Most livable small town: Midland, MI

My wife and I drove through Midland, MI last Thursday on our way back from vacations on the Upper Peninsula. This was our first visit to this town and I must say that we were very impressed. Among the things that elicited our exclammations of approval:

• Beautifully maintained downtown area (along Main Street): clean, pedestrian-friendly, filled with flowers.


• The skateboarding park. When most towns (including our own, Ann Arbor) merely forbid skateboarding and treat skateboarders as if they were criminals, Midland created a great place for the kids to have fun without bothering anybody.


• Biking trails. Both my wife and I are avid bike riders and we regretted that we didn't take our bikes on this trip. We plan to go back to Midland for a ride sometime soon.


• Free parking in downtown. Wow! In our town finding a parking spot in downtown is nearly impossible, and it costs at least a $1/hour, with many meters limited to 2, 1, or even 0.5 hour...


• Spacious, exceptionally clean riverside park with enclosed areas for dogs to run. Again, rather than prescribe the length of the leash the dogs must be kept on *at all times* (we've seen plenty of examples of local ordinances of this sort), the town's administrators gave dog owners a place to let their pets run free. We, not being dog owners ourselves, find it highly commendable.

Our brief visit, merely few hours, allowed us only a very small glimpse into Midland, but what we saw left us impressed. I can say that it is one of the nicest, most livable small towns I have seen in my extensive travels in the US. Perhaps what was most impressive was the town administration's apparent rational and citizen-friendly approach. Way too many city councils would bring up the issue of legal liability when voting down a proposal to build a skateboarding area or establish a dog park. I'm sure they considered this as well, but decided to err on the side of innovation and making life in town more pleasurable, rather than being protected from any possible legal danger.

Here are a few photos I took in Midland :

• Skateboarding park


• The Tridge


• Courthouse