Is Chelsea Michigan The PERFECT Suburb? - Chelsea Michigan is one of those suburbs that often gets pushed under the rug, but lately, there have been people flooding to this small town. So be sure to stick around as I touch on why that is, and maybe why you shouldn’t.
Chelsea Michigan is this little small town located about 16 miles west of Ann Arbor, That’s 3.67 square miles in size with a population of roughly 5,400 people. This city, which was a village up until 2004, creates that perfect balance of peaceful small town living, but offers a lot of exciting activities and opportunities despite its cozy size. To help you get a better feel of Chelsea, I’m going to kick off the pros and cons to the wonderful city of Chelsea Michigan, but before I do, if you’re new here my name is Andrew McManamon, A Michigan realtor helping people like you buy, sell and invest in the wonderful state of Michigan, so feel free to find my contact information BELOW, I am happy to be your go-to resource.
CHELSEA MICHIGAN EVENTS
Kicking this list of with pro #1 to living in the fine city of Chelsea, we have all of the events. I wanted to make this point a priority on the list, because when we think of a small town, oftentimes there’s this misconception that there’s nothing to do, and it’s just a gas station, and a park bench, but there’s actually a lot to do inside of this little town that are worth noting, and I'll be sure to put a link in the description for their event calendar, because it has to be one of the best ones I have seen. You know when you hop on Google and you’re either going on vacation or passing through a town, and you search up “things to do in xyz city” and oftentimes it just brings up this Eventbrite load out that has maybe an event or two in the area, then the rest are miles and miles away? Or you go to the city website and the only thing on the calendar are city hall meetings that are boring? I know you can relate. Well, Chelsea has several events a day throughout the community, and their annual events include: the sculpture walk, backyard beer garden, events at the Chelsea district library, Chelsea trail challenge, shopping events, sounds and sights on Thursday nights, sounds and sights festival, the Chelsea community fair, hometown Halloween and hometown holiday. There’s just so many things to do it’s almost overwhelming. If someone from this city says they’re bored, I don’t think I could believe them.
CHELSEA MICHIGAN COMMUNITY
Moving along to pro #2 for living in Chelsea, We have the community. As you can probably put together from the first pro I touched on, it takes a great sense of community to put on several amazing events throughout the year, and one thing you’ll hear from current and past residents is every Friday night, the whole town piles into the football stadium and supports the home team. So if you’re someone that is wishing they grew up in the older generation so you could have that small town football player and cheerleader love story, you’ll find it right here in Chelsea Michigan. You’re welcome, I'll give you an address for that wedding invite. There’s so many wonderful things to do in this city, and one core memory that I have in Chelsea is taking a school field trip to the one and only Jiffy Mix factory, where we got a tour of the factory and learned about how all the mixes are made and even got sent home with quite a few boxes. Another attraction that brought me to the city growing up, was the arctic coliseum. I’ve been playing hockey since I was 7 years old and we’ve had quite a few tournaments at this ice arena, and I very much enjoyed it as a kid, and have played there a few times in my adult years too.
CHELSEA MICHIGAN DOWNTOWN
Moving along to pro #3 of living in Chelsea, is the downtown area. Like I’ve said, it’s small, but effective. It's filled with several small local stores, where residents and outsiders can support locally owned businesses. If we take a look at an aerial view of Chelsea it’s nicely laid out, having main street be a direct vein going right through the middle, the Chelsea hospital being almost dead center in the city so you are never too far away, just in case. There’s several homes and subdivisions that branch off main street that have sidewalks so the walkability is perfect. The historic downtown Chelsea social district is also a nice touch, which provides flexibility for restaurants and bars by allowing on and off site consumption of your favorite alcoholic beverages in the designated social district areas, which I will link in the description so you don’t find yourself 5 margaritas deep stepping outside your boundaries. Within the district, there’s the grateful crow, jet’s pizza, ugly dog distillery, and zou zou’s cafe who are the only ones permitted to do this. Drink responsibly everyone.
CHELSEA MICHIGAN SCHOOLS
Stepping on over to the last pro I'll touch on and that’s the school district. This may be a controversial topic for an outsider looking in, but I think most Chelsea residents would agree that the schooling their children and them have received has been exceptional. Maybe the school isn’t ranked number one, but it really just comes back to the community. So many great relationships are developed in this small town, and that goes for the teacher student relationships that result in a heavy extracurricular presence from the students. At the end of the day, education is as good as you make it, and if you have a rough or non-existent relationship with your teacher, you’ll never feel comfortable enough to ask those questions to develop yourself and others around you. Think about how beneficial it is to be in a lecture hall of 100 people where the last thing the students want is to be there. So the lack of interaction decreases learning tenfold, and that’s why I think little school districts like Chelsea are flourishing, even when the internet rankings don’t have them in the top 10 or 20.
CONS TO LIVING IN CHELSEA MICHIGAN
Now for the moment you’ve been waiting for, the not so good things about living in Chelsea Michigan.
CHELSEA MICHIGAN TRADITIONS
Starting off with con #1, the traditions. I think this con could definitely get some heat, but bare with me here. Everyone knows that small-townS have traditions, a community culture, and a way of doing things. Just like our parents and parents parents, they hate change, and some people might not like that aspect of a town, especially if you’re someone who is proactive and always looking to make things better. But for those of you who enjoy the atmosphere and culture that a small town creates, then I don’t think you’ll have any complaints here. It’s like in movies when you see an outside family member visit their extended family in a small town and they ask why they do something, and they respond, “well because it’s tradition” even if it seems goofy to you, it is what it is, and you roll with it.
CHELSEA MICHIGAN CITY OFFERINGS
Moving along to con #2, we have limited city offerings. Of course this city offers events, a walkable downtown space, locally owned businesses, and so much more, but in comparison to other cities in metro Detroit, there’s not that variety that a lot of people are looking for when it comes to dining, shopping, and other entertainment options. They exist in this small town, but again, it comes down to variety. I think people have a good grasp on this aspect of a town and whether or not that is what they like or don’t. Some people are completely content with supporting local businesses, without having a lot of variety, but the products and services tend to be better in my opinion since they aren’t mass produced and oftentimes made by hand. Everyone knows the best place to get a hamburger is probably that hole in the wall place called hamburgers.
CHELSEA MICHIGAN NIGHTLIFE
Switching gears to con #3, we have the nightlife. This isn’t Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, Ferndale or Detroit when it comes to the nightlife scene, but it’s also not the worst. Most restaurants and bars stay open until 10pm during the week and when Friday rolls around that still holds true but there are a few bars that will stay open until midnight, so it has a little bit of a nightlife scene, but again it comes down to variety. When most people think of a nightlife, they’re thinking, okay I am going to get food at this place, stop for a strawberry daiquiri at this place, then a long island iced tea at this place because they’re known for it, then go to that place because the salt on the rim for their margaritas is the best, then I'll end the night with a Moscow mule at this place because the cups are cool. I mean it sounds like a headache and a horrible morning to me, but again variety.
CHELSEA MICHIGAN LOCATION
Last but not least we have con #4, and that’s the location. Similar to the Saline video I made (which I'll link in the description), the location consists of having Ann Arbor 20 or so minutes away, along with Jackson 28 minutes away in the other direction and that's about it. You’d be traveling an hour plus to get to Detroit, along with the several other little suburbs that have unique city offerings. Not the end of the world, but it’s a complaint some current and past residents have had about the city. I know what you might be thinking, why even complain about something like that? And there’s a couple reasons, 1) It could make the job commute a lot longer depending on where you work and 2) There’s not too many other cons about living in Chelsea and if there’s something to note, this is it.
MENTIONED LINKS ⬇️
→Chelsea Michigan Events: https://chelseamich.com/calendar/
→Chelsea Michigan Social District: https://chelseamich.com/devour-chelse...
→Chelsea Michigan School District: https://www.niche.com/k12/d/chelsea-s...
→Saline Michigan Video: • DON'T Sleep On Saline Michigan!
For those of you that have watched this far, what do you think of Chelsea Michigan? Drop your thoughts in the comments below! If you want me to touch on another city in Metro Detroit, comment below as well.
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew McManamon is a Michigan REALTOR® with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty and provides real estate services to Buyers, Sellers and Investors throughout SE Michigan including Livingston County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Genesee County & beyond. Andrew has become one of the rising stars of Michigan real estate agents. Prior to his real estate career Andrew was responsible for managing a senior living facility in Brighton, Michigan as a dining supervisor and an activities assistant. Andrew’s passion to help people is unlike any other, and he continues to strive to be best resource he can be. Andrew graduated from Cleary University in Howell, Michigan with a double major and currently resides in Brighton, Michigan.
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