As a University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus, I'm obligated to say Traverse City's lack of a blue and yellow football team should be seen as a positive.

A bit more seriously, I do think lacking a major sports team can be seen as a positive for people who aren't sports enthusiasts. I went to school in Madison and still live here. I've realized there are two Madisons: campus and the rest of the city. Many out of towners, including alumni, only know campus and can only picture a sea of red when they think of Madison. It's much more than that. Not having a major team can be a good thing for TC.

Your comparison to Grand Rapids was interesting. I was there one night a few years ago for a concert and was impressed with downtown. There were young people out, there were nice restaurants and pubs, and it looked like people were actually living there. This was spring 2012 when Michigan was still struggling out of the recession and GM/Chrysler bail outs. Grand Rapids seemed to be doing well then, and if TC is even nicer it probably merits a look.