We have moved to Midland Michigan. This is the hope of Dow Chemical. It seems that they have dozens of offices and processing facilities all over Midland. They are very likely the largest employer in the area. The area also has several dozen companies that primarily support Dow.
Midland is a relatively small town. Rush hour typically means adding 5 minutes to get to the other side of town. With multiple ways to get to the other side of town, the worst time is when roads shut down for a community parade. We've not seen bad snow yet. It's very possible that the commute time will be a little longer then.
Several towns are very close. We never thought about going to the next town for shopping or dining out. When the next town is a 15-minute drive, the trip doesn't see so bad.
Lots of places for dining out. We already found a few places that we like.
Riverside Family Restaurant
Laskos Restaurant
Molasses Smokehouse & Bar
The Creek Grill
Antonio's Bar & Grill
Boulevard Lounge
Eudici's Pizza
Ghengis Khan Mongolian Barbeque
Cafe Zinc
Lucky's Steakhouse
Maru Sushi & Grill
Bob Evans