MSU Red Cedar Message Board

I lived in Chicago for a couple years after school. Hate that place. Felt more like a prison than a city to me. Moved back to Michigan, realized after 3 weeks that it was a terrible mistake, packed up and moved to Atlanta and have been happy ever since. Different strokes.

There are so many factors tha determine where you feel comfortable outside of the place itself.

Keep your head up man. We made the move to the Twin Cities knowing only one person. It was tough at first, especially for me. I had never lived anywhere outside of Mid-Michigan for the first 26 years of my life. I felt really fucking lonely and was having a tough time meeting people who wanted to hang out. It got better after awhile.

I would take that Chicago drive any day heading to e.l. and Ithaca (four hours vs. 12--Wisconsin sucks driving through). The family would get to see our boys more often which would be great and I could go hunting more often.

This.

I moved to Boston after graduating and missed Michigan, specifically EL for a few months but that slowly passed. Made new friends, learned my way around, and love the 6 years there. Had a chance to move back to Michigan but most of the people I had been missing were long gone - most of them in Chicago.

The ones that were still there seemed stuck in a time warp - hanging out at the same places in GR we used to go, doing basically the same stuff we did in hs and college except most of them were married. Took a great job in San Francisco instead, and except for a year in Munich, have been here ever since.

Chicago is an outstanding city. If you have a good job I would say stick it out for two years. And in year two try and get out of the one foot back in Michigan mindset as that is almost certainly holding you back. Nothing makes it harder to appreciate a new place so much as having the, "it's only temporary" mind set. If after a year of really getting out there you stil don't like it, then you can move back knowing you gave it your best shot.

I am very much a "to each his own" kind of guy but when I am back in GR and see my hs friends who have been there the last 20 years, they just all seem pretty sad...and old.

Or they are happy that they didn't wait until they were 40 to have kids, then when they're making the real money in their career they don't have a kid in high school, they're not 60 at the HS graduation, and they're not delaying retirement because their kid wants to move back home. To each their own, but I have a couple friends who had kids early and when their kids will be graduating HS and moving out, my kids will just be starting school.

There are pluses and minuses to every situation in life and anyone that thinks they have it figured out are blowing smoke up their ass.

Cabela's opening near RiverTown next spring

Wisconsin and Michigan are quite similar, and while both are nice, I would never consider moving back to Wisconsin. Just doesn't offer what I'm looking for professionally or socially.

Shabooms makes a great point..if you've never been in chicago for the summer, you owe it to yourself...it's hands down the greatest city in the country for those 4-5 glorious months. And hell, it's so close to michigan you can get back for games, head up the west coast, go to Kalamazoo, whatever...it's just a short drive or train ride away. Sounds like the best of both worlds to me. The only question is if you just don't like living in a big city.

I moved out of Michigan to live in Northern NJ after I graduated from MSU for a job opportunity. MIchigan's economy is not geared for Computer Science/IT professionals. Best decision I made. Met my wife out here, enjoy the lifestyle, made some really close friends, and really love the diversity that the east coast has to offer. The only downfall is the cost of living but you get that compensated in your paycheck. Also living in Northern NJ afforded me to get me into Manhattan to really enjoy my single life. There is nothing like living near a major city when you are single. You meet a ton of new people professionally and socially and have a better lifestyle. I don't think I would want to move back to Michigan. Another positive for leaving Michigan is that you don't have to deal with the Walverines and the Blue Wall media on a daily basis.

It also seems like for every thread like this there is one about "getting the hell out of michigan", so you may want to keep in mind that finding a job and making a living in michigan, buying a house, and finding a chick may not be as fun and carefree as your childhood and college years.

i'm about to wrap up 7 years in Maryland, moving to Raleigh in the next month or two. why wouldn't you want to try different areas of the country?

no homo. But seriously, the guy should at least check out the pride parade before deciding to leave. It's fun and easy to pick up (real) chicks there. And you can support your gay friends and their lifestyle at the same time!

I graduated last spring, was unemployed till January 1st and now work in Charlotte. I am super glad I had that period of unemployment. This might sound weird, but it made me realize what is real and what is nastolga.

I had season football tickets and spent about every Saturday in EL. I quickly realized that 98% of my friends were gone and what an impact that had on my enjoyment in East Lansing. I still firmly believe that East Lansing is one of the greatest college towns in the world, but it just wasn't the same for me without my friends.

While living at home I quickly realized that all my friends had left the state or were busy with work/ law school. After a few months, being home was boring and not the great. It made me want a change of scenery and made the move down here much easier.

I had this same realization after college. My 5th year of school was still great because I had a lot of friends a year younger, but after that, reality slapped me squarely in the face. I'm still happy about reality slapping me though, because if I would have graduated on time, I would have followed my friends to Chicago and would still be trying to relive the glory years while not really doing anything to advance my future and spending every last penny I make on rent and partying.