Ann Arbor doesn’t get as much snow as the west coastline (by me!) so I would assume that would be better. The gray is pretty long, lots of lake effect snow, lots of clouds.
I like it here. I’d prefer to live in the UP, but not sure I have the guts to hack their winters!
I’m in south west Michigan. And agree Ann Arbor is a super cool area. Plus, there’s a hot bed of equine activity (relatively speaking in the Midwest) just to the west with the Battle Creek area.
But winters can can be arduous. And like posted above, it’s the lack of sun for sometimes, weeks at a time that can get one down. We can get snow as early as October and as late as May (though rare).
But we have glorious summers and fall, and some of the most glorious beaches, completely shark free!
For example, snow day on April 16 this year. lol.
I once wrote an essay on all the reasons that Lake Michigan was vastly superior to all other bodies of water that I had regular access to. Being completely free of sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, alligators, and venomous water snakes was a large part of the story. :lol:
It’s always a surprise to me how many people from other parts of the country have absolutely no idea that we have spectacular sand beaches in Michigan.
anytime a lake which is more like an ocean can freeze over… too cold for me
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Lake Michigan was frozen from shore to shore in February 1963.
Ummmm…as a kid I used to swim at the Oak Street Beach, off Michigan Avenue past the Drake Hotel. I recall the daily posted temps in the summer. Try swimming in 53°F water…in the middle of summer. Not.
I prefer pools, but if I have to deal with sand, I will take the sand that lies at interface of land with the clear, warm Atlantic…
Another Delawarean chiming in. I agree with the others, New Castle and Kent/Sussex might as well be different states. I enjoy the “slower lower” way of life.
As far as training/boarding/shows, options can be slim, but I feel like there are good options for every discipline relatively nearby. No rated shows in Delaware, but we’re in a good location as far as being to travel to several nearby options.
Winters are a mixed bag. Usually mild with a few bad weeks. We do get an occasional blizzard. Summers can be very hot and muggy. We have bugs that I’m sure you haven’t dealt with in California. Schools are a mixed bag as well. Some good, some not.
But as others have said, no sales tax, low property taxes, nice beaches. In the winters you can be at a ski resort in about a 3 hour drive. Less than a 2 hour flight to Florida if your family enjoys Disney World/Universal Studios etc. like ours. 4 hour flight to Jamaica. Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC are close and make good day trips. We have a huge influx of retirees from New Jersey, PA, New York and other places so there must be something appealing here. I think if you take a look on realtor.com or Zillow you’ll find your money will go pretty far here as far as purchasing property unless you get close to the beaches where prices jump significantly. I’m under 1 hour drive from the beaches and that is close enough for me.
The total flight duration from Dallas, TX to Jamaica is 3 hours, 37 minutes.
an advantage of Texas as being centrally located (somewhat) it is easy to do business with both coasts, time and travel wise.
And spectacular rip currents!!!
But the beaches at South Haven, Holland, and Grand Haven are quite amazing. I’m also a fan of the beaches off US 2 just west of St.Ignace.
What are you looking for…weather, taxes (low) a place with good vets/farriers/feed? Do you mind high humidity (which CA doesn’t have…and if you haven’t lived in high humidly, then you need to try before you buy…95 in CA is wayyyy different than 95 + humidity in FL/KY,Carolinas and Texas. It’s brutal…but you need to experience it before. Aside from the weather (which will be getting warmer in the coming years, not cooler btw) the price of water, electricity for AirCon, hay, which may get a whole lot more expensive with a drought environment. Are you ready to pay $30 bale for hay? Not trying to dissuade you, just trying to show other expenses that may have not been considered… taxes aren’t everything.
As a kid, I used to swim at the Mears State Park beach on Lake Michigan. As an adult, I still do now and then. I’m completely familiar with the water temps. I’ll take cold over sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, alligators, and venomous water snakes any day.
Move to place near Lake Erie. In Western NY we get winters, but there is plenty of horse activity in many disciplines and several levels. AND Lake Erie is small enough and shallow enough that it warms up in the summer - 70+ degrees by July.
We do have relatively high taxes but it isn’t as bad away from the major metro areas.
I was off. Just searched it and it’s 3 hours and 22 minutes from BWI to Montego Bay. It seemed like 4 hours in the air I guess.
For some odd reason I’ve seen a few Texas equestrian properties listed on Facebook recently. Looks like a lot of nice options there.
and we have N-Out Burger here, to me they are OK but with I guess it is now close to one million former Californians in north Texas they are bringing their favorite chains with them
There are going to be compromises that you need to be willing to make, since there is no perfect place (that I’m aware of), as a family it might be worth sitting down and discussing and looking at areas on the computer together.
Florida has a big horse scene, good vets, farriers, trainers etc. If you feed anything other than Coastal Bermuda you will pay up to $30 a bale for hay, that’s two string bales. Taxes aren’t bad in some areas but you better love hot humid summers and the chance of hurricanes or tornados. Plenty of bugs, snakes and gators too.
The Carolinas - this weeks news should about cover how it can be to live there unless you are well inland. Tyron might be worth a check. Summers can be humid though and a chance of snow closer to the mountains but not bad winters per say.
Phoenix and Scottsdale are pretty if you like desert, blazing hot/dry summers mild winters, no real bad weather other than occasional dust storms. Think they have a winter circuit for horse shows.
Texas is nice, love the Austin area; however, it’s congested, expensive and not sure about the horse scene there. Denton TX has a big horse crowd though likely more western. They do get tornados and some bad winter storms otherwise not bad.
Research each state on their public schools and how they rate.
Yeah. I went through this process a couple of years ago. The best I could do was identify two perfect places, one for summer and one for winter.
North Texas has water, and is building addition reservoirs… something Arizona, California and Florida lack. An unlike Colorado, water that falls on your land is your water, not the state’s.
I have the T-shirt/sweatshirt, “Lake Michigan, Unsalted and Shark Free.” 
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