# OMER MI?



## jfishbones (Aug 12, 2009)

Seems like everything I read and people I talked to make it sound like Omer has a crime problem, property theft.
Anyone from that area know if this is true?


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## feedinggrounds (Jul 21, 2009)

Have not heard anything more or less different than any other small towns in the area. I have friends there, they have not mentioned any uptick. What have you heard? Curious.


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## jfishbones (Aug 12, 2009)

feedinggrounds said:


> Have not heard anything more or less different than any other small towns in the area. I have friends there, they have not mentioned any uptick. What have you heard? Curious.


Looking at a piece of land there so I started researching it a bit. There is some statistics that say its quite a bit higher that the rest of the state. 
I called a place in Standish and was talking to them about a few things and the lady said to make sure and keep stuff locked and have a neighbor keep an eye on things if your not full time resident. 
I wonder if its from all the out of towners up canoeing and camping that go for drives on the back roads and cause trouble?


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## ridgewalker (Jun 24, 2008)

My camp property has an Omer address but it is far upstream. Break ins can happen anywhere (my place has been broken into twice in 40 years), no one wants it to happen, but the usual problems that I hear about are campers getting drunk and out of line on the weekends. Anymore, I think it is a good idea to have someone that you trust watch your place any time that you are away for an extended time anywhere in the LP.


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## OnHoPr (Jul 21, 2013)

jfishbones said:


> Looking at a piece of land there so I started researching it a bit. There is some statistics that say its quite a bit higher that the rest of the state.
> I called a place in Standish and was talking to them about a few things and the lady said to make sure and keep stuff locked and have a neighbor keep an eye on things if your not full time resident.
> I wonder if its from all the out of towners up canoeing and camping that go for drives on the back roads and cause trouble?


Any of the intermittent larger tracks of state and fed land closest to down state in the NL are going to have BE problems for non locals and locals. The family property in Iosco gets broken into every couple of years (60 years) from destroying stuff to stealing butt wipe. Can't speak for the Pigeon River Forest area. Phones, computers, and video games cost more nowadays than a can of Pringles and bottle of Dew. The NE side probably has a bit more due to Tri city and Detroit personal going up there.


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## onenationhere (Dec 18, 2008)

This is said about every area, a few friends of mine bought a camp in Lake county and started hearing about meth heads and squatters stealing everything that isn't locked down.
They haven't had any problems at all.
All it takes is one random turd in a small town to rile everyone up, don't let the horror stories stop you from buying something. The majority are good people.


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## Lucky Dog (Jul 4, 2004)

I have a property in Omer, 3rd generation. I've had some vandal problems and some theft problems over the years. Most of it was from the neighbors. I wouldn't consider it any worse than the rest of the state.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

I was born and raised up north and hear quite often about how you can't trust the locals around here of course that comes from the down staters. I just tell them we didn't ask them to come up here and since we can't be trusted maybe they would feel better back where they came from.


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## OnHoPr (Jul 21, 2013)

Martin Looker said:


> I was born and raised up north and hear quite often about how you can't trust the locals around here of course that comes from the down staters. I just tell them we didn't ask them to come up here and since we can't be trusted maybe they would feel better back where they came from.


I have lived in the NLP 33% of my life. I have seen your argument many times to bark back at certain statements that are true. The state and national forest and waterways are NOT yours. In fact a lot of your lively hoods are dependent on tourism, cottage maintenance, boat maintenance, gift shops, restaurants, sand & gravel, wells, etc etc etc etc. That leaves farms, and a few manufacturing locals as really somewhat independent from the public lands and waterways services commerce.


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## Scottygvsu (Apr 19, 2003)

OnHoPr said:


> I have lived in the NLP 33% of my life. I have seen your argument many times to bark back at certain statements that are true. The state and national forest and waterways are NOT yours. In fact a lot of your lively hoods are dependent on tourism, cottage maintenance, boat maintenance, gift shops, restaurants, sand & gravel, wells, etc etc etc etc. That leaves farms, and a few manufacturing locals as really somewhat independent from the public lands and waterways services commerce.


That is a common misconception that I hear often. We should roll out a red carpet from the bridge to West Branch as tourists pay our wages. That is simply not true. Memorial Day, Labor Day, and St. Antlers day do not pay anyone's salary. A nice bump for a ma and pop shop sure. It may even pay for a set of snow tires for a waitress, but a very small portion of the population north of M-55 (what I consider the "up north" line) is absolutely dependent on tourism. Logging, trades, excavating, mining, nursing, sailing, etc. is how most of us make a living.
The "If I didn't go up North, all of you would starve" argument is nothing more than an ill conceived justification to be rude and inconsiderate to locals. 
Do we have a sense of entitlement to the public lands and waters in our backyard? Absolutely. It's OUR backyard. Should we move out of the way because someone bought breakfast and gas in town? Nope.
I don't expect that when I travel to hunt or fish. I am a guest in their home and act accordingly. 

As for crime, there are lowlives everywhere. I wouldn't rule out an up north cabin for fear of break in's. Make friends with a local neighbor. Trade a fishing trip or some hunting privileges for mowing the grass once in awhile. If it looks like someone's home, a dirtbag might think twice about breaking in.


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## OnHoPr (Jul 21, 2013)

Scottygvsu said:


> That is a common misconception that I hear often. We should roll out a red carpet from the bridge to West Branch as tourists pay our wages. That is simply not true. Memorial Day, Labor Day, and St. Antlers day do not pay anyone's salary. A nice bump for a ma and pop shop sure. It may even pay for a set of snow tires for a waitress, but a very small portion of the population north of M-55 (what I consider the "up north" line) is absolutely dependent on tourism. Logging, trades, excavating, mining, nursing, sailing, etc. is how most of us make a living.
> The "If I didn't go up North, all of you would starve" argument is nothing more than an ill conceived justification to be rude and inconsiderate to locals.
> Do we have a sense of entitlement to the public lands and waters in our backyard? Absolutely. It's OUR backyard. Should we move out of the way because someone bought breakfast and gas in town? Nope.
> I don't expect that when I travel to hunt or fish. I am a guest in their home and act accordingly.


That is your point of view, which maybe a misconception in itself from my point of view.
What is the percentage of homes or properties in the NLP that are resident homes? The rest pay taxes for the use of roads and services along with using certain services. Though, most of the tax monies go to the schools. Which is one of the main yipes of retired persons in the NLP because they don't have kids in those schools. They are a lot of non producing peoples that supply a lot of commerce to the NLP in their waning years. The non residents going up to THEIR properties are not the ones damaging and stealing stuff. If you pay property taxes and the non resident pays property taxes what gives you the OUR backyard syndrome, corruption or just those pesky flatlanders. You know, if you are going to run circle jerk you are going to have to donate a 5 gal bucket of white wash to the wall. Most of logging is done on public lands which are controlled by the state or USDA forestry which is for their bureaucracy's funds to whatever PACs are in the midst. Not necessarily the wants of the non residents or a lot of the residents. 

"If I didn't go up North, all of you would starve" is a rude comment, but it is probably triggered a lot by scenario, "Do we have a sense of entitlement to the public lands and waters in our backyard? Absolutely. It's OUR backyard. Should we move out of the way because someone bought breakfast and gas in town? Nope."


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## jfishbones (Aug 12, 2009)

Thanks for all the info guys. I have had a place for years in Tuscola County and Indian River, both vacation spots, and never had an issue at either so I guess I was a little concerned by the information I was getting.


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## Lucky Dog (Jul 4, 2004)

Martin Looker said:


> I was born and raised up north and hear quite often about how you can't trust the locals around here of course that comes from the down staters. I just tell them we didn't ask them to come up here and since we can't be trusted maybe they would feel better back where they came from.


LOL, if you are referring to my post, at the time I had the most trouble with the locals, Omer was "down state". So it is really a matter of perspective. For me it really is more of a "local" vs "non-local" issue. Where ever you go, there will be a small percentage of "locals" that will ruin it for the the large percentage of great locals. And vise-versa. The bottom like is there are pecker heads that are local, and non-local.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Not sayin we don't have our share of thieves just don't like to be told that we as a whole can't be trusted. If we can't be trusted don't bother coming into my part of the world.


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

I’m originally from Bay City, moved to Petoskey for 10 years, and now live in West Branch. I’m very familiar with the local-non local dynamic.

Being local does give you a bit of a possessive mindset. You know how things are, and should be, during most of the year. That’s what you’re used to. Once summer hits, and the tourists invade; people get on edge.

I don’t blame them. You go from quiet and nice, to loud and obnoxious. The whole point of life “up north” is to get away, relax, and enjoy the beauty of the forests and waterways. During summer, people from downstate come up, and bring all their city attitude and habits with them. That’s what irks locals more than anything. I have noticed tourists also have a significant sense of entitlement, because they really do believe the town wouldn’t exist without them. However, every small town has some rowdy individuals as well.

This is simply opinion and observation from a city boy who LOVES living north.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

I love how people in Bay City think of West Branch as, "Up North," while people in West Branch think of Sault St Marie as, "Up North." Everything is relative.

Omer is Michigan's smallest city. Not a ton of commerce, but easy access to roads. Not a big tax base for municipal improvements. There are a lot of people in the area in general (and everywhere north) who are unemployed, and areas with high unemployment tend to have higher crime rates. But the economy IS good, so unemployment is lower, even in Omer.

Our family has owned a cabin near Hale for over 50 years. Our cabins have been broken into, but not in a very long time. Since we built a new cabin (28 years ago), the cabin hasn't been broken into (some screens were messed with), but our garage was burgled once. I boarded up a window, and problem solved. You just have to taken reasonable precautions wherever you are, and be insured.


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## deepwoods (Nov 18, 2002)

I'm a lot like Fishndude. Have a place in Hale. 35 years ago we got broken into a bunch until someone finally was caught. Then it stopped. I find the locals t be very friendly. It took time to become friends and earn their trust just like it would be with anyone you meet. Now they look out for us. Live by the adage "be the friend you want to have."

Heading up this weekend and plan on watching the canoe racer's come by from the high banks early Saturday morning.

Good luck.


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## augustus0603 (Oct 24, 2005)

My lord. The arguments on this site. I can't wait for my application to remove myself from the species arrives. 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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