If you took all of the worst aspects of all of the states, and threw them into one state, you would have Michigan. A great motto for Michigan would be: "Michigan: where the weather is cold and the people are colder."
Crime: You're probably aware that Detroit is the murder capital of the United States. What you might not be aware of is that other big cities like Flint and Saginaw are also very, very bad and getting worse, basically like Mini-Detroits. Avoid any large city in Michigan like the Plague, at least the ones in the Southern/Eastern parts of the state.
Employment: Highest unemployment in the nation, been that way for several years now. You have trouble even getting an interview for a job you're overqualified for.
Cost of living: not sure of all of the intracacies of this, but things tend to be more expensive here than most areas of the country. Such as gasoline.
Weather: Winter sometimes starts in September and sometimes lasts until June. Unimaginably harsh winters. Usually takes up a solid 1/2 of the year. this topic segues nicely into...
Roads: After you've gotten over that harsh winter, think you can enjoy the nice summer with a little road trip? Wrong. We are the construction zone capital of the U.S., horrid roads and seemingly endless amounts of construction. Also, herds upon bevies of deer. I hit one and did $1500 worth of damage to my car. I know someone else that's hit a total of 4 deer in Michigan in his lifetime.
Recreation: Not a whole heck of a lot to do here. Some mildly interesting things in Detroit, such as the Zoo and the Ballpark, but that's if you're brave enough to go there. The Cascade Falls in Jackson as mentioned by SilverFox are nice, but get boring after about 5 minutes. Most of the areas described by SilverFox are in the Up North area, and, while nice, are some of the most 'out of the way' places in the country, and not exactly easy to get to.
but all of that is not even the worst of it. the worst of it is..
the people: rude, clique-y, very busy, and love to have arguments. There are no random hellos here, like you will find in say, New Jersey. One time, I did this little experiment and sat down on a couch at the community college I was attending, to see how many strangers would respond to my 'hello'. The percentage was low, like in the teens, it was actually pretty hilarious. You can do alot of nice things for your friends, but if you do one thing you don't like, they'll sever ties with you and carefully overlook all of the good you've done for them. Very grudge-holding. Meeting new friends here is pointless as pretty much everyone is in a clique. One time I offered to take a prospective new friend out to dinner. He agreed, but kept rescheduling and rescheduling, and when he finally agreed, he was late. People here are very busy, to the point that they let their relationships, and grades, suffer. You cannot spontaenously do anything with people here, it is all planned out. People have spaz attacks over the most minor of inconveniences. Customer service anywhere is non-existent, you rarely get acknowleged of your presence, and when you do, you get the fakest 'thank you' or 'have a good day' you've ever experience in your life.
The only positive of MI are the picturesque, pristine nature areas, but again, that's mostly confined to the hard-to-get northern section of the state.
I hate to leave here in a way, as all of my family lives here, but I want out so bad. Probably not the state you would want to move to.
