TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – It would be safe to say that most people wouldn’t automatically consider the tourist town of Traverse City to be “wild” especially when most nights, even on the weekends, restaurants can be seen closing up shop by 3 pm, downtown retailers close their doors between 6 and 8 pm, and the local police aren’t inundated with unleashed residents and visitors causing chaos and mischief in a visible and ongoing basis.
However, according to OLBG, an online betting guide website, Traverse City ranks #3, after Reno and Portland as one of the country’s wildest cities.
MORE NEWS: Bedrock, GM Propose $250M in Taxpayer Money for Ren Cen Revamp
The criteria of the OLBG includes the number of adults in Traverse City who binge drink or drink heavily (23%), the number of people who have taken marijuana (65.8%), the number of people who have taken cocaine (23.8%), casinos per 100,000 residents (0%) and the number of strip clubs (2). That gives them an overall score that puts them at number #3, followed by Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Tucson, Sarasota, Phoenix and another Michigan city, Grand Rapids.
The OLBG website says about the Traverse City numbers, “This city is renowned for its vineyards and wineries and this makes it less surprising that 23% of the residents here drink heavily. Some of the other factors that make up Traverse City’s 7.71 /10 overall score are the 12.76 strip clubs per 100,000 residents, and the fact that 65.8% of people here have taken marijuana.”
Even though Traverse City doesn’t seem to be a “wild” place to live according to most locals, the signs welcoming visitors into the tourist town going north on M-72 by the Turtle Creek Casino might give a different impression – with multiple billboards advertising the city’s cannabis retailers.
Leave a Comment
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.