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| Housing is Cheap, but... - 6/20/2012
you need to really pay attention to the neighborhood you select. There are some great older neighborhoods with fantastic houses in the city, but those might only be one street over from a high-crime area. Don't just judge a house based on how it looks or how the street looks - ask around or check out crime data online.[read more...]
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| Get Out Now! - 2/12/2012
Battle Creek is moderately ok in the summer months but any other time it is cold or cloudy and unpleasant. You better have warm clothes to survive the cold winter that always lasts till the middle of April. There is nothing to do unless you have a substantial amount of money. Jobs are few and far between, i have lived in the same moderately nice neighborhood for 14 years and up until 3 years ago there was low crime, now my boyfriend and I have had our cars broken into about 8 times and my back window was shattered due to a paint ball drive-by done by teenagers. This city is no place for teens, though the schools a very good, it lacks any safe affordable places for teens to hangout thus resulting in more teen caused crimes like theft and damage to private properties and stores. if you are thinking about moving here, I strongly suggest you reconsider. There is surely somewhere else you can move to. [read more...]
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| Battle Creek - 12/2/2009
Battle Creek is a great place to raise a family. Sometimes hard to get people to move here but once here nobody wants to leave. Summers are absolutely beautiful. Yes we do have winter but most people in Michigan learn to embrace winter sports to keep active all year long. We have beautiful parks, a linear park for biking and hiking, Fort Custer recreation area with some of the best mountain biking in the world and plenty of local rivers and lakes for boating, fishing and swimming. We also have a nice downtown anchored by Kellogg Company, the Kellogg Foundation and the Federal Center. While unemployment is high in Michigan, the economy is much better on the west side of the state vs. the Detroit area.[read more...]
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| Beautiful Scenery - No Jobs - Good Schools - Easy - 9/4/2009
I'm a Battle Creek native, have lived here all my life. Battle Creek boasts the most beautiful scenery anywhere in the midwest. It has 4 distinct seasons, unfortunately winter dominates and lasts almost 6 months each year. So if you are in to winter sports and like the cold and damp this is the place for you!
There is the lush greenery of the spring and bright fall follage we look forward to, set against the lack of sunlight from early November to February. A few years ago Battle Creek set a record for lack of sunlight for 40 straight days. Like living on the dark side of the moon! No wonder that so many people who live here are treated for Seasonal Depressive Disorder during the dark winter months.
There is no humidity in the winter months -- static electricty is the norm unless you acquire an indoor humidifier. It's just the opposite with oppressive humidity May through Mid October. The summer heat with the humidity is also bad. Can get in the mid-90s with 90+% humidity from late June thru mid-September. This is also not the best place for allergy sufferers, due to the excessive pollen, ragweed and other spores in the air in spring, summer and fall.
If you decide to move here, be aware that jobs are scarce unless you have an advanced degree in food science, medicine or other similiar field. With a minimum 15%+ unemployment rate (it's much higher than has been officially reported) there is really stiff competition for entry-level and mid level jobs. Late last year one of the cereal companies had 10 entry level factory openings of which 5,000 people applied. Several temporary job agencies have left town as there are is not even enough temporary work to keep them in business here.
Battle Creek is unfortunately noted for its high crime rate. With the poor ecomony, breaking and entering and robberies are on the increase. Also have a higher than average murder rate.
On a positive note, the cost of living and house prices are well below the national average. The Battle Creek area has good public schools, libraries and cultural events. Also, being a smaller town, it's an easy commute to anywhere in greater Battle Creek. There are enough stores and restaurants to provide some variety. Most retail and quite of few of the restaurants are chain franchises. However, there are a number of quite good, locally owned and operated restaurants.
Hope this helps you decide about living in Battle Creek.[read more...]
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| Out of Control - Unemployment - Beautiful Battle C - 9/4/2009
Battle Creek (B.C.)is a beautiful town, I've lived here all my life and adore the scenery. I love the lush greens of spring and the spectacular fall colors. There are two rivers, many creeks and lakes in and outside of town. There are Parks, playing fields, walking and bike paths. There are farms with neatly plowed fields abounding with corn and other crops just outside of town. In these farm fields, you'll also see cattle and horses grazing and sometimes white tail deer running and jumping.
Unfortunately, we have new scenery that has srung up in the last decade that isn't as attractive, namely closed and boarded up businesses by the dozens. Once thriving storefront windows contain "for sale" or "for rent" signs or cereal boxes faded by several years of sun exposure.
It's almost impossible to sell a house for anything close to its worth in the greater Battle Creek area. House values have fallen sharply in the last 3 yrs. The unemployment rate has sky-rocketed to over 13%. It is probably a lot higher as that number reflects only those currently on unemployment or actively registered for work through the state's employment service. Battle Creek used to be a good place to live and raise a family but that sadly is a thing of the past.
If you seek part time, entry-level work or a high-level corporate food science position you will be able find a job in Battle Creek. However, if your skills are in the mid-level range or not related to cereal production you'll have a tough time completing with hundreds of unemployed for just one opening. Several Temporary Agencies have closed as even they cannot survive on the few jobs Battle Creek has to offer.
It makes me sad to see this beautiful town in such dire straits. I hope that someday jobs will return to Battle Creek so that all its citizens will have a decent standard of living. This Battle Creek native will be forced to leave Battle Creek soon for another community that can provide me with stable employment so I can support myself. I don't want to go, but it's getting to the point that I have no choice.[read more...]
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| Battle Creek, Michigan - 8/31/2009
I love Battle Creek, Michigan. I moved here over 20 years ago and have been very satified with the community. The size is perfect. The commute to work or school activities for kids is not too long yet the city is large enough for just about any interest (Community Chorus, Civic Theater, Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center, dance, sports etc ) My siblings live in the Detroit suburbs and I am originally from Kalamazoo. The smaller size allows my children to participate in Civic Theater, Girls' Chorus, Dance, Marching Band and Cross County Running in a way they would not in a larger city because these programs are too competitive for them to get in and also require so much time in larger cities that they would only be able to do one activity. Like any city, we have problems. Battle Creek has a group of citizens (private and corporate) that care very much for their city and work hard to solve it's challenges. They are our best asset.
Also I not sure how we ended up with no Jewish citizens -we do have a Temple.[read more...]
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| It's cold as hell here. Are we in Alaska with Sar - 11/30/2008
The weather in Battle Creek is mostly cold an dreary, depressing. There are maybe three months tops of warm to hot weather. After this it's jackets, coats, hats, gloves, boots and anything else warm you can get on. There is not a lot of sun.[read more...]
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| Judaism is alive and thriving in Battle Creek - 9/26/2008
Our Jewish community here in Battle Creek was organized over 100 years ago. Our congregation has a 50 plus year history at the same building. Our Temple was built by the founding members of our community and has always and only ever been a Synagogue.
I hope you will revise your listing of members of the Jewish faith in Battle Creek, MI from 0% to at least 0.1%, we may be few in number - but we are here and not planning on going anywhere.
[read more...]
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| BC- Good for young families, boring for teens and - 7/30/2008
I've lived in Battle Creek almost my whole life.
Its very dominated by factory workers and Kelloggs. Good place for a corperate job but hard to find a job if you dont have a 4 yr degree. There are lots of fun things for young families.. the beach is free.. Full-blast(skating rink, waterpark,arcade) is fun for young families too. Lots of biking trails in FT Custer park. There are also a lot of other fun public parks to go to. There isnt much of a night life here though. A few places but most people have to drive to Kzoo for a good time or good food. The mall has lower line stores and low sales there make it hard for the stores to stay here.. Every few yrs we lose more and more stores. There isnt much to do if you are a teen. So therefore teen pregnancy rate is high here. Lots of people live outside the city and commute into the city. There is moderate crime and the drug scene is high here. We are half way between Chicago and Detroit so drugs are very common and they talk about drugs here as young as 5-6th grade here too. The schools arent that great but all the local high schools have either built a new school or made inprovements in the last 3 yrs, so they are trying.
Personally I cant wait to move out of the state. Just seem like MI is on the down side compared to other states.. So I want to get out..If you are moving here, I would stay to the outskirts of town. Harper Creek is a nice area. North of town seems to be much worse then south of town. Good Luck![read more...]
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| cloudy - 3/26/2008
A few years ago, a radio station I listened to, kept track of the amount of
time the sun shone. The month of Jan. had a total of 6.5 hours. The rest of
the daylight hours were cloudy. I talked to someone that had moved here a year ago from the other side of Lake Michigan, Minnesota. They said it got colder there but the sun was shining most of the time so the long winters were bearable there. When they get a chance they are getting out of here.
Last year we had several days that it snowed in April and a few days in May.
Summers are nice with warm days and cool nights. We still have a lot of cloud cover but when the sun is out it's really beautiful.[read more...]
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| Cost of Living & Jobs - 1/26/2008
We have lived here for 12 years now and have decided to move on as soon as
our son graduates in a few years. There are really no good paying jobs,
little to do unless you go to the west of BC. I would not recommend moving
to Michigan at this point. It is becoming the old saying "last one turn out
the lights" again.[read more...]
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