r/Muskegon

My husband(32) and I(31) are considering escaping the hustle and bustle and moving our family (two kids- 2 & 4), but we’re having a hard time figuring out exactly where to go

We visited Manistee and fell in love, but are open to suggestions.
Places we’ve looked into are:
Manistee
Ludington
Traverse City
Holland
South Haven
Grand Haven
Big Rapids
Muskegon
Holland
Grand Rapids suburbs (not super interested in trading one metro for another, but considering anything)

How are the school districts in these places? We’ve looked at Niche for school ratings but I want real reviews from people currently enrolled in these districts.
Are these towns safe? What are the communities like? Job markets? Commutes? Affordability?

We prefer a smallish town (we’re coming from a big metro so anything less than like 50k people is small to us).
For reference we are left leaning, non religious but welcoming and friendly to anyone. We’re coming from a right leaning, heavily Christian suburb in a red/purple metro so we’re tolerant to most anything.

My husband is currently a construction project manager for a commercial real estate company and has an extensive background in facilities maintenance/building engineering. I was an esthetician for 10 years before I closed my spa to be a stay at home mom after our youngest was born so I have experience in esthetics and admin/small business management and operations. We’re open to smaller towns (we’ve looked at places like Cadillac, Whitehall, Pentwater, Bear Lake, etc.) as long as they have a good public school system, decent grocery store and a few restaurant/fast food options and are somewhat close to a bigger town with a bit more options. We don’t have a giant pile of cash for a house so places like Glenn Arbor and Saugatuck are probably not an option and we will most likely be looking for new jobs (husband would love to work outdoors/with his hands, I’ll be looking for admin/reception/anything really when our youngest gets into preschool, so preferably somewhere with jobs similar to those.

Does a place like this exist or are we dreaming? What are your experiences in western Michigan?

Anyone have any updates regarding the Frontier Internet outage? I can't seem to get any information from the helpful reps.

Update: just received an update for service restoration by 8/21/26 at 12:00am. Absurd.

Additional update: now back up at my house. Hopefully everyone else is back up, too.

18F. Most my friends are going to college and moving away, while I stay behind. I’m going to be so bored out of my mind the next few months without school or my friends.

I also get really bad seasonal depression so I need to be occupied or I’ll lose my mind.

In the mean time, what kinds of jobs could I apply to? Any hobbies to take on? Clubs or groups? Cool places to explore? I feel like Muskegon is a really boring area to live in, the only thing to do is spend money and I’m kind of sick of going broke from shopping and buying coffee lol

Recent college grad looking to move to the area, I am currently making a long commute and want to move to Norton Shores area ASAP. Looking for roommate because I want to lower cost of living as much as I can.

Looking for a male roommate preferably mid 20s. I overall am a clean and active person, and am usually pretty busy. I keep to myself a good amount as well.

Please let me know if you know someone or are interested. Additionally if there is a better spot for me to post about this I would be grateful as well. Thanks in advance!

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The Plainfield Township Board of Trustees has called a special meeting Friday amid concerns about a post on a trustee’s social media — a post he told News 8 he did not make.
The post attributed to the Facebook account of Plainfield Township Trustee Bob Reminga called for violence against Muslims. 
On Thursday night, Reminga denied ever making the post and said he was working to find out how it ended up on his page. He said he didn’t know how it happened and added he believes it was photoshopped. 

“The first I saw it was today,” he told News 8.  
Reminga said he was completely unaware of the post until News 8 spoke with him Thursday. When the post was shown to him, he said he would work “to get to the bottom of it” and reiterated he didn’t know it ended up on his page.
“I’m going to make a complaint with Facebook and see … I also have that other account that I can’t get rid of,” he said. 

Hi! 25F and recently moved to the area with my husband. As the title suggests, I’ve been feeling a little alienated since initially moving from the east side of the state. I would love any and all tips on how/where to make friends in this area!!

We’re both more introverted, which definitely makes things more challenging. I like a lot of low-energy hobbies like reading (just finished book 1 of Dungeon Crawler Carl and LOVED IT!), watching movies, thrifting, playing video games/board games, and trivia! But I’m also a big animal and plant person. 🐛 Any advice is appreciated!!

Any recommendations for the pros who help seal your house from bats getting in?

Hey everybody,

I’m 33 years old and I’ve been really digging into what I want to do with the remainder of my life and what would make me happy. I struggled with addiction and I have been clean for going on 5 years and I want to get into addiction recovery and help others that are struggling. The thing is I’m a high school drop out and I always struggled in school. I’ve thought about maybe going for an addiction recovery counselor but i know that for physiology classes have college algebra and I know I would struggle with that and probably the other courses too. So I guess what I’m getting at is I’m wondering if there’s anybody that’s been in the same or similar situation as me and looking for good starting points that could get me going? Thank you for reading.

Muskegon Heights City Manager/Fire Chief Shawn Roberson was hit with state drug and tax charges Tuesday as federal prosecutors indicted three people, including his real-estate partner and an ex-con freed from prison by President Joe Biden.

I guess it doesn't have to be a true third space, I don't mind buying a cup of coffee or a beer to sit around somewhere, I'm just curious what the best places to post up with a book for a couple of hours would be. cozy/good scenery and vibe are what I'm looking for! particularly places that would be available in the afternoon and evening. thanks!

Hey, do you guys have a bakery you would recommend? I did Google some places, but would greatly appreciate some feedback!

My birthday is on Wednesday and I am aware it is awfully last minute, but I decided today that I would like to get myself a small cake or cupcake for my birthday. I don't really have family in the area and since it is a Wednesday, my friends are busy. I know that I could hit up the Meijer or something, but I thought it might be nice to treat myself.

Thanks in advance!