MIOII
Ann Arbor may be overrated, but the state of Michigan as a whole has generally been rated more or less correctly. Except for in Iraq. “When Iraqis talk of going to the U.S., Michigan often is the place they want to see … Recently I made a trip to check it out for myself. Michigan is definitely a nice place, but it was over-hyped back home,” writes Sarmad Ali in The Wall Street Journal. “Michigan is quite suburban, at least the parts I saw (and I realize that I saw just a small part of the state), and I still prefer New York.”
They worship Detroit in the UK grime scene. I personally think that they’ve overhyped it.
posted by Oak Park Dave on May 24th, 2008 at 2:07 pmGee, maybe it’s because of all the other Iraqis and people from the Middle East who live here? Ever think about that?
posted by Sylvia08 on May 24th, 2008 at 5:29 pmSylvia08 is correct in her facts, if not her attitude. The southwest Detroit/east Dearborn area has a very large Arab population, one of the largest, perhaps the largest, in the US. Because of this, the state is very well known in the Middle East.
posted by tom brandt on May 24th, 2008 at 6:40 pmAnyone who has ever been across the pond to France has been told, “Don’t judge France by what you see in Paris”. Well, I would say don’t judge Michigan by what you see in Ann Arbor or Detroit. Because just as Paris is wholely different from the rest of France, so too is A2 and Detroit from Michigan.
posted by Tit for Tat on May 24th, 2008 at 11:15 pmIf you think it sux to be a scholar in Ann Arbor, try al-Anbar, Iraq: see here,
“…Saif al-Juboori, a student at the University of al-Anbar in Ramadi, says this will be a wasted year for thousands of students.
‘The whole university is now under siege, and there is a checkpoint at the main gate,’ Juboori told IPS. ‘The students or teachers who approach must lift their shirts from 50 meters away and listen to nasty comments of arrogant soldiers who give body checks before admitting people in. Most will no longer accept such humiliation, and so there will be no college this year.’ …”
dB
posted by Al-Anbar Is Overrated on May 24th, 2008 at 11:39 pmOne of the best things that I took with me when I went to Europe in 2001 (before 9/11) was my Detroit Tigers cap. It led everyone to assume that a) I was from Detroit, b) I was unfuckwithable, c) that I knew all the techno stars personally. “Derrick May, yes? Carl Craig?” Whether in Amsterdam, Paris or Barcelona, everyone knew Detroit as this mythical badass town, and I just lost the heart to correct people… “Yeah, um, actually, Ann Arbor. It’s, like, 40 miles away from Detroit… I dunno, 65 kilometers or something? They have the University of Michigan? No, no, I don’t go there. Yeah, Detroit’s pretty sweet. Eminem? Sure, yeah.”
posted by js on May 25th, 2008 at 4:10 pmLiving in AA a newly arrived outsider to SE michigan probably doesn’t realize how many middle easterners live within 60 miles. I believe it is the largest concentration of Arabs outside the middle east and it seems as a crowd, they do well for themselves here. So I don’t think it is overrated at all.
A newly arrived or at least a AA esconced student to Michigan probably has no idea how many Arabs live in a 60 mile radius from Ann Arbor. I believe that SE Michigan has the largest population of Middle Easterners outside of the Middle East in the world, and as a crowd, they seem to do very well for themselves here. So no, Michigan is not overrated at all in that respect.
posted by emilia on May 26th, 2008 at 9:22 amAnn Arbor may be overrated, but the state of Michigan as a whole has generally been rated more or less correctly.
Actually, I think that internationally, Michigan is seriously underrated at this point. In terms of ‘brand image’ Michigan ranked 48th out of 50:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/general-u-s/331371-how-world-views-us-states-states.html
I assume the main reason for this is that about the only things that ever make the national and international press out of Michigan are the shrinkage and job-losses in the auto industry and the city of Detroit’s troubles. There doesn’t seem to be any awareness of the hundreds of miles of great beaches or of the research universities. New Jersey seems to be even more underrated, though — I’d 100 times rather move to New Jersey than, say, Nebraska or Oklahoma.
posted by mw on May 26th, 2008 at 2:20 pmI’m defending detroit on this one. Per capita detroit has produced massive talent and genre-spawning innovation. It’s just sniping to pretend otherwise.
posted by ggb on May 27th, 2008 at 2:35 amI was at mod night at the Motor City Bar in NYC last weekend. It was like 2002 all over again!
posted by Brandon on May 27th, 2008 at 10:36 pmNew York City is far superior to Detroit,however Detroit easily outclasses cities such as Milwaukee and Cleveland.
posted by Kaptain Krunch on May 30th, 2008 at 5:43 pmThe State of Michigan has excellent outstate camping facilities.
posted by John Dory on June 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pmMichigan is diverse. You cannot compare, for example, Detroit with adjoining Grosse Pointe; or Saline with Ann Arbor. There are extremes of poverty and wealth, of education and lack thereof, of political attitudes and social norms.
posted by Kaptain Krunch on June 25th, 2008 at 5:41 pmMichigan.. The only place on earth with soooo much fresh water.
posted by Laura on June 26th, 2008 at 3:07 amWouldn’t trade all the oil in Arabia for all the water in MIchigan.
The human can exist without oil but cannot survive without water.
20 years ago a friend moved to San franciso claiming water will be diverted from MI to all states if and when the water runs dry.
Dream on Johnny