Do Michigan Natives Have a Psychological Need to Live Near Water?

Being a native Michigander you've grown up close to water. There are few places you can go without being near any kind of lake or within a relatively easy drive to a Great Lake.

Does that physical closeness give one a deeply seeded need to be near water?

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Across Michigan, there is no location more than 80 miles from a Great Lake - that spot is in Eaton Rapids south of Lansing. Any where else, and you're within a likely hour drive to a Great Lake.

The question of a physiological need to be near water came up on Reddit recently where someone who has lived near salt water all their life asked,

I've only lived on the east, west and gulf coasts of America. For some reason I want to physically live near an ocean. Is this odd or normal?

Could the same question been asked for those who are lifelong Michiganders for whom a connection to the Great Lakes is a way of life?

Many answered that, yes, the nearness to water matters to them:

The thought of living inland terrifies me. I need to live by the coast or I feel trapped.
...A body of water yes. Growing up along the Mississippi River has made it weird for me to reside to far from some sort of water source.
I can get a little weird even visiting land locked places. I don’t have to be on the beach, but I need to be able to see water pretty easily. I want to say it’s like claustrophobia?

Specifically related to a Great Lake:

I'm blessed enough to live within a 2 hour drive from 3/5 Great Lakes. The water has always been my happy place, too.
Plus, in the Great Lakes, there’s no constant odor of decay like in real oceans!
I get that people who grow up near oceans like them, but as a Midwesterner by birth, I’ll happily leave the tidal stink to anybody who wants it.

If you've ever felt a pull you can't explain to the Great Lakes - a need to live near, visit often and vacation there, it's not just you.

[Editor's Note: The image that accompanies this story is from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore along Lake Michigan in the Northern Lower Peninsula.]

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Gallery Credit: Eric Meier

Categories: Michigan News