I would whole-heartedly disagree with this statement. Don't get me wrong, Michigan is beautiful. I grew up on Lake Michigan, went to school in the UP and have seen darn near most of the state. But it is in no way as varied as some other places. Take California for example. Both have beautiful beaches, lush forests, fantastic lakes. But MI has no mountains. CA has the Sierra Nevada and some of the best skiing/snowboarding in the country. MI has nothing to rival Yosemite. Nor does MI have a truly major city. Sorry Detroit. At less than a million people you don't count as a major city anymore. CA has LA and San Francisco. Plus San Diego is one of the nicest small cities I've ever been to.

All that said, it obviously comes down to personal choice. For my money, I'll take CA scenery and variety over MI any day.

Bingo

may not be mountains but the highest point between the two mountain ranges is right by where ya grew up in te kewena.Good enough for me. The skiing is pretty damn good there too...kinda suprised to hear ya say otherwise.

and San diego is nice...But Ill take Traverse over it any day of the week! When I swim on a beach in travers I get no jelly fish...no sharks...and if i drink the water i dont taste it for the next 2 weeks. And TRY and tell me San Diego is nicer looking. go ahead and try! bigger yes...nicer? not to me. but like you said...matter of opinion.

and the one thing I left out before...the people. as soon as you are north of the "Z" bridge (and you do HAVE TO be north of the Z bridge) the people are awsome. I've been in north Caliu and Southern Cali. It's been my expierinece that Cali folk.....generally....suck. sorry Steensn...yer neighbors irritate the crap outa me.

I'll give you the people... they are not as nice. But the scenery... BS...

Definitely a matter of opinion. If it works for you, I'm happy for you. That's all any of us can ask for. If we're all happy in our lot in lives, then life is good.

But, regarding the skiing, there's no comparison in my opinion. In MI, the longest run you can have is probably 10 minutes. Maybe 20 if you go really really slow and take your time. At Mammoth Mountain in CA, from the summit, it takes a legit 20-30 minutes to get down unless you race. I've run it as quickly as I can without being out of control and it took me around 20 minutes. It's just spectacular winter sports. One way I look at it for evaluation is this: are there major ski/snowboard competitions held at ski resorts in MI? None that I know of. There are many (including x-games events) held at Mammoth. That's a big difference in my opinion.

I will add that there are things that MI has that CA doesn't. A lot of the dunes in MI are better than anything you'll find in CA. Also, the cost of doing things there is a lot less. No question about it. But, like both of us have said, it comes down to personal preference, and I prefer CA (even thought I don't live there now).

california is for hippys and pimps like steensn lol

Wait, is he a hippy or a pimp?

Maybe he's both

Pimpy?
Himp?