We’re number one.
Well, technically—Detroit is. Sometimes, when people not familiar with the Michigan area quiz me about the environs, I find myself clarifying that Ann Arbor is not actually all that close to Detroit—the Motor City is about 45 miles away. On the other hand, having worked there for seven years, I can also tell you that it’s a nice quick 45-minute commute from Ann Arbor on most days; freedom from traffic congestion is but one of Detroit’s hidden appeals.
Anyway, today I am embracing our sister city to the east, the one that is north of Canada. (That’s a little free geography lesson for you out-of-towners.) Because another major non-drawback, it turns out, is the weather–specifically, its lack of weather hazardousness. According to the whiz kids who put together actuarial tables, the Motor City is the place to be:
Detroit came out way ahead in all of our criteria, with only 3 major disaster declarations and four total declarations from the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the last 10 years. Detroit’s position on Lake Huron regulates extreme weather patterns …
So, yeah. If you’re a weather wimp? Think Michigan. And I don’t want to hear a lot of lip about the temperature. Because while Ann Arbor may have hit 75 top-ten lists in the last five years, it didn’t hit all of them.