Michigan Rocks!!!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I just got back from a weekend in Grand Rapids. Grandville to be more precise, a suburb of Grand Rapids. I saw beautiful country, wonderfully polite people, and the most intensely adorable accents. I felt like I was in the heart of America. Although it was a great time, there were some issues that come to mind. Any MI dopers out there?

So what gives? Everybody there was blonde, and if I asked any questions about “minorities”, or the fact that I was the only Jew out there, nevermind the fact that I was also most likely the only practicing Buddhist out there, I got strange looks and quick subject changes. The diners give out pamphlets on Jesus and Christianity, the High School there won’t allow teaching about other cultures and religions. I assume the “Middle America” charm comes from some kind of deeply hidden paranoia and fear of change and anything not white and Christian. But that didn’t stop me from having a good time. It does still linger in the back of my mind and makes me curious as to why people in the modern age with access to the internet and cable television don’t know about what’s out there, or are not curious.

I visited my girlfriends high school there, spoke to her teachers, hung out with some of the students and some students in the local community college there. Spoke to some families we had meals with, and all in all, I see a strange movie about a small town of “Clean Cut” Christian White folk storing all the “others” in basements and praying to UFO’s when tourists aren’t around. Freaks me out a bit. Oh yeah, very Bush heavy out there, if you even mention Gore, laser beams come out of peoples eyes and hit you from every angle.

2

sounds about right. Welcome back. Michigan is very similar to Wisonsin. Kinda scary there.

3

Ah yes, the source of my true problems.

The people who do realise the world is bigger than that die slowly of mental anguish. By my estimate in the entire state there are:

7 gays (all in Ann Arbor)
4 non whites (outside of Flint and Detroit)
2 asian americans
3 Jews
1 Buddist
87 Pagans (back woods)

The burbs can get very, very scary. The backwoods have thier own issues (poverty, drug abuse) The ‘cities’ are holes. But the lakes are beautiful.

4

I know nothing about the rest of Michigan. I live in Ann Arbor, which in fact has more than 7 gays. Ann Arbor is the oddball city in the state. Casual, funky, overeducated, international, high tech, opinionated, art-loving. I’ve never been to Grand Rapids, but it’s getting close to Amway country and I suspect it’s much more conservative than we freakazoids in this area.

We’ve got a very active Buddhist community here, BTW.

The rest of Michigan is a real mixed bag. But then aren’t all states like that, to some degree? People and politics aside, the geography is lovely.

5

There are esentially four parts to Michigan. The Upper Peninsula, the western half of the Lower Peninsula, the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula, and the metro Detroit area.

Metro Detroit: Large populations of minorities including the largest Muslim population outside of the Middle East. About 1/2 million if I remember correctly. Life revolves around the Auto industry. People are polite and friendly compared to many big cities. Some areas are really rundown and ugly, but a lot of improvement is being done. Suburbs are very strong and contain a large portion of interests and money. Detroit is very Democratic versus the rest of the state. Wayne County, (the one Detroit is in), is the only county where Gore won, yet Gore took the state.

Upper Peninsula: Even funnier accents than what you heard. They are essentially a mix between Canadians and Americans with a little weird thrown in. Some of the nicest people you can meet. The most beautiful land in Michigan is in the Upper Peninsula. Lake in the Clouds, Painted Rock boat tour, and Toquominin (sp?) Falls are some of the things to check out.

Western half of Lower Peninsula: Large population of Dutch settled there. The city Holland is a perfect example. It has that traditional Christian feel with many of the blonde hair people mentioned.

Eastern half of the Lower Peninsula: It mixes Metro Detroit and the west half. There is a large industrial base and contains the Christian, country feel.

About the accents, the local newspaper did an article about the growing accents of Michigan and Wisconsin. This comes as a shock to most people because they firmly believe that their accents are normal. They say they sound like people on TV and in the movies.

One last thing, Michigan is very flat but full of lakes, rivers, and forests. Farming only chops up the bottom part of the Lower Peninsula leaving most of the state intact for some immense forests.

I’m from the Metro Detroit area but have visited the other areas frequently. If someone else has a different way to divide the state, please let me know.

6

well, yes, it’s a beautiful state. The West side of the place, does, however, tend to the stereotypes you saw. Remember, tho’ that the state went to Gore, for example, AND 2/3 of the voters voted AGAINST school vouchers. (both of which made our guv really, really mad!)
Lot’s more diversity in other areas, try coming to Lansing for example (we’ve got MSU, lots of museums, the arts, wide variety of religious beliefs etc - even some gay bars!!).

and only a short drive away from some of those tremendous lakes and scenic areas.

Oh, and ** Wolverine:** I’d go: UP (a different world), northern(pretty much knuckls on up) strata, D-troit, Western strata (Grand Rapids, Muskegon and south), the thumb, and central area (Lansing, and Ann Arbor are more similiar than not)…

7

I too find western Michigan a little back woodsy for my tastes. Not blatantly racist (at least not to my face), but a little too Leave It to Beaver for me. I seemed to be at my most “exotic” while out there. Even more so than when I moved to the tiny podunk town of Greenford, Ohio.

8

I’m from SE Michigan (Monroe, to be exact), and I can testify to the lack of racial diversity in the state. I can only remember one non-white student in my elementary school, and he was a kindergardner when I was in 6th grade. Things have changed quite a bit at home in the 10 years since then, but I don’t know what it’s like Up North or in the western counties. Probably still pretty white there.

Oh, and Medea’s Child, there have to be at least 6 Asian people in Ann Arbor alone. Perhaps there are only 2 once you leave the UofM campus!

Did this post make any sense? I’ve been at work too long.

9

Wolverine describes the state almost perfectly. He forgot about the large Polish population living in Hamtramck. Packzi’s (pronounced poonchkeys) are the best food on this earth, but you can only really get them around here on Fat Tuesday.

10

I grew up in Michigan. Spent 20 years of my life there. My impression is that as long as you are near the larger urban centers (the Metro Detroit area, Lansing, etc.) things are fairly diverse and can be very culturally, politically, and religiously mixed. I grew up largely in the Metro Detriot area (and went to MSU) and experienced plenty of racial and religious tolerance.

But when you get out into rural areas things get very conservative and often downright racist. In fact, as recently as 5 years ago, I was driving up north of Flint and as I entered a small town whose name I forget, I saw a large bear trap by the side of the road with a watermelon in it. Someone’s idea of a joke, sure, probably also a subtle message to black not to stop in town. Also when I worked in Howell about 10 years ago, I came to understand that there was a sizeable KKK membership still there, along with lots of Fundamentalist Christians. I didn’t stay long after that.

11

Romulus checking in. We have the airport and our highschool is, I think 60-40% black. 80% democrat. Nice place, segregated as hell though. Black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods. Don’t socialize with each other in school either except for the rare cases. Go Lions!!!

12

Well glad to hear from some MI dopers, I loved the place as I mentioned above, and I did meet a woman from the UP (love that term) and her accent was the best. My girlfriends accent isn’t as strong, she’s from Grandville herself though. I do plan on going back and visiting again, so thank you Wolverine for the description. I’ll be sure to check out some of the places you mentioned. I should be heading back there for the Winter break my GF gets from school. Wondering what Xmas there must be like, pretty I imagine.

13

soulsling, forgot to mention that Ann Arbor is the location of Jewel Heart, a large Buddhist center run by Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche in the Gelugpa lineage. It’s one of the larger Buddhist centers in the Midwest, actually. Thought you might be interested.

14

Wolverinesaid:
“Wayne County, (the one Detroit is in), is the only county where Gore won, yet Gore took the state.”

Actually, according to last Thursday’s USA Today, Gore carried 21 counties in MI. I don’t know the state well enough to tell you which ones, but it looks like the Detroit burbs, Ann Arbor, and then a line up from Detroit to the vee of the thumb, plus a few on the shore of Lake Michigan.

15

Yet another Michigan Doper checking in. I’m actually pretty surprised to see so many of us in this thread, considering it’s deer season (BTW, where is Milossarian?):smiley:

I’m in Flint. I was born here in Flint, but I was raised in & around the Ann Arbor area. I moved to Flint about 9 years ago (before you even ask, it’s because I’m stupid, okay?)

Ann Arbor is like Mecca to me now. Flint is culturally diverse, but it just doesn’t have the class that Ann Arbor does. BUT…it also doesn’t have the expense. Good Goddess (yeah, I’m one of the previously mentioned 87 pagans), it is expensive to live in Ann Arbor. My current house payment is half of what I paid for an apartment down there, and only $50 more than what my first husband paid to rent one room of a house in the downtown area.

As much as I like other parts of the country, I can’t seem to tear myself away from Michigan. It’s just home, I guess. I’ve strongly considered moving (my husband would have a much better shot at a musical career if we got the hell out of here), but I’d be leaving nearly my entire family. So I guess I’m stuck here.

16

I think Wolverine did a good job on his evaluation of the state.

My only quibble would be to divide the western half of the Lower Peninsula into northern and southern halves. Up where I am (in the northwest corner of the L.P.), we have very little in common with the Grand Rapids-K’zoo-Muskegon area.

We are kind of a weird island unto our own. A tourist mecca, with some of the best skiing in the Midwest, miles and miles of snowmobile trails and some of the best golf courses in the world.

The “fudgies” (as we call the tourists, because they typically make a bee-line for the touristy fudge shops) overrun us every summer, and they of course think all we do is sit in our rocking chairs on the porch whittling, waiting for them to arrive.

I agree that the U.P. is about as beautiful as it gets (it’s ‘Tahquamenon’ Falls, BTW), but I highly recommend you try a visit to the Jordan River Valley, less than 5 miles from where I live, at peak fall color season. It’s a 22,000-acre forest, and it’s one of the most stunning things you’ll ever see.

People here might not be as worldly and esoteric as in other parts of the country, but they are very genuine, honest, salt-of-the-earth types, who typically would help a stranger like he or she was an old friend, without thinking twice.

I saw a great thing on TV the other day - I think it was on The Travel Channel. Harry Smith was the narrator. Anyway, they did a piece on how there are people stationed at the Mackinac Bridge who hop in the car with drivers who are nervous about crossing and get them to the other side. (The bridge spans the northern tips of Great Lakes Huron and Michigan, connecting the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. It’s the longest suspension bridge in the world - 5 miles I think.)

They tried the same thing at the bridge that connects New York and New Jersey. The guy doing the story told the toll-booth guy he was nervous about crossing and could he get help. The guy laughed and said, “Looks like you’re staying in Jersey.”

I’m proud to be Michigan born-and-raised. And if I ever do end up elsewhere, I’m sure this will always be home.

17

I just had this silly image of soul turning to his GF and saying “I don’t think we’re in Brooklyn anymore, Toto.”

It’s not just the midwest. My own beloved Vermont has the lowest percentage of minorities in the country, less than .05 percent. Whitest state in the union. Of course, we have tons of Buddhists, and I think everyone knows how we (well, me, the sizable gay community and the state supreme courts) feel about gays. But as any native Vermonter will tell you, all of those things are a result of the flatlanders. ::shrug::

18

I have lived in Michigan most of my life. I am in the Flint area. Most of what I have read here seems to fit. I also think it would fit any midwestern state. We like living where we live. We have crime, homelessness, drug abuse, gangs, universities, industry, farming, diverse cultures, manufactured homes, golf courses, interstate highways, tourist attractions, slums, great waterways, history, and any ethnic and religious group you can imagine. We can even get cable TV.

19

If you had come south a little bit you would have hit Kalamazoo which is a very diverse area. I would venture to say that it is the perfect sized city. Large enough to have it’s own hockey team, attract big name concerts, and have a diverse culture, but small enough that within about 8 minutes in any direction, you are out of the city. Probably the center of cultural activity is Western Michigan University. As a matter of fact, Kalamazoo is a preferred spot that the news media likes to poll because it parallels the nation in political, ethnic, and cultural diversity.

If you go just 15 minutes west, you hit Van Buren County For a rural county, Van Buren is quite ethnically diverse as it has the largest percentage of hispanic migrant workers in the state. These workers come here every summer from Texas and Mexico and work in the fields here, then go back in the fall.

20

I want to apologize. Of course Brynda is right. Somebody told me that he only carried Wayne County, so being slighty rushed and not caring I went ahead with the info instead of researching.

Try not to do it again.

Oh, a quick metion to All Star Dairy in Jackson and the Dare-To-Be-Great. Anybody ever been there?