometimes wonder about finding a way to be more involved in the immediate community, like you were saying about your pharmacy job and how you met many people that way. I need to find something that gets me involved like that but on a volunteer level. If you know of anything, let me know.
April 5th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Results…