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YOURPlace Magazine>2006 Archive>August 2006>What makes Grand Traverse special?

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What makes the Grand Traverse Region special?

Last month, YourPlace Magazine threw a birthday party at the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce - our own birthday - as we celebrated the release of the first issue of YourPlace. While having some fun, we decided to ask several of our guests for a 30-second response to the question: What makes the Grand Traverse Region special to you? Here are a few of the responses we recorded.

 

Listen To The Answers: MP3 | RealAudio

John Sych, Planning Director, Grand Traverse County

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The people. The dedication to community. While there's often differing views, there is a genuine feeling amongst the people to work together and come together to create community.

Trudy Galla, Planning Director, Leelanau County

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The beauty of the area, all of the lakes, Sleeping Bear Dunes, woods and hills, the rural areas. It's a great place to live and raise a family.

Doug Luciani, President and CEO, Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce

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There are a number of things that I think make the Grand Traverse areas special. But I guess if I had to pick one I'd say rural character with world-class amenities.

Megan Olds, Regional Planning Director, Northwest Michigan Council of Governments

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Something I really love about our region is the interconnected trail system. We're here at the Chamber right now, and I'm looking across over at the Bay and I see the Tart Trail. I use it nearly every day. I'm really excited about the potential for the future of connections to the Little Traverse Wheel Way and, potentially, down to the White Pine Trail in Grand Rapids.

Alex Moore, Chairman, Traverse City Parks and Recreation Commission

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I think it's just the beauty of the seasons and the changeability. The changeability evokes literary allusions for me. I can picture Nathaniel Hawthorne on a cloudy day walking through Oakwood Cemetery; or I can see clipper ships from the mid-nineteenth century sailing out on the bay. On the river I can see Henry Thoreau or Hiawatha paddling . . .

 

Judith Lindenau, Executive Vice President, Traverse Area Association of Realtors

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I almost would say diversity, but not diversity in the traditional way you might think of it in cities. But diversity of folks who come here because we have certain values of environment, morality, and sociality that causes us to ...maybe, escape is a good word. I came here thinking I had reached an outpost, and I could hardly wait to get back to the city. And I've been here for over 40 years. Because I don't need the city, I have everything that I really want here. I think that a lot of people share that feeling.

Marguerite Cotto, Vice President for Lifelong Learning, Northwestern Michigan College

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I'm going to share with you a very personal perspective about what makes this special to me today. And I would say that's changed from what made it special five years ago or ten years ago. If I want to, I can spend an afternoon in Traverse City and not hear anything spoken in English. And I'm actually quite excited that this is a community in which that's possible today. So, in the midst of natural beauty, in the midst of extraordinary human talent, there is also a place where folks speak comfortably in a language that's not our common one. And they feel welcome to do so. And I think that's remarkable.

This page last updated on 2/5/2008.
 

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