A Follow Up To My Fulfilling Life In Michigan

November 30, 2009 by jford
Filed under: Uncategorized

Kate Tykocki is one of dozens dedicated and talented people that are really striving and pushing for a different way of life in Michigan. Her essay - “My Fulfilling Life in Michigan” gained a lot of positive attention in the social media space, http://ow.ly/HfVG. It is truly a great piece on her thoughts on staying in MIchigan, and all of the positive and fulfilling benefits she enjoys, coupled with her fears of what lies ahead for the great lakes state.

Upon reading, I felt compelled to jot down some more the same in support of her notion, and to add to the benefits she brought up. Now, keep in mind, that Kate and I have only some of the same traits, and interests. I don’t play kickball. I don’t like theater. I don’t work in the public sector. I live a great and fulfilling life here in Michigan for different reasons. My perspective is a bit different because unlike Kate, I am NOT from Michigan. I am from Upstate New York. I moved in in 1995 to attend Michigan State University, and I have not left Michigan, now in my early thirties. I too live a fulfilling life in Michigan for many, many reasons. Here are a few.

1. Ability to work in a technologically advanced company that myself and partner started in 2008 in which we were able to keep our overhead/rent/labor/startup costs low. Our cost advantage has been passed down to our consulting fees which has helped us win projects.

2. Promixity to world class education institutions which lend us research knowledge, a talent pipeline, and many amenities which are taken for granted such as the the Wharton Center, the Breslin Center, and the Kresge Art Museum.

3. Cost of property. While this has been a bit of a hindrance as I tried to re-sell one of my homes, myself and my family truly lived “the American Dream”, and moved up with a two acre ranch house in the country with no neighbors for the less the cost of a 1 bedroom condo in any major city, plus we were able to buy quaint cabin on a trout stream on 4 acres in the UP.

4. I love the outdoors. In minutes, I can be deer hunting. In a matter of two hours, I can be on world class trout stream. Or on a sandy beach with safe water. And in only a few more hours, I can be in the most beautiful places in the world, the Upper Peninsula, with a pristine beauty that is unmatched. And to get there, I will fight minimal traffic. I used to go to NYC, my brother lives in Jersey, trust me on this. On our way to a wedding in Marquette, my wife was driving and I was working on my laptop with a wireless card for one of our California clients. For a break, my family stopped at a road side beach park in the UP on the top of Lake Michigan. We got out and played in the clear, pristine water, awesome sand in our feet. The sky was crystal blue and smog free. Got back in the car, dried off, and I jumped back online. That is mixing work and play in a global setting folks.

5. Or, I can go the other way catch a Tiger game in downtown Detroit, and go to a high end restaurant in Royal Oak, catch a Robin Williams show at the Wharton Center, or go visit the Meijer Gardens.

This is not intended to a be Utopian blog post about Michigan. It is ugly out there. Cuts to education scare me. Our unemployment scares me. However, the work that Kate and others in the creative class circles do needs to be spread. We are going to get there. There is going to be a breakthrough. Not because of us waiting for it, but because we will create it. As we know, the world, and Michigan, is comprised of 90% of people that things happen to, and 10% of people that makes things happen. I am going to be part of the 10%, and so is Kate, and hundreds of other leaders.

This is the greatest state. There is diversity, there is people, there is will. And I do think its changing, and changing in the right direction. And i am thrilled to be a part of it.

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