[Coldjensens]

Michigan is one of the safest places on earth.

We do not have:
Hurricanes
Major floods.
Major earthquakes.
Major wildfires.
Landslides.
Major drought, or even water shortage.
Tsunami
Giant sinkholes that swallow buildings (at least not natural ones)
Volcanoes
Insects that maim or kill people.
Poisonous snakes except the extremely rare Massaugua rattler.
Wildcats, wolves, brown bears, alligators, sharks, jellyfish, or other animals that will harm, kill or eat people.
Major tornados are very rare.
Dangerous temperature extremes are extremely rare. (never extreme heat, and dangerously extreme cold is rare.)
Significant traffic.
Significant crime outside of a few isolated areas.
Borders with third world countries.
Anything to attract terrorists.
Extreme air pollution days (where they tell you to avoid going outside or refrain from vigorous exercise).
riots (not anymore)


Before anyone tries to claim that Detroit citizens present enough danger to make up for all that, check your facts. Look at the numbers. The urban legend about Detroit crime is both inaccurate and statistically meaningless. Also check and see how many crimes in Detroit are perpetrated against someone who is not engaged in buying or selling of sex, drugs or guns – or some other illegal activity.

We do have an industrial waste pollution problem, but that has improved massively in the last two decades and continues to improve every year (one example is the Detroit River is now its natural greenish blue and not the brown or grey it was for many decades. You can swim in it, eat fish from it and even drink the water (after filtering). Thank you zebra mussels. Even with this singular threat, Michigan has less of a problem than many places.

[Narmowen]

Ok...to counter that:

We do have major storms, including an average of 16 tornadoes a year (not a whole lot). We do have major storms, including blizzards, that can take the power out for a day to more than two weeks. Some areas DO have major flooding, as well.

We do have wildcats, including bobcats, lynx and mountain lions. (although the latter 2 are rare). We have wolves, bears and moose as well. I...I'm not sure why you say that we (Michigan) doesn't have those types of animals?

Don't get me wrong, Michigan is an awesome place to live, but we do have some of those issues.

[Heather67]

Brown bears were specified. MI has black bears, but those are significantly less dangerous than brown bears, as I understand it. My dad use to compete with them for blueberries on the family farm in the Skandia area.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Narmowen

Ok...to counter that:

We do have major storms, including an average of 16 tornadoes a year (not a whole lot). We do have major storms, including blizzards, that can take the power out for a day to more than two weeks. Some areas DO have major flooding, as well.

We do have wildcats, including bobcats, lynx and mountain lions. (although the latter 2 are rare). We have wolves, bears and moose as well. I...I'm not sure why you say that we (Michigan) doesn't have those types of animals?

Don't get me wrong, Michigan is an awesome place to live, but we do have some of those issues.

Animals in zoos do not count.



We have black bears up north. It is lucky if you even get to see one. They are little and like dogs. Basically harmless as long as you do not mess with them. There was an attack about ten years ago, but one attack out of eight million people over ten years - Ill go with none to speak of.



We have a few hundred wolves in the upper peninsula. They do not mess with humans. They are barely surviving. Of course there are very few humans up there too.



Surprisingly to me there are some mountain lions (cougars) in Michigan. They apparently confirmed six last year. But they are not dragging people off their bicycles and killing them. That is the point of this post. Animals are not a threat to humans in Michigan.



The most deadly animal in Michigan is the black widow spider and that is only if you are allergic to them. I have been bitten by Black widows five times. It is like a wasp sting. Yellow sack spider bites are worse. Next most dangerous is the bee or wasp - because some people are allergic to them too.



What we do not have is people getting maimed and killed by wild animals unless you count running into a deer or moose with your car (which is not an animal attacking you). In other places, wild animals are killing people. Boars in Texas, alligators in Florida and Louisiana, Mountain lions in California, brown bears in Alaska. Sharks in California and Florida. I am probably missing many. Then when you include other countries, it gets more expansive. We do not have any of these. We are safe from wild animals here.

[YAZ]

Um.

There are black bear in the Lansing area. Technically, it's "up north" to some folks.

I love Michigan.

No scorpions or 13 different species of rattlesnakes.

A nice swim in Lake Superior right now sounds good....considering that the cement pond in the back yard feels like bath water.

You got more rain in one night (last week), than we did for the entire year.

I can't fish on my favorite lake in AZ. The government closed "outside." (wild fires)

[YAZ]

Originally Posted by Narmowen

Ok...to counter that:

We do have major storms, including an average of 16 tornadoes a year (not a whole lot). We do have major storms, including blizzards, that can take the power out for a day to more than two weeks. Some areas DO have major flooding, as well.

We do have wildcats, including bobcats, lynx and mountain lions. (although the latter 2 are rare). We have wolves, bears and moose as well. I...I'm not sure why you say that we (Michigan) doesn't have those types of animals?

Don't get me wrong, Michigan is an awesome place to live, but we do have some of those issues.

Skeeters can be horrendous and your geese are mean.

[Arya Stark]

Look I liked living in Michigan but I will not go back because of the twisters. And you may not GET twisters but you get the threat of them all summer long. I remember the summer I was there it was literally every Wednesday we were under a Twister warning -- sometimes to 5 am.

And the apartment I lived in had zero place to go.

Also, in the winter you get "lake effect" snow. So if you want to live someplace that has 5 inches of snow daily and is almost always cloudy in winter, head to Michigan (Detroit being an exception -- that is why that area grew so much).

But I lived in Okemos Michigan and without those things... I freaking loved it. It was right off Michigan State (so college town) and very close to Lansing (the capital city).

One thing I found them missing... prestigious medical centers.

[Bondurant]

What is the urban legend about Detroit crime? The belief that by entering city limits you will be a crime victim?

Most dangerous aspect of Michigan is driving in the winter and with proper precaution not an issue in most cases. Luckily my "close calls" have come on deserted roads at night. I have been in a few situations where had there been traffic I would be a dead man.

[Angry-Koala]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

The most deadly animal in Michigan is the black widow spider and that is only if you are allergic to them.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

What we do not have is people getting maimed and killed by wild animals unless you count running into a deer or moose with your car (which is not an animal attacking you).

The most deadly animal in Michigan is the white tailed deer. Not by their choice, of course!

[Tyryztoll]

90% of black bear in Michigan are in the U.P. per the DNR website. I lived in northern lower Michigan for 7 years and never saw one.

The Mackinac Bridge has the potential to be a major terrorist target and has constantly been on alert for this since 9/11. I would also argue that the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel possess the same target potential, as they are the 2 busiest northern border crossings in the U.S.

I don't know what O.P. defines as "dangerously extreme cold", but if winter temps in northern Michigan especially don't qualify I don't know what does.