OT: Diaspora?

Moved to Texas on my own volition as a young college graduate, however, there seem to be a ton of people from Michigan down here, many I've met who moved after 2008.

I took "Africa and its Diaspora" for my race and ethnicity credit at Mich.  Interesting class..totally hammed it up with Manny Harris, DeShawn Sims, Donovan Warren, and Kevin Koger.

Cool story I know.

Pittsburgh is rocking right now.  One of my favorite places to go on business.  

I live in the south and I rock the old English D all the time.

I don't know the answer but there are a fuckton of Steelers fans in SoCal...not as many as Packers fans, but definitely the #2 non-California team in the area. FWIW, I personally left Michigan to pursue better economic opportunities. I get homesick sometimes, but there isn't enough work for me to consider going back right now.

Love the topic. And I agree with the OP premise. I'm a good example of a Michigander who moved away but lucky enough to have a cottage Up North. So I get my fill of the greatest Great Lake State from May - October. Lots of Old English D's here in KY!

Love the topic. And I agree with the OP premise. I'm a good example of a Michigander who moved away but lucky enough to have a cottage Up North. So I get my fill of the greatest Great Lake State from May - October. Lots of Old English D's here in KY!

Love the topic. And I agree with the OP premise. I'm a good example of a Michigander who moved away but lucky enough to have a cottage Up North. So I get my fill of the greatest Great Lake State from May - October. Lots of Old English D's here in KY!

In Canada, I am not sure we recieved a significant number of migrants after the collapose of the steel industry. Yet, my beautiful country is littered with Steeler fans. Along with Dallas and Greenbay, they're one of the classic franchises that have fans everywhere for whatever reason. 

When I lived in Las Vegas, there were a ton of Michiganders that relocated. Now I'm in Central Oregon, I've seen a few, not a lot though.

There are more fair weather Steeler fans than transplanted Steeler fans.

I live in the Tampa Bay Area and I can't go anywhere without without getting a "Go Blue" when I wear Michigan gear. This isn't a bad thing, and I think the OP is correct in some sort of diaspora. Personally, I moved to Florida shortly after graduating because Michigan had relatively few job opportunities. The economic decline of the mid to late 2000s probably forced many people to seek friendlier economic climates, but this is just a guess because I don't have facts or figures to back it up.

On a side note, Lightning games against the Red Wings are darn near a 50/50 split. Tampa people get very angry and I've seen some pretty good verbal exchanges and security escort some folks from the arena.

I see a lot more people dressed in Michigan caps and shirts than I see from Red Wings, Lions, Tigers or Pistons.

with a woman from Pittsburgh. Fuck Pittsburgh sports. We agreed to raise our kids Jewish in exchange for loyalty to Michigan and Detroit sports teams.

for one, Detroit to Pittsburgh is a relatively easy and short trip and  Pitt's new stadium is a desired location.  Detroit and Pittsburgh play every year now and often in a 4 day 2 home, 2 away format.  Easty trip to plan

 

Modern professional sports fandom is much less dependant on geography mostly due to the  cable television phenomenon and the oversaturation of games on TV.  You can become a fan of just about any team now days without even making a huge finacial commitment to root from a team 800 miles away or more.

 

Americans move and have moved around more in the last few decades than any time prior to the settling of the "West" probably.  You grow up maybe around Detroit you love the Tigers set out on your own and find a job in North Carolina or Pennsylvania or somewhere else but your love for the Tigers doesn't fade and boom you're a Tigers transplant.  Again cable television helps solidify ones fandom, you can now live in Pennsylvania and watch every Tigers game if you choose.

I would not doubt you are seeing a lot of former SE Michiganders who've moved on to newer and better things jobs wise.  But I think a lot of things are at play here.

 

And btw, the many Tigers fans in Florida thing isn't new.  I remember people talking about all the Tigers fans than ran into down in Florida after moving there in the 80's.  Seems many retirees from Michigna chose to live in Florida.  Who knew.

Interesting topic personally because I have connections to both Pittsburgh and Ann Arbor so lots of memories. My dad was a professor and he taught at Carnegie Mellon from 1980 to 1986. I was just a little kid but Pittsburgh still holds a certain nostalgia for me even though it was going through a rough time in the 1980s with the 82 recession and massive layoffs. People in Pittsburgh were friendly and our street was a lot more of a community than any other place that I've ever lived. Not sure if that was a product of Pittsburgh, or an older era, or combination of the two, or something else. Good times, or at least that's how I remember it. It seems smaller, older, somewhat neglected whenever I have visited since. I've not been back in a while. 

 

We wound up leaving so my mom could go to grad school at UT in Austin and then transition from a stay at home mom to working now that we were older. Originally we planned to move back to Pittsburgh in 88 but we wound up going to Ann Arbor instead because the job offers were better for my parents. Some randomness to that, but it probably also reflected the weakness of the Pittsburgh economy. 

 

Thus we landed in Ann Arbor where I spent the rest of my youth and then went to U of M from 94 to 99. Sports wise, I definitely considered myself a Steelers, Pirates, Penguins fan and never got into the Detroit teams. Left after college for the West Coast and have lived in Bay Area or Seattle ever since. There are things I miss, like cheap housing lol, friendlier people, the college town vibe. For me leaving Michigan was just a question of needing to move on after college. So in that case, I don't know that the economy played into it really. I suppose it could be a factor in never moving back. But not really, because I just think it would be weird to live in those places again. Thomas Wolfe was right, you can't go home again because that time and those people are gone. Otherwise, I could see objectively how Ann Arbor would be a very nice place to live although I don't think I could ever give up the mountains we have for the Midwest. 

 

Anyway, a few people at an event wearing this or that t-shirt probably is just random. But definitely there is a real trend of the hollowed out Rust Belt refugees dispersing across America to newer more vibrant cities. The data on that long-term trend is pretty clear. And I think most people do still identify with some of those cities. I guess it's been 31 years since I left Pittsburgh and 18 for Ann Arbor but I still think of those as my 3 homes along with Seattle. Those places are forever part of your personal story, even if you move on. 

 

Interesting discussion

Didn't think the thread would evolve into cultural appropriation but I like it

My dad and I try to see a Tigers game in a new ballpark every year, goal is to see them all. We've been to many and PNC is still my favorite (of the newer parks - can't really compare PNC and a Fenway experience though, two different beasts). We were not one of the folks you talked to in Pittsburgh, but I think that is a common quest. 

 

Love the city of Pittsburgh - beautiful geographic location, good sports and yall really know how to eat (Got a sandwich the size of my head at Fathead's Saloon).

As a Detroit-area resident, I've made the trip to Pittsburgh to see the Tigers play on the road because the drive isn't that bad and PNC Park is a pretty good place to watch a ballgame.

That said, the idea that Detroit natives are transplanted across the US because of Detroit's / Michigan's recent economic woes is a real thing.

When the Tigers were in Pittsburgh in '06 I skipped a babyshower here in NYC, threw on my Whitaker jersey, caught a late morning US Air flight at JFK, cabbed to PNC and watched about 7 innings. Made it back to NYC without ever mentioning it to my wife. Great day.

Greater D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and Portland, ME in addition to Ann Arbor. Everywhere I have lived I see a lot of Michigan gear, followed by the Tigers and Red Wings. Sparty - not so much.

I mean, I live in Virginia. I grew up in Flint but left for college and still live within half an hour from my college a few years after graduating. To some, they could look at my situation and say "he left Flint because everyone's leaving Flint and there's more opportunities in Virginia." When in reality, I left Flint because my parents were in Flint and I wanted to get away for college. And then I found a full time job in my field two months after graduating. And then I got married to a local girl. I'd move back to Flint (re: Burton...not actually Flint) in a heartbeat, but now I'm essentially a "Virginian" despite the fact that I still call myself a Michigander and root for/keep track of all 4 detroit teams and UM.

I come from a suburban Detroit family of 7 children. 4 UM grads, 2 UofD & 1 Sparty.  At one point one lived in IL, one in NY, one in MS, one in TX, one in OR, and one in Norway.  Only one remained in MI.  It was a long time ago and mostly driven by the lack of economic opportunities in the Great Lake State.

Personally I was born in Pittsburgh, grew up mostly in Ann Arbor, and now live in Asia by way of California. Consequently am a fan of the Steelers, Pirates, Red Wings, Tigers, (Lions, Pistons and Penns to a lesser degree) but most of all, the University of Michigan.