I am sorry to hear about your situation, the market is really bad here, economy is terrible and I really don't see things picking up for quiet some time. I hope it does though.It is hard to get ahead in an area where people stick to the status quo through thick and thin. Wake up Michigan!!!!

Michigan is a beautiful state and once you've lived somewhere else, you especially come to realize that there is a unique character to the people here. But the only way you can really make it here is if you're over 45 in a good industry (like chemical engineering or medical) or if you resign yourself to working crappy part-time fast food jobs and living in a $400 apartment forever. Trying to get ahead is nearly impossible for anyone younger, no matter how much you want to be here. Michigan's structural problems run so deep I don't see what we'll fix it. It's been this way since I was a kid in the 80s and if anything, it's just getting worse.

About the long term improvement of Michigan, I am VERY skeptical about that. The reason is, when you look at the people who live here and the kinds of changes that Michigan makes, it is a very slow process even for things people agree on. Smoking for example: when Michigan goes smokeless we will be 38th state to do it, how progressive! When people talk about the opportunity to transform Detroit I think they are insane, I tell them to take a drive down Michigan Avenue from Dowtown Detroit and look at the buildings and the decay and then re-think how realistic idea it is to turn the city around. It is easy to sit in an office and come up with plans but when you are walking around Highland Park how can you now feel overwhelmed and that the idea is hopeless. The way I see it, Michigan got to where it is now over the course of about 40 years, anyone who thinks they can turn this around in ten years in insane. Most people who live here are not active and they are not progressive thinkers. If they were the labor market would have grown with diversification years ago.

I honestly believe that Michigan does not respect and appreciate the people who live there and they do take it's citizens for granted. I look at taxes like spending money, you work for your money and the state government takes it from your check, if you don't like how it is spent change it! You are in charge not them, you are not the powerless, they are the powerless, without your money they would not exist. The state should realize that, if they don't they soon will if people quit putting up with their garbage and take action! Bottom line, no place is a perfect place to live, there are problems everywhere but I honestly believe that living in Michigan is more stressful and has more obstacles to life than other cities in America. I like walkable cities, easy public transportation, better weather, more active and health conscience people around me and healthier food options more easily available.

About the long term improvement of Michigan, I am VERY skeptical about that. The reason is, when you look at the people who live here and the kinds of changes that Michigan makes, it is a very slow process even for things people agree on. Smoking for example: when Michigan goes smokeless we will be 38th state to do it, how progressive! When people talk about the opportunity to transform Detroit I think they are insane, I tell them to take a drive down Michigan Avenue from Dowtown Detroit and look at the buildings and the decay and then re-think how realistic idea it is to turn the city around. It is easy to sit in an office and come up with plans but when you are walking around Highland Park how can you now feel overwhelmed and that the idea is hopeless. The way I see it, Michigan got to where it is now over the course of about 40 years, anyone who thinks they can turn this around in ten years in insane. Most people who live here are not active and they are not progressive thinkers. If they were the labor market would have grown with diversification years ago.

I honestly believe that Michigan does not respect and appreciate the people who live there and they do take it's citizens for granted. I look at taxes like spending money, you work for your money and the state government takes it from your check, if you don't like how it is spent change it! You are in charge not them, you are not the powerless, they are the powerless, without your money they would not exist. The state should realize that, if they don't they soon will if people quit putting up with their garbage and take action! Bottom line, no place is a perfect place to live, there are problems everywhere but I honestly believe that living in Michigan is more stressful and has more obstacles to life than other cities in America. I like walkable cities, easy public transportation, better weather, more active and health conscience people around me and healthier food options more easily available.

I'd like to think that it's justifiable to forego a more positive experience (like you have had in San Francisco), if it means that I can contribute to long-term improvement in Michigan. But obviously even with extensive education, activism, and patience — there's a chance that Michigan will be the way it is no matter what anyone does. Furthermore, many seem to like how it is. Or maybe it's just that the collective hibernation mentality prevents anyone from seeing the truth of the situation or doing anything about it.

I'll try to be brief in my response, since I'm still recovering from the task of writing this beast, and I'm still letting all these ideas rattle around in my brain. I do like your idea that moving out of Michigan means depriving those in charge of your tax money — like moving is an act of protest in itself. Part of what I was hoping to express is that I'm not completely satisfied with the life offered by the existing model for a big city, suburb, or small town. None of them are sustainable, they all contradict nature, and they hinder individual freedom. I realize those are statements that each require further essays, since I barely even addressed them above.

I discuss some of these topics in various posts on my Refractor Blog: http://supraterranean.com/blog/