Carrie and I had long talked about leaving California at some point, but we had no definite plans or timetable. We are both originally from the east coast and wanted to live closer to those roots. Then an opportunity presented itself. I was consulting for Stryker for about a year when they suggested I become an employee. Stryker is a great company and I was happy to think that I could continue to work for them after my current engagement ended. The one complication was that we would have to move to either Michigan or New Jersey. When I shared Stryker’s suggestion with Carrie, we started thinking this may be our chance to solidify our relocation plans.
In early 2014 I got an offer letter from Stryker. We decided this was it. I would accept the offer. But where to move, Michigan or New Jersey?
My consulting assignment with Stryker meant that I was spending from two to three weeks a month in either Mahwah, NJ or Kalamazoo, MI. This gave me the chance to get to know those areas. Carrie knows New Jersey from having lived in adjacent Delaware and nearby Maryland. For me, the primary appeal of New Jersey is its proximity to New York City and all the culture it provides. There would however, be no financial benefit to moving to New Jersey as the property values and cost of living is comparable to Southern California, with New Jersey having much higher property taxes. I felt Kalamazoo was more rural than I wanted, but I was confident that as I had lived and been happy in 17 cities in 6 states and two countries, that I would be able to successfully exploit whatever Southwest Michigan has to offer. (Allow me to qualify the above. I hate Indiana. Its proximity to Kalamazoo and the fact that it shares a border with Michigan was the single most significant negative in evaluating the choice between New Jersey and Michigan.)
Carrie had never been to Michigan. It would take at least one visit to help her decide where we were to move. We planned a solo Tuesday through Saturday trip for her to visit Kalamazoo. An attorney at Stryker had arranged a breakfast meeting Wednesday morning for Carrie and a local attorney to discuss the local legal job market. Other than that, her schedule was open to explore. She arrived Tuesday night in Kalamazoo. Wednesday she met with the attorney. Thursday, she had a job offer and a realtor referral from same attorney (from Warner Norcross and Judd, (WNJ) the largest Michigan-based law firm). Friday, she bought us a house. (The plan was to rent, but the home prices in Kalamazoo are so low compared to LA it made more sense to buy than rent.) Saturday, she returned to LA. We were on our way to Michigan.
