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The facts don't back up your claims. Lake Michigan is very clean for the most part with some bad areas around SOME of the larger cities. Overall I would check water quality more around the Eastern Seaboard than I would in the Great Lakes.
They posted the same thing in three threads, I wouldn't worry about it.
I think the great lakes region is beautiful! I am originally from the great lakes region. But I moved south. Why, because the "dirty industry" based midwest mentality has ruined so much of the natural beauty of the great lakes. Lake Michigan, especially, is surrounded by dirty "rust belt" industry and the great lakes are so polluted that you just don't feel safe swimming in them. Here in North Carolina I can take my kids to a secluded north carolina beech and NEVER worry about pollution. We don't have to check for water quality conditions every time we want to go swimming like we had to do in Milwaukee Wisconsin. I recently visited Superior Wisconsin a small town in northern Wisconsin and the whole shoreline was dotted with old abandoned rust belt factories. YUCK! For God Sake clean up your cities! The fact is that us northerners have ruined one of the most beautiful places in the USA. And did I mention that the people in the south are friendlier and have better manners. We have lived in the south for fifteen years and when we go back to visit our relatives in northern IL and southern WI we are always taken aback by how standoffish and unhelpful people are in the midwest. When I walk into a Home Depot for example in the south and ask where I can find a certain item the store employee will walk me to where the product is and then ask me how I am doing today...and he/she will have a smile of his face. The people at the counter in the south will greet me with a smile and even strike up small talk with me. Not so up north. Up north nine times out of ten the grumpy employee will just point to the side of the store where the item is or just say Isle number five sir. Sure there are a small minority of northerners who are helpful and outwardly friendly but ya gotta look hard to find them. I am not saying midwesterners are not "nice people" once you get to know them but midwesterners and northerners just don't go out of there way to be friendly to strangers the way people do in the south. So please don't use the mountains or the ocean as an excuse as to why people are moving out of the midwest by the ten of thousands. Take responsibility for your gloomy outward personalities. Be more friendly and helpful to strangers. Let people in to your lane when they are attempting to change lanes instead of going out of your way to not let them over. Smile more often In the south we have a saying "the biggest difference between northerners and southerners is that southerners waive with all five fingers". The gloomy midwesterner jokes and skits that Garrison Keillor has fun with on prairie home companion where born from real observations from himself and people from other parts of the country who have visited or live in the gloomy midwest. Sorry, but as a midwesterner who now lives in the south I can tell you that those gloomy midwesterner personality stereotypes are not stereotypes they are true. Maybe it's just the lack of sunshine that makes yawl so grumpy but whatever the reason, if you folks don't learn the art of having a happy outward personality you will continue to been seen by the rest of the country as the "gloomy people of the midwest".
Having lived in North Carolina and Wisconsin I find this post kind of strange honestly. It sounds like you were from Milwaukee. I believe Milwaukee is the only place on the Great Lakes that dumps raw sewage into the Lake. No wonder you had to watch out for water quality there. The same doesn't happen in even Chicago. But I agree with you that the old abandoned industral stuff along the Lakes needs to be torn down. These places are few and far between though.
But the whole manners and friendliness and "happiness" thing I just find a downright weird comparison. You are comparing northern IL/southeastern WI, the third most populous region in the country with some 12 million+ people, to some place in North Carolina? I've lived in North Carolina. I loved North Carolina. But Milwaukee/Chicago has more people than the entire state of North Carolina. It is pretty obvious to me that if there are less people to deal with every day and less people asking you questions than you will take more time to deal with them because you HAVE more time. I deal with this every day as a Physician. In one hospital where I am much busier I am indeed "shorter" with people because I would never be able to do my job properly if I wasn't. But at another hospital that is much slower paced and there are far fewer patients, I take more of my time, because I have it. Put that same North Carolina person in freaking Chicago/Milwaukee metro area where some 12 million people live and see what happens. Or better yet just go to the middle of Wisconsin or Illinois where there are far less people and you will get the exact same "North Carolina" friendliness you speak of.
Having lived in North Carolina and Wisconsin I find this post kind of strange honestly. It sounds like you were from Milwaukee. I believe Milwaukee is the only place on the Great Lakes that dumps raw sewage into the Lake. No wonder you had to watch out for water quality there. The same doesn't happen in even Chicago. But I agree with you that the old abandoned industral stuff along the Lakes needs to be torn down. These places are few and far between though.
But the whole manners and friendliness and "happiness" thing I just find a downright weird comparison. You are comparing northern IL/southeastern WI, the third most populous region in the country with some 12 million+ people, to some place in North Carolina? I've lived in North Carolina. I loved North Carolina. But Milwaukee/Chicago has more people than the entire state of North Carolina. It is pretty obvious to me that if there are less people to deal with every day and less people asking you questions than you will take more time to deal with them because you HAVE more time. I deal with this every day as a Physician. In one hospital where I am much busier I am indeed "shorter" with people because I would never be able to do my job properly if I wasn't. But at another hospital that is much slower paced and there are far fewer patients, I take more of my time, because I have it. Put that same North Carolina person in freaking Chicago/Milwaukee metro area where some 12 million people live and see what happens. Or better yet just go to the middle of Wisconsin or Illinois where there are far less people and you will get the exact same "North Carolina" friendliness you speak of.
There are 11.4 million people in the Chicago-Milwaukee "region" (which incidentally is about the size of N.C.)...there are 9.2 million people in the state of North Carolina. Don't make it sound like the difference in population is drastic - it isn't.
There are 11.4 million people in the Chicago-Milwaukee "region" (which incidentally is about the size of N.C.)...there are 9.2 million people in the state of North Carolina. Don't make it sound like the difference in population is drastic - it isn't.
The Chicago-Milwaukee region is nowhere near as large as the state of North Carolina.
That was a really strange statement that can easily be refuted by looking at a map.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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The people who are moving to the South are mostly upper middle class Whites who want lower taxes. They can afford to pay for private schools and other amenities the South usual lacks (good social services) so that is a non issue. In my part of Lexington KY its a lot of people who want a HUGE house for $250,000. Here that kind of money gets you 6 bedrooms and a 2 car garage in a snooty neighborhood, in Chicago that buys a crack house.
The people who are moving to the South are mostly upper middle class Whites who want lower taxes. They can afford to pay for private schools and other amenities the South usual lacks (good social services) so that is a non issue. In my part of Lexington KY its a lot of people who want a HUGE house for $250,000. Here that kind of money gets you 6 bedrooms and a 2 car garage in a snooty neighborhood, in Chicago that buys a crack house.
And where I live that $250,000 will get you Great public schools, close to great Universities, a nice house with 5 or 6 bedrooms, 3 or 4 baths, and 3 or 4 car garage (or separate garage and storage building) and usually a water view with several acres. Right on the water may cost more, but not always.
Psst, Minneapolis isn't a global city either. At least Milwaukee is the suburb of a global city.
It's a strange trend, but not entirely unexplainable. I have a few theories.
First, the Northeast and Midwest tend to be older than the South and West. Women also tend to outlive men so that can partially explain why the Eastern US has more women than men.
Second, men are more drawn to extreme sports like rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, spelunking, base-jumping, hang gliding, etc. Men tend to gravitate towards the Western states where these activities are more abundant.
It actually has a very noticeable international presence, of course not as much as the true majors. It's consistently named a gamma world city by GaWC
The Chicago-Milwaukee region is nowhere near as large as the state of North Carolina.
That was a really strange statement that can easily be refuted by looking at a map.
I think that was the point, Chicago/Milwaukee has around 11,500,000 in the combined urban area, compared to 9,200,000 people in the entire 55,000 square mile area of North Carolina. The largest city in North Carolina is 1/5 the size of the Chicago/Milwaukee area.
Hence you can't really compare a huge city to an entire fairly large state that doesn't even have as many people.
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