Other forums knock Michigan? (Marquette: places to live, restaurants, best to)

darstar · 03-05-2010, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michigan83

I agree.

My take on the effect of unions in Michigan is this: We have unions to thank for the standard of living that the middle class enjoyed during the "good 'ol days" of the auto industry. This is true. However, when you consider that the standard of living was unsustainable... did it really do us any good in the long run?

Look at it this way: If the UAW hadn't bullied the auto companies into such ridiculous contracts, our state never would have experienced the enormous "bubble" in middle-class wealth. And I think we would have been better off. Is it better to experience a short-lived "golden age" that is unsustainable, or to have a somewhat lower standard of living that can actually continue into the future?

In my opinion, the horrific pain of the collapse from the "golden age" of union jobs is much worse than if we had never these wonderful union jobs at all. Now our state is structured for a tax base that will probably never return. In the long run, I think the UAW did everyone a huge disservice by pushing for wages and benefits that eventually led to our collapse. Yes, it was great when times were good. But the bursting bubble is more painful than an uninflated bubble ever could have been.

Just one more reason for National Single payer health car Insurance. The Unions drove up the price of Health care...and the Auto Cos. gave in. They created a high cost problem we all are faced with . Not to blame anyone now , it does no good , what needs to be done..is fix it !

darstar · 03-05-2010, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psulions2007

The Great Lakes, along with the Appalachian Mountains, are my favorite landform in this country. They are so beautiful, and they don't attack you like certain other shorelines...

Me too. Lived in both places many years. Now if we could just move the Blue Rridge up north somehow...

marmaladeskies · 03-06-2010, 08:42 AM

Michigan has lead the down turn with the collapse of the auto industry, they are the psoter child for how not to do things and how greed although profitable now can destroy the goose in the end. In the end Michigan other than work had no great apeal except to those who live there. It was never and most likely never will be a destination for tourism except for those from nearby areas. As far as a retirement place mostly for only those who worked in the plants of souther MI and wanted to live in the north and then I watched as many of them moved to places like AZ and FL in the end for the great winters.

canudigit · 03-06-2010, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marmaladeskies

Michigan has lead the down turn with the collapse of the auto industry, they are the psoter child for how not to do things and how greed although profitable now can destroy the goose in the end. In the end Michigan other than work had no great apeal except to those who live there. It was never and most likely never will be a destination for tourism except for those from nearby areas. As far as a retirement place mostly for only those who worked in the plants of souther MI and wanted to live in the north and then I watched as many of them moved to places like AZ and FL in the end for the great winters.

and then, in many cases, moved right back because of the horrific summers. There's a reason why people become snowbirds, lol.

danielj72 · 03-06-2010, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marmaladeskies

Michigan has lead the down turn with the collapse of the auto industry, they are the psoter child for how not to do things and how greed although profitable now can destroy the goose in the end. In the end Michigan other than work had no great apeal except to those who live there. It was never and most likely never will be a destination for tourism except for those from nearby areas. As far as a retirement place mostly for only those who worked in the plants of souther MI and wanted to live in the north and then I watched as many of them moved to places like AZ and FL in the end for the great winters.

You can say Michigan has no apeal to people outside the midwest, and in the case of some people you may be right. Not everyone can handle our climate. However Michigan is far nicer and more scenic than sun baked Arizona. Everytime Ive ever been there I wonder what the draw is. Desert, rediculous heat, dead landscapes. This describes 90% of the state. Yea there are some really scenic features in N Arizona, like the grand canyon but most of the state is barren wasteland. Even the flat agricultural parts of Michigan that people out west love to talk about are much nicer than those burned out deserts. I cant wait for the day that all those midwest bashers out in the desert run out of water. I bet thier tune changes when they look at the trillions of gallons of water we are surrounded by. Not one drop folks, you wont get a drop. Well remember all the Michigan bashing you did. Its your desert, you live in it.

canudigit · 03-06-2010, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marmaladeskies

Michigan has lead the down turn with the collapse of the auto industry, they are the psoter child for how not to do things and how greed although profitable now can destroy the goose in the end. In the end Michigan other than work had no great apeal except to those who live there. It was never and most likely never will be a destination for tourism except for those from nearby areas. As far as a retirement place mostly for only those who worked in the plants of souther MI and wanted to live in the north and then I watched as many of them moved to places like AZ and FL in the end for the great winters.

And the sunbelt states are the poster child for how not to grow--too fast with very poor planning and overbuilt real estate that resulted in the biggest housing bubble burst in the history of this country. Places like Las Vegas and Phoenix will be digging themselves out of the housing crisis for many years to come. Michigan was built on the automotive industry, those places were built on the construction industry. Looks like they are equally in trouble, except that the automotive industry is starting to make a strong comeback and Michigan, through great tax incentives, is beginning to have a film industry that is attracting people from the Hollywood crowd. Google it if you don't believe me. Michigan is on its way back.

JGatti · 03-06-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marmaladeskies

Michigan has lead the down turn with the collapse of the auto industry, they are the psoter child for how not to do things and how greed although profitable now can destroy the goose in the end. In the end Michigan other than work had no great apeal except to those who live there. It was never and most likely never will be a destination for tourism except for those from nearby areas. As far as a retirement place mostly for only those who worked in the plants of souther MI and wanted to live in the north and then I watched as many of them moved to places like AZ and FL in the end for the great winters.

I was not even going to respond to this as I did not think it was worth the bother. I am curious though, do you live have you ever lived in Michigan? Your take on everything seems to be based on the news media reports over the past couple of years. The auto companies although a short sighted and based around greed in many peoples eye's did not fall all on their own, neither did our tourist industry that reached much further than the so called NEAR bye states. I seem to recall a certain resource who's price skyrocketed out of control and helped kill our two largest industries. Kill the industries kill the state.