A Place of Stunning Beauty, Stunning Growth

Author Tim Mulherin’s book, This Magnetic North, stirred discussion about the pressure that growth and development are having on northwest Lower Michigan when it was published in 2025. Though concern has been rising for decades, the area is close to a turning point — perhaps one leading to irreversible change in character. I asked Tim to discuss what he has heard from audiences about the issues raised in his book.

This Magnetic North is a 2026 Michigan Notable Book. Tim is also the author of Sand, Stars, Winds, & Water, published by Mission Point Press (2021). He is currently writing a book on Midwestern wildlife, focusing on Michigan and Indiana, the two states between which he splits his time.

What stood out to you among audience comments and were there any surprises?

What stood out last year – and what continues to stand out in my author talks this season – is the level of audience engagement. Not only are attendees asking insightful questions, they also openly share their own experiences and observations regarding the impact of the sea changes occurring in northern Michigan, especially in its Great Lakes coastal communities as well as in the Upper Peninsula. The concern about what’s happening is palpable, as is the tension from locals who are most negatively affected by the affordability crisis. The impact of affluent newcomers – and there are more of them here than ever before – is becoming more profound, as is the correlated increasing struggle of the middle and lower socioeconomic classes in the region.

Author Tim Mulherin

I am also pleasantly surprised by the number of attendees who stay after the presentation to continue the discussion. Although this is a complex if not overwhelming issue, these deeply convicted conversations are informative and heartening to me. Northern Michiganders really care about what the future holds here.

The impact of affluent newcomers – and there are more of them here than ever before – is becoming more profound, as is the correlated increasing struggle of the middle and lower socioeconomic classes in the region.

As I share in my talk, those of us who have called the region home for a matter of years or forever have an obligation to support and celebrate local culture and folkways, learn and preserve the region’s history, be thoughtfully engaged with local government to have a voice in decision- and policymaking, and be energetically involved in environmental and wildlife conservation efforts. Further, the figurative blinders should be taken off by financially secure lifestyle migrants. They need to be made aware of the acute human challenges here – affordability being foremost.

Whether you’re a regular visitor, seasonal property owner, relocator, or born-and-raised Michigander, you are part of the community and therefore have a responsibility to be active participants in intentionally shaping the region’s future. Northern Michigan is at an inflection point. In planning for a future that is truly sustainable for the greater good, it’s time for a community-wide, all-hands-on-deck approach.

Worth noting, I’m very encouraged by the people I’ve met at my author talks who have relocated to northern Michigan during the past several decades. At a recent talk I gave at the Benzonia Public Library, most attendees fell into this category. They may not ever qualify as locals – dependent upon that wide, occasionally amusing, and sometimes rigid definition – but as converts, they are ardent defenders of all that is worth preserving and protecting here.

Looking ahead 25 years, in what condition do you think water and open space will be? Put another way, what will have changed?

From a human population standpoint, northern Michigan has plenty of room to grow, which is both a blessing and a curse. Obviously, how that growth is managed is key. We have a propensity to want to fill in any open spaces with manmade “improvements.” Moreover, clean water is often taken for granted, our most precious resource perhaps second only to oxygen. Its management and protection are essential to all the region’s stakeholders, residents and visitors alike.

As I state in my talks and based upon the input of climate and environmental experts I interviewed and my own observations, the northward migration is only going to increase and accelerate. Climate change will spur greater numbers of people to seek out safer areas like northern Michigan, which is not nearly as natural disaster prone as, say, the West Coast (earthquakes, flooding, mudslides, and wildfires), the Southwest (excessive heat and drought), and the Southeast (hurricanes and flooding). Indeed, all this fresh water here has vital appeal.

The northward migration is only going to increase and accelerate. Climate change will spur greater numbers of people to seek out safer areas like northern Michigan.

So, northern Michigan’s population will continue to grow. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it double in Grand Traverse County alone in the next 25 years, if not sooner. Remember, the Twin Cities are located along the 45^th Parallel, which runs through Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties. What’s to prevent similar growth here? Knowing what’s coming makes planning for its arrival imperative.

So, looking ahead…

Vacation and seasonal property will stay in high demand. Those of us who remember a sleepy Grand Traverse region in the eighties and early nineties may think the crowds are overwhelming now and the newcomers many. But for first-time visitors and relocators, that’s not relevant. They’re quite happy, understandably, to be in such a breathtaking place and are unaware of the region’s less-populated past. Yet that lack of historical context is quite problematic as it pertains to the future of the area. The human carrying capacity of the environment is seldom considered when it comes to catering to humanity’s self-interest. In northern Michigan, such willful ignorance and inability to manage growth could well result in lasting if not irrecoverable harm.

• By 2050, I expect that inland lakes here will be completely encircled by McMansion-sized vacation homes, cottage culture a thing of the past. I recently read an interview in the Traverse City Ticker profiling a local developer who stated that all the Lake Michigan and inland lake waterfront properties in the region are taken and have been or are in the process of being developed for high-end housing. The new frontier for scenic property is the hillside/hilltop properties. And so the real estate pricing-out for the common man and woman continues to metastasize.

By 2050, I expect that inland lakes here will be completely encircled by McMansion-sized vacation homes, cottage culture a thing of the past.

• As well, there will likely be a deterioration of unprotected wild places: more people in the woods and on the water coinciding with more development transforming the landscape. Unavoidably, this will lead to more conflict between wildlife and humans – notably involving large mammals such as bears and coyotes – largely due to newcomers’ lack of familiarity with them. Further, there will be more roadkill and disruption of many species’ migratory paths. What’s more, without thoughtful policy and regulations, water pollution threats – especially to groundwater sources – will escalate in number.

Keep in mind that many folks who are coming here to make a new life are accustomed to living among a density of people. Certainly, they prize the region’s stunning scenery. However, they’re often okay with doing so in plenty of company. For those of us who treasure solitude, this is anathema. Yet like it or not, a middle ground will need to be determined.

• Coming down the pike is an unavoidable major clash between the federal government and the eight contiguous states and two Canadian provinces that are signatories of the Great Lakes Compact to prevent water diversion. The American Southwest’s insatiable thirst will only grow as the water resources there continue to dwindle and temperatures soar, undoubtedly challenging that agreement. I expect this to occur well before 2050.

The silver lining with these predictions is, with so many environmental conservation organizations located here and doing such commendable work in raising public awareness, there is a well-established, strong local pride in protecting northern Michigan’s great outdoors. Converting tourists, seasonal residents, and transplants to become environmental advocates – especially water warriors – is essential to building an ecologically responsible future.

Is there a sustainable way of maintaining a healthy economy in a natural resource rich region like this?

This is a great concern of mine. I split my time between Indianapolis and northern Michigan (not by choice but due to family circumstance). The environmental decline began in Indiana (and throughout the Midwest) during settlement, undertaken in earnest in the early 1800s, and the state has not recovered since. I could go on about the abhorrent water quality of the White River today as it threads through central part of the state, the air and light pollution over central and northwestern Indiana skies, the less than 10 percent of the wetlands that remain, and similar ills. Such threats may seem farfetched today in northern Michigan. At one time, the lumber era may have been unimaginable, too. No landscape is safe from the thoughtless degradation caused by increased population, poor urban and rural planning, and unchecked development.

The silver lining with these predictions is, with so many environmental conservation organizations located here and doing such commendable work in raising public awareness, there is a well-established, strong local pride in protecting northern Michigan’s great outdoors.

Stated simply, here’s the situation northern Michigan is facing: more people, more pressure, more problems. And as climate change becomes much more symptomatic and impossible to ignore, the influx of humanity Up North will only rise. So, what do we do?

Prepare proactively. Plan comprehensively. Welcome progressive change for the better, including environmentally responsible industries. Don’t compromise the integrity of the land and water for purely economic gain. What is good for people, in the short and long runs, is good for the planet. The Seven Generations Indigenous teaching is most apropos here. Decades from now, will the decisions we’re making today favor or compromise the well-being of our children and grandchildren and their descendants? As ever, it’s up to us. Apathy is the real enemy.

Don’t compromise the integrity of the land and water for purely economic gain. What is good for people, in the short and long runs, is good for the planet.

Take it from someone who has lived in a major Midwestern metropolitan area, the opportunity to proactively, constructively, and systemically engage and shape the future here in northern Michigan is fleeting. To ignore it will be at our peril. There will be no second chance. Hope combined with right thinking and action can be our salvation. It’s time to get to work – together.