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While their biggest cities respectively have taken two different paths and very different in themselves do the other cities seem to have a quite a bit in common. BTW I'm not stating their exactly alike. As some could say Ohio is more like Michigan from their perspective. Just asking if they see any similarities between thsee two states only.
Both have a lot of natural beauty outside its cities
Both have a few mid size cities that didn't grow perhaps as big as they could have.
Syracuse as to Ann Arbor
Buffalo as to Flint
Albany as to Pontiac
Poughkeepsie as to Muskegon
Niagara Falls as to Mackinaw City
I couldnt find a New York Couterpart for Grand Rapids but here goes nothing...Rochester as to Grand Rapids
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There are similarities, but I wouldn’t say in the way you have described it. I say this as someone that attended school and has family in MI.
Ann Arbor is more like a bigger Ithaca versus being like Syracuse. I mean that in terms of having a “liberal”/artsy/quirky vibe.
Lansing/East Lansing combined is more like Syracuse in terms of being more blue collar, but with a strong university presences on the East Sides/suburbs of both areas.
I’d say the Grand Rapids/Rochester is pretty close given their metro populations and close proximity to a Great Lakes. Grand Rapids and much of western Michigan has a strong Dutch Reformed culture that you can’t find in NY.
There really isn’t an equivalent to Flint, which in city proper population is similar to Albany. Flint is a smaller metro though and that may still be the case if you include the adjacent Saginaw-Midland-Bay City metro, which usually teams up with bigger Flint area schools in terms of HS sports. Midland is similar to Corning in terms of company town with a major STEM based company(Dow Chemical in Midland and Corning Inc. in Corning).
Mackinaw is more in line with NY’s Thousand Islands Region and I'd say that the northern part of the mitten and the UP are more like NY’s North Country/Adirondacks regions.
Saginaw reminds me of Niagara Falls a bit in terms of size, being smaller city with a rough reputation and are known statewide for their HS Basketball teams.
Kalamazoo is similar to maybe Binghamton or Utica in terms of metros, but like Binghamton, has a pretty big college presence(Western MI in Kalamazoo and Binghamton U. in Vestal).
I don’t think there is a Buffalo equivalent in MI, even though it would fit in just fine there.
There isn’t a Benton Harbor/St. Joseph dynamic in NY(look it up see what I’m referring to).
Places like Baldwin, Covert and Cassopolis/Vandalia in MI are small towns in a similar vein of say Sodus, Monticello and say Liberty in terms of having a good degree and long time culturally diverse population.
Both have their share of Great Lakes beaches as well.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 06-09-2020 at 05:58 PM..
After looking through the OPs comparisons and examples, it looks to me like it has less in common than I thought.
More to the point, I don't think the OP knows NY at all. There are similarities between the states in a couple of places (parts of Detroit metro, Grand Rapids), and both states share some Great Lakes attributes (less than 1/3 of NY). But for the most part the comparisons given are a swing and a miss. Choosing to compare Flint to a city 3 times larger and the 2nd largest city in NY...just no. And as another poster said, Niagara Falls is 50 times bigger than Mackinaw City, and are very different kinds of places.
Any similarities between the states are typically rural areas (especially the flatter parts of Western and Central NY closer to Lake Ontario), and in the auto manufacturing areas near Buffalo. And with that, many of those similarities are shared with multiple Northern states.
Last edited by RocketSci; 06-10-2020 at 06:50 AM..
After looking through the OPs comparisons and examples, it looks to me like it has less in common than I thought.
More to the point, I don't think the OP knows NY at all. There are similarities between the states in a couple of places (parts of Detroit metro, Grand Rapids), and both states share some Great Lakes attributes (less than 1/3 of NY). But for the most part the comparisons given are a swing and a miss. Choosing to compare Flint to a city 3 times larger and the 2nd largest city in NY...just no. And as another poster said, Niagara Falls is 50 times bigger than Mackinaw City, and are very different kinds of places.
Any similarities between the states are typically rural areas (especially the flatter parts of Western and Central NY closer to Lake Ontario), and in the auto manufacturing areas near Buffalo. And with that, many of those similarities are shared with multiple Northern states.
My apologies. I was basing my comparisons on characteristics and not that much really on populations.
For instance if two cities have a major university or were industrial powerhouses at one time. Lol I'm aware how much bigger Niagra Falls is then Mackinaw City lolol and yes people come from everywhere outside the state to visit Niagra Falls. I was just keeping it within the states itself. My evaluation was two places were people within the state travel to for its natural beauty. So far I'm seeing there may be less in common or the same as many may thought before and yeah they both have large rural areas that are very scenic.
I can definitely see similarities between Upstate NY and Michigan - both are characterized by "rust-belt" cities built on manufacturing and other industry, with surrounding rural areas dominated by agriculture. One difference is that you'll find much more dairy farming in NYS, whereas crop farming is more prevalent in Michigan (although there is a fair amount of crop farming in Western NYS). Another analogy would be the Upper Peninsula of MI to the Adirondacks of NYS. Both are very sparsely populated areas more physiographically reminiscent of central Canada, dotted with numerous lakes and pine forests.
I can definitely see similarities between Upstate NY and Michigan - both are characterized by "rust-belt" cities built on manufacturing and other industry, with surrounding rural areas dominated by agriculture. One difference is that you'll find much more dairy farming in NYS, whereas crop farming is more prevalent in Michigan (although there is a fair amount of crop farming in Western NYS). Another analogy would be the Upper Peninsula of MI to the Adirondacks of NYS. Both are very sparsely populated areas more physiographically reminiscent of central Canada, dotted with numerous lakes and pine forests.
There is dairy farming in MI too. In fact, Michigan State has a Dairy Bar on its campus and I believe the dairy products in the on campus dining facilities is made at the on campus farm.
I would include the 1000 Islands of NY and Mackinaw Island in MI as being similar areas in the northern portions of both states.
Yeah, it's actually called the Dairy Store and they have a grilled cheese sandwich special on Mondays for 2 bucks with a cup of tomato soup to die for. Michigan has a lot of dairy farming and cheese manufacturers.
While not identical, I'd say they are similar. NY's dutch influence is centered downstate and other than names of locations, sort of faded away, short of some Roosevelt and Van Wyck descendants. Michigan has thriving Dutch communities.
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