SperlingViews - Monroe, Michigan

If your looking for big city life....um... go to the big city. Monroe isn't that. However, Monroe does have fine schooling k-12 and their community college is everything you would expect from a community college, and you would be well prepared for a 4 yr University. There is pleanty nice places to dine, movie theaters (sorry, no I-Max), festivals, fairs, and a musical theater for performing arts. Shopping is horrible here. Real shopping is mostly done in Toledo (25 min drive) Monroe is historical, and that is really undervalued by young adults. There is a Civil War center right on Elm Street past Dixie. For the football fan, Monroe High School has a wonderful program. In 2007 Coach Hudkins was Michigan Coach of the year. Great chances for young adults to be noticed by NCAA schools. Among some of our previous NCAA and pro athletes are Eric Wilson (class of 95 - UofM 97 National Champion and member of the Detrioit Lions /Miami Dolphins) and Carl Ford (class of 99 - University of Toledo - Green Bay Packers/Chicago Bears/Detrioit Lions/Philadelphia Eagles). Monroe is a typical American family oriented town. Everybody knows everybody, because everybody stays here. I left to join the Marine Corps, served my 4, met my wife and then have spent the last 4 years in Central Ohio....and I'm moving back to Monroe. Granted you have your issues here. Some crime, youths and whatnot. But overall, you could do MUCH worse. I'm looking forward to raising my Children there. Monroe is a industry type work environment. Toledo and Detroit are where good paying business jobs can be found. Short 25-35 min commute. As a native of Monroe take it from me. The negative comments your seeing here are from one (or all) of the following: Monroe residents, in their 30s-40s whom never made anything of themselves and blaim it on the lack of resources in Monroe (trust me these type of people exist here ask anyone from Monroe). Young people 17-21 tired of the Monroe scene, and can't wait to "get out" really is that any different than any other town in America? Or Monroe bloggers of any age that like to complain but do absolutely nothing about the issues they have. If you notice, the complaints your seeing are all very shallow. No Starbucks, or good Malls to waist their money. Complaining about having to drive 25 mins to Toledo or Detroit to go to work. No complaints of value, or anything that really matters. No complaints on schooling, or crime or anything like that. They say that the Community College is a "joke" but supply no reasons as to why. Most likely because they can't. Come check out Monroe and be your own judge. It's not what these people are making it to be. It's actually a lot better. [read more...]

Certain people may find this to be a nice place to live; couples with very young children or empty nester retires who care about nothing but enjoying thier morning coffee with the newspaper(no matter if it's a quality paper or not). The rest of us, particularly young professionals or college students, will have no reason to stop here. Only in the last couple of years has Monroe gotten a restaurant of better quality than Denny's and a better place to shop than Walmart. There really is slim pickings when it comes to jobs, unless you can work for LaZBoy or manage a pizza place. On weekends or any time when the kids are off school, the city is overrun with teenagers, lingering around getting in fights and being generally obnoxious. So much so, that recently when I was at one of the Sports bar/ grills I noticed that they had enforced a rule that pop and water was $2 with no refills to try and keep them from clogging up the tables all night. If you go to the mall, there will litterally be 30 or 40 kids standing around outside waiting for a ride. There is nothing else for them to do so they wander amelessly often causing trouble or they drive around the city in circles, as they yell, throw things out the windows, and congregate in parking lots. I've even heard that the local Walmart has had to enforce a curfew for teenagers. There are also a lot of trashy people in this city who have no ambition to know anything about the world outside of Monroe; which is a very limited little bubble. With all of that and the current economic problems in Michigan, I don't know why anyone would relocate here.[read more...]

Monroe, Michingan is a historical, friendly small town. Home building industry is booming. Monroe is number 1 in Southeastern Michingan for the number of parks. The State Park has been completly overhauled and is an attraction year round. There is fishing, hunting, boating and other water sports. There is a Jazz Festival every year drawing people from many states. It is just a great place to raise children.[read more...]

I have read the previous post, and must beg to differ. I have lived in Monroe for most of my life, and find that it isn't such a terrible place to be. No, there isn't a Starbucks, but there are several nice cafe's downtown. No, there isn't a four-year college, but there are many within a reasonable distance to choose from. As with any school, there are classes and teachers at the local two-year college that could be improved, but I attended there for the first two years of my college education, and found that it prepared me well for another university. There are concerts in the park downtown twice a week during the summer ( everything from rock to jazz to Elvis impersonators), many free or low cost events throughout the year, and several large cities ( Detroit, Ann Arbor, Toledo) within an hour's drive. Yes , Monroe is a small place, and sometimes old-fashioned ( no dance clubs or piercing parlors within city limits, etc), so it may not be the best place for teens or young adults looking to party, but for people looking for a place to raise children, or a quite mid-west town to get away from the world, Monroe is a wonderful place.[read more...]

Having been a life-long resident of this city, i can only say that there is NOTHNG here ! We do not have a 4 yr. university, nor a Starbucks, nor even a decent Book Store! Everyone in Monroe MUST travel out-of-county to have any choice for MOST purchases. Monroe, MI has definitely become a 'bedroom community' and a High-Priced one, at that - -our housing costs and property taxes are out-of-sight! There are no jobs here for our young people, so the majority of workers travel out of county to jobs in Detroit , MI or Toledo, Ohio. We are being held in the grip of the 'good ole' boy network' that has Always RAN this County, and even though we are now ruled by the children & grandchildren of the initial 'good ole' boys', the policiies and politics have NOT changed a bit. The local 2 year community college is a 'JOKE', but as long as the people running it are making money by doing so, we will NEVER be allowed to have a REAL 4 year college or university in this county. So everyone who can afford it, has been sending their children out-of-county or even Out of the State to earn their 4 year university degrees. Even though i have failed to 'escape' this area to date {i still live in hope of getting OUT of here before i die!}, i Would NEVER recommend this area for Anyone to MOVE TO! [read more...]