With abandoned buildings and a dwindling population, Detroit has become a byword for decay and recession.But Census Bureau results show Michigan's rural Upper Peninsula is suffering just as much as its big city rival.
The Upper Peninsula, hundreds of miles northward and a world apart in geographical and cultural terms, lost two per cent of its residents, which by comparison seems almost inconsequential.
Yet the numbers bring gloomy tidings for the U.P., a sprawling tapestry of forests, waterways and small towns that accounts for nearly one-third of Michigan's land area but only 3 percent of its population.
Twelve of the peninsula's 15 counties declined over the decade, according to the census. Growth was confined to Houghton and Marquette counties, which have universities, and Baraga County, home to a maximum-security prison.
One such town is Ontonagon. It is struggling to hold on after years of economic setbacks, including closure of a copper mine, a shipyard and most recently its last big employer, the Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. paper mill.
The extent of the damage is reflected in Ontonagon County's dubious distinction of having Michigan's highest countywide attrition rate over the past 10 years, when its population dropped 13.3 percent to 6,780 — a stark illustration of troubled times in the isolated Upper Peninsula. Read More
