Why “Go Rural?”
It’s not just born & bred locals who are putting down roots here. Our new neighbors are digital entrepreneurs from North Carolina, artists from Detroit , small business dreamers from Florida, families from Chicago, farmers from Europe, and corporate employees from all over the U.S. feeling the freedom of remote work with a desire to connect with nature and the farmland. Here’s why they’re landing on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast:
Pace of Life
If you’re moving from a city, you’ll find it a little slow here at first. That’s ok…that’s what we love about Michigan’s Forgotten Coast. Feel your blood pressure drop as you take a hike in the woods, laze on the beach, or stare up a the star filled night sky. When you’re ready for some hustle & bustle, there are larger cities just a short drive away.
All of our communities are extremely walkable and many have bike paths or nature trails. We have a whole slew of state, county, and local parks in our area providing all kinds of different outdoor experiences.
Sunset over Lake Huron
You Can Make a Difference
In our small communities we have a ton of locally focused organizations who need people like you who want to help make things even better on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast.
Whether is a local Community Foundation, Lion’s Club, Rotary Club, VFW, Arts Guild, Women’s Life, church group, or another local organization, they all would love more people to participate and help their community.
You can have an impact in your new community right away!
Rotary Club of Harbor Beach planting trees on nature trail
Cost of Living
Unlike the rest of Michigan’s coastline, the Forgotten Coast is still underrated & undiscovered by most.
Because of this lack of attention, we haven’t had our property prices get out of control. We’re still chocked full of affordable properties…both residential and commercial. Lakefront or downtown.
Use the button below to explore our communities and you’ll find links to available residential & commercial properties in that community.
Downtown Cass City
Thriving Local Culture
This isn’t your average middle-of-nowhere. Surrounded by the largest fresh water supply in the world on the outside, and one of the largest agricultural regions in the U.S. on the inside, Michigan’s Forgotten Coast provides a vast array of activities and natural experiences.
The arts are coming alive out here, with local makers and talent everywhere you look. Massive art projects, live music events on the rise, and several towns that continue to add value for their citizens with new public projects.
With Detroit being a short drive, high-energy urban life is just a stone’s throw away (though honestly, we don’t miss it much).
The Annual “Porch Fest” in Port Austin
Modern Convenience
Broadband internet service is widely available and rapidly expanding on the Michigan’s Forgotten Coast. We were one of the 1st places in the U.S. with fiber lines in the ground and access to fiber is being rolled out to remote areas by our local enegery cooperative.
Online shopping, streaming services, and remote work now fill the access gaps that once kept people tethered to cities. Life on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast gives you the unique opportunity to be a part of local, small-town commerce without sacrificing the services and conveniences you rely on.
Downtown Sandusky
Natural Entertainment
Michigan’s Forgotten Coast has the best seats in the house when it comes to natural splendor. We’ve got easy access to Lake Huron as well as the Sebewaing, Pinnebog & Cass Rivers; nearby state parks and iconic rock formations; incredible hiking, camping, and biking options; and breath-taking views of the sun rising & setting over Lake Huron, if we do say so ourselves.
Paddeling at Turnip Rock
Back to the Land
You can live a self-reliant lifestyle on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast. When you leave the coastline area, you’ll see that we are a huge agriculture producing area…one of the largest and most productive!
If you want to get vegetables that were grown just around the corner, you can easily do that here. Want some local eggs or to raise your own hens? No problem. If you want a quarter of a cow or half of a pig that was raised a few miles away, you can do that too. If you want to start your own garden we have some great dirt that’ll help you get things growing.
If you like hunting & fishing we have a TON of that too! Very large & well fed whitetail deer, geese, ducks, and year round fishing for perch, walleye, salmon, trout and more!
Harvesting sugar beets
Business Opportunity
These are the kind of places where the coffee shop lady knows you by name and the hardware store clerk keeps cookies behind the counter for your kids. One-of-a-kind businesses make our towns special, and there’s plenty of room and support for transplanted entrepreneurs to join in.
Select a community from the map below and you’ll find some featured commercial properties as well as links to available residential properties in that community. You will also find links to chambers of commerce and other useful information for you to help get that new business rolling here.
If you’d like some more information on why Michigan’s Forgotten Coast is a great place to start a business, the button below.
Downtown Vassar
No Natural Disasters
As we know, areas of our country (and the world) are getting hit harder and harder by natural disasters. Be it wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, decreasing groundwater, or sea level rise.
Michigan’s Forgotten Coast has little chance of having to deal with any of those issues…and we’re surrounded by the world’s largest fresh water supply. If you’re looking for a place where you can have less worry about your home and family, this may just be the spot for you.
Don’t take our word for it, use the button below for links to further information.
Low risk of natural disasters (no risk for many)
Renewable Energy
In the last decade Michigan’s Forgotten Coast has become a hotspot for energy companies to produce green energy which has resulted in the decommissioning of old coal fired power plants. Naturally, that’s had a great impact on air & water quality of our area. It has also provided some large properties available for new developments in some of our cities.
It can get really windy here…which makes an obvious choice for large wind farms. Take a drive through the farmland areas and you’ll see those majestic energy creators all over the place. We are also becoming more and more of an area for solar energy collection. When wave energy collection becomes more viable, we can see us producing energy all along our coastline.
Wind energy abounds on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast
Find the right place for you
View a list of our communities.
Learn more about living & working on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast
Lake Huron is by far the biggest asset to the communities of Michigan’s Forgotten Coast. She provides drinking water, outdoor water activities & tourism, feeds our crops, provides habitat & food for our wildlife, and moderates our weather…there’s a lot to Lake Huron.