Townships draw people.........

[cjpetter]

I was just reading the article on the front page of the GR press, "My, How you have grown!".

MLIVE link

What really stuck out to me were the race percentages that were displayed for Solon, Caledonia and Algoma Townships. It appears that Solon leads the minority percentage boasting a 0.3% percent black and 1.7% Hispanic. Caledonia came in at 0.2% black and 1.2% Hispanic. Algoma was at 0.2% black and 1.7% Hispanic. For those who are mathematically challenged, that leaves over 95% of the population for all three townships primarily white. I'm not sure how these numbers affect me besides leaving me a bit disheartened and with a few questions.

Why do these communities remain primarily white?

and

Why don't more minorities move to these communities if they're so great?

I'm not sure I have a good answer for either of these questions but I thought I would just put it out there.

[zenstyle]

I can't speak to the race issue, but I find it preposterous that people are moving to these townships in their quest for what they percieve as peace, quiet, and wide open spaces. I'd like to know the disgruntlement factor among the long-term residents about the newcomers moving in and taking up space and land. They wanted to "get away from people," too!

And the bit about "liking" the fact that there's no sidewalk....stuff like that makes my blood pressure rise. In this time of increased awareness of greenhouse gases and the crying need for fewer vehicles on the roads, the man quoted in the article should be subjected to a whipping.

Man, I gotta get away from people like that. Or any people, for that matter. Guess I'll build me a nice unnecessary dry-wall palace out in the sticks. Yeah; this is more like it! Ahhhh, wilderness...

...hey, wait, who are those people coming over the horizon, there...they can't settle here, this is MY rural haven! The nerve of some people!

[GRDadof3]

I was just reading the article on the front page of the GR press, "My, How you have grown!".

MLIVE link

What really stuck out to me were the race percentages that were displayed for Solon, Caledonia and Algoma Townships. It appears that Solon leads the minority percentage boasting a 0.3% percent black and 1.7% Hispanic. Caledonia came in at 0.2% black and 1.2% Hispanic. Algoma was at 0.2% black and 1.7% Hispanic. For those who are mathematically challenged, that leaves over 95% of the population for all three townships primarily white. I'm not sure how these numbers affect me besides leaving me a bit disheartened and with a few questions.

Why do these communities remain primarily white?

and

Why don't more minorities move to these communities if they're so great?

I'm not sure I have a good answer for either of these questions but I thought I would just put it out there.

I would guess many minorities would like to move to these areas, but either don't feel welcome, or perceive that they don't have the means. That can be evidenced by the exploding minority populations in Kentwood and Gaines Township, from mainly people moving from the City of GR, as well as many people opting for School of Choice to go to suburban school districts.

But zen is right, some of these people are preposterous. The one guy they interviewed from Chicago had this to say:

"You'd go out on your deck and there was someone else 10 feet away,"

His development has no sidewalks, and that's just fine.

"We really kinda wanted to get away from people," he said. "

Tell me a little bit about your relationship with your Mother

[torgo]

The exlcusionary attutitude of many suburbanites really gets me too. People move to Byron or Gaines or Georgetown Two and get their own little 1.5-acre wooded lot, turn around and fight tooth and nail to prevent anyone from doing the same. If you want "space" and a "rural" feel, then buy 40 acres, not 1.

Of course, what some (but not all) these people really want is to not have to live by "those" people in the city. If it were really about being able to spread out with a huge yard in the country, then why are they buying dinky little lots in a subdivision?

[grcitydog]

It's just an endless cycle. At one time Wyoming was out in the country, then the people who moved there wanted to get away from "those people" and have a bigger house, so they moved to Kentwood. After Kentwood became more developed, they moved to Byron township. After too many people move there and clog up the streets and schools and even out the racial balance a liittle, those who can afford it will move to the next "Garden of Eden". This whole thing is obviously unsustainable and will result in an environmental and social mess, to say the least. What we, as a state, need is massive regional planning and urban boundries. I know this doesn't go over well with the individual private property rights people, but if we don't do somthing now when we have the chance, it might be too late.

[Veloise]

Here's an interesting article from USA Today and discussion on one of my bicycle newsgroups. Excerpts too, hold onto your seat:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.bicycle...4b4df847725977b

"Boundaries for kids used to be measured by blocks or miles. Now, the

boundary for most kids is the front yard. A lot of kids are under house

arrest," says Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, a book

about how children have lost touch with nature.

He says many parents fear the outdoors, whether it's letting a kid

climb a tree or hike alone in the woods. "Parents think their kids are

safer in front of the Xbox in the next room."

...

Cole's mother, Janet Begley, drove them to the event and sat in a beach

chair behind the boys reading Hidden Prey, a murder mystery.

She says she would never let her son play in the woods without an

adult. She won't even let him go alone to the park down the street.

"Parks are where pedophiles go," she says.

...

Darrell Mueller, 54, runs the parks and recreation programs in North

Platte, Neb. His childhood was spent outdoors playing ball, riding his

bike and building forts. Even today, he hates being inside.

His children are the opposite. They prefer being driven to school,

which is just two houses away.

[snoogit]

His children are the opposite. They prefer being driven to school,

which is just two houses away.

Out of all the things I read, that right there made me weep for our future.

[6th Gen local]

It's just an endless cycle. At one time Wyoming was out in the country, then the people who moved there wanted to get away from "those people" and have a bigger house, so they moved to Kentwood. After Kentwood became more developed, they moved to Byron township. After too many people move there and clog up the streets and schools and even out the racial balance a liittle, those who can afford it will move to the next "Garden of Eden". This whole thing is obviously unsustainable and will result in an environmental and social mess, to say the least. What we, as a state, need is massive regional planning and urban boundries. I know this doesn't go over well with the individual private property rights people, but if we don't do somthing now when we have the chance, it might be too late.

Byron Center, Caledonia and the outlying townships are the new Wyoming, Kentwood and a lesser part Grandville. Its like 30 years ago and the flight from Detroit to its suburbs.

[Allison Slater]

Wayland's slowly been grabbing these people up as well, although not in as large numbers due to the further distance, the town has probably nearly tripled in size over the past 10 years.

[civitas]

I can't speak to the race issue, but I find it preposterous that people are moving to these townships in their quest for what they percieve as peace, quiet, and wide open spaces.

I took this photo early this morning (4th of July) on Belding Road (M-44) looking east towards Grattan Township.

This is what people think they get in rural townships.

The reality is that you can't turn left onto M-44 on a normal weekday morning.

[Rizzo]

In the end you really can't tell anyone where to live. I atleast want a house and a backyard to cultivate a nice little lush garden of eden with some water sculptures. When I read about people living out in the townships as there's no one around I think about people being less social. I hear the less social? you are the more detached you become of your ownself. It's kind of sad that people treat our natural resources as endless resources and just grab as much of as it as possible. Reminds me of thoes damn coin collectors back in the 70s when they hoarded all my silver quarters and dimes. Pisses me off to no end that I can't find any in circulation.

[Veloise]

I took this photo early this morning (4th of July) on Belding Road (M-44) looking east towards Grattan Township.

This is what people think they get in rural townships.

The reality is that you can't turn left onto M-44 on a normal weekday morning.

[great pic snipped]

This is from the area just west of M-11 somewhere south of Lake Mich Drive.

[Nitro]

This is from the area just west of M-11 somewhere south of Lake Mich Drive.

Excellent Sign!!!

[Veloise]

Excellent Sign!!!

I've seen it a couple times (previously on a rural bike tour in Ohio). It never looks brand-new; always weathered and antiquey, like one of those faux-old chain restaurants.

[bostonsquaremom]

My family used to live over there (near Riverbend Drive west of Wilson, south of Lake Michigan Drive) until I was 8 years old. There were farms around, but smells from farms never bothered us.

[civitas]

This is one of my favorite zoning signs. Gotta love free speach.

[zenstyle]

^ "commey"...heh.

I wonder if he's settin' on a rocker on his front porch with a rifle over his lap...

[Allison Slater]

No, now they sit around in the house all day playing military games on their PS2s and spending every last bit of their money on making their cars/trucks faster and more powerful despite the need for it.

It's impossible to live in Wayland and not run into these people once in a while =p

[Veloise]

No, now they sit around in the house all day playing military games on their PS2s and spending every last bit of their money on making their cars/trucks faster and more powerful despite the need for it. ...

On "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" the host often mentions how the invention of Viagra has cut into sales of SUVs.

[francishsu]

I think the questions about why those townships have not attracted minorities is interesting. There have been many discussions and complaining about cities losing population to suburbs and I think there's little in the way of new ideas or arguments that have been thrown out recently. But the original poster is asking why those townships are not attracting minorities.

Here's one brief article I ran across titled "Minority Suburbanization":

http://www.prb.org/AmeristatTemplate.cfm?S...;ContentID=7834

In the nation's largest metropolitan areas (those with populations exceeding 500,000), minorities accounted for 27 percent of the suburban populations in 2000, compared with 19 percent in 1990. The rapid increase in minority suburban populations was concentrated in the so-called "melting-pot metros"