[scholarwarrior]

What would your opinions be of cities like Farmington Hills, Novi, Canton, Northville, Plymouth, Livonia and Westland. i will be moving down that way soon for work and I'd really love to live in the most liberal, progressive of these cities or close-by cities. I know about Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Ann Arbor, but I'd like something around this area.

[darkangel522]

Originally Posted by thar49228

I think it's also known as the "San Francisco" of Michigan...for what that's worth.

No, no, no, I take personal offense to that. I am from San Francisco, living in Michigan, and this is one of the most conservative places I have lived in a very long time. Saginaw was blighted with nothing to do, and very homogeneous. There was no diversity and I certainly didn't see LGBT individuals walking down the street holding hands like I did in California. People seem to think Ann Arbor is so liberal and progressive and it is SO the opposite of that. As a person of color who is part of the LGBT community, I feel so uncomfortable in this state, and am afraid to go anywhere outside of Ann Arbor, because as "liberal" as it claims to be, I know it's safer than going further north in the state. I have heard stories about people of color people treated differently because they were the only person of color in a virtually all white community. I don't like walking down the street with people staring at me because of the color of my skin. I don't like people who are going to treat me differently in a store or restaurant because of who I am.

I'm certainly open to hearing alternative opinions about this state, because I would like to think that I would be safe here living as a person of color who is LGBT. And I certainly understand that California is a unique place in and of itself and I can't expect every place I live in to be like California.

Thanks

[deslok]

I agree dark, nobody in Michigan though gets that. The idea of liberal to them is way different then other states for the most part. The state is very conservative when it comes to fashion trends, acceptance of other people, and very liberal when it comes to money and hand outs.
Take for instance visiting Grand Rapids Michigan with a friend of mine. He wasn't and isn't gay, but had a pink shirt on. Well, several GR residents made him quite unwelcome by randomly driving down the street and yelling ****** out the window. When I see forums about progression in that area, I have to think they mean infastructure. The people are along ways away from being open to people that are other then caucasion, what they'd call regular looking guys.

[Bluefly]

While I agree that Michigan progressive is different from coastal progressive, I'll second the Marquette suggestion. There's a roof to just how open people are willing to be, as I learned when I was walking down the street with a friend and we were repeatedly snickered at by the college students and whoever else was wandering around drunk downtown one night. I guess we looked gay. But there's a very progressive vibe to the city deriving from its somewhat urban feel (very relatively speaking) strong arts and culture scene, and a large bisexual and gay community. I think it was the 3rd most Democratic voting county in the country (93%) in 2004 - a mixture of its old blue collar and its newer progressive influx.

The problem with Marquette is that there's already a lot of bookstores for a town that size - Snowbound Books is perhaps one of the finest used bookstores I've seen, but it also has a Book World around the corner downtown, a used bookstore just off of downtown on Division Street, and one in the mall.

[EssAndDee]

Originally Posted by scholarwarrior

What would your opinions be of cities like Farmington Hills, Novi, Canton, Northville, Plymouth, Livonia and Westland. i will be moving down that way soon for work and I'd really love to live in the most liberal, progressive of these cities or close-by cities. I know about Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Ann Arbor, but I'd like something around this area.

I would characterize none of these towns as particularly progressive or liberal.

[dutchinnd]

To take a different tack, I would also take a look at the strength of the public library/library system in the various areas. Book people support books and reading in various forms--those in the private sector as well as those supported w/ public dollars for the common good. If there is strong financial support for a library system, if the system is adding programs and offerings rather than reducing hours of operation, if there is a heavy percentage of the community that are registered borrowers--all of those might well be indicators of a community that values books and reading and would be supportive of a used book store.