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  #21  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2008, 4:31 PM
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Nice shots. I'm always glad to see pictures of Michigan.

Regarding Lansing:
Quote:
too hot to take many pics
I was thinking it's because Lansing has quite the ugly mug. I grew up near there. The one perk of that is anywhere I go, I can't help but find the area beautiful. I still love the place, though.
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  #22  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2008, 5:19 PM
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Interesting thread, and I also have to say "Respect the Mitten" is my new favorite state pride slogan. If that isn't available on a t-shirt somewhere, something's wrong!
Close, but not quite (and did they have to black out the image?!?):



Great set of pics!
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  #23  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2008, 4:43 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Haworthia View Post
Nice shots. I'm always glad to see pictures of Michigan.

Regarding Lansing:
I was thinking it's because Lansing has quite the ugly mug. I grew up near there. The one perk of that is anywhere I go, I can't help but find the area beautiful. I still love the place, though.
Whereabouts did you live in Mid-Michigan, and when was the last time you were back this way? I'll be the first to admit that it's not all that beautiful as capital cities go, but ugly it is not:


Doug Langham - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dooger/
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  #24  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2008, 3:24 PM
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Dandy tour as always Tt. I slid through the southern Mich cities a few years back. Mostly what I expected skyline-wise, but Jackson was a pleasant surprise for me. Heck of a skyline for a city that size. Thanks for the tour.
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  #25  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2008, 9:31 PM
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First class thread........informative and entertaining!
I love those mini-skylines in Michigan.
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  #26  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2008, 5:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich View Post
Whereabouts did you live in Mid-Michigan, and when was the last time you were back this way? I'll be the first to admit that it's not all that beautiful as capital cities go, but ugly it is not:


Doug Langham - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dooger/
I grew up in St. Johns (20 miles N of Lansing) and went to college at Michigan State University (in East Lansing for those who are unaware).

So, I feel like I have to eat my words because that shot is phenomenal. The town does have it's charm. But then, I am a sucker for post-industrial towns. Such towns aren't pretty, but they do feel real and have a certain beauty to them. I genuinely like how Gary and Hammond, Indiana look for instance. I'm guessing I'm not the first to say this, but I think something can ugly and beautiful at the same time. Such is Lansing, especially when one strays from the downtown area.
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  #27  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2008, 5:50 AM
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Got to disagree again, slightly. While industrial, Lansing isn't anywhere near a Gary or Hammond in terms of how much it counted on industry. Heck, it's not even as industrial as Grand Rapids. I'm just not sure about the comparisons, man.

I'm like you, to a point, I appreciate the industrial past, present, and future of certain cities. I don't think Lansing fits too highly into the category of genuinely "one-industry" towns, though. The cities economy has literally been split pretty evenly between state, auto, and higher education for many, many decades, now. I just never got the feeling in Lansing that I would get in a place like Dayton, Flint, Youngstown, etc...

That said, Lansing is definitely not a traditionally "pretty" town. But, it has to do more with the fact that it was never supposed to be in the first place then the fact that it declined industrially like the other mentioned cities. Lansing developed and looked the way it does because more than anything else it was nothing more than a Michigan frontier town, even for many years after the capital was moved, here. Hell, when the current state capitol building was built here, there was literally a pig farm where the current city hall is right off capitol square.
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  #28  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2008, 5:40 PM
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Got to disagree again, slightly. While industrial, Lansing isn't anywhere near a Gary or Hammond in terms of how much it counted on industry.
I was using those as extreme examples. Flint, Hammond, Gary, few places were as industrialized as these areas in terms of how big a segment they were of the local economy.

Quote:
I don't think Lansing fits too highly into the category of genuinely "one-industry" towns, though. The cities economy has literally been split pretty evenly between state, auto, and higher education for many, many decades, now. I just never got the feeling in Lansing that I would get in a place like Dayton, Flint, Youngstown, etc...
You're right, Lansing isn't quite as extreme as those other cities. I'm happy that's the case. MSU and the Capitol (and maybe LCC to some degree) are the few that things Lansing has going for it.

Quote:
That said, Lansing is definitely not a traditionally "pretty" town. But, it has to do more with the fact that it was never supposed to be in the first place then the fact that it declined industrially like the other mentioned cities. Lansing developed and looked the way it does because more than anything else it was nothing more than a Michigan frontier town, even for many years after the capital was moved, here. Hell, when the current state capitol building was built here, there was literally a pig farm where the current city hall is right off capitol square.
You're right, Lansing was a frontier town for a long time. One could argue that was the case up until around 1900, but most of what's in Lansing now was built as a result of R.E. Olds and auto manufacturing. So, yah, Lansing's case is unique with a long history as a backwoods frontier town, but I still think it qualifies as a post-industrial town.
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  #29  
Old Posted Jun 27, 2008, 3:14 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich View Post
I'm like you, to a point, I appreciate the industrial past, present, and future of certain cities. I don't think Lansing fits too highly into the category of genuinely "one-industry" towns, though. The cities economy has literally been split pretty evenly between state, auto, and higher education for many, many decades, now. I just never got the feeling in Lansing that I would get in a place like Dayton, Flint, Youngstown, etc...
*Ahem* Atleast Dayton (city) has pretty areas, unlike Lansing
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  #30  
Old Posted Jun 27, 2008, 3:24 AM
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I know you were only half joking. Just so you know, I was grouping those cities together not because of their current economic state, but because of their strong industrial pasts, much stronger ties to manufacturing than Lansing. I'd kill for Lansing to have had a historic core even half the size of Dayton's. Instead, we got Washington Square, Michigan Avenue, and really nothing else, and neither of those are beautiful. The architecture, while old, is very boring and frontier-like.
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  #31  
Old Posted Jun 27, 2008, 4:08 AM
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whoa... that is a killer Lansing photo... is that yours, LMich?
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  #32  
Old Posted Jun 27, 2008, 4:18 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich View Post
I know you were only half joking. Just so you know, I was grouping those cities together not because of their current economic state, but because of their strong industrial pasts, much stronger ties to manufacturing than Lansing. I'd kill for Lansing to have had a historic core even half the size of Dayton's. Instead, we got Washington Square, Michigan Avenue, and really nothing else, and neither of those are beautiful. The architecture, while old, is very boring and frontier-like.
No need to explain. I knew what you meant but you knew I had to throw something in there.
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  #33  
Old Posted Jun 27, 2008, 4:43 AM
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I like! Michigan is a cool state
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  #34  
Old Posted Jun 27, 2008, 3:53 PM
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Hoping for a great future for the great state of Michigan, unquestionably one of the most beautiful in the United States.
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  #35  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2008, 6:58 AM
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In your one photo where it says Heron or Egret, its a Great Blue Heron down there.

My grandma lives in Midland and I actually just visited there about a month ago. I love that city. Since DOW is there it has tons of money, which means it has tons of stuff to do. Michigan cities are very cool, even the small ones seem more like actual cities than most larger cities do down here in the south. Thanks for the photos!
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  #36  
Old Posted Sep 25, 2008, 9:02 PM
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It was tough trying to find anyone walking in those pics. Lansing seemed to have the most pedestrians. Nice pics though.
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  #37  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2009, 2:58 AM
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Great, great post! Didn't realize there were that many hi-rises in Michigan's smaller cities. Just a couple more examples of towns in the Rust Belt that have downtowns on steroids in relation to their present populations.



The 2nd shot, under Leelenau County, reminds me of the lower Hudson Valley. Couldn't reproduce it here. I had quoted the wrong shot and then deleted.
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  #38  
Old Posted Feb 9, 2009, 2:42 PM
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great tour, excellent thread, need to visit those dunes soon
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  #39  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2009, 1:55 AM
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Dude, this was awesome! Such a kick-ass compilation of great shots.

Oh, and Houghton/Hancock (as well as the rest of the area around the Keweenaw) is a must-see: I would bump that to the top of your list (although this thread is bordering on "ancient" by photo-section standards, so you may have already made it there by this point).
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  #40  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2009, 4:29 AM
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It sucks that a lot of Michigan cities are kinda just dead and dying. Michigan really does have some beautiful main street architecture, some of the most beautiful around for sure.
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