Hi Wayne, glad to have you!
My wife and I came to Michigan for school, met each other, and stuck around. So we've been here about 13 years now.
It sounds like you've got an exciting plan; best of luck!
Let me shed what light I can on it, as somebody who lives here. I notice that you mention wanting to move to the UP, but then out of your list of counties, only Houghton Co is actually in the UP. The other four are in the Lower Peninsula, on the area some people call the
Fruit Coast.
(Notice that Houghton is about as far away from Muskegon as Cincinnati is!)
For me, I
think it seems a lot more promising to move to the Fruit Coast, honestly. They call it that because.... it's great for growing food. You didn't tell us exactly what variety of self-sufficiency you're picturing, but if it's the kind that involves raising your own food, it will be significantly harder up in the UP than down here.
In fact, it's worth noting that Houghton Co versus the other four you listed are really dramatically different places.
You came from Chicago, so you know about winter, but it's
extreme up there. You literally get snowed in, where you can't open the door and escape from your house. That's a set of challenges you don't face in the lower peninsula or in Chicago. And we have winter here, but there's
at least another month of winter up there. Possibly two more months if it's a tough year. It's November now, and Houghton is expecting overnight lows around 12 and 13 F all week.
Here's the average temps in Chicago:
July highs in the 80s, January lows in the teens.
Here's Muskegon:
July highs just touching 80, January lows in the teens.
But here's Houghton:
July highs nowhere near 80, Januray lows down in single digits.
(These are all three from city-data.com.)
I don't know if that conveys what I'm going for, but the point is that these are really different places. You're signing up for a lot of winter if you move to Michigan, but you're signing up for ALASKAN winters if you move to the UP.
There's the culture, too. The UP is known for being full of hermits. There are exceptions around the Universities, but the rule still holds. You'd have an easy time finding a cheap 40 acres (it will all be wooded), but you'll have a helluva time finding high-speed internet.
The Fruit Coast is agricultural with little areas of touristy places. It will be just as easy to find a cheap 40 acres, as long as you don't want to be right IN Pentwater or Ludington or Holland. But there's little to no hostility towards outsiders. (By contrast, Yoopers call us "trolls." Because we're under the bridge, get it?)
Water is a piece of cake in either place, just stick a pipe in the ground. I mean, I exaggerate a little, but seriously, fresh water is abundant here.
Why don't I stop there and ask for more information about you? How are are you all? Is this a
retirement plan, or did you
sell a startup? Are you picturing raising all your food and churning your own butter, or is this more a SHTF retreat with a generator type situation? Are you wanting to build a little house yourself or have somebody build something respectable for you?
If we know a little more about where you're headed, we can give some more helpful information.
