[FreeSpirited1]

Hello all,

It's been some time that I have posted, since moving to Calumet, MI in late 2013 to care for my Dad (Bless his soul, passed this past March...love you, Daddy!) and I have encountered some of the most unsavory, unusual and sad souls that I have ever come across; this being said, I grew up in Mil, WI and spent a great deal of years in Los Angeles, CA. Calumet/Keweenaw Peninsula ie "Copper Island" is set to put most people on a path of self-destruction and/or isolation. I don't understand...small town comfort is not here and people are only as friendly as they are drunk or drugged or think they can play you.

Ya. Not the same place I vacationed w/family from Mil, WI as a young person and adult. I guess it takes living here, to really know.

I am curious how others' perception of Calumet and surrounding areas? Please, dig dip and just as soon as I start my blog...oh, ya...Calumet, MI is the opening chapter, LOL. Please share your most honest opinions of the area and why would anyone choose to live here? I'm on my way out; can't function here, with such limited job opps and so few people who have a car, debit or credit card or bank account. It is f'n weird

Not on internet so often, due to where I live and the crazies I've dealt with, but I will promise to include the most vivid and entertaining stories in my blog, with screen name cred on my upcoming blog...the one I can only start in a place where wi-fi isn't a foreign term LOL.

Very interested in locals but unlikely, as they probably don't have internet, and if they do, it's not my best guess they would find city data forum, though I have highly recommended it to the 3 people I met who have a working brain.

OK this sounds mean, but really...if you haven't lived here and gotten to know the locals, ya just don't know.

FreeSpirited1

[magellan]

Originally Posted by FreeSpirited1

Hello all,

It's been some time that I have posted, since moving to Calumet, MI in late 2013 to care for my Dad (Bless his soul, passed this past March...love you, Daddy!) and I have encountered some of the most unsavory, unusual and sad souls that I have ever come across; this being said, I grew up in Mil, WI and spent a great deal of years in Los Angeles, CA. Calumet/Keweenaw Peninsula ie "Copper Island" is set to put most people on a path of self-destruction and/or isolation. I don't understand...small town comfort is not here and people are only as friendly as they are drunk or drugged or think they can play you.

Ya. Not the same place I vacationed w/family from Mil, WI as a young person and adult. I guess it takes living here, to really know.

I am curious how others' perception of Calumet and surrounding areas? Please, dig dip and just as soon as I start my blog...oh, ya...Calumet, MI is the opening chapter, LOL. Please share your most honest opinions of the area and why would anyone choose to live here? I'm on my way out; can't function here, with such limited job opps and so few people who have a car, debit or credit card or bank account. It is f'n weird

Not on internet so often, due to where I live and the crazies I've dealt with, but I will promise to include the most vivid and entertaining stories in my blog, with screen name cred on my upcoming blog...the one I can only start in a place where wi-fi isn't a foreign term LOL.

Very interested in locals but unlikely, as they probably don't have internet, and if they do, it's not my best guess they would find city data forum, though I have highly recommended it to the 3 people I met who have a working brain.

OK this sounds mean, but really...if you haven't lived here and gotten to know the locals, ya just don't know.

FreeSpirited1

It's a town of 700 or so people at least 5 hours from any kind of population center, with some of the most hostile weather on the planet. It might as well be a small town in rural Quebec. I'm sorry but nobody in their right minds chooses to live in places like that. What exactly were you expecting?

[Luzette]

Sounds like it's just too much isolation up there.

[GraniteStater]

Rural UP culture is a culture all its own in many ways. A big part of the problem now is the huge out-migration of most younger and middle age people and a general lack of outsiders even considering moving into the area, unless for retirement. In my opinion, it is one of the most insular areas of the US in many ways (strong northern European reservedness), but that is also a contributing factor to the low levels of job growth outside of a few select areas like Marquette. Severe amounts of snow (200-300 inches a winter) scares most people off, even those that like a lot of snow.

[Luzette]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Rural UP culture is a culture all its own in many ways. A big part of the problem now is the huge out-migration of most younger and middle age people and a general lack of outsiders even considering moving into the area, unless for retirement. In my opinion, it is one of the most insular areas of the US in many ways (strong northern European reservedness), but that is also a contributing factor to the low levels of job growth outside of a few select areas like Marquette. Severe amounts of snow (200-300 inches a winter) scares most people off, even those that like a lot of snow.

I've seriously thought about moving to the UP over these last years, but I finally decided against it. I know it's beautiful up there, and Lake Superior would be a big plus for anyone living there. However, for myself it's too much additional snow when I already have a hard time with our LP winters. I think that's the question I finally had to ask myself. Was I willing to try and tolerate a longer winter? My answer was always no.

[NorthStarDelight]

Originally Posted by FreeSpirited1

Hello all,

It's been some time that I have posted, since moving to Calumet, MI in late 2013 to care for my Dad (Bless his soul, passed this past March...love you, Daddy!) and I have encountered some of the most unsavory, unusual and sad souls that I have ever come across; this being said, I grew up in Mil, WI and spent a great deal of years in Los Angeles, CA. Calumet/Keweenaw Peninsula ie "Copper Island" is set to put most people on a path of self-destruction and/or isolation. I don't understand...small town comfort is not here and people are only as friendly as they are drunk or drugged or think they can play you.

Ya. Not the same place I vacationed w/family from Mil, WI as a young person and adult. I guess it takes living here, to really know.

I am curious how others' perception of Calumet and surrounding areas? Please, dig dip and just as soon as I start my blog...oh, ya...Calumet, MI is the opening chapter, LOL. Please share your most honest opinions of the area and why would anyone choose to live here? I'm on my way out; can't function here, with such limited job opps and so few people who have a car, debit or credit card or bank account. It is f'n weird

Not on internet so often, due to where I live and the crazies I've dealt with, but I will promise to include the most vivid and entertaining stories in my blog, with screen name cred on my upcoming blog...the one I can only start in a place where wi-fi isn't a foreign term LOL.

Very interested in locals but unlikely, as they probably don't have internet, and if they do, it's not my best guess they would find city data forum, though I have highly recommended it to the 3 people I met who have a working brain.

OK this sounds mean, but really...if you haven't lived here and gotten to know the locals, ya just don't know.

FreeSpirited1

I'd be very interested in reading your blog if and when you have it posted - will you be doing it here on C-D or on a site of your own?

I took a trip up to the Keweenaw in the summer of '13 and absolutely fell in love with the place, and I got the impression the local populace were nice, friendly people easy to get along with. This winter, I'm considering a trip up there in to see the big snow, as I'm a HUGE fan of snow - there can never be too much, in my opinion...lol.

Having lived in the South all of my life, I have a huge desire to move to a cold, snowy climate - in years past, I've had my eyes set on Central New York (Syracuse area) and western NY (Jamestown area), but when I made that trip up to the UP, the first thing I said was "I wanna live here!"

Yeah, I know visiting a place in the warmest time of the year, with those locals putting on friendly smiles to make as much money from the tourists in the their too-short tourist season isn't going to give a good picture of what it's like to really live there, so I know I need to dig deep - really deep before making the big leap to move to a place like the Keweenaw. So I'll not be making any sort of rash decsision, that's for sure.

Freespirted - can you give more detail on what the locals are really like - crime isn't a problem up there, is it? I know income levels aren't very high there, but the cost of living is quite low, so that would balance things out a bit, I would think? As for a job, that's irrevelant, as I havn't had a job in years, and I'd not be moving until I had a good, *sustainable* source of income that I can rely on regardless of where I live, which means it probably will be a while before I move away from Atlanta anyhow. 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?

I'd love to hear the "real deal" from someone who's actually lived there and is willing to share what they know.

[michmoldman]

Long brutal Winters and isolation can do strange things to people.

[michigan83]

This is why I enjoy the "lower peninsula rural life." Sure, the scenery isn't as magnificent, but you can still have peace and quiet, plenty of space, nature, etc, but I can get to Lansing in a half hour, Grand Rapids in one hour, Kalamazoo in one hour, Ann Arbor in one hour, Detroit in 1.5 hours, etc. As much as I love nature, civilization is what makes life interesting.

[NorthStarDelight]

Originally Posted by michigan83

This is why I enjoy the "lower peninsula rural life." Sure, the scenery isn't as magnificent, but you can still have peace and quiet, plenty of space, nature, etc, but I can get to Lansing in a half hour, Grand Rapids in one hour, Kalamazoo in one hour, Ann Arbor in one hour, Detroit in 1.5 hours, etc. As much as I love nature, civilization is what makes life interesting.

Yes, the LP is nice, my uncle lives in SE Michigan, in one of those nice suburbs of the Detroit area. But then again, Atlanta and the SE are nice too, if it wasn't for the danged heat...lol.

As for the isolation factor in the Keweenaw, I would have to say there's a pretty big difference between life in Calumet / Laurium compared to the Houghton / Hancock area. 3000 people compared to 11,000, plus all those students from not one, but two universities. I'd not feel too isolated at all if I lived in Houghton, which is really like an oasis in the vast wilderness of the north. If could be friends with an English professor or two, I'd be set. But I just love all those old buildings in Calumet, and the cost to buy one of those beauties just makes it sooo tempting...lol.

Let's see what I think of the place when I travel there in the middle of winter.

[magellan]

I think you can only live in a completely isolated place like this is if you go completely "off grid" and live off of hunting, trapping and fishing, like all those shows on Discovery and NatGeo. Trying to live in the 21st century in a place that is socially still stuck in the 19th Century WILL drive a person mad.

I always picture places like that resembling David Lynch films. Or the movie Fargo. Desolate, dissolute, depressing.