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I am unsure if the economic situation of the city of Detroit has an effect on Metro Detroiters' Michigan pride and identity. Perhaps a bit, but even during Detroit's heyday, there was just as strong of a Michigan identity as there is today. Michigan feels like a nation and a distinct political subdivision. It is sort of like a mini USA with an East Coast, a West Coast, and a North Coast. I think the geography has more to do with it.
Also, don't be fooled into thinking that the Detroit area does not draw people from across the world. While the last decade was horrible for Michigan's economy and there was a loss of people, the region still attracts immigrants. There is a continuous influx of people from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and now Latin America. Immigration continues to play a role in the region's projected growth with the population of Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint (CMSA) estimated to be 6,191,000 by 2025.
Keep in mind, Detroit is disadvanted compared to other cities when counting the metropolitan or combined statistical area. While Chicagoland can count areas going all the way to Michigan City, Detroit cannot count any of its suburbs in Canada. The entire Windsor area which abuts Detroit (you can see it across the river) is not even counted. Next, Toledo is not included despite the fact that it is as close to Detroit as Michigan City is to Chicago. So as a result, we have 3 seperate metropolitan areas all touching one another. I guess that is good in the sense that Detroit's metropolitan area does not include people who may not have a Michigan identity...lol
I'm not fooled into thinking that Detroit doesn't draw people from across the world, but the % foreign born in the Detroit MSA is half what the percent is in the Chicago MSA. See:
Furthermore, Chicago has a much stronger pull of college graduates and young people from all over the Midwest than Detroit, and that fact is undeniable and can easily be seen permeating throughout the city. I'm not saying this fact is bad, but the higher percentage of foreign population coupled with the large number of influx from neighboring states throughout the Midwest as well as those that move here to work in the large business sector of the city will dilute the strong state-associated identity far more than in Detroit. I think Wisconsin is the same way for that matter. There's nothing wrong with it, but it is a product of having such a large and prominent city and metro area in the state.
As someone who grew up in a suburb of Toledo, I can assure you, we identify more with Michigan and Detroit than Columbus and Ohio. Well, most of us. Those Buckeye fans can't be helped .
Michigan has not forgotten the War it had with Ohio. People in Michigan feel that Toledo was stolen away from Michigan. This ignites the Ohio-Michigan rivalry. In fact, I think the flag of Toledo should be waved in the middle of the Football field at every Michigan and Ohio game. The Winner gets the flag.
On a serious note, I think things would have been so different if Toledo remained in Michigan. The University of Michigan would not have been established in Ann Arbor; Detroit may not have developed into a major city; Toledo probably would have served as the state's premier city; and the western end of the UP would have been tacked onto Wisconsin.
Michigan has not forgotten the War it had with Ohio. People in Michigan feel that Toledo was stolen away from Michigan. This ignites the Ohio-Michigan rivalry. In fact, I think the flag of Toledo should be waved in the middle of the Football field at every Michigan and Ohio game. The Winner gets the flag.
On a serious note, I think things would have been so different if Toledo remained in Michigan. The University of Michigan would not have been established in Ann Arbor; Detroit may not have developed into a major city; Toledo probably would have served as the state's premier city; and the western end of the UP would have been tacked onto Wisconsin.
The running joke when I was a kid was that Ohio actually lost that battle. We were stuck with Toledo . It's weird to think about how different things would have been if Michigan had won.
Illinois is a fine place, don't get me wrong, but the Upper Peninsula is one of the best-kept secrets in the country. It's isolated (but not central Nevada isolated), it's pristine, and picturesque.
Illinois is a fine place, don't get me wrong, but the Upper Peninsula is one of the best-kept secrets in the country. It's isolated (but not central Nevada isolated), it's pristine, and picturesque.
Western Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay in the lower Peninsula are just as nice if not more.
Western Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay in the lower Peninsula are just as nice if not more.
I've heard good things about the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, too. One of my buddies lives in Kalamazoo and he says that you can sometimes make out the Chicago skyline from the extreme southeastern portion of MI.
Aren't most locations of large cities on borders just...incidental? The fact that a lot of people from Chicago go to WI or MI is merely a function of location as well; if Chicago were located in S IL people would be vacationing in the Ozarks. No different than other large cities.
If Chicago is so great, why do so many get out of there on the weekend?
You should see how many Michiganders have up and moved to Chicago.
It's called "seeing other places." If we all just sat around and never left Chicago, you'd probably accuse us of being insular and parochial.
Yeah Chicago is basically inundated with cars that have license plates from every single Midwestern state.
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. It's weird to think about how different things would have been if Michigan had won.
