[magellan]

Originally Posted by michmoldman

Magellan is right on. Seems this person only hangs with the people who they share the same feelings and opinions. These people are actually the ones, who most of us normal people, think are totally out of touch with the real world. Are they really trying to say that if you don't travel, then you are kinda an idiot? I would say that 80-90% of the people in this country do not travel from state to state all that much. Although I do feel a bit like Patrick from Spongebob now.

Haha!

I'm not glorifying mediocrity by any stretch. I just find that sometimes when people say others are "unenlightened", it's just that they don't agree with them and like to put people down to reinforce their own self-aggrandizement.

Are there people in Michigan who are stuck in the past? Certainly. Are there more people in Michigan stuck in the past than the national average? I don't even know how you'd measure that, especially on anecdotal evidence.

I will say that the crushing demise of the auto industry in Michigan is forcing a lot of talented thought leaders to leave the state, especially in engineering and R&D. It's not a culture thing, it's a J.O.B. thing.

[St Starseed]

Originally Posted by magellan

Are there people in Michigan who are stuck in the past? Certainly. Are there more people in Michigan stuck in the past than the national average? I don't even know how you'd measure that, especially on anecdotal evidence.

magellan's point is excellent. The country, and certainly not just Michigan, is full of millions of people "stuck in the past". (rural West Virginia? or rural Kentucky? just as examples out of thin air.) I don't think that makes them "bad people" or "less enlightened" than the stereotypical elites who populate San Francisco or New York, for example. They just, as someone else pointed out, look at the world differently. And quite obviously: Everyone is certainly entitled to their view of the world, and I think it's rare that anyone comes across people whose worldviews are offensively off base or hopelessly out of touch with reality (let's bring back the horse-and-buggy, for example).

What bothers me is when people let their worldviews and "the past" stand in the way of new and good things. And you find this in metroDetroit a lot: people pining for the glory days of the auto industry, or people who won't go to a Tigers game because the money pit of Tiger Stadium was torn down. Of course, there's a lot of value in history (I LOVED Tiger Stadium), but it's good to accept that things change. And it's rare they don't change for the better. We evolve. We improve. We go from dying kids to smallpox vaccines. We go from starving to supermarkets. We go from mainframes to iphones. The UScan at Meijer is here to stay, and to those who say it displaces workers, I point out that the PC displaced a lot of typists and typewriter companies, but that's worked out pretty well for everyone, hasn't it?

Of all the states in the union, Michigan is one of the most ripe for a makeover, and while it's impossible to expect the state to do a 180 is impossible, if there's any time in the last 100 years (or maybe ever?) when the state and its business and political leaders need to be open-minded, now is that time.

Thank you also to the person who pointed out that explaining Michigan is pretty much impossible. You're absolutely right. It's too diverse. Dearborn is not Big Rapids. Perhaps I should have titled this thread "Could someone please explain metroDetroiters to me," but I don't think that would have generated the same interest, so it's worked out.

[M TYPE X]

You can have your horse-and-buggy, but hands off my Meijer! Just when I think I can't take any more ... I'm back in there, buying stuff. All of this progressive-wannabe smoking-banning stuff is fine by me, but don't touch my Meijer. Or my cold weather. Or my loser Lions football (obviously, I really don't care)!

Back to the issue at hand for the OP: Northville (and the western suburbs in general) are a very hip and progressive place. For example, when you get more money, you can upgrade from a Ford Fusion to the Mercury Milan! And when you REALLY hit the big time, there's the Lincoln MKZ. Is there life beyond the Lincoln? Of course not, Lincoln is the best. I know that because my neighbors* (they all work for Ford) told me so.

So, how about them sleepy sidewalks? Kids get off my lawn!* Back in my day, we had to walk 15 miles in the snow ... now we just drive 30 miles in the snow at about oh 25 mph to get to the office.

*: I don't have neighbors in Northville yet, but will be moving there before summer. Also, I'll be renting, so no lawn. Hope this doesn't hurt anyone.

[annika08]

People, U-Scan absolutely sucks at Meijers. It doesn't read half of the barcodes, and the machine will randomnly stop working or the belt will stop running.

I don't know how to explain Michigan, but I get real sick of being stereo-typed with Detroit and Flint. I work at a hotel, and so many visitors come through and say things like "Wow, I'm surprised that the state is actually so pretty." Everyone seems to think it's all just one giant ghetto.

[UKUKUK]

To sum it up in one word: Pride.

Michigan is a beautiful place with beautiful people who just like to do things their way, even if its not the best way. If it weren't for the fact that it is cold and jobless, I'd be calling it my future home in a few months :P

[darstar]

Just outside Detroit...is a place called Michigan....and just over the Bridge is a place called Superior, am glad I left the lower part....but sad to say , we are still Michigan residents. We do not have a Meijers , only one Lowes ( new ) , and a whole lot of other things we don't want , need , or can live without.....

[YAZ]

Originally Posted by annika08

I don't know how to explain Michigan, but I get real sick of being stereo-typed with Detroit and Flint. I work at a hotel, and so many visitors come through and say things like "Wow, I'm surprised that the state is actually so pretty." Everyone seems to think it's all just one giant ghetto.

Even folks that have moved out here to Phoenix from Cleveland or Chicago think that. I say that I'm from MI and they almost always say: "Detroit must be a crappy place to live".

I simply reply that I wouldn't know; I never lived there.

They look at me funny cuz they don't realize that MI is a fairly large state with lots of different topography.

My wife is a "Desert Girl"; she will freak out when she sees the U.P. for the first time, as she's only been to SE Michigan.

I hope it's a windy day on the Mackinac Bridge.....

[YAZ]

Originally Posted by darstar

Just outside Detroit...is a place called Michigan....and just over the Bridge is a place called Superior, am glad I left the lower part....but sad to say , we are still Michigan residents. We do not have a Meijers , only one Lowes ( new ) , and a whole lot of other things we don't want , need , or can live without.....

Give me a tent and a canoe and I could be very happy for a long time in the U.P.

[darstar]

Originally Posted by YAZ

Give me a tent and a canoe and I could be very happy for a long time in the U.P.

Does get a little chilly...in the tent in the winter time. ( We have had 78" of white stuff , so far....)

[malamute]

Plus there is a feeling you get when you get just beyond the state line into Michigan. It's different. The further north you go, the stronger that feeling gets - the big cities are in the southern portion and once you get beyond them, you're in small town Michigan. Temperatures cool off, you begin to see more and more white bark of birch trees.

I think Longsworth "Song of Hiawatha" best gives a feeling of Michigan.