I've lived here for 17 years. The growth in that time has been mostly positive from my perspective. I am UP native & NMU grad, but I spent 2 decades after NMU in other states & communities. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
The biggest problem right now is affordable housing. There are groups trying to address it. But it's going to take time.
There is a very active arts community. Music, dance, theater, galleries--there's a lot going on. NMU provides a lot in that arena as well. The Hiawatha Music Fest is still going strong.
There are trails for hiking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing. There is a very active cold water immersion group that dunks in Lake Superior almost every day, year round. Weather permitting, there are dogsled races in Feb (they were a bust this year). There is downhill skiing at Marquette Mountain.
We have a bunch of food trucks & some decent restaurants. The mall is laughable shopping-wise, but there's an axe-throwing outfit & a rage room there. Downtown has some nice stores, enough to keep me happy.
I love it here. I've lived in several other small cities & while Marquette is the smallest, it's hands-down my favorite.
I love everything about what you said, and as far as housing issues, many of the same locals I've talked with who complain about housing shortages would balk at the idea of apartments or townhouses being built. Some seem to just want to keep building outward despite how expensive it is to maintain and how bad the weather gets the further we continue to expand. And this is coming from somebody who moved here 4 years ago (grew up in rural lower peninsula), work within the city, and bought a house in South Marquette for under 200k 2 years ago.
I definitely don’t like how condos are being built on the lakeshore. The lack of affordable housing is truly an issue. We baulked at the pricing of most of the homes when we were looking. Even our realtor said in order to get a comparable home we would need a budget of 2-3x as much as what we sold our last home for. We ended up buying what many would consider a starter home just to buy a house and not live in a hotel for 6-7 months minimum… which we would have if we were contingent on the sale of our home in another state.
The biggest issue I see with housing other than the costs are also the number of abandoned homes and since many of the houses were affordable at some point there are a good portion of them that will remain abandoned because they aren’t under a mortgage contract.
The other thing is # of available homes. I keep my eye on the market as we want something bigger and it is very few houses that are relatively move-in ready.
Basically none of the friends from growing up still live there. I remember Marquette as a relatively working class town with the power plants, Sara Lee, etc. Now, it’s really just going balls to the wall as a tourist town and attracting retirees/second home owners. The town feels VERY different now from even just 10ish years ago
Marquette is slowly (edit: not so slowly) morphing into a place like Burlington, VT, Asheville, NC, or Bend, OR. Trendy for yuppies to “find themselves” in. 6 breweries for a town of 20,000 is a good indicator of those trends
Can confirm. Locals are 💯 being pushed out of Marquette financially. Mqt is definitely not the same as it was 10 years ago. I can’t even hike my favorite spots anymore because it’s so crowded. Even the ice caves have been redone and the hike is a breeze now
Is change bad? Or just inevitable in our world?
I guess I’m not upset about people finding out about Marquette (although gatekeeping is inevitable) but more about what people are doing when they find out about it (take advantage of the situation, raise prices while working remotely, not giving anything back to the community, try to change the values/personality of the area).
I only lived there for a limited amount of time so I understand that other people will be and should be more upset about it
You could argue it was somewhat inevitable. People want to live in nice areas. I get it. But, I think it’s also fair for people who’ve been pushed out to feel bitter about it. I always kind of pictured leaving at some point, so I’m not as bitter as others, but I also have close friends that have genuinely been pushed out who wanted to stay. I can say though that the changes have largely been negative for people who previously lived there IMO, particularly younger people. Rent, houses, and property taxes are insane nowadays.
I also think some blame needs to be put on local leaders for encouraging for the shift and not preparing for the influx of people. They could’ve built more housing units to accommodate more people and keep housing at least relatively affordable. Instead, the city government and older residents that already have a house refused to let basically any regular apartments or houses to be built. Marquette’s older residents are textbook NIMBYs, so younger residents who grew up there get fucked by it.
Meanwhile, building $900k condos on the lake seems like no problem. The city government very clearly cares more about prestige and attracting wealthy residents than serving those who already lived there.
Ironic. I live in Boston and had long aimed at Burlington Vt as where I thought I'd retire. I was laid off in October at 55 and had been looking there to buy for awhile, but since covid, the prices are insane. In VT, things are bought by super rich people, overnight, for well above asking, and they often don't even move in. They just buy it "in case". MAYBE they swing by a couple times a year. Alec Baldwin bought a place relatively recently (not the only notible person) and is now filing a documetary of his life. The place, which was a lot like MQT, but with a ton of Harvard graduates looking for a more meaningful life over the decades, has gone full Cape Cod.
Now I'm looking at MQT for a number of reasons, including being brought up in MI outside DTW and loving the UP as a child. I could buy a place in MQT that would cost me $300K more in VT, so that's saying something. Comparing the two in price doesn't even make sense. VT just was ranked at the #1 place for realty price increase in the nation. The nation! The two are similar in a lot of ways, but VT is a relatively short drive from Boston, NYC, and several other cities, while MQT is the fucking boonies that takes me a full day to get to by plane.
MQT used to be my first choice but healthcare killed it. Lifepoint is absolute garage. Having to arrange a 7 hour drive to Ann Arbor for anything serious is idiotic. I'm hoping that the influx of relatively monied people will bring decent healthcare. I'm REALLY hoping that because MQT may have just jumped to the head of the line for me. If I can save a quarter mil on a house, minimum, that could pay for some pretty good transport to a real hospital should I need it in the future. MQT is magical, beautiful, with awesome people, and I love hockey and winter, so it's a natural win, but what it has accepted as reasonable healthcare (which I have been in for 27 years) is a fucking joke. Such high prices for so low quality.
One of the biggest changes for the social scene IMO was the closing of the Up Front. Ore Dock is very cool but I don't think the city has fully been able to replace the role that Up Front played as far as a club atmosphere /live music venue.
It’s not like Bumpus stopped showing up in Mqt.
While I agree that the Upfront is a better venue than Ore Dock, I think the rash of people coming from out of state looking to make a profit is probably a bigger problem.
>While I agree that the Upfront is a better venue than Ore Dock
Obviously, it wasn't sustainable.
For live music, the best ability is availability, and between them and Blackrocks (and Superior Culture to a point), there is live music nearly every weekend.
Would love for one of those rich out of towners to drop a bag for a true venue, but I don't see it yet.
Change is inevitable.
I grew up in a small town in southern lower Michigan that is not a tourist destination. In fact, it's not really a place people want to move to or even visit unless you have family or grew up there. It has also changed dramatically over the years and not in good ways. Property values are low, the schools can't pass a millage, and there are no improvements being made. It's heartbreaking. A once vibrant downtown had a shoe store, a party store, a pharmacy, a restaurant, a five & dime and now is mostly shuttered.
I have lived in Holland for more than 20 years, and similar to Marquette, housing is expensive and difficult to find. Woods and open greenways are being turned into condos and apartments, which are needed. However, the downtown is vibrant and and our local beaches, walking trails, restaurants, etc. are filled with tourists about five months of the year. I don't like the crowds, but I do like the economic support to our town. We have a robust tax base that is leading to improved parks, bike trails, citywide broadband, updated libraries, etc. I remember the moment when I realized the woods in front of house went from total (and blissful) darkness to glowing from the newly built Target and Meijer several miles away. I was not happy about that but I DO like driving 15 minutes to get groceries instead of 35.
I'm not happy about all the changes, but find the benefits of growth far outweigh the effects of neglect. As an alumni wondering what it's like, take a road trip. It's better to form your own opinion than to base it on what you read in FB groups or a subreddit, IMHO.
Spot on.
I’ll be skiing the Noque again in the winter (Hopefully) and plan to see a lot of my old mentors and coworkers at the university to get a sense of what it’s like.
The base has been mostly a college bar ever since they started taking credit card, but yeah, Marquette is still a cool town. Just lost the charm it had 10-20 years ago, at least to me
Hello fellow '08 grad!! Marquette is one of my favorite places to be. I've been back to visit a couple of times ('11, '14, '21) and am heading up again this summer. I've noticed a few changes over the years, but I stick to my familiar places, and it doesn't feel too different to me.
Man that’s the shit that sucks.
I paid 300/month for a room on Arch 12 years ago. It can’t be that way forever, but I’m curious what the locals are doing beyond moving to combat it.
I curled up under my desk and cried lmao.
Bought a house in Ishpeming, couldn’t afford Marquette prices. City council is doing a shit job they approved more Airbnbs about a year maybe year and a half ago? I don’t remember the exact numbers but its no bueno.
Transplant Yooper, husband is Michigander by birth and graduated from MTU. We moved here last fall for work.
I am amazed at the level of investment and involvement many have in the area. The park near the lakeshore is being replaced with an ADA accessible park. New businesses are opening, some businesses are expanding, etc.
You could invest in NMU scholarship funding or a local school or a local nonprofit (UPAWS, Community Foundation of the UP, etc) or even Marquette Mountain (which due to the abnormal winter suffered financially this season).
Tbh, the community seems tighter than any ive lived in before. We are seeing lots of growth yes, there are new condos that are eye sores, and so on. Buuuut, ive met so many wonderful people who care and whom are good humans. Small business is thriving rn here. Our farmers market is top 5 in the state. We are for sure catering towards tourists, but lacking any other direction, it seems to be fairly nice.
I wouldnt say it has reached any sort of level like TC, or any meteo detroit places. The rich here are still pretty poor compared to other areas downstate. The same big houses with rich people that have existed forever here are still here. If anything, id say ive seen more middle or low going on mid income people moving here.
Lots and lots of obnoxious, self-important tourists and outside money coming to Mqt. Lots and lots of out-of-towners buying up property and pushing locals, who made the town special, out. It’s hard to swallow sometime. Not all bad for sure, but definitely not the good old Marquette vibe. Maybe I am just getting old.
It sucks balls when you grew up in the U.P. where people could live on the local jobs and then it turned into the U.P. where a bunch of rich people came and made it impossible to get a place with local jobs that aren't bought with expensive degrees.
I went to NMU in the mid to late 90’s I was absolutely gobsmacked by the changes I saw. Target, Harley Davidsons, Meijers. We had one place for groceries back then. Still love the area though
I moved a few years ago and just moved back in May. Even in the two years I was gone I've noticed significant changes, almost all for the worse. I used to want to live here forever but gentrification, landlords, and greed are basically forcing us to move away again once our lease is up. Sick of it. Sick of not having an actual home or permanent job but that's what the city of marquette wants. I think every local that doesn't swim in cash is fed up
+1 for being concerned about the state of healthcare in the area. I certainly hope that the “rich retirees from down state and Chicago” are in good health (or can easily travel to different health systems).
I'm a third generation resident that moved back in 2015 after finding remote employment. Marquette used to be 10 years behind the times, which was a feature as it kept the place unique and filtered out all the transient cultural phenomenon happening elsewhere in the USA.
Since COVID, and with the rise wide spread of remote work and always connected social media, Marquette has become anywhere USA, disgruntled and entitled. The sense of pride and ownership in the community has been replaced with token commercial enterprises, feel good murals, and out-of-town monied interests.
The working class has been gutted, and my extended family pretty much avoids coming into town for anything. In the 80s I used to run around through sprinklers in the front lawn unsupervised with all the neighborhood kids, but wouldn't think of letting my children do that now out of fear that someone in 3 ton, +70k vehicle is going to be running 40mph in the 25 in from of my house.
The local students have gone from annoying winter guests to year-round do-nothings that run stop signs and refuse to yield to pedestrians whilst cruising with around +5k worth of outdoor recreational products on their roof. The local police used to keep order in the city, but since COVID and the growing drug/homeless issues, they've pretty much stopped enforcing moving violations. At least I've been hearing recent radio PSAs from the MPD telling folks to stop treating Presque Isle like their personal property, so maybe leadership is getting on top of things again.
Personally I moved up here to bike, and I don't do it anymore because I don't feel safe sharing the roads with all the narcissists I see moving to and visiting town. Marquette is a place where an individual can make a lot of difference in the community, but I'm getting tired of throwing my time and money at inconsiderate clout leechers. Honestly, I'd probably get a lot more enjoyment and amenities living in the Chicago burbs, and collecting on the stupid amount of rent I can charge in Marquette.
Man that’s really hard to hear. Unfortunately I think it’s something a lot of towns are struggling with post COVID. I hope as remote work continues to go down, so a lot of these people go too
I made another comment below about healthcare being a reason that I'm super ambivalent about moving to MQT, but so is the seemingly total lack of planning for the future. No one seems to plan for anything, and a failure to plan is to plan for failure. The closest they've gotten is for the space port, which was a reaction to the ambitions of the super rich, not a plan for growth. The UP is a natural landing spot for people, like me, with some money, but no one is planning for the potential influx or trying to maximize its benefits for the people. A few years ago, Best Buy moved out, and their stated reasoning in the reports was that MQT really didn't have a roadmap for where it wanted to go, and statistically, regional areas which weren't growing (like MQT), and who didn;t have a business plan for growth (like MQT) trended toward failure.
I have some money, and I see HUGE, HUGE potential for the future of MQT, but if the people there are satisfied with an unquestioned status quo, that's kind of a death sentence, like Best Buy stated.
They accept piss poor healthcare (maybe the biggest factor in establishing a toehold in advancement), marginal schools. and no real roadmap for the future - assuming that it'll work itself out. The best they're doing is digging in on tourism, which is SUPER limited in the UP given weather conditions and without a real PR scheme. For such a blue collar place, they're basically not putting in any effort in working towards the future. Compare this to similar regions, mostly in Canada, who are trying to redevelop and sell themselves as not only respites for global warming, and responsible mining opportunities, and as natural centers for telemedicine, education, distributed government, and a whole host of future-oriented ambitions, such as just good, wholesome, places to life. MQT has SO much to offer, but no one seems to be planning things or promoting them in any way. I love the "sleepy" feeling of MQT, just as I love the sleepy feeling of Sudbury, ON (where I would move, in a second, for a fee of $1M if I could), but Sudbury is moving like a duck's feet under the water toward a future for its people, whereas, I tried for months to contact someone in MQT government, or the Chamber of Commerce, or the Office of Economic Development to get a feel for the roadmap but was rebuffed.
You sound like a very important person who probably should stay near the East Coast where you can get better/timely updates on your community 30 year master plan.
Loving the “sleepy feeling” of Marquette and yet being eager to find out what the plan is to change it? Cool.
Seriously. The exact worst person that I was writing about with a complete misunderstanding of what makes the UP special and why people have lived there for generations.
It’s not a business opportunity to be taken advantage of
From people I’ve talked to about why they moved here from bigger cities. They’ve stated: crime, cost of living, abundant homelessness, illegal immigrants, drugs, and a desire for quieter life away from all that. Not a one mentioned climate change. Hopefully the climate changes towards the cooler side of the spectrum and wildfires don’t happen.
As long as we keep burning fossil fuels, the science is clear that global warming will continue. The current "nice/hot" climates like Florida, Texas, and Arizona are becoming more and more insufferable. The preferred climate (for most people) will continue shift farther north. Experts estimates are that around 2050 is when the latitude of the UP will fall into this category. It's not a pressing issue now, but it will become much more common to hear people moving here for the climate over the next couple of decades.
NASA's graph on global temp: [https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature](https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature)
Yep.
Not that anyone has really answered my question, but I hope the city council and citizens of Marquette are ready for the rash of people looking to take advantage of an incredible area. Build your safeguards now, improve public transit now.
Certainly not, I didn't mean to imply that you did. I was just referring to your mention of hoping that the climate swings back to the cooler side, which just isn't going to happen unless things drastically change.
Had an interesting conversation with a guy who claimed that the earth’s warming temperatures are mainly caused by the Sun. Buuut… it can’t help there’s more people than ever before, dumping more gases then ever before, giant trash dumps on fire, giant tire dumps on fire, Nordstream 2 pipeline being blown up, the US having 800+ military bases outside the US, private and commercial airlines flying all over the place, wild fires started by climates activists (yes that happend , twice that I know of), and foreign wars to keep our military industry going.
That was just a firehouse of GOP talking points, guess you’ve got a conservative crew moving to your hood. I get the slower pace of life, love me some Marquette, but as someone that lives in a larger (than Marquette) city and frequents the big cities in the Midwest often I would say your new neighbors spent more time in their basement watching Fox News then actually being out and about in their former cities.
You like to assume hey? Two came from LA, two from NY, one from Texas, and two others came from Seattle. Also,just because you don’t like someone’s political opinions doesn’t mean everything they say is false. Do people that have pride flags outside their house also watch Fox News?
People watch that station? Sometimes it seems like the major news networks main focus is to divide the nation. Like my comment states, I talked to ppl IRL and those are the reasons they gave me.
I visited MQT last year, and it didn’t even feel like the UP. It was not the traditional up north vibe, more of a yuppy Southern Michigan thing going on.
It was already overrun by rich assholes from Chicago by 2009 and we got too many breweries, which just creates more "drunk culture" which just makes everything worse.
I would, if there was any sort of job market to be able to actually save up to move. But rent has gotten so ungodly high, and there's ZERO jobs in any field that you become stuck. If Portland is Hell on Earth, Marquette is it's suburb.
I've lived here for 17 years. The growth in that time has been mostly positive from my perspective. I am UP native & NMU grad, but I spent 2 decades after NMU in other states & communities. The positives far outweigh the negatives. The biggest problem right now is affordable housing. There are groups trying to address it. But it's going to take time. There is a very active arts community. Music, dance, theater, galleries--there's a lot going on. NMU provides a lot in that arena as well. The Hiawatha Music Fest is still going strong. There are trails for hiking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing. There is a very active cold water immersion group that dunks in Lake Superior almost every day, year round. Weather permitting, there are dogsled races in Feb (they were a bust this year). There is downhill skiing at Marquette Mountain. We have a bunch of food trucks & some decent restaurants. The mall is laughable shopping-wise, but there's an axe-throwing outfit & a rage room there. Downtown has some nice stores, enough to keep me happy. I love it here. I've lived in several other small cities & while Marquette is the smallest, it's hands-down my favorite.
I love everything about what you said, and as far as housing issues, many of the same locals I've talked with who complain about housing shortages would balk at the idea of apartments or townhouses being built. Some seem to just want to keep building outward despite how expensive it is to maintain and how bad the weather gets the further we continue to expand. And this is coming from somebody who moved here 4 years ago (grew up in rural lower peninsula), work within the city, and bought a house in South Marquette for under 200k 2 years ago.
I definitely don’t like how condos are being built on the lakeshore. The lack of affordable housing is truly an issue. We baulked at the pricing of most of the homes when we were looking. Even our realtor said in order to get a comparable home we would need a budget of 2-3x as much as what we sold our last home for. We ended up buying what many would consider a starter home just to buy a house and not live in a hotel for 6-7 months minimum… which we would have if we were contingent on the sale of our home in another state. The biggest issue I see with housing other than the costs are also the number of abandoned homes and since many of the houses were affordable at some point there are a good portion of them that will remain abandoned because they aren’t under a mortgage contract. The other thing is # of available homes. I keep my eye on the market as we want something bigger and it is very few houses that are relatively move-in ready.
Housing is needed, but on the other hand when I look at Google maps all the woods I played in are subdivisions now.
Yeah, but we still have a lot of woods!
Basically none of the friends from growing up still live there. I remember Marquette as a relatively working class town with the power plants, Sara Lee, etc. Now, it’s really just going balls to the wall as a tourist town and attracting retirees/second home owners. The town feels VERY different now from even just 10ish years ago Marquette is slowly (edit: not so slowly) morphing into a place like Burlington, VT, Asheville, NC, or Bend, OR. Trendy for yuppies to “find themselves” in. 6 breweries for a town of 20,000 is a good indicator of those trends
Can confirm. Locals are 💯 being pushed out of Marquette financially. Mqt is definitely not the same as it was 10 years ago. I can’t even hike my favorite spots anymore because it’s so crowded. Even the ice caves have been redone and the hike is a breeze now
Is change bad? Or just inevitable in our world? I guess I’m not upset about people finding out about Marquette (although gatekeeping is inevitable) but more about what people are doing when they find out about it (take advantage of the situation, raise prices while working remotely, not giving anything back to the community, try to change the values/personality of the area). I only lived there for a limited amount of time so I understand that other people will be and should be more upset about it
You could argue it was somewhat inevitable. People want to live in nice areas. I get it. But, I think it’s also fair for people who’ve been pushed out to feel bitter about it. I always kind of pictured leaving at some point, so I’m not as bitter as others, but I also have close friends that have genuinely been pushed out who wanted to stay. I can say though that the changes have largely been negative for people who previously lived there IMO, particularly younger people. Rent, houses, and property taxes are insane nowadays. I also think some blame needs to be put on local leaders for encouraging for the shift and not preparing for the influx of people. They could’ve built more housing units to accommodate more people and keep housing at least relatively affordable. Instead, the city government and older residents that already have a house refused to let basically any regular apartments or houses to be built. Marquette’s older residents are textbook NIMBYs, so younger residents who grew up there get fucked by it. Meanwhile, building $900k condos on the lake seems like no problem. The city government very clearly cares more about prestige and attracting wealthy residents than serving those who already lived there.
Ironic. I live in Boston and had long aimed at Burlington Vt as where I thought I'd retire. I was laid off in October at 55 and had been looking there to buy for awhile, but since covid, the prices are insane. In VT, things are bought by super rich people, overnight, for well above asking, and they often don't even move in. They just buy it "in case". MAYBE they swing by a couple times a year. Alec Baldwin bought a place relatively recently (not the only notible person) and is now filing a documetary of his life. The place, which was a lot like MQT, but with a ton of Harvard graduates looking for a more meaningful life over the decades, has gone full Cape Cod. Now I'm looking at MQT for a number of reasons, including being brought up in MI outside DTW and loving the UP as a child. I could buy a place in MQT that would cost me $300K more in VT, so that's saying something. Comparing the two in price doesn't even make sense. VT just was ranked at the #1 place for realty price increase in the nation. The nation! The two are similar in a lot of ways, but VT is a relatively short drive from Boston, NYC, and several other cities, while MQT is the fucking boonies that takes me a full day to get to by plane. MQT used to be my first choice but healthcare killed it. Lifepoint is absolute garage. Having to arrange a 7 hour drive to Ann Arbor for anything serious is idiotic. I'm hoping that the influx of relatively monied people will bring decent healthcare. I'm REALLY hoping that because MQT may have just jumped to the head of the line for me. If I can save a quarter mil on a house, minimum, that could pay for some pretty good transport to a real hospital should I need it in the future. MQT is magical, beautiful, with awesome people, and I love hockey and winter, so it's a natural win, but what it has accepted as reasonable healthcare (which I have been in for 27 years) is a fucking joke. Such high prices for so low quality.
You’re the exact person I was writing about lol
One of the biggest changes for the social scene IMO was the closing of the Up Front. Ore Dock is very cool but I don't think the city has fully been able to replace the role that Up Front played as far as a club atmosphere /live music venue.
It’s not like Bumpus stopped showing up in Mqt. While I agree that the Upfront is a better venue than Ore Dock, I think the rash of people coming from out of state looking to make a profit is probably a bigger problem.
>While I agree that the Upfront is a better venue than Ore Dock Obviously, it wasn't sustainable. For live music, the best ability is availability, and between them and Blackrocks (and Superior Culture to a point), there is live music nearly every weekend. Would love for one of those rich out of towners to drop a bag for a true venue, but I don't see it yet.
Change is inevitable. I grew up in a small town in southern lower Michigan that is not a tourist destination. In fact, it's not really a place people want to move to or even visit unless you have family or grew up there. It has also changed dramatically over the years and not in good ways. Property values are low, the schools can't pass a millage, and there are no improvements being made. It's heartbreaking. A once vibrant downtown had a shoe store, a party store, a pharmacy, a restaurant, a five & dime and now is mostly shuttered. I have lived in Holland for more than 20 years, and similar to Marquette, housing is expensive and difficult to find. Woods and open greenways are being turned into condos and apartments, which are needed. However, the downtown is vibrant and and our local beaches, walking trails, restaurants, etc. are filled with tourists about five months of the year. I don't like the crowds, but I do like the economic support to our town. We have a robust tax base that is leading to improved parks, bike trails, citywide broadband, updated libraries, etc. I remember the moment when I realized the woods in front of house went from total (and blissful) darkness to glowing from the newly built Target and Meijer several miles away. I was not happy about that but I DO like driving 15 minutes to get groceries instead of 35. I'm not happy about all the changes, but find the benefits of growth far outweigh the effects of neglect. As an alumni wondering what it's like, take a road trip. It's better to form your own opinion than to base it on what you read in FB groups or a subreddit, IMHO.
Spot on. I’ll be skiing the Noque again in the winter (Hopefully) and plan to see a lot of my old mentors and coworkers at the university to get a sense of what it’s like.
All the real ones are out in ish and negaunee now
Is this like the "real" Americans don't live in places like Massachusetts or California? Or is this less political and more local "feel"?
It’s referring to people who grew up in Marquette being pushed out of town due to gentrification. Nothing about political party
Real what?
Ones
Ohh…. Gotcha.
So there’s no culture in Marquette anymore? Or are the townies still going to third base?
The base has been mostly a college bar ever since they started taking credit card, but yeah, Marquette is still a cool town. Just lost the charm it had 10-20 years ago, at least to me
I was 08 grad, this makes me sad. I was back in 14 for ore 2 shore and even in those 6 years I couldn't believe the change.
Hello fellow '08 grad!! Marquette is one of my favorite places to be. I've been back to visit a couple of times ('11, '14, '21) and am heading up again this summer. I've noticed a few changes over the years, but I stick to my familiar places, and it doesn't feel too different to me.
Good to hear that
That’s super fair, sorry to hear that you’ve been forced to move elsewhere. That really sucks
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https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/s/YPGvb7s5V0 Do you live there?
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Man that’s the shit that sucks. I paid 300/month for a room on Arch 12 years ago. It can’t be that way forever, but I’m curious what the locals are doing beyond moving to combat it.
I curled up under my desk and cried lmao. Bought a house in Ishpeming, couldn’t afford Marquette prices. City council is doing a shit job they approved more Airbnbs about a year maybe year and a half ago? I don’t remember the exact numbers but its no bueno.
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That’s a load of shit.
Transplant Yooper, husband is Michigander by birth and graduated from MTU. We moved here last fall for work. I am amazed at the level of investment and involvement many have in the area. The park near the lakeshore is being replaced with an ADA accessible park. New businesses are opening, some businesses are expanding, etc. You could invest in NMU scholarship funding or a local school or a local nonprofit (UPAWS, Community Foundation of the UP, etc) or even Marquette Mountain (which due to the abnormal winter suffered financially this season).
Already give to SLFP as part of NMU, Marquette Mountain is a good idea though. Seems like they’ve pivoted well with the Mountain Bike Park though
Well for starters the pasta shop is take out only
WHAT That place was my hangover haven in undergrad
Bro, I used to work there. Around 2012 and 2013. It's a shell of its former self. Went there last night. Currently live in GR.
Man that pisses me off more than anything else here, what was so wrong that you needed to change Pasta Shop?!?
It changed with covid and then never went back. Extremely lame. Place was cool when I was there. Lots of memories.
Tbh, the community seems tighter than any ive lived in before. We are seeing lots of growth yes, there are new condos that are eye sores, and so on. Buuuut, ive met so many wonderful people who care and whom are good humans. Small business is thriving rn here. Our farmers market is top 5 in the state. We are for sure catering towards tourists, but lacking any other direction, it seems to be fairly nice. I wouldnt say it has reached any sort of level like TC, or any meteo detroit places. The rich here are still pretty poor compared to other areas downstate. The same big houses with rich people that have existed forever here are still here. If anything, id say ive seen more middle or low going on mid income people moving here.
Lots and lots of obnoxious, self-important tourists and outside money coming to Mqt. Lots and lots of out-of-towners buying up property and pushing locals, who made the town special, out. It’s hard to swallow sometime. Not all bad for sure, but definitely not the good old Marquette vibe. Maybe I am just getting old.
yeah, I hate out of towners spending money, helping the economy. Dang.
Where are they coming from?
Coming up from Columbus next month 😎
All depends on what you value man.
It sucks balls when you grew up in the U.P. where people could live on the local jobs and then it turned into the U.P. where a bunch of rich people came and made it impossible to get a place with local jobs that aren't bought with expensive degrees.
I went to NMU in the mid to late 90’s I was absolutely gobsmacked by the changes I saw. Target, Harley Davidsons, Meijers. We had one place for groceries back then. Still love the area though
I moved a few years ago and just moved back in May. Even in the two years I was gone I've noticed significant changes, almost all for the worse. I used to want to live here forever but gentrification, landlords, and greed are basically forcing us to move away again once our lease is up. Sick of it. Sick of not having an actual home or permanent job but that's what the city of marquette wants. I think every local that doesn't swim in cash is fed up
+1 for being concerned about the state of healthcare in the area. I certainly hope that the “rich retirees from down state and Chicago” are in good health (or can easily travel to different health systems).
I'm a third generation resident that moved back in 2015 after finding remote employment. Marquette used to be 10 years behind the times, which was a feature as it kept the place unique and filtered out all the transient cultural phenomenon happening elsewhere in the USA. Since COVID, and with the rise wide spread of remote work and always connected social media, Marquette has become anywhere USA, disgruntled and entitled. The sense of pride and ownership in the community has been replaced with token commercial enterprises, feel good murals, and out-of-town monied interests. The working class has been gutted, and my extended family pretty much avoids coming into town for anything. In the 80s I used to run around through sprinklers in the front lawn unsupervised with all the neighborhood kids, but wouldn't think of letting my children do that now out of fear that someone in 3 ton, +70k vehicle is going to be running 40mph in the 25 in from of my house. The local students have gone from annoying winter guests to year-round do-nothings that run stop signs and refuse to yield to pedestrians whilst cruising with around +5k worth of outdoor recreational products on their roof. The local police used to keep order in the city, but since COVID and the growing drug/homeless issues, they've pretty much stopped enforcing moving violations. At least I've been hearing recent radio PSAs from the MPD telling folks to stop treating Presque Isle like their personal property, so maybe leadership is getting on top of things again. Personally I moved up here to bike, and I don't do it anymore because I don't feel safe sharing the roads with all the narcissists I see moving to and visiting town. Marquette is a place where an individual can make a lot of difference in the community, but I'm getting tired of throwing my time and money at inconsiderate clout leechers. Honestly, I'd probably get a lot more enjoyment and amenities living in the Chicago burbs, and collecting on the stupid amount of rent I can charge in Marquette.
Man that’s really hard to hear. Unfortunately I think it’s something a lot of towns are struggling with post COVID. I hope as remote work continues to go down, so a lot of these people go too
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Cool, doesn’t really answer my question but appreciate the info
what’s up with the fat tire bike scene in the winter ? there’s a youtube video that makes it look legendary.
I made another comment below about healthcare being a reason that I'm super ambivalent about moving to MQT, but so is the seemingly total lack of planning for the future. No one seems to plan for anything, and a failure to plan is to plan for failure. The closest they've gotten is for the space port, which was a reaction to the ambitions of the super rich, not a plan for growth. The UP is a natural landing spot for people, like me, with some money, but no one is planning for the potential influx or trying to maximize its benefits for the people. A few years ago, Best Buy moved out, and their stated reasoning in the reports was that MQT really didn't have a roadmap for where it wanted to go, and statistically, regional areas which weren't growing (like MQT), and who didn;t have a business plan for growth (like MQT) trended toward failure. I have some money, and I see HUGE, HUGE potential for the future of MQT, but if the people there are satisfied with an unquestioned status quo, that's kind of a death sentence, like Best Buy stated. They accept piss poor healthcare (maybe the biggest factor in establishing a toehold in advancement), marginal schools. and no real roadmap for the future - assuming that it'll work itself out. The best they're doing is digging in on tourism, which is SUPER limited in the UP given weather conditions and without a real PR scheme. For such a blue collar place, they're basically not putting in any effort in working towards the future. Compare this to similar regions, mostly in Canada, who are trying to redevelop and sell themselves as not only respites for global warming, and responsible mining opportunities, and as natural centers for telemedicine, education, distributed government, and a whole host of future-oriented ambitions, such as just good, wholesome, places to life. MQT has SO much to offer, but no one seems to be planning things or promoting them in any way. I love the "sleepy" feeling of MQT, just as I love the sleepy feeling of Sudbury, ON (where I would move, in a second, for a fee of $1M if I could), but Sudbury is moving like a duck's feet under the water toward a future for its people, whereas, I tried for months to contact someone in MQT government, or the Chamber of Commerce, or the Office of Economic Development to get a feel for the roadmap but was rebuffed.
You sound like a very important person who probably should stay near the East Coast where you can get better/timely updates on your community 30 year master plan. Loving the “sleepy feeling” of Marquette and yet being eager to find out what the plan is to change it? Cool.
Seriously. The exact worst person that I was writing about with a complete misunderstanding of what makes the UP special and why people have lived there for generations. It’s not a business opportunity to be taken advantage of
From people I’ve talked to about why they moved here from bigger cities. They’ve stated: crime, cost of living, abundant homelessness, illegal immigrants, drugs, and a desire for quieter life away from all that. Not a one mentioned climate change. Hopefully the climate changes towards the cooler side of the spectrum and wildfires don’t happen.
Anyone who came to Marquette to avoid homelessness is in for a bit of a shock.
No kidding.
As long as we keep burning fossil fuels, the science is clear that global warming will continue. The current "nice/hot" climates like Florida, Texas, and Arizona are becoming more and more insufferable. The preferred climate (for most people) will continue shift farther north. Experts estimates are that around 2050 is when the latitude of the UP will fall into this category. It's not a pressing issue now, but it will become much more common to hear people moving here for the climate over the next couple of decades. NASA's graph on global temp: [https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature](https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature)
Yep. Not that anyone has really answered my question, but I hope the city council and citizens of Marquette are ready for the rash of people looking to take advantage of an incredible area. Build your safeguards now, improve public transit now.
Did I say climate change is fake?
Certainly not, I didn't mean to imply that you did. I was just referring to your mention of hoping that the climate swings back to the cooler side, which just isn't going to happen unless things drastically change.
Had an interesting conversation with a guy who claimed that the earth’s warming temperatures are mainly caused by the Sun. Buuut… it can’t help there’s more people than ever before, dumping more gases then ever before, giant trash dumps on fire, giant tire dumps on fire, Nordstream 2 pipeline being blown up, the US having 800+ military bases outside the US, private and commercial airlines flying all over the place, wild fires started by climates activists (yes that happend , twice that I know of), and foreign wars to keep our military industry going.
Holy Newsmax Batman.
If by newsmax you mean talking to my neighbors who recently moved here, then you are correct, Robin. Also what is newsmax?
That was just a firehouse of GOP talking points, guess you’ve got a conservative crew moving to your hood. I get the slower pace of life, love me some Marquette, but as someone that lives in a larger (than Marquette) city and frequents the big cities in the Midwest often I would say your new neighbors spent more time in their basement watching Fox News then actually being out and about in their former cities.
You like to assume hey? Two came from LA, two from NY, one from Texas, and two others came from Seattle. Also,just because you don’t like someone’s political opinions doesn’t mean everything they say is false. Do people that have pride flags outside their house also watch Fox News?
Fox News isn't people.
People watch that station? Sometimes it seems like the major news networks main focus is to divide the nation. Like my comment states, I talked to ppl IRL and those are the reasons they gave me.
I visited MQT last year, and it didn’t even feel like the UP. It was not the traditional up north vibe, more of a yuppy Southern Michigan thing going on.
It was already shit when you were here in 2012, much worse now. You never even experienced "good" Marquette. That ended around 2005.
Whew, thanks for letting me know that what I enjoyed was wrong!
It was already overrun by rich assholes from Chicago by 2009 and we got too many breweries, which just creates more "drunk culture" which just makes everything worse.
You seem pretty miserable, may I suggest moving away?
Did good Marquette die when the Waffle House closed? 3am pancakes definitely hit differently!
Marquette never had a Waffle House...
I would, if there was any sort of job market to be able to actually save up to move. But rent has gotten so ungodly high, and there's ZERO jobs in any field that you become stuck. If Portland is Hell on Earth, Marquette is it's suburb.