Social Conflict Associated with Turnaround Migration: Evidence from Northern Michigan

The possibility of social conflict associated with turnaround migration has been raised, but has thus far received only limited empirical examination. This paper reports comparisons between urban origin newcomers and established permanent residents in two northern lower Michigan counties experiencing turnaround migration. Minimal differences were found between the groups in their background characteristics and attitudes toward local public services and regional growth and development. Newcomers were more likely to participate in outdoor recreation activities, but this difference in itself is not seen as a major source of social conflict. Attributes of the study area are considered to explain the absence of differences expected from review of the literature. Research reported in this paper was funded by the National Science Foundation, Research Applied to National Needs Program, Grant Number 34898. The findings, opinions and recommendations expressed herein are the authors' and not necessarily those of the...