Where would you live(or avoid living) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula?

I plan to look for property this spring in the upper peninsula. I’m in no rush, this is a big decision for me. The plan is to rent a place month by month until I find land. I’m leaning towards the east due to it’s proximity to my parents in southern Michigan.

Another reason to be in the east is the proximity to Sault Saint Marie, ON. I’d like to be near an Indian community since I lived in India 3 years, miss it dearly, and I would like to live there again in the future. Just having access to a few Indian restaurants, an Indian grocery store, and the occasional event would mean a lot to me.

On the other hand, there seems to be more cheap land in the central and western regions. This could be a huge factor, but I’m hoping that by putting in the groundwork I’ll be able to find what I’m looking for the east.

I would also simply like to familiarize myself with more areas in the UP before making a decision. I’d like to be around like minded people on occasion, but  I don’t expect too much in this regard. I think being being near Sault Saint Marie, MI(not even crossing the bridge) should be enough to meet this need, but I’d like to spend more time there first.

I also like the fact that there is a significant Native American population in the east. I’m aware of some traditional medicine being practiced around there. As someone formally trained in Ayurveda and highly interested in other forms of traditional medicine, this really appeals to me.

I’d like to know which parts of the east(and even central) region would you find to be good parts, and also which parts to avoid. My mom used to live in the banana belt and I’ve heard others talk about it being a …uhhh…less desirable place to live. The banana belt is too far west for me, but it’s an example of an area where people seem to struggle more with poverty and lifestyle challenges from what I understand. I’d like to avoid that kind of area. I remember a Reddit thread a few years back where people were talking about the vibe/stereotypes of various UP towns. I wish I could find that again.

I don't know the area well enough to comment on specific communities (I've really only driven through a few times), but maybe use https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-shingleton-mi/ (zoom out and pan around) to help inform your land-search.

I'm really glad that I'm only 25 minutes from Lake Superior (and wish I could have gotten closer), spending time on the shore is one of the things that best refreshes my psyche. So that would inform my search, but might be no big deal for you.

Kevin, I know your question is more about community, but one aspect to look at before you buy property is groundwater/soil contamination from mining. When I was researching areas to move to a few years ago, I looked at mining history, oil and gas drilling, and other factors that might impact soil and water quality.

I spent a lot of time in Marquette working at the Presque Isle Power Plant before I retired. I liked the people there and the town was big enough so that you didn't get the "you're not from around here" look that seems to happen in small towns everywhere. And the Friday fish fry tradition....so good. I miss that the most.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I don't know the area well enough to comment on specific communities (I've really only driven through a few times), but maybe use https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-shingleton-mi/ (zoom out and pan around) to help inform your land-search.

I'm really glad that I'm only 25 minutes from Lake Superior (and wish I could have gotten closer), spending time on the shore is one of the things that best refreshes my psyche. So that would inform my search, but might be no big deal for you.

Thanks for the link. I grew up not far from Lake Michigan, lived near the Pacific Ocean for years, and then right by the Arabian Sea in India. Always been by large bodies of water. Feels weird not be. But most of the UP isn’t too far from a Great Lake in my assessment of near/far.

I spent a lot of time in Marquette working at the Presque Isle Power Plant before I retired. I liked the people there and the town was big enough so that you didn't get the "you're not from around here" look that seems to happen in small towns everywhere. And the Friday fish fry tradition....so good. I miss that the most.

Marquette and Sault Saint Marie are the two towns I’d like to be not too distant from. At least one of them I want to be near.  I don’t need to be near both, that would really narrow it down. Say, an hour away from one. I really can’t imagine being more than an hour and half from at least one of those two towns. And for the reasons mentioned above, I’m leaning towards SSM.

Not sure how much I care about the “you’re not from around here” look after living in India and being the only non-south Asian around. But then again, I’ve definitely felt more comfortable in India than in my home state. The outsider vibe could potentially bother me more in the UP than in India.

While it has been several years since we made the trip to Niagra Falls, we stayed in St. Clair, Mi.

Of all the places I have been to, I consider St. Clair to be the prettiest place.

Parts of Sault Ste Marie, MI are right across the river from a steel plant, so you might want to avoid the area a mile or so downwind from the steel plant for health reasons.  Brimley is pretty nice with a lot of Lake Superior shoreline nearby.  St. Ignace is another good choice, close to Petoskey or Traverse City for health care and shopping, while still being near SSM, Ontario (which is the largest city in the area).  The Detour Village area is nice. If you prefer rural living, well, there is a lot of rural land, some older farms between SSM and St Ignace in the general Rudyard area.

The western UP is fairly huge but likely very affordable.  If looking over there I'd keep in mind the distance to the nearest big hardware store or grocery store.  I think there is decent commerce in Escanaba and there certainly is one hour over the border in Rhinelander.

I'm probably missing a lot of context by just looking at a plant zone hardiness map of the UP, but area between Marquette and SSM (is this what you were calling the 'banana belt'?) looks to be *relatively* warmer than the other spots, with the exception of the finger sticking up into Superior from Houghton.  I would have thought that with Michigan Tech being in Houghton there may be Indian food and possibly other cultural accoutrements, but I'm not seeing much through Googling (?).  At any rate the zone map puts that in the same plant hardiness rating as the area noted above.  And then there is the total snowfall aspect of the region.....   Never been up there but always wanted to visit.

The pointy bit up by Houghton get a metric shit ton of snow.  I've heard they have doors on the second floor to get out of the house.

Mike Haasl wrote:The pointy bit up by Houghton get a metric shit ton of snow.  I've heard they have doors on the second floor to get out of the house.

I heard the same thing about Houghton when I was working in Marquette. The whole area gets a lot of snow but they know how to handle it. The snowplows are huge and they use a lot of salt. Kiss your cars undercarriage goodbye after a few years. The summers are incredibly beautiful though.

I’m not looking for land in SSM itself, or even too close it. I keep seeing cheaper properties come up on sugar island. Not sure I want to deal with a ferry to access my property even if it does run frequently and consistently throughout the year. Cheap land has some catch though.

Western UP definitely looks cheaper…or rather more opportunities for cheap land. If I wasn’t concerned with these other things I mentioned and I just wanted a wild, secluded, cheap property in a lovely location away from the world….then I’d go there. EUP seems like the sweet spot for everything I want. Lower peninsula seems out of the question due to the price of land, although I continue to look.

I believe The Keweenaw peninsula(the pointy bit) rivals any part of the country for snowfall. The northern UP gets a lot more snow than the southern part. The banana belt is the southern part in the west that seems to dip in Wisconsin over towards Green Bay. They get less snow than we get along Lake Michigan here in the lower peninsula. So how far east or west you are doesn’t matter nearly as much as far north or south you are. My range being eastern and partly central UP could put me in a northern spot or a southern spot—with potentially very different snow totals.