Jackson

I was born here, and lived here until I went off to college at Michigan State University.
I left Michigan for good in the fall of 1984 when I attended medical school in San Francisco, CA.

Jackson is not THE travel destination but it does have some nice things about it and is defintely worth a day-trip or two. Great architecture and old buildings. Jackson has fantastic ‘Jackson-style’ coney dogs but we really need a good affordably priced middle-eastern restaurant like Ypsilanti’s Pita Hut or Lansing’s Sultan’s Express. The recently expanded Ella Sharp Museum and park is awesome. If you are a golfer, there are some great golfing packages. Jackson has great programs for kids and is a very family-oriented city. Also, next month (Oct.2006) they will be breaking ground on a 70 million dollar Armory Arts Project which will be a huge catalyst for arts and culture in the city. This will be a definite draw for Jackson and will help attract artisans and people to the downtown area. They are also talking about constructing a big hydroponic greenhouse(s) that will bring in researchers, students, and new industry to the area; Jackson needs it. I moved here a year ago and love it. There are a lot of good things happening here. I would also like to add that the only city I would go to to spend an entire weekend ‘sight-seeing’ would be an enormous city like Detroit, Chicago, etc.. Very few cities in Michigan offer enough to keep you entertained for a long time (unless you are vacationing on a lake, camping, biking or staying on Mackinac Island) but jackson is defintely worth a couple of day-trips to check out it’s high-lights. Once the Armory is complete along with several other projects, there will be even more reason to get out of the house or come visit. I like that Jackson is large enough it doesn’t depend on Lansing or Ann Arbor for most things but is close enough that a trip to either place is no big deal. Rarely do you have to leave the city which makes it nice. As housing in Ann Arbor (and the 20 surround miles) skyrockets, people should look at Jackson.

Jackson does have a few things going for it: The Hot Air Jubilee, the Civil War reenactment, The Shakespeare Festival, Ella Sharp Park and Cascade Falls Park. Not a very interesting place to live but some are trying to help with that.

but ive got a great friend who goes to school there so its goodtimes to me!

I think it was 1986 that Jackson got voted the All-American city. I grew up here and one thing I can tell you is there’s a great school system and great athletic programs here. But the city is not what it used to be as far as things to do and work.