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  Leaving Michigan Behind: Eight-year population exodus staggers state
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ContributorDFWDem 
Last EditedDFWDem  Apr 02, 2009 02:34pm
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News DateThursday, April 2, 2009 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionRon French and Mike Wilkinson / The Detroit News

Joe LaCross drives American cars. Always has. Born and raised in the blue-collar suburbs of Detroit, this son of a welder wouldn't dream of rolling past his autoworker neighbors in a Toyota. But not long ago the 38-year-old pulled into the driveway of his Sterling Heights home in a vehicle wreaking even more havoc in his home state.

A moving van.

"I grew up here," said LaCross, as he packed to move to Florida in search of a job. "My family is here. My wife's family is here. I love everything about Michigan.

"Everything," he said, picking up a plastic storage tub, "except the economy."

People are leaving Michigan at a staggering rate. About 109,000 more people left Michigan last year than moved in. It is one of the worst rates in the nation, quadruple the loss of just eight years ago. The state loses a family every 12 minutes, and the families who are leaving -- young, well-educated high-income earners -- are the people the state desperately needs to rebuild.
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