Michigan's Lower and Upper Peninsulas Compared

Mr. Beat compares and contrasts Michigan's two peninsulas. Check out my Michigander friend's channel, @ScienceAsylum!

Corrections:
0:33 The Lower Peninsula also borders Lake Erie.

Produced by Matt Beat. All images and video by Matt Beat, used under fair use guidelines, or found in the public domain. Music by @Dyalla.

Here's an annotated script with footnotes:

Sources/further reading:

#michigan #upperpeninsula #geography

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The Lower Peninsula, let’s call it LP, and Upper Peninsula, let’s call it UP…of Michigan.

Michigan is the ONLY state in THESE United States which consists of two, distinct peninsulas like this, and in this video we’ll look at their similarities and differences. A peninsula, by the way, is a piece of land almost entirely surrounded by water. It just, ya know, sticks out there. Now Michigan’s peninsulas are surrounded by three of the five Great Lakes, the largest group of freshwater lakes on the planet. Are you thirsty? 21% of all the world’s fresh water is in them.

Despite being in the same state, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula often seem worlds apart. Indeed, at times it seems like they are two different states. But despite all their differences, they ain’t never separatin’. There is MORE than the Mackinac Bridge keeping these two peninsulas together. There seems to be a bond that cannot be broken.

[iammrbeat]

And last but certainly not least, I look at the great state of Michigan for this Compared series.
0:33 Yep, I left out Lake Erie. It's great, too.
What else did I get wrong or leave out?

Don't forget that checking out my sponsor helps out my channel!

[nonfunctionalslackfill]

Michigander here, It's worth noting that the UP has a ton of issues that go unseen. Poverty up there is really high. Utility prices are also really high. Houghton pays the highest electricity bills in the continental US. Also the time to drive from Detroit to ironwood goes way up in the winter.

[bessertc]

Okay, as a lifelong Michigander of nearly five decades, I have to say this is probably the best, most accurate video on my state I've ever seen! Sure, we don't use "L.P." but *always* say "U.P." (weird, eh?), but I'll give you mad props for an excellent and factual video on the Great Lakes State! And THANK YOU SO MUCH for repeatedly pronouncing Mackinac correctly!! We have some goofy-sounding places here, but hearing people say "Mack-in-NACK" is 127 times worse than nails on a chalkboard to any self-respecting Michigander! Again... Kudos!

[cyber_pirate]

Being from Michigan, I can say our state is severely underrated. Thank you for shining a light on the spectacular peninsulas!

[brennathompson]

Fun story: One my friends was camping in the UP with her family; her brother was leaving for to Grand Rapids (about 8 hour drive across the Mackinac Bridge), but put "no toll roads" in his GPS. It took him on a 16+ hour drive through two states to avoid a $4.00 bridge toll.

[a_pirate]

West Michigander here, the UP feels like a completely different world. I’ve been to the rural northern lower Peninsula plenty of times, and it’s pretty sparse but doesn’t nearly compare to just how wild and empty the UP feels. There are some Yooper towns that are only a few dozen people, and it’s many miles till the next tiny town. Marquette and Escanaba really feel like tiny bubbles of civilization in the middle of the wilderness

[Joshkin.]

I'm a yooper and it made me super excited seeing this upload knowing we actually got recognized, because people seem to forget about the UP and it's separate culture and just think of it as more of Michigan or sometimes Wisconsin.

[alylu-to-esutej]

I went to college in the UP specifically for the winter. My third year we got 362 inches of snow. For anyone who moved there, you would have to find some winter hobby, whether it was skiing, snowshoeing, broomball, snowmobiling, ice fishing, etc. The snow literally made my college experience worth it haha.

[johnnguyen]

I believe at one point the Governor of Michigan referred to the state as a destination state since you don't really drive through Michigan when going to other states with exception of going to Canada.

[jdzube]

As a Yooper born and raised I can definitely say that our unique accent IS NOT because of only the Finn's. It's a weird mixture of French, Canadian, Cornish and yes Finnish along with Norwegians. It's like none other that I've encountered

[calvinkeinath]

Great video. As a Michigander I think it’s worth noting that the further north you go in the lower peninsula, the more similar it gets to the UP. North of Midland and Mt Pleasant, which are about middle of the Lower Peninsula, the population drops significantly and industries like lumber and at one point mining were much more prevalent. The economies and poverty rates are more similar between the UP and Northern LP.

Also not only are we surrounded by the Great Lakes, but we’re filled with hugely popular smaller lakes. Houghton, Higgins, and Torch Lakes are just three of the hugely popular lakes in the Northern Lower Peninsula that see huge waves of tourists in the Summer. In fact Michigan is one of the top states with lakes, with 10, 000 recorded lakes

[RyanMariners]

As someone who lives in Michigan, I thank you for making this video!

[jewey]

I would say one thing that isn’t mentioned in the video (I don’t know how you would have known) is the “Up North” stereotype. Almost every vacation I’ve ever taken is where we go “up north” to ski, or spend a week at a lake. There’s a weird natural/urban divide that’s undefined within Michigan

[jacobluna]

Living in Michigan I can say that the upper peninsula is like a completely different state when compared to the lower peninsula. My brother lives in the upper and I live in the lower. Before the construction of the Mackinac Bridge there was a campaign for the upper peninsula to become their own state! ~ You can see where I work in this video! ~

[lindabarnes]

I immigrated to the US back in the late 50's and ended up in Marquette and then Escanaba. I'm grateful to still have all my fingers and toes, given how intensely cold it was up on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. We had no polar fleece, no thinsulate, no North Face or Patagonia to kill the chill. As a six year old I thought the UP winters were brutally beautiful. I was often late for school making snow angels along the way. The crisp air was so clean. No pollution. Ultimately the extreme cold caused me to leave. Now I'm retired and live on another penninsula - one that juts out into the ocean in Washington. I fondly remember my Yooper days and appreciate the UP's raw beauty and ultimate influence on my life choices.

[briangarrow]

I grew up in a logging town in the Pacific Northwest. My hometown was settled by European immigrants, mainly Norwegians, Swedes and Finns. In many homes, families still spoke their native language, while their children, my schoolmates, learned to speak and read English. I drove through Michigan, including the UP and loved the beautiful scenery. And the MightMac was the most impressive and amazing bridge I’ve ever crossed.

[Nightfireblade]

As a michigander, I've never seen anyone do the UP like that. The tips of the fingers touch so that you get the Keweenaw peninsula using the thumb, and the people basically in Wisconsin using the pinkie finger.
Otherwise, pretty fun video, thanks for making it!

[cdjhyoung]

Mr. Beat you got one thing absolutely correct about Michigan. Distances in Michigan are measured in time traveled, not mileage. No one knows the milage between Iron Mountain and Detroit, but everyone has a pretty good idea about how long it takes to get there.

I think this is because no native Michigan resident drives the posted speed limits on the Expressways. 70 or 75 seem to be the posted minimums, and if you are in the passing lane, don't drop below 80 or you'll get run over.

[janellapalm]

First video I've seen that really nails it on Michigan! Most others will barely even mention the UP, if at all. As a Yooper, it feels really great to see someone give us our due diligence when talking about the state!!

[Kataclysmic]

Michigander here! Thanks for covering our state! It doesn’t get enough love, this place is beautiful