We Moved From the City to Barry County; Here’s What Surprised Us Most

Moving to Barry County

My wife and I recently moved to Nashville, Michigan. A village inside of Barry county, that according to online sources like wikipedia, says that there are around 1,500 people living in this village. According to these same sources like wikipedia, there are around 62,423 people in Barry county. This is a big change for us as we moved here from Elkhart Indiana. Elkhart itself has around 53,726 people, while Elkhart county has roughly 207,436 people. This is a large difference for me and my family. However, this is not a bad thing.

I have not lived in a smaller community or village before. I am used to large cities, lots of people, long waits, and lots of traffic. Everyone has somewhere to be, and they need to get there as soon as possible, always in a rush and never slowing down. I have not experienced that since we have been here. No traffic jams (unless it is on 94), no long lines at the stores or long wait times at places to eat, and when it gets past 9PM, you can stand outside and hear the stillness of the air. 

The people of Barry county are very friendly, kind, and welcoming. These things tend to get lost in larger cities and counties. Some are curious about who you are and why you decided to come to this humble county, and others are just happy to have a conversation with you. The people in Barry county offer a helping hand when they see a need, they are a tight knit community, everyone knows everyone. People tend to smile and say hello, even if you do not know them. These are things we did not find a lot of in bigger cities, and it has been a breath of fresh air. 

One thing we do miss, is how close we were to things like Target, Meijer, a local gym, fast food (probably a good thing), and our favorite ice cream shops. From Nashville, everything is about 20 minutes in each direction. But honestly, it helps with our budget because we can not just go down the road to get what we want, so this is an adjustment but not a bad one. We do look forward to MooVille in the spring and summertime. The shops and places to eat in town are amazing, all of the places we have been in Barry county so far have had great food, great service and have been priced perfectly. If you haven't tried them yet, I highly recommend R&Ds Pizza in Nashville.

The move up here was interesting, 2 and a half hours up here with a toddler, two dogs and a cat that hates cars was definitely interesting. But our local church offered to help us move everything in. It took us hours to pack it up and only 35 minutes to unload it all. We definitely couldn't have done it without them. That's what I am talking about, I did not even have to ask, people just offered to help us move. They showed up with glad hearts and helped so much. We are so thankful for the people in this community. The people of Nashville Church of the Nazarene have been so welcoming and loving to us, we can not thank them enough for the help and welcome they have given us. 

We look forward to being a part of this community, learning about the culture, and bringing things to the table for this community as well. Barry county and the village of Nashville are an amazing place to be. If you or someone you know is thinking of moving to Barry county, I highly recommend that you do it. Barry county is definitely the place to be.

Your new neighbor and youth pastor, Danny.