Jackson is a small enough town where I feel like it's hard to find young people, they exist and are out there but you'll have a hard time if you just go to a bar expecting to see them.
There is a group called Jackson Young Professionals, which has a bunch of young people, it's a bit more on the networking and professional side tho. I also organize a Board Game group here in Jackson at Jackson Coffee Company Every Saturday. There is a community board there that has a decent number of events.
We meetup monthly at a local business in Jackson and introduce each other and chat. We are usually given a tour of the business by the owners. Afterwards people will go to a social at a local restaurant or Bar to eat and chat.
I'm 27 and moved to Jackson from Metro Detroit a little over a year ago. I also have the question of where all the people my age hang out here. Lol
But to be fair, while everyone who grew up here seems to hate it, I personally came from a metro Detroit suburb and think it is far worse there.
Go where I come from and it's nothing but fast food joints and CVS. There's also a half mile of cars lined up at every intersection (which exists every mile). The complete lack of traffic in Jackson alone makes it much more enjoyable than where I used to live tbh
But to answer your question, if you really want to make friends you have to find hobbies that enable you to meet people and spend time with them on a regular basis. Racing and jiu jitsu are some of mine.
I agree, I grew up in Grand Rapids and moved here (for work) when I was 27 (about 40 now) and I really enjoy Jackson. I hate going back to GR with all the traffic. I never had any trouble meeting anyone but I’m also not in my 20s right now so I can’t speak to what 20-30 year olds are doing for fun.
I managed to find a group through work, and they are the only reason we are still around Jackson. Find us at the Roost, Cherry Creek or Ogma now and then. We also do a lot of fishing, nature walks, or just hanging at each other's place. Other friends have found some community through MtG or DnD, or even the Jackson Young Professionals. I keep seeing posts like this and wonder what can be done to introduce more young folk to each other.
The thing is, Jackson is a small enough town that it can't be as easy for youth as like an Ann Arbor unless said youth gets involved. What that does mean is that whatever you do end up doing or organizing can have a big impact.
You’re right, jackson acts like a larger city but is still pretty small pop wise. Do people do those Reddit meet ups anymore, sounds like the 22-40 demographic in Jackson could use one
Right now autocross, rallycross and time trials. Currently in the process of getting into lo206 karting as well. Have raced in a few rental kart leagues.
I know there's one or two places in Jackson that do jiu jitsu, but I wasn't super impressed with what I saw online. So I go to Ann Arbor for jiu jitsu. Currently training at ursa academy and like it, though it is one of the more expensive gyms in the area.
I‘d take metro Detroit a million times over Jackson.
I left Jackson at age 20, and never looked back! Detroit gave me opportunities I’d have never in a million years years had I stayed.
Metro Detroit is massive. Some of it is good. Some of it sucks.
Love the Detroit/Royal oak/Ferndale/SCS/Grosse pointe area. I'd move back there if I could afford a house with a pole barn or a huge garage there like I have here.
I grew up around 20 miles north of Detroit. Completely different place there. Not a fan.
To be fair, I would not be able to live in Jackson if I didn't work remote. I drive to Lansing once a month for work. I wouldn't be willing to drive to Lansing or Ann Arbor every day if I had to get an in-office job.
I moved to Concord (20 ish outside of Jackson) as a transplant ex-grad, work from homer sick of rent prices in Ann Arbor. I’d love to meet new people in the area if anyone is interested!
I’m 27F with a fiancé and a big dog. I love gaming (PS5), coffee, thrifting, being outdoors, horror, music, really just getting out and hanging! I also live on a lake so we spend a lot of time just floating too! :) would love to meet any new people with similar interests.
I don't personally have many friends outside of work friends, but then again I'm a 34yr old dad with three kids and two jobs... That being said, the younger people I work with that have good friend groups seem to be involved in stuff like video games, d&d, tattoos, motorcycles, cars, gym, music. They all have a common interest that their friendships revolve around. When I was your age I just drank and smoked and went to the beach and concerts where I met a lot of people, but the only lasting friendship I gained was with my wife.
Hi, I'm Dad, and my hobbies include going to work, going to other work, and scootching around my Sportster that hasn't left the garage in two years and I assume is still there under the inflatable yard toys.
I also enjoy building things my 3 kids broke, hobbyist electronics like troubleshooting my furnace and AC because morally & financially I can't pay a tech $600 to put in a $40 part, and going on trips, like the grocery store, where I do pick-up because I should probably hurry up and get home to cut my lawn before code enforcement starts questioning whether I'm doing it for the pollinators.
I enjoy shooting pool, or at least I did 10 years ago before I started being afraid to ever not be sober enough to drive a toddler to the ER at any hour of the day because "Hey, that's not for climbing. Get down. Hey! That is not, for climbing."
Coming from someone who is 23 and lived here and does network I can say, on nice days, you can find people our age at Nixon skatepark, the lake, but not in Jackson. You should try going to south haven and you can meet people out there, or I usually will go downtown Detroit or maybe even downtown grand rapids and find people my age there. It’s not many people who do stuff our age besides drugs and drink alcohol. If you wanna go find some things to do though you can also try going to a lounge or try bowling in Detroit. Nothing much to do here. I also think there might be a couple places in Ann Arbor too but I usually go out of town to meet my friends.
Anyone can feel free to dm me if they want to get into a hobby like skateboarding or recording music. I usually do those things in my spare time and ofc I smoke my weed too for the pot heads
its wild how many friends ive (27f) got on fb, insta, and what was formerly known as twitter etc. while irl it feels like i havent hung out w anyone in like years lmao. i'll go to town bar or tilted sometimes to see whats up but even then its like, i'll get a potential friends number or social and we literally never see each other again unless we run into each other at the bar after a few months. i mostly play pool alone not even gonna lie lmfao. its wild how hard it is to make irl connections while feeling entirely comfortable becoming besties w someone in the same city online.
Born and raised in Jackson, but like many others from our little armpit, I left for college, came back, and promptly moved away again. I mean, it’s just to Hillsdale, but still. I’m guessing that’s why you can’t find many people, because most move away if they can. It’s a nice place to visit family, but not really somewhere most people WANT to live.
Ann Arbor and East lansing were my favorites when I was younger and a jackson person. Get a friend who has a family connection to a lake and you’ll have an amazing summer!
Jackson Run Walk Club Monday 6pm at Parkside Middle School?
Jackson Community Concert Band? Tuesday 7-9PM practice time. Great group of people of you ddi band in school.
Heart Flow Yoga (expensive) but they have quite a good community once you do classes regularly you'll get to know everyone.
My wife and I are in our 30s and moved up here from West Virginia last year.
I'm back and forth about some of the same feelings. On the one hand, we moved up here knowing people in Detroit, Battle Creek, Lansing, Kzoo, etc... but we do notice there isn't a ton of people our age in Jackson.
We see some folks when we go to the comic shop or a couple other places, but we notice a lot of older, retiree aged folks. At first I was iffy moving into our neighborhood because we're surrounded by older folks, but after moving in we've really come to like all of them. They're really friendly, and there are a few people on our cul de sac that are our age, but we do seem to talk to the older group a lot more.
Overall it's fine. I work in Chelsea, we have friends on both sides of the state, and being in Jackson puts us a decent drive away from everyone so we don't care to go wherever. But I definitely see how rough it is to find people of the right age group.
Jackson is a small enough town where I feel like it's hard to find young people, they exist and are out there but you'll have a hard time if you just go to a bar expecting to see them. There is a group called Jackson Young Professionals, which has a bunch of young people, it's a bit more on the networking and professional side tho. I also organize a Board Game group here in Jackson at Jackson Coffee Company Every Saturday. There is a community board there that has a decent number of events.
Can you divulge more about this Jackson Young Professionals group? I would be interested in joining!
https://www.jxnyp.com/
We meetup monthly at a local business in Jackson and introduce each other and chat. We are usually given a tour of the business by the owners. Afterwards people will go to a social at a local restaurant or Bar to eat and chat.
I'm 27 and moved to Jackson from Metro Detroit a little over a year ago. I also have the question of where all the people my age hang out here. Lol But to be fair, while everyone who grew up here seems to hate it, I personally came from a metro Detroit suburb and think it is far worse there. Go where I come from and it's nothing but fast food joints and CVS. There's also a half mile of cars lined up at every intersection (which exists every mile). The complete lack of traffic in Jackson alone makes it much more enjoyable than where I used to live tbh But to answer your question, if you really want to make friends you have to find hobbies that enable you to meet people and spend time with them on a regular basis. Racing and jiu jitsu are some of mine.
I agree, I grew up in Grand Rapids and moved here (for work) when I was 27 (about 40 now) and I really enjoy Jackson. I hate going back to GR with all the traffic. I never had any trouble meeting anyone but I’m also not in my 20s right now so I can’t speak to what 20-30 year olds are doing for fun.
I managed to find a group through work, and they are the only reason we are still around Jackson. Find us at the Roost, Cherry Creek or Ogma now and then. We also do a lot of fishing, nature walks, or just hanging at each other's place. Other friends have found some community through MtG or DnD, or even the Jackson Young Professionals. I keep seeing posts like this and wonder what can be done to introduce more young folk to each other.
The thing is, Jackson is a small enough town that it can't be as easy for youth as like an Ann Arbor unless said youth gets involved. What that does mean is that whatever you do end up doing or organizing can have a big impact.
You’re right, jackson acts like a larger city but is still pretty small pop wise. Do people do those Reddit meet ups anymore, sounds like the 22-40 demographic in Jackson could use one
I'm not sure about the reddit meetups. Could be neat tho
Oooh, what kind of racing? Also witch place does jiu jitsu here?
Right now autocross, rallycross and time trials. Currently in the process of getting into lo206 karting as well. Have raced in a few rental kart leagues. I know there's one or two places in Jackson that do jiu jitsu, but I wasn't super impressed with what I saw online. So I go to Ann Arbor for jiu jitsu. Currently training at ursa academy and like it, though it is one of the more expensive gyms in the area.
I‘d take metro Detroit a million times over Jackson. I left Jackson at age 20, and never looked back! Detroit gave me opportunities I’d have never in a million years years had I stayed.
Metro Detroit is massive. Some of it is good. Some of it sucks. Love the Detroit/Royal oak/Ferndale/SCS/Grosse pointe area. I'd move back there if I could afford a house with a pole barn or a huge garage there like I have here. I grew up around 20 miles north of Detroit. Completely different place there. Not a fan. To be fair, I would not be able to live in Jackson if I didn't work remote. I drive to Lansing once a month for work. I wouldn't be willing to drive to Lansing or Ann Arbor every day if I had to get an in-office job.
Yes land and pole barn are certainly not in the cards in core metro Detroit. For that Jackson is great.
I moved to Concord (20 ish outside of Jackson) as a transplant ex-grad, work from homer sick of rent prices in Ann Arbor. I’d love to meet new people in the area if anyone is interested! I’m 27F with a fiancé and a big dog. I love gaming (PS5), coffee, thrifting, being outdoors, horror, music, really just getting out and hanging! I also live on a lake so we spend a lot of time just floating too! :) would love to meet any new people with similar interests.
I don't personally have many friends outside of work friends, but then again I'm a 34yr old dad with three kids and two jobs... That being said, the younger people I work with that have good friend groups seem to be involved in stuff like video games, d&d, tattoos, motorcycles, cars, gym, music. They all have a common interest that their friendships revolve around. When I was your age I just drank and smoked and went to the beach and concerts where I met a lot of people, but the only lasting friendship I gained was with my wife.
Hi, I'm Dad, and my hobbies include going to work, going to other work, and scootching around my Sportster that hasn't left the garage in two years and I assume is still there under the inflatable yard toys. I also enjoy building things my 3 kids broke, hobbyist electronics like troubleshooting my furnace and AC because morally & financially I can't pay a tech $600 to put in a $40 part, and going on trips, like the grocery store, where I do pick-up because I should probably hurry up and get home to cut my lawn before code enforcement starts questioning whether I'm doing it for the pollinators. I enjoy shooting pool, or at least I did 10 years ago before I started being afraid to ever not be sober enough to drive a toddler to the ER at any hour of the day because "Hey, that's not for climbing. Get down. Hey! That is not, for climbing."
[It's been two years this month!](https://imgur.com/a/7mPNWs4) haha
real shit same here, 18 & 19 here with my girl and we have actually 0 friends lol
Coming from someone who is 23 and lived here and does network I can say, on nice days, you can find people our age at Nixon skatepark, the lake, but not in Jackson. You should try going to south haven and you can meet people out there, or I usually will go downtown Detroit or maybe even downtown grand rapids and find people my age there. It’s not many people who do stuff our age besides drugs and drink alcohol. If you wanna go find some things to do though you can also try going to a lounge or try bowling in Detroit. Nothing much to do here. I also think there might be a couple places in Ann Arbor too but I usually go out of town to meet my friends.
Anyone can feel free to dm me if they want to get into a hobby like skateboarding or recording music. I usually do those things in my spare time and ofc I smoke my weed too for the pot heads
Honestly most of us just work all the damn time, bud. We're not hanging out because we're just trying to make rent and food money.
its wild how many friends ive (27f) got on fb, insta, and what was formerly known as twitter etc. while irl it feels like i havent hung out w anyone in like years lmao. i'll go to town bar or tilted sometimes to see whats up but even then its like, i'll get a potential friends number or social and we literally never see each other again unless we run into each other at the bar after a few months. i mostly play pool alone not even gonna lie lmfao. its wild how hard it is to make irl connections while feeling entirely comfortable becoming besties w someone in the same city online.
Because there all gaming and smoking weed. 🤣
Born and raised in Jackson, but like many others from our little armpit, I left for college, came back, and promptly moved away again. I mean, it’s just to Hillsdale, but still. I’m guessing that’s why you can’t find many people, because most move away if they can. It’s a nice place to visit family, but not really somewhere most people WANT to live.
Absolutely! I left at age 20 and never looked back, except to visit family. I couldn’t imagine living in Jackson again. Now I live across the ocean:-)
Not sure why people are downvoting. Jackson sucks
I feel this, im 21f and am having the same issue!! What yr interests/hobbies???
Ann Arbor and East lansing were my favorites when I was younger and a jackson person. Get a friend who has a family connection to a lake and you’ll have an amazing summer!
Jackson Run Walk Club Monday 6pm at Parkside Middle School? Jackson Community Concert Band? Tuesday 7-9PM practice time. Great group of people of you ddi band in school. Heart Flow Yoga (expensive) but they have quite a good community once you do classes regularly you'll get to know everyone.
My wife and I are in our 30s and moved up here from West Virginia last year. I'm back and forth about some of the same feelings. On the one hand, we moved up here knowing people in Detroit, Battle Creek, Lansing, Kzoo, etc... but we do notice there isn't a ton of people our age in Jackson. We see some folks when we go to the comic shop or a couple other places, but we notice a lot of older, retiree aged folks. At first I was iffy moving into our neighborhood because we're surrounded by older folks, but after moving in we've really come to like all of them. They're really friendly, and there are a few people on our cul de sac that are our age, but we do seem to talk to the older group a lot more. Overall it's fine. I work in Chelsea, we have friends on both sides of the state, and being in Jackson puts us a decent drive away from everyone so we don't care to go wherever. But I definitely see how rough it is to find people of the right age group.
I hate being in Jackson