Trains soon could be chugging along to northern Michigan, connecting Michigan families to large metropolitan areas like Detroit and Chicago. That is, of course, if the case can be made to upgrade the already state-owned tracks between here and Ann Arbor for freight rail, first.
We traveled onward, toward Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, where transportation challenges surely exist, but there’s good reason to be optimistic. What we saw in those cities reminded us that Michigan’s transportation system could grow into a good one some day.
Economists know that Michigan’s future, including Traverse City’s, is inextricably connected to the fate of Detroit. And Detroit cannot succeed if Michiganders don’t stop the terrible, twin trends of public disinvestment and population loss from our state’s largest city.
On March 20, a group of us embarked on an Odyssey of our own. We spent three days using only buses and trains to travel to and around our state’s largest metropolitan regions.
Andy Crosby is a great example of a growing trend: Young, talented people are choosing to live in places that offer more transportation choices.