Westland: What a way to get a name
Written: Aug 17 '00 (Updated Mar 28 '01)
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Pros: Highly residential, easy access to Detroit area
Cons: Heavy traffic, retail becoming congested
The Bottom Line: Westland was a comfortable place to grow up, but it's not even close to being a tourist attraction.
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| Redlass's Full Review: Michigan |
I like word origins. It’s a fascinating little topic that amuses and delights.
I also like history. So it should come as little surprise when I tell you that I like to find out how cities get their names. I live in a state that is rich with quirky names and interesting origins.
There is Novi, which was the No. VI stop on the stagecoach line.
There is Hell. Its origins are slightly obscured, but some say it was the German settlers who called it “schon and hell” referring to its beauty, not to the netherlands.
There is the capital, Lansing, which was named for the city of Lansing in New York (it was a native of that city that founded Michigan’s Lansing), which was in turn named after the Revolutionary war hero John Lansing. (He’s an interesting fellow himself. He opposed the Constitution, feeling it overstepped its bounds. He walked out on the Constitutional Convention and said he would never support a system that consolidated the country into one government. He came around eventually, pursuing a long judicial career. He was last heard of leaving a hotel to post some letters. He was never heard from again. Best guess is that he was murdered. He was 75.)
Then there is the magic capitol of the world: Colon. It was named by its founder. He opened a dictionary at random and saw the word: "colon." He indicated the town would be named that, as he felt the lake and the river resembled the shape of a colon.
The town of Climax was originally given the name Climax Prairie, by a group of settlers, led by Daniel B. Eldred, who in 1835 decided to end, (or "climax" as they put it), their search for a place to live.
Zilwaukee was named with the purpose of deceit. Two brothers arrived there in 1848 and built a saw mill. When it came time to name the town, they called it Zilwaukee hoping immigrants would confuse it with Milwaukee. They called it creative recruiting.
Then there is my home town. It was named after a shopping mall. No, really.
It used to be Nankin Township and then they built the shopping mall. Shortly afterward, the township reorganized into a city and named itself after the shopping mall: Westland.
Westland is Michigan’s 10th largest city, (a population of 84,724 give or take recent births and deaths) but few tourists have ever heard of it. That’s primarily because other than the shopping mall, there isn’t much to see. It’s a bedroom community for Ford’s River Rouge plant. Indeed, I was one of very few children in my school whose parents did not work in the auto industry or for a supplier of the auto industry.
Westland could almost define “suburb,” though it has a very different feel to it than Detroit’s eastern suburbs, where the wealthier residents live. No, Westland is very blue-collar and very working class. It’s more diverse, and all-around a much more down-to-earth place to live. It lacks the pretensions of a West Bloomfield or the forced charm of Redford.
I find myself hard-pressed to put impose a character description on Westland. To me, it just is. It’s where people live and where they grow up. It doesn’t do anything other than that.
Well, OK. It does have some parks. According to the small bit of research I did for this article, it has 17 parks, covering 2,332 acres of land. But that includes neighborhood playgrounds.
It has a very good school system, though it is often criticized. (I don’t suppose it would stay as good if it weren’t criticized.) The William D. Ford Vocational Center was one of the first vocational-technical schools in the country and does an outstanding job of providing technical training. And it did this long before it was popular to provide school-to-career options.
Westland keeps its residents entertained by a mixture of politics that is at once both earnest and corrupt. I learned at a rather young age what a recall was and how it worked. It wasn’t in school that I learned the terms “impeachment” or “indictment.” Westland residents enjoy their politics and enjoy skewering those hapless souls who think a mayoral, council, or school board seat insinuates some sort of power or privilege.
Westland was a good place to grow up. My husband and I both lived on blocks where one house was very like another, we were surrounded with other playmates, and we had plenty of room to safely ride big wheels, tricycles, and our bikes. We knew our neighbors and they knew us. We shared backyards, sandboxes, swing sets, and pools.
Having grown up, though, it holds little with which to draw me back. Culture is a word used for yogurt (though it is certainly close enough to plenty of other cities that have entertainment facilities) and the traffic is so heavy it makes it impossible to get anywhere in less than 15 to 20 minutes.
Yet, now that I have a child, I do miss the streets full of children and the large schools filled with lots of choices.
I’ll also always have a certain amount of sentimentality attached to Westland. After all, it is where I lived from the time I was five until I moved away at age 20. My parents and in-laws continue to live there—both in the homes that my husband and I grew up in.
Westland is also the city where my husband and I met, and where we spent our high school years. Each street is rich in memories—even as more and more strip malls and gas stations are being built. We can drive by the huge GM parking lot and remember the drive-in that used to be there and the times we spent with our group of friends camped out on top of our cars, watching movies and socializing. We drive by houses where our friends used to live and remember the hours spent dreaming of the future.
It’s not a tourist destination, and it lacks much in the way of character, but a part of me will always call Westland home.
Want to read some more hometown recollections? This is an early entry into the hometown write-off, hosted by IrishMa4. I know I can’t wait to take a trip across the country (perhaps even the world) to visit the home towns of these folks:
Annexation, levda, jenninca, Chelie11, Frani49, blollies, julieinid, lucky47, Elorraine, Saprswife, Cheynasmom, Benagee, Prepoia, Francesca57,Frazzledspice, Amykhar,Slicksbabe, Barefooter,Boosters, Kinganamort,ElmoTicle, JenN2Kids, BeanieRandy, MeNMyZach, GizyKat, CeltMom,Foberswife, Trawma, Mom2Twinz, Endora60, Prncess,Braggio, SunnydayM, KaraHoo, VeeZee, Thinkerlady,Redlass, NYLawgirl, KCFemme, Laryan, BigJack, Jenb123, IrishMa4, Pmckay, jo.com, 29th_Candidate, moderngypsy, file13, Y2JMcDohl, Disartain, Dr_Steph, MsBayLady,Amykahr, BeeCharmer, Kassie, Ahiggs, Elizajane, Erin5oaks, menomonee1, driver4t5, & jankp.
Join me, won’t you?
Recommended:
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Epinions.com ID:
Redlass
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Bridgette
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Reviews written: 526
Trusted by: 483 members
About Me:
I have many loves: family, books, theater, writing, and the many communities I belong to.
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