Great Michigan Towns to Live In, Not Visit

It's an interesting exercise for a travel agent, perhaps. What is a great place that people would like to live but would likely not be a place to vacation.

The discussion has come up on the Geography subreddit of Reddit asking about this subject in North America: Great to live, boring to visit.

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There were several places suggested that fit the description. Several North America cities that may offer little more than suburban sprawl, box stores and chain restaurants were offered up: Dallas, Edmonton, Columbus.

Midwest College Towns: A Unique Case

And Columbus may lead us to Michigan cities to consider. In discussing a city like Columbus, many considered that college towns in the Midwest could fall into the "Nice to Live" category (cultural amenities, wider array of restaurants catering to the tastes of a student population more diverse than the 'townies' and college sports).

But "Boring to Visit?" Consider Michigan college cities: Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Mount Pleasant.... One who nominated Ann Arbor summarized the Washtenaw County seat like this:

If you visited Ann Arbor right now you’d probably see everything in about half a day, and it would be cloudy and cold.
But man, this place is heaven.

Nice to live, but perhaps not affordable. The counter argument is the cost of living in the area is above the national average.

Other Michigan college towns? Mount Pleasant may be nice to live but is very much an island in a middle of not much else. Kalamazoo may be a toss up depending on how much you want to build a vacation around beer.

Upper Peninsula college towns of Marquette and Houghton. Both are unquestionable vacation destinations.

👇🏼BELOW: The Largest Cities in Michigan Without a Nickname👇🏼

Taking the college element out of the discussion, many Michigan towns fail the boring to visit category. Tick the lakeshore communities off in your mind. All of them would be nice to visit. As for nice to live, that's what each individual is looking for. Many smaller Michigan cities that are nice to visit may not have enough day-to-day amenities to make year-round living less boring.

These Are the Largest Michigan Cities Without a Nickname

Many Michigan cities carry well known nicknames like Motown for Detroit. But many of the state's largest cities have no nicknames at all. Here are the largest cities in the state without a nickname.

Gallery Credit: Eric Meier

This is Every Amtrak Station in Michigan

Amtrak is America's national rail travel network. There are three lines that serve the state and serve as Amtrak's 'Michigan Service.' Those lines, the Wolverine, Blue Water and Pere Marquette, serve 22 different stations across the state.

Note - the images below are stock images and not indicative of any induvial station.

Gallery Credit: Eric Meier