I grew up in a small town in northern MI and have since lived in the Detroit suburbs for almost 10 years. I have also spent quite a bit of time in west MI and many cities in the midwest. I can say with conviction that southeast MI has some of the most unhappy, stressed out, self-absorbed and immature people in the country. Certainly the auto industry implosion shoulders a big part of the blame. Chicago folks are friendly by comparison. I agree that west MI culture is far more open and friendly. The lay of the land is really nice (mix of forests, plains, rivers, fruit tree orchards, dunes), and of course the beauty of Lake MI is hard to ignore. It's for these reasons and more that I'm selling my place in Oakland County and moving to Ottawa County.