Why Stay in Michigan?

For all of those that want to leave because the "grass looks greener", I would ask you to think more about it. I left Michigan, my birth state, 30 years ago and have been trying to get back ever since.  I know that it is easy to give reasons to leave, but somehow nothing will take the place in your heart of this state. I had to leave family, friends and activities I enjoyed.  In return I got to live in places with more congestion, higher taxes, unfriendly people and unattractive surroundings.  Sure, there was a paycheck there and I had job security, but I missed all the "little things" like family outings, celebrations, watching kids grow, weekends at a lake, coney island hot dogs, Tiger baseball, and so many things that I didn't think of until they weren't there.  I am now at the end of my career and deciding where to retire. Sure there is Florida or Arizona, but those places are for visits....it is time to follow my heart so Michigan here I come.

Generation Y you want your work to be meaningful? What's more meaningful than rebuilding your home? Your ideas could save your family town, your memory and create new ones for your children. Stay in Michigan!

I left Michigan in 2005 and am now desperately trying to move back. Michigan is absolutely beautiful and has a lot to offer despite the current economic problems. I know MI is being hit hardest, remember all states are suffering. I moved from MI to Denver and Denver is having it's fair share of problems. I miss the culture in MI. Denver is culturally stagnant and I don't think people are particularly nice here. I miss my friends so much. I miss trips up north. I miss the bodies of water. I went to nursing school in CO and have been working for a year now, and I'm ready to return to my roots and friends.

I would stay in Michigan, because when I think about the economic times it isn’t better somewhere else. Michigan is affordable, and most of my family is here.Though with the way Michigan is going under the only reason I would move is unless, I was guaranteed to have a better job than I would leave the area.

More than staying in Michigan, there are small groups of former Michigan residents who are now returning - "Boomerang-ers" as we call ourselves. Many of those devoted to Michigan are involved in the new Organic Agriculture movement. I moved back to Michigan after a year living in California because I wanted to farm. Michigan's agricultural industry is still growing, despite attempts by the state government to hold it back. While large scale grain/corn farms are difficult to maintain in this economy, the movement towards local and organic is creating the opportunity for small vegetable farms to pop up across the state. With the cost of land still low, the market opening up, and programs such as Michigan State University's Organic Farmer Training Program available, Michigan is an amazing place to live right now.

I wish you would do a segment on how agriculture could be Michigan's new brain trust - with so much land available, the possibility for innovations in sustainability studies and organics is phenomenal. There is more to being a farmer than planting and picking, it requires business savvy, training, organization, and creativity. Many of these new farmers already have Bachelor's or Master's degrees from universities across the nation. The fact that they are choosing to settle and farm in Michigan is a great boon to our state.

You've got it wrong. Michigan is not going to recover or improve by all of us staying here. It is the culture stupid. That is what needs changing. Michigan is not going to change unless you leave, live and learn, and then come back with your new outlook, lots of you.

Our auto industry is making us suffer because management was devoted to inbreeding. I meet the youth in Canada and Europe and marvel at their adventurism and social skills. When our economy went "south" my wife's business shifted to Canada, a new land of opportunity for her, if you know where to look (their banks are rated at the top in the world). And they have a commodity based economy, yet are a developed nation with a bright future and a diverse population. And Michigan is fortunate to shares a long border, yet we mostly ignore it.

We need banks and investors that don't just ask what can you make for a car. We need business people and union leaders that value and husband technical knowledge and experience. We need a culture that supports competitors instead of trying to denigrate them as if we're in a little zero sum "domestic" market.

I know it is hard, very hard, kind of like learning to swim without your mom. But leaving, if just to look and learn then bringing it back, is vital for change and new development and a fresh outlook on this global economy and our potential within it.

A brief personal vitae: Raised in Germany, became US Citizen in Cobo Hall when riots started, took two degrees at U of M and live a few blocks from my freshman dormitory.

Anyway, here are my three long-term reasons to stay in Michigan:

1. Michigan has the most fresh water and a lot of infrastructure, cheap
2. Michigan has enormous renewable energy potential besides the popular, just look at the St. Clair and Detroit rivers flow
and, 3. We're a border state and have the best neighbors one could wish for

Peter, this is one of the most informative comments I've seen on this website so far. Thanks for your contribution.

1) I love the people in Michigan. It is such a diverse state with lots of great opportunities to meet people of diverse backgrounds. I currently live in Ann Arbor and have loved every minute of it.

2) Not only are the people here diverse, they are strong and gritty. The attitude of Michiganders is the same that I carry, and fits in well with my Midwestern sensibilities.

3) This is where I'm from. I grew up in Lansing, went to school in Chicago, and came back to Michigan because this is where I'm from and am most comfortable. Even during the tough economic times we're experiencing I still see hope in the faces of the people I encounter. This gives me the feeling that I made the right choice to come back to Michigan

Why Stay in Michigan? How about why should one move to Michigan? That's what my wife and I did a year ago after she finished her graduate degree. As someone who grew up in the midwest, then spent 10 years living on the east coast, it's quite refreshing to be back here. Sure, I have some family in the general area, but Michigan has many other things to offer that others here have already posted like the great lakes, fantastic beaches, beautiful seasons, lower cost of living, much lower stress environment, friendlier people. Why not live in Michigan? Moving here has been a dream come true (well, except this whole economy thing).

Thanks so much for doing this investigation! I am 24 and a Michigan native. I have thought long and hard about leaving Michigan and applied for many jobs elsewhere (since the job I have here, sadly, isn't going anywhere). However, when the time comes to take a job elsewhere I have been unable to. Why?

1. Detroit: I love it and I think it is an under-loved resource. I find it very valuable to live by this city.
2. Family: My entire family lives here and always will, so if I leave I am on my own.
3. Inpsiring people: Most people I know here are here for a reason. It is very easy to leave but hard to stay and those who have do it for real reasons. I find that exciting and a little like a secret known only by those who are here.

Katie/katie.a.dennis@gmail.com

In order of importance:

1) family
2) friends
3) birthplace/roots

Although my family is only a few generations old and moved to the US (then Michigan) for job opportunities, thieir countries of birth did not fail because of their move nor will Michigan. Yes, we can analyze individual decision and its effects at the state level but I think of myself as a US citizen first and Michigander second. I enjoy MI but if what I want in a government/job/lifestyle is not here it is not evil to leave for another state. I was born here but did not choose to live here. Budgeting for travel to see friends and family who stay in MI will just have to be a priority.

I am a recent graduate (May 2007) of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. When I was in school I never imagined myself staying here after I graduated. I dreamed of the day I could leave Michigan behind. A year after graduating I found myself still in living in Michigan. Despite being employed as a designer — the occupation I had spent four years of my life incessantly working toward — I felt as though because I had not left Detroit, I had somehow failed. However, it was at this point that I realized the opportunities I had been granted by staying in Michigan post graduation.

1.) In Detroit, I can have an active voice in the design community. chair position on the Detroit AIGA board (local chapter of a national graphic design organization). In larger cities the AIGA boards are made up of people already known to the national design community, and have contributed twenty or more years to the field.

2.) People here are friendly, welcoming and interested in helping each other out.

3.) Its one of the few places in the country I can afford to live in an apartment by myself sans roommates.

As I watch more and more close friends and acquaintances slip into unemployment I realize that rather than leaving, the difficult part is staying.

Stay in Michigan after you graduate because

1) Life is about more than piles of money and the making thereof. Family, roots, friends: all more important. You can find work and make enough to have a good life here. Why isn't that enough? This recession should be sign enough that unfettered pursuit of money is a destructive way to live.
2) Leaving exacerbates the state's problems. If it's your home state, do you really want to contribute to its continued downfall by adding to the brain drain?
3) Staying means you can be part of the solution. Michigan can be brought back to its feet, but we need your help. It won't be easy, but taking the easy route is worth little when the payoff from the hard road can be so high.

I graduated from college in 2008 and never once thought of leaving the state. I'll do whatever I can to stay here because I want Michigan to rebound and want to do what I can. Don't disown your state when it needs you most.

IF your goal is to influence young people to stay, grow, and belong here, you're talking to the wrong age group. You need to talk to the 14 to 17 year olds as they form their needs, fears, and baseless claims about their future. Maybe if we give them a genuine education about what is here and what needs to change to make it sustainable as well as full their heads with a sense of dedication toward, to accompany their connection to this State, then MAYBE they would not only stay, but invest in making a future for this State and remind it of its rightful place on American if not World Map.

1. The nearness of family and old friends.
2. The natural beauty of northern Michigan: especially the Upper Peninsula.
3. The memories I have here. Our history and heritage, in general.

I'm seeking a new profession so I can stay here... maybe head north.

Hello,

Travis R. Wright here --- arts & culture editor at Metro Times. I'm 27, I'm staying in Michigan and that's that.

Sure, I love Detroit. But I also love New York and my native Toronto just as much. But neither of those cities need me as much as Detroit does, nor are they as open a canvas as Detroit. That said, I wish the state had enough funding to provide some incentives to quell the brain-drain flow. And it DOES flow. You know, pay Detroit City income tax for five years and the state will pay off you student loans .... Wouldn't it be nice? More, I guess I wish people looked more closely at what is possible in Michigan, Detroit specifically. They'd be surprised, I'm sure, not at what is available but what one can create on their own. That's the key here --- creatable opportunity --- the open canvas metaphor.

So, why stay?
-- It's beautiful
-- It's affordable
-- The number of creative-types per-capita is staggering and inspiring

This.

I originally moved to Northern Michigan when I was 13 with my family from Cincinnati. I went to college in Detroit (CCS, wut wut), and had every intention of moving far, far away. As time went on I realized that there was no reason to go. Here is my list of why I decided to stay.

1) The art scene (especially lowbrow stuff that I'm into) is amazing.
2) The Great Lakes
3) The diversity of towns, cities, and suburbs giving you all sorts of neighborhoods to enjoy throughout the state.

1) The West Michigan coastline.
2) A majority of my extended family is located in Michigan.
3) Our 4 distinct seasons.