History UsefulNotes / Michigan

* West Michigan: Often called the West Coast, since it lies on the shore of Lake Michigan. Centered on Grand Rapids, the state's second-largest city, which was historically a major base for the furniture industry (so much so that even today it's sometimes called Furniture City). Today, the most famous company in the city is "seriously, it's [[InsistentTerminology multi-level marketing]], we swear we're not a PyramidScheme" [[WeCare consumer goods company]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Amway]], although office-furniture giant Steelcase and the legendary Herman Miller company (of Aeron Chair fame) is based in the metro area, and its high-tech medical industry has been steadily growing; thankfully, this diverse economy has mostly spared the city from the woes of the state's other major cities. Also home to large numbers of stern Dutch Calvinists (to the point that there's a town of Holland just west of Grand Rapids with an annual tulip festival, wooden shoes, and a Dutch Reformed seminary/college),[[note]]And now you know why there's FreestateAmsterdam: the stern Christian Dutch (the ones who didn't go to UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica *''ahem''*to invent [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]]*''ahem''*) went off to Michigan. And we're not joking--it's seriously true. (Abraham Kuyper, a stern Reformed minister and neo-Calvinist theologian from a town near Delft, visited West Michigan in the 1890s and rather approved of what he saw, even considering moving there himself; he decided not to and later became Prime Minister of the Netherlands, in which role he was instrumental in establishing Dutch UsefulNotes/{{Pillarisation}}.)[[/note]] with a predictable effect on the region's politics: although the city of Grand Rapids itself is quite liberal (having been abandoned by the Dutch and taken over by Catholic Italians, Poles, and Latinos), the region as a whole is considered a very safe seat for the Republicans; it was securely UsefulNotes/GeraldFord's seat for years (who was once house speaker before being President), and Libertarian/Tea Party darling Justin Amash represented Greater Grand Rapids for years [[BerserkButton including downtown Grand Rapids itself]]; asking "How can that be?" will earn you a long and '''loud''' lecture on what "Gerrymandering" is. However, Democratic improvement in the suburban areas have put the seat in play for Democrats, but it is still held by a Republican in the moderate Peter Meijer (heir to the popular supermarket chain).

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat (for a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger[[note]]the bar that serves it happens to be right next to another huge thing--one of the world's largest railroad grade crossings, where a single track runs diagonally right through an intersection of two major roads, east-west Northline Road and north-south Allen Road, the latter of which serves as the western boundary of Southgate[[/note]]); although Lincoln Park and Allen Park are fast becoming a center for the metro area's Mexican population, evident in the many Mexican restaurants and stores that have opened in those two neighboring suburbs tenfold since the mid-2010s; historically blue-collar Wyandotte[[note]]a large BASF chemical facility on Biddle Avenue a mile north of downtown is the city's last remaining major industrial employer[[/note]] has started becoming the metro area's newest hipster destination, and the island of Grosse Ile can be seen as Downriver's version of Bloomfield Hills.

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat (for a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger[[note]]the bar that serves it happens to be right next to another huge thing--one of the world's largest railroad grade crossings, where a single track runs diagonally right through an intersection of two major roads, east-west Northline Road and north-south Allen Road, the latter of which serves as the western boundary of Southgate[[/note]]); although Lincoln Park and Allen Park are fast becoming a center for the metro area's Mexican population, evident in the many Mexican restaurants and stores that have opened in those neighboring suburbs tenfold since the mid-2010s; historically blue-collar Wyandotte[[note]]a large BASF chemical facility on Biddle Avenue a mile north of downtown is the city's last remaining major industrial employer[[/note]] has started becoming the metro area's newest hipster destination, and the island of Grosse Ile can be seen as Downriver's version of Bloomfield Hills.

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat (for a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger[[note]]the bar that serves it happens to be right next to another huge thing--one of the world's largest railroad grade crossings, where a single track runs diagonally right through an intersection of two major roads, east-west Northline Road and north-south Allen Road, the latter of which serves as the western boundary of Southgate[[/note]]); although Lincoln Park and Allen Park are fast becoming a center for the metro area's Mexican population, evident in the many Mexican restaurants and stores that have opened there tenfold since the mid-2010s; historically blue-collar Wyandotte[[note]]a large BASF chemical facility on Biddle Avenue a mile north of downtown is the city's last remaining major industrial employer[[/note]] has started becoming the metro area's newest hipster destination, and the island of Grosse Ile can be seen as Downriver's version of Bloomfield Hills.

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat (for a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger[[note]]the bar that serves it happens to be right next to another huge thing--one of the world's largest railroad grade crossings, where a single track runs diagonally right through an intersection of two major roads, east-west Northline Road and north-south Allen Road, the latter of which serves as the western boundary of Southgate[[/note]]), although Lincoln Park and Allen Park are fast becoming a center for the metro area's Mexican population, evident in the many Mexican restaurants and stores that have opened there tenfold since the mid-2010s, historically blue-collar Wyandotte has started becoming the metro area's newest hipster destination, and the island of Grosse Ile can be seen as Downriver's version of Bloomfield Hills.

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat (for a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger[[note]]the bar that serves it happens to be right next to another huge thing--one of the world's largest railroad grade crossings, where a single track runs diagonally right through an intersection of two major roads, east-west Northline Road and north-south Allen Road, the latter of which serves as the western boundary of Southgate[[/note]]), although Lincoln Park and Allen Park are fast becoming a center for the metro area's Mexican population, evident in the many Mexican restaurants and stores that have opened there tenfold since the mid-2010s, and historically blue-collar Wyandotte has started becoming the metro area's newest hipster destination.

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat (for a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger, and the bar that serves it happens to be right next to another huge thing--one of the world's largest railroad grade crossings, where a single track runs diagonally right through an intersection of two major roads), although Lincoln Park and Allen Park are fast becoming a center for the metro area's Mexican population, evident in the many Mexican restaurants and stores that have opened there tenfold since UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, and historically blue-collar Wyandotte has started becoming the metro area's newest hipster destination.

*** Oakland University: With a mailing address in the comfortable suburb of Rochester (which, for the record, is named after [[UsefulNotes/{{Rochester}} the one]] in UsefulNotes/NewYorkState), but situated on both sides of the border of two other suburbs, namely Rochester Hills (which surrounds, and is named after, Rochester itself) and Auburn Hills. Formerly Michigan State University - Oakland, it won its independence--to the relief of the MSU administration in East Lansing--in the 1960s, it currently acts as a commuter college, but it also has a strong nursing program and (as of 2011) has added a medical school.

*** Oakland University: Situated in the comfortable suburb of Rochester (which, for the record, is named after [[UsefulNotes/{{Rochester}} the one]] in UsefulNotes/NewYorkState). Formerly Michigan State University - Oakland, it won its independence--to the relief of the MSU administration in East Lansing--in the 1960s, it currently acts as a commuter college, but it also has a strong nursing program and (as of 2011) has added a medical school.

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat (for a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger, and the bar that serves it happens to be right next to another huge thing--one of the world's largest railroad grade crossings, where a single track runs diagonally right through an intersection of two major roads), although Lincoln Park and Allen Park are fast becoming a center for the metro area's Mexican population and is evident in the many Mexican restaurants and stores that have opened there tenfold since UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, and historically blue-collar Wyandotte has started becoming the metro area's newest hipster destination.

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat (for a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger, and the bar that serves it happens to be right next to another huge thing--one of the world's largest railroad grade crossings, where a single track runs diagonally right through an intersection of two major roads), although Lincoln Park and Allen Park are fast becoming a center for the metro area's Mexican population and is evident in the many Mexican restaurants and stores that have opened there in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens, and historically blue-collar Wyandotte has started becoming the metro area's newest hipster destination.

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area (for which see below). Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat. (For a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger.)

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories. Contemporary Dearborn Arabs find this funny given the state of American populism in the 21st century.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area. The westernmost part of Wayne County starts to ''seem'' like it's about to get exurban/rural, but then runs directly into Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor area. Meanwhile, to the south is Downriver, famously (in Southeast Michigan) home of the White working-class folk who fled Detroit after the 1960s but couldn't afford Macomb County--and who have made something of a sport of coming up with ever-larger food items to eat. (For a solid while, Southgate was the home of the world's largest hamburger.)

*** Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and its western and eastern inner-ring suburbs. Wayne County is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority. The main center of the Arab community is in Dearborn, the historic home and continuing headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. (Largely because he was a flaming bigot with Nazi sympathies who refused to hire Blacks or Jews for his factories.) Also of note in Wayne County are Detroit's eastern suburbs--the Grosse Pointes, some of the richest ZIP Codes in the country. Henry Ford's son Edsel (who for the record was not even a tenth as bigoted as his father) built his (large but very tasteful) mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores. More recently, the communities of Plymouth and Canton have become centers for Indian immigration, being two of the four Little Indias of the metro area.

*** Oakland County, located just north of Wayne (somewhat north-northwest, actually), is divided in two parts. The southern part, nearer Detroit, consists primarily of well-educated and white collar suburbs, but of varying characters. For instance, Ferndale and Royal Oak, older-growth former streetcar suburbs built along Woodward Avenue close to the Wayne County line, are today centers of quasi-urbanist hipster yuppiedom; Bloomfield Hills a few miles to the northwest is old-school country-club capitalism[[note]]UsefulNotes/MittRomney grew up in Bloomfield Hills to give you an idea[[/note]]; Troy to the north and Novi to the west are the other two Little Indias, populated heavily by Desi engineers, doctors, and researchers; and Madison Heights (sandwiched between Royal Oak and Troy) is an uncomfortable hybrid of old-school White working class and new arrival Chinese. Northern Oakland County is partly rural and partly exurban [=McMansion=] farms inhabited by people with enough money to live in Bloomfield Hills but not enough connections. Sandwiched between northern and southern Oakland County is Pontiac, a sort of mini-Detroit that serves as the county seat--but with a large Mexican population that has served as the city's saving grace since the 1990s.

** The Detroit metro area has three main counties (the three most populated in the state). Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and many of its inner city suburbs. It is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority, especially in Dearborn, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. Oakland County, located just north of Wayne (somewhat north-northwest, actually), is made up of well-educated and white collar suburbs, while Macomb County, to Oakland's east, is heavily blue-collar. These three counties account for almost 40% of Michigan's population.

* West Michigan: Often called the West Coast, since it lies on the shore of Lake Michigan. Centered on Grand Rapids, the state's second-largest city, which was historically a major base for the furniture industry (so much so that even today it's sometimes called Furniture City). Today, the most famous company in the city is "seriously, it's [[InsistentTerminology multi-level marketing]], we swear we're not a PyramidScheme" [[WeCare consumer goods company]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Amway]], although office-furniture giant Steelcase and the legendary Herman Miller company (of Aeron Chair fame) is based in the metro area, and its high-tech medical industry has been steadily growing; thankfully, this diverse economy has mostly spared the city from the woes of the state's other major cities. Also home to large numbers of stern Dutch Calvinists (to the point that there's a town of Holland just west of Grand Rapids with an annual tulip festival, wooden shoes, and a Dutch Reformed seminary/college),[[note]]And now you know why there's FreestateAmsterdam: the stern Christian Dutch (the ones who didn't go to UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica *''ahem''*to invent [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]]*''ahem''*) went off to Michigan. And we're not joking--it's seriously true. (Abraham Kuyper, a stern Reformed minister and neo-Calvinist theologian from a town near Delft, visited West Michigan and rather approved of what he saw, even considering moving there himself; he decided not to and later became Prime Minister of the Netherlands, in which role he was instrumental in establishing Dutch UsefulNotes/{{Pillarisation}}.)[[/note]] with a predictable effect on the region's politics: although the city of Grand Rapids itself is quite liberal (having been abandoned by the Dutch and taken over by Catholic Italians, Poles, and Latinos), the region as a whole is considered a very safe seat for the Republicans; it was securely UsefulNotes/GeraldFord's seat for years (who was once house speaker before being President), and Libertarian/Tea Party darling Justin Amash represented Greater Grand Rapids for years [[BerserkButton including downtown Grand Rapids itself]]; asking "How can that be?" will earn you a long and '''loud''' lecture on what "Gerrymandering" is. However, Democratic improvement in the suburban areas have put the seat in play for Democrats, but it is still held by a Republican in the moderate Peter Meijer (heir to the popular supermarket chain).

* West Michigan: Often called the West Coast, since it lies on the shore of Lake Michigan. Centered on Grand Rapids, the state's second-largest city, which was historically a major base for the furniture industry (so much so that even today it's sometimes called Furniture City). Today, the most famous company in the city is "seriously, it's [[InsistentTerminology multi-level marketing]], we swear we're not a PyramidScheme" [[WeCare consumer goods company]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Amway]], although office-furniture giant Steelcase and the legendary Herman Miller company (of Aeron Chair fame) is based in the metro area, and its high-tech medical industry has been steadily growing; thankfully, this diverse economy has mostly spared the city from the woes of the state's other major cities. Also home to large numbers of stern Dutch Calvinists (to the point that there's a town of Holland just west of Grand Rapids with an annual tulip festival, wooden shoes, and a Dutch Reformed seminary/college),[[note]]And now you know why there's FreestateAmsterdam: the stern Christian Dutch (the ones who didn't go to UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica *''ahem''*to invent [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]]*''ahem''*) went off to Michigan. And we're not joking--it's seriously true. (Abraham Kuyper, a stern Reformed minister who later became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and was instrumental in establishing Dutch UsefulNotes/{{Pillarisation}}, visited West Michigan and rather approved of what he saw, even considering moving there himself.[[/note]] with a predictable effect on the region's politics: although the city of Grand Rapids itself is quite liberal (having been abandoned by the Dutch and taken over by Catholic Italians, Poles, and Latinos), the region as a whole is considered a very safe seat for the Republicans; it was securely UsefulNotes/GeraldFord's seat for years (who was once house speaker before being President), and Libertarian/Tea Party darling Justin Amash represented Greater Grand Rapids for years [[BerserkButton including downtown Grand Rapids itself]]; asking "How can that be?" will earn you a long and '''loud''' lecture on what "Gerrymandering" is. However, Democratic improvement in the suburban areas have put the seat in play for Democrats, but it is still held by a Republican in the moderate Peter Meijer (heir to the popular supermarket chain).

** Mackinac Island, an extremely popular tourist destination/summer retreat for Midwesterners that is be a portal to the past--almost all motor vehicles are banned from island. It gained national recognition as the filming location for the CultClassic ''Film/SomewhereInTime''. It also hosts both the official summer residence of the Governor of Michigan and the annual Mackinac Center for Public Policy Policy Conference, the latter of which is an annual libertarian-leaning conservative shindig that attracts right-wing luminaries from across the state and indeed the country. Since the conference usually happens in late May-early June, at a time the Governor is frequently on the island, this can create some awkwardness when the Guv is a Democrat.

** Also home to Mackinaw City, another popular tourist town and the southern anchor of the Mackinac Bridge, which connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas and is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere between anchorages[[note]]The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and Golden Gate Bridge in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco are commonly cited as longer, but this is only true if only the suspension spans are counted- The Mighty Mac has a whopping total span length of 5 miles, compared to the Verrazano-Narrows' 2.6 miles and the Golden Gate's tiny 1.7 miles[[/note]]. Also a common base for tourists to Mackinac Island, an extremely popular tourist destination/summer retreat for Midwesterners that is be a portal to the past--almost all motor vehicles are banned from island. It gained national recognition as the filming location for the CultClassic ''Film/SomewhereInTime''. It also hosts both the official summer residence of the Governor of Michigan and the annual Mackinac Center for Public Policy Policy Conference, the latter of which is an annual libertarian-leaning conservative shindig that attracts right-wing luminaries from across the state and indeed the country. Since the conference usually happens in late May-early June, at a time the Governor is frequently on the island, this can create some awkwardness when the Guv is a Democrat.

** Also home to Mackinaw City, another popular tourist town and the southern anchor of the Mackinac Bridge, which connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas and is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere between anchorages[[note]]The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and Golden Gate Bridge in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco are commonly cited as longer, but this is only true if only the suspension spans are counted- The Mighty Mac has a whopping total span length of 5 miles, compared to the Verrazano-Narrows' 2.6 miles and the Golden Gate's tiny 1.7 miles[[/note]]. Also a common base for tourists to Mackinac Island, an extremely popular tourist destination/summer retreat for Midwesterners that is be a portal to the past--almost all motor vehicles are banned from island. It gained national recognition as the filming location for the CultClassic ''Film/SomewhereInTime''. Yes, the city is spelled "Mackinaw" and the bridge and island are spelled "Mackinac," and for reference, both are pronounced "Mackinaw."
*** Mackinac Island is also incredibly famous for it's fudge. 14 different fudge shops make 10,000 pounds of fudge per day during peak travel season meaning that tourists from the lower parts will travel to Mackinac Island just to get a taste of it; some consider it the best fudge on earth. There's even an ice cream flavor named after it.

** The Detroit metro area has [[TriCountyArea three main counties]] (the three most populated in the state). Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and many of its inner city suburbs. It is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority, especially in Dearborn, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. Oakland County, located just north of Wayne (somewhat north-northwest, actually), is made up of well-educated and white collar suburbs, while Macomb County, to Oakland's east, is heavily blue-collar. These three counties account for almost 40% of Michigan's population.

In terms of its politics, the state has been pretty swingy for the last century, willing to give moderate Republicans and Democrats a shot in elections. It currently has a Democrat governor and Senators, a majority Democratic state legislature,[[note]]Because of gerrymandering; the Democrats actually got slightly more votes in the 2018 State Senate election and 2020 State House election overall, but the district lines ensured a Republican majority.[[/note]] a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, and voted for UsefulNotes/JoeBiden after previously helping to elect UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump.

In terms of its politics, the state has been pretty swingy for the last century, willing to give moderate Republicans and Democrats a shot in elections. It currently has a Democrat governor and Senators, a majority Republican state legislature,[[note]]Because of gerrymandering; the Democrats actually got slightly more votes in the 2018 State Senate election and 2020 State House election overall, but the district lines ensured a Republican majority.[[/note]] a 50/50 split in the House of Representatives, and voted for UsefulNotes/JoeBiden after previously helping to elect UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump.

** The Detroit metro area has [[TriCountyArea three main counties]]. Wayne County is the largest[[note]]by population, not area[[/note]], and is home to Detroit and many of its inner city suburbs. It is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority, especially in Dearborn, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. Oakland County, located just north of Wayne (somewhat north-northwest, actually), is made up of well-educated and white collar suburbs, while Macomb County, to Oakland's east, is heavily blue-collar. These three counties account for almost 40% of Michigan's population.

** The Detroit metro area has [[TriCountyArea three main counties]]. Wayne County is the largest, and is home to Detroit and many of its inner city suburbs. It is primarily black, but has a large Arab minority, especially in Dearborn, due to Henry Ford having hired many Middle Eastern immigrants to work for his company. Oakland County, located just north of Wayne (somewhat north-northwest, actually), is made up of well-educated and white collar suburbs, while Macomb County, to Oakland's east, is heavily blue-collar. These three counties account for almost 40% of Michigan's population.

* Potter Stewart, [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCourts Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court]], was born in Jackson and spent a lot of time in Michigan in his youth (although Ohio has a stronger claim on him). [[SmallReferencePools He's most famous for writing]] the "[[MemeticMutation I know it when I see it]]" definition of "hard-core pornography" (as opposed to "[[ItsNotPornItsArt erotic art]]") in ''Jacobellis v. Ohio'' (1967). [[NeverLiveItDown It is really quite a shame]], as he's highly respected for jurisprudence on court access, civil rights, free speech, and the Fourth Amendment.

* Creator/TimAllen was raised in Birmingham (although born in UsefulNotes/{{Denver}}) and attended CMU and Western. He currently narrates the "Pure Michigan" tourism ads. This is why ''Series/HomeImprovement'' was based in Michigan (with his birth state taking center stage for [[Series/LastManStanding his next sitcom]])