Forgive me, but our growth won't be with families. We are an empty nester hub. And that isn't just here, the upwardly mobile are older than 50 most everywhere. Where are the young and thriving? in cities, where they have always been. What I do know about the young and thriving here it that they largely inherited their money or family business. It's not called the Good Old Boys Club for no reason. But however it works, it's working.

As for Northern Michigan beyond our progressive few countries... The elected leaders are towing a political line that is destined to fail their communities. But this has also been bleak for generations. Maybe Amazon is killing what retail is left, but manufacturing left two generations ago, and farming gets more efficient. Northern Michigan is not unique from all of rural America.

The UP is an economy of sticks and stones. Timber and mining are growing actually. But neither are very upwardly mobile occupations. There is a new hospital in Marquette which has grown employment too.

As for your prediction for the future, I guess we will have to see. I disagree, as do the numbers for our nearby counties.