Many people ask what we find as the biggest difference between living in LA and living in Vicksburg. Most assume it is the weather, which is definitely different. But my wife and I grew up in the Northeast and even got to live for a time in Sweden, so the constantly changing nature of Michigan weather (even the snowy parts) are familiar and enjoyable.
The relative size of the populations is a decided contrast; 29,000,000 people live in Southern California in one unbroken sprawl of adjacent counties and cities. Kalamazoo County, with nine cities and towns which include Kalamazoo, Portage and Vicksburg, has a population of just 261,000. The entire state of Michigan has only 10 million people.
But it was only after living here just a few months that I realized what I found as the biggest single difference between the two. For me it is the people. At first I was a bit freaked out. The first time I walked our dogs in our new neighborhood, total strangers walking and even driving by would wave to us. This would never happen in LA.
We went to Lowes. A total stranger offered to help us load bags of mulch into our car. If that happened in LA, we’d not only be astonished, we’d be looking over our shoulders the whole time to see if he had an accomplice, and checking our pockets to make sure we hadn’t been robbed.
The difference is trust. In LA, in every encounter with a stranger, and there are a lot of them, you have to assume the worst. Maybe they are trying to run a scam, maybe they are targeting you for something worse. But you must always be on guard and trust no one.
Here people are friendly and helpful, apparently solely for the sake of being friendly and helpful. Who knew?!
I realized that in LA you trust no one until they prove they can be trusted. Here, you can trust everyone, until they prove they cannot be trusted.
That is a huge difference in your outlook and the way in which you approach you daily life. And being constantly on guard is exhausting.
Southern Michigan by contrast is relaxing.
We’re not in LA anymore.
