Vote Richmond, MI - The Single Best Town in America

**belleislerunner** · April-01-10, 07:11 AM

No - It's not an April Fool's joke. But Just for fun.

Richmond, MI [[at the far end of Macomb County) is one of the 10 finalists in ABC's Single Best Town in America contest. Voting ends in 10 days. Winner is thrown an ABC/Kraft town party complete w/ musical acts.

Let's pull together and put Metro Detroit on the map as having the best town in America.

Good Old Days festival, outhouse races, Winter Ice fest.

Representing the metro D with pride.

http://family.go.com/best-town-contest/

**dtowncitylover** · April-01-10, 09:52 AM

Oh, I thought it was an April Fools Joke....

**Detroitnerd** · April-01-10, 10:11 AM

The only problem I have with Richmond is the pervasive racism.

**Hermod** · April-01-10, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

The only problem I have with Richmond is the pervasive racism.

Yes, yes, the residents of Richmond should be rounded up and forcibly moved to high rise condos in the CBD, all of their homes and stores destroyed, and the land plowed up to become a turnip farm.

How dare they enjoy a life with no "diversity'.

**Detroitnerd** · April-01-10, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

Yes, yes, the residents of Richmond should be rounded up and forcibly moved to high rise condos in the CBD, all of their homes and stores destroyed, and the land plowed up to become a turnip farm.

How dare they enjoy a life with no "diversity'.

Oh, come on, Hermod. Certainly, you can have a laugh over a comment like that. Lighten up.

**casscorridor** · April-01-10, 06:52 PM

wait. this isn't a joke?

**Fury13** · April-01-10, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

No - It's not an April Fool's joke. But Just for fun.

Richmond, MI [[at the far end of Macomb County) is one of the 10 finalists in ABC's Single Best Town in America contest. Voting ends in 10 days. Winner is thrown an ABC/Kraft town party complete w/ musical acts.

Let's pull together and put Metro Detroit on the map as having the best town in America.

Good Old Days festival, outhouse races, Winter Ice fest.

Representing the metro D with pride.

http://family.go.com/best-town-contest/

Certainly we can do better than Richmond. Go Capac! C'mon Memphis!

**Eastburn** · April-01-10, 08:45 PM

Memphis all the way. Home of "Mom's" the best small town restaurant anywhere.

**hudkina** · April-02-10, 11:13 PM

Richmond isn't even that nice compared to most cities of that size in Michigan. Is this a survey of very conservative towns or something?

**fareastsider** · April-02-10, 11:24 PM

Richmond is a great town. I have a lot of family there and consider it a second home. Richmond is a great town in many ways and its great to see it recognized. I find it funny how often on here people that get so up in arms over Detroit bashing will have no problem tearing apart any other city or township for ANY reason. Enlighten us on these great towns you speak of Hudkina and why Richmond would not make the cut? I usually agree with you, but on Richmond not being a good pick or to conservative I don't agree.

littlebuddy · April-03-10, 07:40 AM

My uncle had a small farm between Richmond and Armada. Old, run down place. He bought it in the early 60's. Didn't even have indoor plumbing, just an outhouse and a big cistern in the basement to collect rainwater. First time he took me up there we stopped in Richmond to have breakfast in some little diner. Always enjoyed it up there.

**Mackinaw** · April-03-10, 11:40 AM

Richmond, at 40+ miles from downtown and completely surrounded by farmland, is in metro Detroit?

**jcole** · April-03-10, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by Mackinaw

Richmond, at 40+ miles from downtown and completely surrounded by farmland, is in metro Detroit?

It's in Macomb county so it's in the Tri-County area.

**Fury13** · April-03-10, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by hudkina

Richmond isn't even that nice compared to most cities of that size in Michigan. Is this a survey of very conservative towns or something?

Richmond is a jelly-donut, meatloaf, Budweiser kind of place. You aren't going to find any interesting restaurants or European-style bakeries. You're probably going to settle for national-chain pizza and Home Depot [[although there may be a Tractor Supply Co. out that way -- now, seriously, THAT'S a cool store). You'll see lots of jacked-up F-150s [[many with "Bad Ass Boys Have Bad Ass Toys" stickers in the rear windows) but very few Benz convertibles.

Ethnic diversity? Nope. Gay friendly? Nope. Nightclubs or live music? Nope. Great architecture? Nope. Cultural attractions? Unless you count the local library, nope. Evidence of a local intellectual or artist cadre? Uhhh.... well... nope.

But is it quiet and safe and family-oriented for the most part? Certainly.

**hudkina** · April-03-10, 12:37 PM

Richmond is a relatively small village that just happens to have a lot of post-90's sprawlburbia within its boundaries. It's located at the intersection of two railroads. There's no river or any other natural features or large municipal parks. The downtown CBD is fairly typical of the region. It's not well-maintained in a historic context and too small with a few too many gaps. Much of the older housing within the city has been "updated" with cheap vinyl and aluminum siding and there's very little historic brick examples. While the schools aren't necessarily poor, they certainly aren't above average. While Richmond isn't a horrible city, nothing about it makes it stand out compared to the rest of the state. It's just a typical small, conservative farming village that is not unlike hundreds of villages throughout the state.

If I were going to pick a Michigan candidate for a "Best Small Town in Michigan" there are plenty of cities that I'd certainly put ahead of Richmond.

**jcole** · April-03-10, 12:49 PM

I can't speak for Richmond, but I live in a town about 20 miles west of there, and, while what you say used to be true, not so much any more. We have our share of 'fancy' cars, big houses and spoiled brats. Most of the people that live here work or worked out of town, somewhere down toward the 'big city'. As to being safe, a lot of the folks who moved up here to keep their kids out of trouble brought the trouble with them, so safe is a relative term. We have the occasional gang stabbing and B&Es, vandalism, etc. Couple of murders last year in the next town over.
Richmond is a bigger town than where I am, and it's actually closer to a city, that city being Mt. Clemens. I'm sure they get more than their share of petty crime and have plenty of McMansions in what used to be the farm fields of Northern Macomb county.
I'm not knocking Richmond, but don't be so quick to judge what the people who live there are like, because they aren't that much different than the people that live where you are.

**chitaku** · April-03-10, 03:50 PM

For best small town in the state I would of pulled for Cadillac, but go Richmond I guess.

**bee@dee** · April-04-10, 08:12 PM

if 'tri county area' be the criteria, there would be so many better choices than Richmond. perhaps 25 yrs ago it would've got some attention, but nothing close to 'great'. i've been to more than a few towns and i'd have picked 'Clarkston' for one.

**chitaku** · April-04-10, 11:15 PM

Clarkston? yoikes! no way!

**English** · April-04-10, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Mackinaw

Richmond, at 40+ miles from downtown and completely surrounded by farmland, is in metro Detroit?

Originally Posted by jcole

It's in Macomb county so it's in the Tri-County area.

Thanks so much for these hints... now I don't have to ask where Richmond is.

I think it's generally agreed that the best small towns in Michigan are up North, yes?

**jcole** · April-04-10, 11:40 PM

From the contest website, this is the criteria for entering:

To enter as a Contestant you must submit via http://family.go.com/ an Entry consisting of the following elements: [1] one [[1) photo of your choice for the single best thing about your town [["Town"), [2] title for that single best thing and [3] description of why it is your choice, not to exceed one thousand [1,000] characters [[collectively, "Submission"). Each Submission must be in one of the following categories [["Categories"): [[a) Reasons To Visit, [[b) Events & Festivities and [[c) Hometown History. For purposes of these Official Rules [["Rules"), "Day" shall mean each calendar day during the Entry Period and all times and Days are Pacific Time.

Richmond was entered under the Events and Festivities criteria for the Richmond Good Ol' Days celebration, so it is not overall best small town in Michigan or USA.
Here was the original entry:

Tell Us What Makes Your Town Unique:
My name is Rosaria and I am the 2008 Miss Richmond and the 1995 Little Miss Richmond. If you're looking for Small Town USA this town is it. Every year the weekend after Labor Day we have our town fair and parade The Richmond Good Old Days. This isn't just any town fair we have one thing that makes us unique we have our annual Outhouse Races. Teams practice for this race months in advance. Teams get together and build and decorate an outhouse there are 5 runners and one driver. We close of main street and race them, guys against guys and girls against girls. That isn't our only event though we have rides, games, faircross, figure eight and much, much more. The Richmond Good Old Days parade is also one of the biggest parades in Michigan which I have been in many times. Apart from Good Old Days this town is fun and amazing year round. One tradition is that on the last day of school at Richmond High everyone rides their John Deere tractors to school and park them on the front lawn.

**English** · April-04-10, 11:42 PM

Thanks, jcole. Under that criteria, I hope Richmond wins! Anything that's good publicity for the metro area can only be good for the city and the state.

**Detroitnerd** · April-05-10, 09:47 AM

John Deere tractors? Sheesh. Yuppies ...

**Eastburn** · April-05-10, 09:56 AM

I lived in Richmond Township [[just outside Memphis) for 12 years and loved it. Friendly people, laid back atmosphere, and - most importantly - not Yuppiefied. Unlike the Milford area where I lived before that. To each his own, I guess.

**Detroitnerd** · April-05-10, 10:09 AM

I'm not saying Richmond is a horrible place. It has its charm, that much is sure. I usually pass through at least once a year on my way to a friend's summer shindig. All I'm saying is I think it's a little weird to be talking about the "Best Small Town in America" when there are so many African-American posters on this forum. You wonder whether they could even drive through a lot of these small towns without being pulled over, or whether they could shop at the stores without being followed around. And I think it's a fair point.

For what it's worth, my great-grandparents were married in Richmond in 1878 on Christmas Day.