Traverse City thrives on tourism We have many small businesses and a few medium sized businesses, but our bread and butter in northwest Michigan is tourism. As someone who lives in Traverse City, I say welcome to all those who choose to spend some of their value vacation time with us. It's a beautiful place to be. Many great beaches, hikes and restaurants. Before I lived here, I loved to visit and never had a bad time. I hope you have an enjoyable, memorable vacation.
Please drive faster.
Yes, the bay and the peninsulas are lovely sites. I see them every day and while some of the magic has worn off in the past six years I have lived here, I still enjoy seeing them. As does everyone that visits. But some of us have errands to run and missing the third traffic light because of the people going 25 MPH on Grandview is, as you can understand, at best frustrating and at worst rage-inducing. Not that I want to go to Costco, but if I have to, I have to, and the extra ten minutes it takes in the summer doesn't help my mental health. Even the $1.50 hot can only do so much.
And if someone is standing by the side of the road, looking like they want to cross, you don't have to stop for them unless they are physically in front of your car or in a crosswalk with flashing red lights. (Yellow is not red.) They might be like me, patiently waiting for traffic to clear to get across the street, not wanting to disrupt the flow of traffic since people in cars are almost certainly doing something more important than going to the beach.