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Old 08-24-2014, 10:33 AM
 
130 posts, read 184,763 times
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I was the closest relative of an aunt who lived in Hancock who I barely knew. I was tasked with convincing her to move into an assisted living home in Calumet and later I settled her estate after she passed. This took place over a number of years and I’d spend a day or two up there a couple of times a year to visit her and straighten out her affairs. I can’t remember running into anyone who was not friendly and helpful and I needed plenty of help. I almost came to think of the area as like Mayberry except with a different accent. I can remember going over to city hall about something, maybe about settling her water bill and transferring it to the new owner of her house, and when I went in there they already knew who I was even though I had never set foot in that building before.

If I lived there and had to put up with the winters and the isolation I think I’d be pretty grumpy, in fact I’m pretty grumpy anyway just living in Grand Rapids. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to live there long ago before the internet or the civilizing effect of Michigan Tech. My father grew up in Houghton. Back in the thirties when he was seventeen, after he’d seen the bright lights of Detroit after attending a funeral, he left Houghton and never returned.

Nice article about that area and the Finns (and the isolation) in today’s Free Press:

http://http://www.freep.com/article/20140824/COL46/308240086/finnish-culture-keweenaw-peninsula-sauna
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Old 08-24-2014, 07:16 PM
 
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See the front page of today's Detrtoit Free Press. The Finnish culture is what keeps the Keweenaw alive.
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Old 08-25-2014, 06:14 AM
 
Location: Atlanta
4,439 posts, read 5,502,515 times
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That was a very good article - what a beautful family in the video, all that blond hair...lol. I used to look like that when I was a kid, too. That's the amazing thing about this country, that we have places that are so far away and so different than the rest of America, and yet you don't even need to cross an international border to get there. Pretty awesome, if you ask me.

A beautiful people in a beautiful place with a climate to die for (in my opinion of course) - that's a place I'd love to be.

Perhaps I'll be able to live among them one of these days.
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Old 08-25-2014, 09:22 AM
 
Location: Michigan
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I lived in Houghton/Hancock for 5.5 years while attending MTU. I recall Calumet/Laurium/Kearsarge being an economically depressed area. Houses could be had for a song, but I was afraid to buy one there because I didn't think I'd be able to resell it when I graduated. Calumet still has a few traces of its former glory; there is a remarkable old theater with excellent acoustics and a couple of grand old churches.

The OP's description of the people seems a bit excessive, though. The locals I met were good people. I admit that almost all the natives I interacted with were connected with MTU somehow, so maybe they were above average in some ways, but I have to believe that their manners and characters were products of their upbringing in that environment.

I also remember four different varieties of Lutheranism in the area -- the 3 nationally known groups, and one peculiar local group. They were almost a cult, maybe a bit like the "Sanctified Brethren" that Garrison Keillor talks about (that area is not too far from where Lake Wobegon would be if it were real). They espoused the "full quiver" ideology, so there were these households swarming with angelic little blond kids.

Last edited by tuebor; 08-25-2014 at 09:56 AM..
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Old 08-25-2014, 12:41 PM
 
123 posts, read 223,185 times
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Free Spirit
I have been to Calumet a few times and from a visitors point of view it seemed like a decent place, but I appreciate your points after you have lived there. As others have mentioned an isolated location combined with a lack of opportunity is not conducive to motivating people to better themselves.
Overall I still like the U.P. better than other "similar" areas that I have been to such as:
West Virginia/Eastern KY
The rural deep South - Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana
Central Florida
Indian reservations in the western states
Deep woods Maine
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Old 08-25-2014, 12:53 PM
 
Location: Loving life in Gaylord!
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I couldn't do Calumet, but I could do Marquette easily!
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Old 08-25-2014, 01:14 PM
 
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I grew up in the UP back in the 40's & 50's and was going to write a few lines about that but I realize that it would sound to depressing. I left as soon as I graduated high school, the next morning as a matter of fact, and over the last 55 years I only went back a couple of times. Family is gone now so I'll never go back again. As someone mentioned above, it is a place that is stuck in another time. They have a different outlook and attitude about life there. The town I'm from is slowing falling down and nobody cares. When I was there last in (2012) there were abandoned cars in people's yards that were there in the 50's when I left. Visit there , but don't try to live there if you're not from there, you'll never fit in and you'll never adapt to that way of life.
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Old 08-25-2014, 02:27 PM
 
6 posts, read 22,694 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthStarDelight View Post
But if someone has a good, "outside" source of income, is able to buy a house debt-free, and has a unholy love for snow (that's me...lol) - would the Keweenaw be a desirable place to live for someone like that?

This actually describes exactly what I'm doing. I just rented a place for the winter in Houghton so I can scout around for property. I haven't ruled out Marquette either so will be checking it out as well. Have an occupation I can telecommute but money isn't an issue, largely because I'm single and have no dependents, which makes it far more doable. I don't really care much about culture: I usually create my own in terms of finding like-minded people to hang with. Being originally from the Midwest, I have some familiarity with the region and have visited the UP a number of times.

Currently, I live out West and am a massive snow lover and avid XC and back country skier (as well as mountain biker, which the UP is also known for). That's the major draw for me, as well as reasonable real estate, another big draw. But I also know the associated hassles with living in deep snow and cold and not sure I can hack it. We'll see. It's a lot colder in the UP than where I do most of my mountain skiing. At least here i get to come home to moderate temps and dry streets at the end of the day. In the UP, it's 24/7 cold and snow and driving on winter roads, which can be exhausting. On the other hand, I won't have to drive four hours round trip to go XC skiing in the UP. More like four minutes. That's a huge draw for me, enough that I'm willing to put up with the harsher conditions. And being able to buy a house that's three to four times cheaper there than here leaves me plenty of reserve funds to pay for the high heating bills and other associated costs.

At least, this is my plan - anyone with any input feel free to chime in. I'm totally winging it.

Will be happy to provide occasional reports to anyone interested. And thinking about creating a blog to document my adventure, so I'll post a link here if it happens. Will be arriving there the first week of October. I reserve the right to change my mind about living up there too - I'm not entering into this lightly. Have awakened a couple times in the wee hours lately thinking "What the heck have I got myself into!?" Glad to hear others say that Houghton is a lot more vibrant than the rest of the Keewenaw - that's what my research has shown too, and from what I remember when I last visited there a few years ago.

Regarding the OP's comments, I'd say some of what they are describing is going on everywhere - it certainly is in the college town in which I live, and I'm not talking about students. In the last five years, there has been a significant decline in the life quality for many people here, so in my opinion some of what is happening in the Keewenaw is probably related to the national economic climate. But I can also imagine that places like Calumet have been struggling a lot longer. It goes with the territory in remote places like that.
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Old 08-25-2014, 04:27 PM
 
1,105 posts, read 1,619,824 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nodpete View Post
I grew up in the UP back in the 40's & 50's and was going to write a few lines about that but I realize that it would sound to depressing. I left as soon as I graduated high school, the next morning as a matter of fact, and over the last 55 years I only went back a couple of times. Family is gone now so I'll never go back again. As someone mentioned above, it is a place that is stuck in another time. They have a different outlook and attitude about life there. The town I'm from is slowing falling down and nobody cares. When I was there last in (2012) there were abandoned cars in people's yards that were there in the 50's when I left. Visit there , but don't try to live there if you're not from there, you'll never fit in and you'll never adapt to that way of life.

I've talked to several people over time who either tried to make a go of a business in the UP or know someone else who did. The story is that they just weren't accepted by the folks up there because they weren't born and raised in the UP. They finally just moved somewhere else which is sad to me if people reject others just due to the fact that they are from another area. I guess this is part of why I finally decided to stay in the northern lower.
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Old 08-26-2014, 05:20 AM
 
Location: Bliss Township, Michigan
6,424 posts, read 13,177,513 times
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A lot of it has to do with attitude. If you move to an area that has a different life style, as much of the north western UP has, and you're from down state or city, then expect your new town to be like where you left or try changing the way life is there, then you will be rejected. You need to want that newer life style. When talking with some of the locals the worst things you could say is, "well back in (name any city) we did it this way". Any statement like that will get you nowhere but pushed out. My wife is from the UP, and I've know most the towns and back roads like the back of my hand, and never once have I run across an unfriendly local. Again, moving to a small UP town is a whole different life style for most, and you must want to live that life.
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