Do you live in Paradise? How’s it going?
Those are questions we want to explore this fall on IPR News Radio in our series, Which Way to Paradise: Struggle and Promise Up North.
Parts of northern Michigan are booming and we are constantly told Traverse City, in particular, is a top 10 place to live, work and play. Who is coming here and why? How has the region changed and what is missing?
Our first two stories illustrate both sides of the coin. Ken Daniels just moved his family to Texas. He says he can’t make a living at $13 an hour with no benefits.
“I cannot continue to be miserable for five to six months a year when it snows and then get paid pennies and barely make my bills,” he said the night before his family drove away.
Ben Davila, on the other hand, sees a land of opportunity. He arrived last year and started a music school. He thinks Traverse City could become a destination in the music business, like Muscle Shoals, Alabama in the 1960s.
“Sort of a small town where artists know, ‘Hey if you want to make a record, go to Traverse City, that place is cool,’’’’ he says.
Your voice is also welcome in this conversation. We would love your comments and questions. Call our listener comment line at (231) 276.4441.
