<p>I’m just going to weigh in here on the “Detroit is suffering so the whole state must be a cesspool” theory. </p>
<p>Grand Rapids, on the west side of the state, was recently deemed the city with the second-largest job growth rate in the nation by CareerBuilder. We have a thriving biomedical industry and a growing technological one. And, yes, much to my chagrin, we have a successful beer industry. </p>
<p>[Grand</a> Rapids metro ranks No. 2 in U.S. for job growth | 2013-09-27 | Grand Rapids Business Journal](<a href=“http://www.grbj.com/articles/77918-grand-rapids-metro-ranks-no-2-in-us-for-job-growth]Grand”>http://www.grbj.com/articles/77918-grand-rapids-metro-ranks-no-2-in-us-for-job-growth)</p>
<p>The state as a whole is also growing its tourism industry, with out-of-staters spending $1.1 billion in Michigan in the summer of 2012. </p>
<p>[Pure</a> Michigan campaign helped attract more out-of-state visitors this Fourth of July, hotels say | MLive.com](<a href=“http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/07/pure_michigan_fourth_of_july_o.html]Pure”>Pure Michigan campaign helped attract more out-of-state visitors this Fourth of July, hotels say - mlive.com)</p>
<p>So yes, Detroit is struggling. Detroit is trying to turn things around. Detroit is not Ann Arbor, however, and Detroit is not Michigan. You will not have to worry about Detroit if you come here, though you are certainly welcome to engage with it via a service or learning program if you desire. </p>
<p>Re “flyover country”: that’s what some of us call the coasts, since we’re flying over them to get to some place more interesting! ;)</p>