Hopefully moving to Lansing.... need MI advice

[SuzyLee]

So this is stil a long shot but I have my fingers crossed hard that is works out- DH is a top contender for a job in Lansing, and since he is currently unemployed we are really hoping he gets the job! A small university town is our ideal place to live!

I am curious about Lansing but also MI in general. I interned in Midland, MI in college (@ Dow of course ) but other than blueberries and pretty fall leaves, I don't remember much, LOL.

General MI questions:
-Any issues with vaxing?
-What is the situation with homebirth? Legal?
-Obviosuly I know unemployment is really bad in MI, but is the economy too bad outside of the Detroit area? What should I know about the abd economy (have they shut down services, closed libraries, etc?)

Lansing Q's:
-Are there good midwives? Who might be willing to take someone late in a pg? I don't need specific names yet, I just want to get a feel for it.
-Any good hospitals that are natural birth friendly?
-How are the public schools?
-Are there good cultural activities? I assume yes since it is a university town.
-We would rent a hosue or apartment- not interested in buying. I assume since it is a university townt ehre are plenty of rental available?


Thanks so much mamas. I hope this is my tribe in a month or so!

[sonie716]

I can help on some of the things. I live in Grand Ledge which is just outside Lansing. I have lived here for 10yrs.

It sounds like you are looking more toward the East Lansing area.(where Michigan state is). This is the Crunchy part of the Lansing Area.

I have not had any issue(we do not vax) I have a great family doctor who has no problems with no vaxing.

Homebirth is legal here.

As far as shutting stuff down, I have not seen many public services that have been cut.

As far as midwives, there is one or two that I know of who work in Lansing. As far as late in pregnancy I do not know, I saw one from the beginning. Also there is the Green House Birth Center in Okemos.

As far as hospitals( my opinion) they stink. Lansing has one of the highest induction rates in the state.

I do not know about the schools(we homeschool)

I do not travel to E. Lansing alot, I know there are others from the area on here hopefully they can help you on the last part.

If you have any other questions just ask!!

I love living here. I grew up in Grand Rapids, and like Lansing much better!

[blessedmum]

HI hope that your DH gets the job-or any other job!
-no issues with non vaxers We use D. Kozlowski at Capital internal medicine. They are a father daughter team. His wife is a midwife at the green house.

homebirth is legal there and is a birth center in East lansing called the green house birth center. They are really great.

Dr. Herta at sparrow is who they partner with when you have to go to the hospital. She is really great and has had one of her children at the greenhouse.
We Home school so can't tell you about the school system.

As far as I know they aren't shutting down anything major like that.

There are a lot of rental properties available. If you are close to campus you might want to make sure you aren't around students as the partying can get loud.
Good luck on your job hunt!

[SuzyLee]

DH got asked when can he start, etc today! Woohoo!

Actually a birth center would be great. I had a super fast labor with DS so the 30-45 minute drive to the birth center in the twin cities was not an option, LOL! But if we lived 20 minutes or less from a birth center I would totally go for it.

I think Okemos is where the company is located- I don't know if we would want to live there or in the city. We would ideally like to live in a walkable neighborhood with a co-op, parks, etc close by. And like-minded mamas

Suzan

[2sw33t]

I work in Okemos, but I haven't really explored the neighborhoods too much. It's a much better "part of town" than Lansing, though. I live (rent an apartment) in DeWitt, just north of Lansing, and it's a very nice area - several parks and the school has a decent rep - but it's pretty small. I lived in one area of Lansing for a year (near Colonial Village) - there didn't seem to be a whole lot worth walking to in that area. I didn't feel un-safe, but my husband didn't really like living there.

As for homebirth, etc. - I don't know much. I went to an Info Night at the Greenhouse Birth Center and liked it, but when I brought up the idea of delivering at a birth center with dh, he was completely unwilling to consider it. We had our daughter at Sparrow, not a very good experience - but now my dh is scared about birth, not realizing that neither me nor dd were in any danger and that it was ridiculous that they kept dd in the NICU for a week.

Always,
Jill

[Michigan Mama]

Welcome to Michigan (soon)! I live about an hour away now but grew up and worked in the Lansing & Okemos areas for several years.

If it weren't for our church ties here near Flint, I would move back to East Lansing or Okemos in a heartbeat. Probably East Lansing. There are good communities and neighborhoods in both towns. I've gotten the sense that there are more affluent families in Okemos, if that matters one way or the other. I think both have pretty good school systems, but I would send my kids to private school if I were there.

I'd probably go for the birth center myself, but my family members have had good birth experiences at Ingham. I can't vouch for how natural they were. idk.

I'm not sure about coops.

Yeah - the partying can get pretty intense on weekends if you are near campus in East Lansing...

Yay on the job!!! Good luck with the move!!!

[valmich]

Welcome in advance to the area! We've been in Lansing for the last 5 yrs or so. DH is finishing his graduate degree at MSU. I'll echo all the great things people have said about the Greenhouse Birth Center. DS was born there in 2006!

East Lansing and the eastside of Lansing are both pretty crunchy. The Allen Neighborhood Center in Lansing hosts a great farmer's market on Wednesday afternoons on Lansing's east side. We live just south of downtown Lansing in a great little neighborhood with a park up the street and easy biking access to just about anywhere you'd want to go. Depending on what you like, East Lansing and Lansing both have some great walkable neighborhoods with beautiful older homes. Okemos is nice, too, but seems to me to be more sprawled out and suburban feeling, which isn't really our thing.

With the housing market in the condition it's in right now, it seems like rental opportunities are plentiful. I know my coworker is looking to rent their house out when they move b/c they are afraid it will take too long to sell right now.

There's a co-op in East Lansing, the East Lansing Food Co-op, and a few health food stores. One of my favorite stores in all of Lansing is Horrock's Farm Market on the west end of town.

Congrats to your husband on his new job!

Best,
Veronica

[skolbut]

Hey mama, I know this is an older thread and it looks like you got most of your questions answered, but I live in Lansing and DH works at MSU, so I can answer pretty much any of your questions! PM me if you want!

PS Greenhouse is great and Dr. Herta actually delivered my second! The CADL library system is great, and East Lansing can be very walkable.

[slsurface]

Well congratulations on the potential job. I've lived in Lansing for almost 10 years. I also work at MSU. I'll try to answer as many of your Qs as I can...

-Any issues with vaxing?
My DS is not yet in school (only preschool), but from what I've heard from other crunchy moms it's not an issue. Our ped office has no problem with it...I recommend Lansing Pediatric Associates, PM me for the name of the best Ped in the office...

-What is the situation with homebirth? Legal?
Yep!

-Obviosuly I know unemployment is really bad in MI, but is the economy too bad outside of the Detroit area? What should I know about the abd economy (have they shut down services, closed libraries, etc?)
The economy is horrible. There are actually people living in tarp tents in some of the parks around town. The plus side is that housing very cheap for those moving into the area. Take your time before you buy though...find out which neighborhoods are the best...some are pretty sketchy.

Library system is good here, but is in constant threat of closing. We need people to vote to continue the Library millage this year or there might be problems.

Lansing Q's:
-Are there good midwives? Who might be willing to take someone late in a pg? I don't need specific names yet, I just want to get a feel for it.
Yes, definitely.

-Any good hospitals that are natural birth friendly?
I had a natural birth at Sparrow hospital in downtown Lansing. I think it really depends on your OB more than the hospital though.

-How are the public schools?
I personally don't like most of the public school systems in the area. I subbed for a while at Lansing Community and after that I vowed that my children would go to private schools as long as I could afford it...

-Are there good cultural activities?
For families with young kids there are lots of great things to do here. A short list: MSU Natural History Museum, Michigan Historical Center, Impression 5 Science Museum, TONS (I mean TONS!) of city and county parks, annual music festivals (folk, jazz, blues, rock), multiple farmers markets (some seasonal and some year round), MSU planetarium, MSU childrens gardens, and all the MSU farms (horse, cattle, sheep, etc.) are open to the public and free. There are more events than I could possibly list out here....

-We would rent a hosue or apartment- not interested in buying. I assume since it is a university townt ehre are plenty of rental available?
Yes. I recommend renting in Lansing, not East Lansing or Okemos (which are closer to campus). Lansing rentals are cheaper and you get more space for the money. The neighborhood I live in (Eastside) is located close enough to bike to campus, but is in Lansing and has many parks, community center, library, community pool, etc. within walking/biking distance of our house. It's very family friendly and there are numerous rentals in the area too.

I hope this helps. As an aside, if you are interested in whole foods, raw milk and organic beef, I can hook you up ! If you think of anything else, feel free to PM me!

[gardenmommy]

Welcome to MI! I grew up here and love it (most of the time). I hope you enjoy living here. We are in Holland (west side of the state), but I actually grew up much closer to Lansing. Definitely take your time about buying a house, there are plenty to pick from. MI is super homeschool friendly, easy state to homebirth in (I'm getting ready for HB #4), and great for non-vaxers. I can't speak much to the school system since we homeschool, but I think it's probably like everywhere else, some schools are wonderful and some are awful. I have a good friend who birthed at the Greenhouse once, and used the MWs from there for a HB. I truly hope that your time here is a wonderful experience!

[cinnamonamon]

Not sure if you've already moved or not...but I wanted to add that Haslett might be a good choice for you, if your dh is working in Okemos. It's a stone's throw from there, and less than 10 minutes to East Lansing. It has a small elementary, middle & high school, some parks, etc. You could probably find a walking friendly house in town....and it occurs to me that there used to be a farmers market behind the mall in the summer...that would be a bit of a jaunt (though the sidewalks seem well maintained...)

hth!