THE INTERVIEWS PROJECT

[Rizzo]

I found this link to be quite interesting. If you are wondering why these kids are leaving, well then, just read directly from thoes that have already left... If you read enough into the reasons for leaving, you might find answers to keep them here.

http://www.g-rad.org/projects/interview/

What do you think?

[PBJ]

I found this link to be quite interesting. If you are wondering why these kids are leaving, well then, just read directly from thoes that have already left... If you read enough into the reasons for leaving, you might find answers to keep them here.

http://www.g-rad.org/projects/interview/

What do you think?

Good find.. interesting perspectives

[Rizzo]

Yah and as I look through these perspectives I find that these kids are ideologically biased. I am sore after reading this.

[PBJ]

Yah and as I look through these perspectives I find that these kids are ideologically biased. I am sore after reading this.

Seems to be an over abundance of "East Town" types. Coffee houses, indie rock, artistic types. While not bad, only gives one point of view in general.

[Rizzo]

Most definetly. May I dare say, the "psuedo liberal."

This really annoys me to the core, should we cater to these types, just because they are the people with money? What do they know, yes they live in a "big" city with precieved diversity, but reality is most cities are heavily racially segregated. So I no longer accept the excuse that Grand Rapids or any city for that matter, except a few exceptions are worse in the racial or ethnic acceptance category.

I'll probably get the hell chewed out of me for this one, but this is my .02 cents.

[HolidayInnExpress]

Now that

[HolidayInnExpress]

Most definetly. May I dare say, the "psuedo liberal."

This really annoys me to the core, should we cater to these types, just because they are the people with money? What do they know, yes they live in a "big" city with precieved diversity, but reality is most cities are heavily racially segregated. So I no longer accept the excuse that Grand Rapids or any city for that matter, except a few exceptions are worse in the racial or ethnic acceptance category.

I'll probably get the hell chewed out of me for this one, but this is my .02 cents.

Thats not true.....racial segregation is hyper in the Great Lakes states. The most segregated cities areas are Detroit, Milwaukee, CHicago, CLeveland.....I don't remember them all....but I do remember 3 of the top ten being in Michigan and 7 of the top ten being in the Great Lake States.

[Rizzo]

I find it increasingly harder to accept the excuse of racial intolerance just as a Grand Rapids problem. As I remember, most cities have compartmentalised or "shafted," races and ethnic groups... Grand Rapids is not an exception, but neither is most of your other cities.

For the sake of not causing an explosion, I'll put the gasoline away while I hope it isn't too late... I just don't see the logic in some of the folks that are moving away. I see the logic in moving because of economic opertunity.

[GRDadof3]

It's hard to change the racial make-up of a city overnight, or even over a decade. The fact is is that we don't have a large African American middle class here. However, the Hispanic community is exploding in West Michigan.

[HolidayInnExpress]

I don

[Rizzo]

I read more and more through the reasons for "coming back to GR," and I increasingly see a pattern:

Tolerance

Oppertunity

These are the motivators, correct? They stand out in my mind and are surely the same for me.

[HolidayInnExpress]

It's hard to change the racial make-up of a city overnight, or even over a decade. The fact is is that we don't have a large African American middle class here. However, the Hispanic community is exploding in West Michigan.

I agree. THe Hispanic population is growing by leaps and bounds everywhere....except Mexico.

[Rizzo]

I don't discredit them because they have valid points or ones that differ from mine, I discredit the mindset about Grand Rapids being an uptight conservative place that will never change. The fact is, if you look arond WE have come around full circle in many places. Yes there is racial intolerance, and yes there are really compramising flaws in our socieity. If we continue to use the ideology of conservatism as a cruch then aren't we doomed?

Lets us better ourselves, not for the sake of change, but for the sake of what is right.

[GRDadof3]

I read a lot of them, and it wasn't that bad. Most of these people moved to MUCH bigger cities, that offer things that I don't know if you'll ever get in Grand Rapids in our lifetimes (maybe our kids'). I think every young person wanted to move away from home at some point. I would bet even kids who grow up in Seattle and Chicago can't wait to move away when they get the chance. Many of these kids moved away for specific education programs, BTW.

What's with the "do you love or hate the Devoses" question Apparently the questioner has a stong opinion one way or another (care to guess).

[dbrok]

I agree. THe Hispanic population is growing by leaps and bounds everywhere....except Mexico.

What do you mean by this?!? The first couple times I read it over it sounds like you're implying the Hispanic population should be growing in Mexico -- not in the U.S, as though you have a major problem with Mexicans being here . Please tell me I'm way off.

[Rizzo]

Dad,I guess the same

[twoshort]

What do you mean by this?!? The first couple times I read it over it sounds like you're implying the Hispanic population should be growing in Mexico -- not in the U.S, as though you have a major problem with Mexicans being here . Please tell me I'm way off.

I think he just means that the hispanic population is growing everywhere in the world, but it is not growing in Mexico.

?

[NorthCoast]

No real surprises here. The youth population in general tends to be liberal whether by choice, the freedom of college life, or inexperience(not meant as a slam...life has a way of changing your perspective either way sometimes). The City of Grand Rapids itself isn't overly conservative but the metropolitan area is. I don't think that there is necessarily anything wrong with that. While diversity can be a good thing, at some point you have to realize that some things just aren't going to change overnight. At this time, West Michigan is Red and Hollywood is Blue...fact is fact. This idea that politics should dictate where one should or shouldn't live is actually quite frightening. As many of these youth get older and begin having families their perspective will change and that is where Grand Rapids bread and butter should be. For this urbanist movement to survive it must build itself upon a more solid social structure...the family. This is coming from a youth himself.

[dbrok]

What's with the "do you love or hate the Devoses" question Apparently the questioner has a stong opinion one way or another (care to guess).

Not to be too obvious, but I'll go with 'left-leaning' on that one.

I think he just means that the hispanic population is growing everywhere in the world, but it is not growing in Mexico.

?

Okay, that's why I wanted to clarify. Someone could really take that comment the wrong way.

[HolidayInnExpress]

I don't discredit them because they have valid points or ones that differ from mine, I discredit the mindset about Grand Rapids being an uptight conservative place that will never change. The fact is, if you look arond WE have come around full circle in many places. Yes there is racial intolerance, and yes there are really compramising flaws in our socieity. If we continue to use the ideology of conservatism as a cruch then aren't we doomed?

Lets us better ourselves, not for the sake of change, but for the sake of what is right.

I hear you. I think the present is oft times judged unfairly by the past. The reality of the present can and often does lag perceptions created in the past...the American Auto industry is a prime example of that. Those things may have been true of Grand Rapids in the past...but less true today. I don

[Rizzo]

I'm left leaning and I find offence in the question. If you are to ask that question, why not ask this: What do you think about all the philanthropy in Grand Rapids? You can't just single out two families that have gave the shirst off their backs to help us out. But the families offers do come with conditions. (thats what I assume.)

HIX, I aggree also, 100% :-)

[HolidayInnExpress]

What do you mean by this?!? The first couple times I read it over it sounds like you're implying the Hispanic population should be growing in Mexico -- not in the U.S, as though you have a major problem with Mexicans being here . Please tell me I'm way off.

If a group of people are leaving a place....the place they are leaving cannot be growing in population like the place they are going to. People are leaving Michigan....thus....I could argue that Michiganians is growing in population everywhere....except Michigan. There is no slight in it....just mathematics.

[GRDadof3]

Most of the respondents had no opinion either way on the Devos's, meaning that I think a few people feel vehemently about them, and assume every young liberal feels the same (oops). Much of the growth in the South is suburban Red State type growth. Believe me, I've studied it. And interestingly, the majority of exporting States are Northeastern "liberal" states It's the flight of the Red's.

Mexico's population is growing faster than the U.S.'s:

http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator.cfm?...ountry=MX#rowMX

[Greedo]

The whole project is skewed, and pandering to people won't make things better.

"Need more asian people." (#47)

Wha? How does that help?

"It seems very segregated." (#26)

Um... have you been to Chicago? Ol' Man Daley engineered the segregation in that town.

"Its frustrating how conservative West Michigan is." (#30)

Maybe you can stop complaining and try to change things if it's so important.

One small gem came from reading the project, and Scott from Manhattan (#10) said it right--

"It seems strangely popular to bash the prominent families in any community, but it's impossible to deny the contributions they've made to the city. Without those families, the same people would be beotching that there isn't enough (fill in the blank). When someone provides said (fill in the blank), people complain that the providers put their name on it. Point being, people like to beotch. Personally, I think that Grand Rapids

[HolidayInnExpress]

Most of the respondents had no opinion either way on the Devos's, meaning that I think a few people feel vehemently about them, and assume every young liberal feels the same (oops). Much of the growth in the South is suburban Red State type growth. Believe me, I've studied it. And interestingly, the majority of exporting States are Northeastern "liberal" states It's the flight of the Red's.

Mexico's population is growing faster than the U.S.'s:

http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator.cfm?...ountry=MX#rowMX

Mexicos population is growing faster than the US....but much slower than the rate of Mexican population increase in the US....which was my point.