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What makes the Michigan forum so successful?


MJLO

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What do you guys think makes the Michigan section of the UP forum so successful? Even if you take out Metro GR, the other subforums in here are still pretty successful on thier own. I have a feeling that it has to do with the condition of the cities in this State. People in much healthier cities take it for granted the way things are. But people in cities like ours, hope for better, and are fascinated by the decline that has happened for the last half of century. I can speak for myself not for others. But I think the people surrounding our communities just have a bigger interest in the places they live. I think It has alot to do with wanting to see things get better. I can speak for myself, what do you guys thing.

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I have a feeling that it has to do with the condition of the cities in this State. People in much healthier cities take it for granted the way things are. But people in cities like ours, hope for better, and are fascinated by the decline that has happened for the last half of century.

I don't think it is completely that. Otherwise, why would the Metro Grand Rapids forum have nearly twice as many posts as the Metro Detroit forum? It is fair to say that Detroit has declined much more than Grand Rapids, with the population dropping one million people since the 1950s. And, considering that metro Detroit has far more people (and potentially, far more posters) than Grand Rapids, you'd think that the Metro Detroit forum would have five times as many posts.

I think the reason that the Michigan forums have a lot of posts is because there are some interesting things happening, particularly in Grand Rapids...

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I think that the Grand Rapids forum has more traffic than Detroit because Many people in Grand Rapids want desperately to be seen as a big city and steal some thunder from the East side of the state. Therefore, the Grand Rapids forum is embellished by signs of downtown revitalization and growth.

I would not think that people spend their valuable time posting on UrbanPlanet simply for the reason of making another city look bad.

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Actually, I think he's on to something, and it has nothing to do with stealing another's thunder, but moreso pounding ones chest to get attention. Grand Rapids comes up very rarely on the Detroit forum, and vice-versa. Neither of them think much of each other until they are forced to.

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I think it's just a huge interest in the development and renaissance of cities that is happening in this state. Michigan is argueably one of the hardest hit states economically.

I have to say I agree that to some extent, projects in SOME other forums are not "glorified" as much as they would be in the Michigan section. We get one five story building going up along Woodward, and people will be posting about it for months.

I believe there is more concern for cities that are in need of these projects. Ann Arbor has a TON of new buildings going up, some very large. There are far more midrises going up within Ann Arbor, than the city of Detroit at this moment, but no one ever really talks about them, including me.

The Grand Rapids forum is booming because their city was always somewhat of an underdog that has suddenly risen to power. A population gets excited, and looks for info on their city. They stumble upon this site, find it as a great resource, and a thriving online community was born.

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I agree mostly with MJLO's original comment. I think there is a certain uniqueness about urbanity in Michigan. Talking about people taking their cities for granted, I think that is totally the case here in Michigan as well. We are representative of a very few who have taken interest in understanding that the health and welfare of our state is only as good as the city systems that drive our economic competitiveness.

Acknowledging that creates a lot of excitement and ownership in claiming something that very few people have the desire to. That something is a city, be it Grand Rapids, Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo...etc...

Given what we know in terms of education about American cities, we realize that we have special places here in Michigan that are not only overlooked by our own country, but our state as well. Knowing that all of our cities have enormous potential creates a lot of excitement and willingness to get involved. I think forums such as this are a way to outreach and network with other likeminded people interested in such an "uninteresting" topic (to other people).

We want to share our great and underappreciated cities with other people who probably know nothing about them. Once you grab their attention, you can become the educator and teach other people that Michigan really does have some quality places that offer a lot in terms of quality of life and diversity in lifestyle.

So, to me, it's a uniqueness factor. Surround all of it by huge seas of fresh water, and I think you're commanding attention.

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That's true Lmich, but it's not just the GR forum that does well, my original comment was the whole state section of the forum, if you take out the success of the GR forum. Michigan still would have about 90% of all midwest posts. I think it says alot too, that even with megasites like Detroityes, which I am a member of, that the Detroit forum here has as much support as it does. Even the mid-Michigan section has a decent amount of hits and posts. I refer to my original comment.

I agree that Grand Rapids is an unusual case, how much it has grown since even I've been on is amazing. But even if you take out GR, the Michigan forum would be a force.

I must note, the Detroit forum is only slower than GR, because of places like Detroityes, sites solely dedicated to forums only on the city itself. For those of you who don't know, you really should take a look. There are thousands of people, thousands more than in Grand Rapids, who are doing everything they can to move Detroit towards revitalization.

Detroit is my hometown, one of my favorite places. I got love for ya Detroit!!!!!!!

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DetroitYes is probably busier than the Michigan forum combined, here.

Well not if you are counting by either posts or views. It's not even close. The Michigan portion of UrbanPlanet is far busier. In fact, just based on page views, I would say that GR on UP by itself is busier than detroityes. I do admit there is more activity on the Detroit forum there, but a lot of it are posts that would not be appropriate on UrbanPlanet as our focus is different from that forum.

I was wondering when you would make another post here for that site

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Michi do not anger the UP gods ;)

Haha its just a forum, no anger here. Actually it's always the same bunch that will come here and tell us there are better sites out there. I don't disagree. It was never been our intention to produce the perfect site on the internet. We would rather focus on providing free forum that people can use to discuss their cities without having to deal with drama. It's up to the people to decide if they want to join the community here. We are certainly very successful in other parts of the USA as well as the western part if Michigan.

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I would not think that people spend their valuable time posting on UrbanPlanet simply for the reason of making another city look bad.

I agree with monsoon. If Detroiters really knew how very SELDOM Grand Rapidians think/talk/care about Detroit, and I don't mean that to be a slight Wolverine, Michi, LMich and HIX.

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I agree with monsoon. If Detroiters really knew how very SELDOM Grand Rapidians think/talk/care about Detroit, and I don't mean that to be a slight Wolverine, Michi, LMich and HIX.

With all due respect, what does Detroit have to do with his reply?

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I think that the Grand Rapids forum has more traffic than Detroit because Many people in Grand Rapids want desperately to be seen as a big city and steal some thunder from the East side of the state. Therefore, the Grand Rapids forum is embellished by signs of downtown revitalization and growth.

I was referring to HolidayInnExpress's quote here Michi, to which monsoon responded. I was just saying I totally disagree and don't think people here desperately want to be a big city and steal thunder from the East side. Most of the people I know here don't even think about Detroit, and live here because they DON'T want to live in a big city. They just want GR to be more urbane, have more vibrancy downtown, and have some "big city" amenities/retailers, while maintaining its small-city feel. At least, that's most of the people I know.

I think monsoon is saying that there are over 7400 unique visitors originating out of Michigan that view this site, and almost 100,000 page views about every three months, and he's probably got stats that show that Detroityes does not have as much traffic.

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What makes you think I am trying to cause problems?

I don't think I mentioned any names. However you did send a PM to me last July that said you were no longer going to post at UP because you did not agree with our rules here. The rule in question was advertizing for other discussion websites which you were very want to do at the time. There are at least a half dozen posts from you in the trash where you tell people to go to other websites instead of posting here. It's interesting that you show up in another post where that has happened again. The veil of innocence isn't very becoming.

If that has changed and you now appreciate UrbanPlanet for what it is, then so be it. I don't have any issue with people who want to help the UrbanPlanet community grow.

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I was referring to HolidayInnExpress's quote here Michi, to which monsoon responded. I was just saying I totally disagree and don't think people here desperately want to be a big city and steal thunder from the East side. Most of the people I know here don't even think about Detroit, and live here because they DON'T want to live in a big city. They just want GR to be more urbane, have more vibrancy downtown, and have some "big city" amenities/retailers, while maintaining its small-city feel. At least, that's most of the people I know.

I think monsoon is saying that there are over 7400 unique visitors originating out of Michigan that view this site, and almost 100,000 page views about every three months, and he's probably got stats that show that Detroityes does not have as much traffic.

Thanks for clarifying! :thumbsup:

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While its true UP is featured in a lot of local press, It was the power of Google that really kick started Urban Planet's growth spurt in this part of the forum.

That has a lot to do with it. Thats how i found this site, just googling to try and find some renderings and i end up here.

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