Port Crescent State Park Hiking Trail & Beach
Nature at your doorstep
One of our greatest assets is our access to nature. Lake Huron is our largest natural wonder (and the world’s largest supply of fresh water) and we have over 150 miles of it’s coastline on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast.
We also have access to many other natural landscapes and outdoor activities. If you’re a hunter, fisherman, or birdwatcher there’s plenty of that on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast too!
Downtown Marlette
Low cost of living
Your purchasing power on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast is going to be exponential to what you can get in more urban areas or more classically popular rural resort type areas.
We’re mostly a blue collar kind of place. There are exceptions, but for the most part you’ll find low priced residential properties. When you move here, you could move up to a larger home, a lakefront home, or save some money for traveling!
If you are a developer or just want some extra income, we really need more rental properties rehabbed. You can snag half of a downtown for the cost of a 1 bedroom house in LA. Just sayin’.
Fiber cable being installed by Air Advantage
Broadband & infrastructure
Michigan’s Forgotten Coast was one of the 1st places in the country with fiber infrastructure in the ground! Weird, right?
There are two small providers of service to that fiber as well as your classic cable broadband and also some wireless options. If you need to work remotely, we’ve got you covered with the speed you need.
Beyond broadband, we also have fantastic energy infrastructure in most of our area. We have become a major producer of green energy for DTE Energy but we also are lucky enough to have a co-op energy provider that has been serving parts of the area for almost 85 years!
On the topic of infrastructure, many of our communities process their own drinking and wastewater. One of them (Sebewaing) owns their own utility company that provides electricity, broadband, and water!
Rail Trail in Vassar
Community walkability
So, you don’t have a commute anymore…why not be somewhere where you can walk or ride your bike to the market or a restaurant or the hiking trail? Somewhere your kids can walk to school or the playground.
Many of our cities & villages have non-motorized trail systems or nature trails. Some are connected to much larger bike trail systems if you’re looking for a longer ride.
Major cities are just a short drive from Michigan’s Forgotten Coast
Easy access to the city
It feels like we are a world away from the major Cities on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast, but in reality it’s only a short drive to get to a major population center.
Bay City, Flint, Saginaw and Port Huron are all mid sized cities that basically border our area and you can find a lot to do in those places.
But, we LOVE Detroit…the art, the food, the music, the culture, the sports…it’s all a short drive away. With all the money you save by living on the Forgotten Coast, you can post up downtown for a weekend and go big with it!
Oh! Did we mention Canada is right across the lake?
Port Austin in the Winter
Hunker down all winter
Many people complain about the snow, but when you don’t need to drive in it, it’s actually a lot of fun!
Start the fireplace, grab some cocoa, and get some work done while you feel the coziness of the wintertime. It’s a great time to get some work done or some home improvement projects completed.
In the last few years, our communities have been working on more events in the winter to keep things vibrant all year long.
Looking toward Canada from the border City of Harbor Beach
If the sh!t hits the fan…
You’ll be in a good spot. Not only do we have most of the world’s fresh water at our fingertips on Michigan’s Forgotten Coast, but we also produce a vast amount and array of food, we won't be as effected by climate change, we don’t have much potential for natural disasters, and (as we’ve learned recently) being a bit more spread out helps us too.
Oh, this is probably a good spot to mention again that Canada is just across the lake. 😉
If you’d like some more information on where we sit with natural disasters and climate change, click here.
Learn more about life 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.