Top 10 reasons we made Michigan's Forgotten Coast our work from home base.
We know a lot of people are newly working from home & we’re here to let you know our experience of working from home on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast for the last 10+ years.
It’s pretty awesome actually. Do we miss some city stuff? Yes, of course. But, with the lower cost of living here, we can actually travel a lot more. I smell another article on that topic. 🤔
There are also things here that you don’t really get in a larger city, which is why our area has a strong tourism industry. It’s also gotten a lot cooler around here in the last decade with a whole lot of art & music coming to the area. Hey, that sounds like another article too! 😉
Many of you may already be getting used to the “work from home” deal, so we don’t need to explain how great it is to have zero commute and how much time & money that saves. So, we’ll focus more on what makes it nice to work from home on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast specifically.
#1. Lake Huron
Lake Huron at Jenks Roadside Park
Sure, it is one of the largest fresh water supplies in the world, but beyond that Lake Huron provides a vast amount of activities, is home to diverse wildlife habitats, and is a beautiful backdrop all year long.
#2. The surrounding nature & access to it
Hiking at Port Crescent State Park
As mentioned in our 1st reason, Lake Huron provides a home to a diverse ecosystem. You’ll find all sorts of waterfowl and predatory birds fishing in the lake including bald eagles, golden eagles, falcons, hawks, geese, seagulls, swans, ducks, and a lot more.
There are hiking trails, bike trails, state game areas, and several other ways for you to get out in this natural landscape. Some of our cities & villages have those access points to nature trails right in town!
If you’d like some links to parks & outdoor activities in the area, click here.
#3. Walkability
Vassar rail trail
Walk or bike to most everything you need. The grocery store, hardware store, boutiques, restaurants, bars, dr. offices, gym, yoga studio, the library, city hall, beaches, parks, schools, churches, and most other things you might need are just blocks away in the cities & villages of Michigan’s Forgotten Coast!
#4. Broadband access & general infrastructure
Installation of fiber broadband
Many rural areas don’t have great access to broadband, but we do. Being digital workers, that was extremely important to us when we moved to the area. Our cities and villages are well connected. We were one of the 1st places in the country to have lit fiber in the ground!
#5. Cost of living
Port Austin Farmers Market
When we first moved here, we were a bit taken aback on how inexpensive certain things were here. It’s not quite what it was 10 years ago, but it’s still an inexpensive place to live.
#6. Community involvement
Huron County Community Foundation Mini Grant Event
Our communities are small and need participation from a broad cross section of the citizens to be viable. You’ll find open arms at most community organizations. You’ll also see those organizations doing good in your community on a regular basis. When you help with these organizations, you can see the direct impact you’ve made in your community. It feels good.
#7. Access to fresh, local, food products
Reduce your carbon footprint AND get great quality local meat & produce.
We mentioned earlier that having a large amount of local agriculture helps keep food costs down. What we didn’t mention is how good it is! The carbon footprint from such a local economy is also something to take pride in, but is often less appreciated by those who have been living that way their whole lives.
#8. Connection to the City or Village itself
City of Harbor Beach collecting leaves.
You can watch your tax dollars at work as the city works on cleaning the streets, fixing the sewer, planting trees, or building a new park for the citizens. It’s right there, every day. You can see it.
#9. Safety & security
Croswell & Worth Township Fire Departments
The communities on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast have well equipped and well trained first-responders.
If we have some sort of issue, everything we need to solve it is right around the corner. Most of our communities have local police, firefighters, doctors, vets and more!
#10. Seasons
Harbor Beach Lighthouse as Lake Huron starts to freeze
It’s nice to be back in a place that has 4 very distinct seasons after living in areas where they don’t.
There’s something truly magical about living through such drastically different seasons throughout the course of the year, and the change of seasons helps to make the year feel a bit longer and more enjoyable.
Those are our top 10, but there are other things we didn’t mention that would make other people’s list.
Like the benefits to those with children. We have great school systems, and if you live in the city, your children can walk to school. Speaking of children, you don’t really have to worry about them playing in the neighborhood, and if you want to take them to the park or the playground, those are generally just a short walk away.
A personal favorite that didn’t make the list; it’s not the cookie cutter, soul crushing, sameness of the suburbs. Houses are all unique and most are really well built. There are no HOAs telling you what to do with your home. We don’t have strip malls everywhere and a Starbucks on every corner. Actually, we have 0 Starbucks. Some of our cities and villages have a fast food chain or two, but we’re mostly a place of mom & pop restaurants…and all types of businesses actually. When we travel back through suburbs, we sometimes long for the variety of food & and businesses they have…but the sameness and strip mall blight are a huge turn off. You won’t find much of that around these parts.