Fifteen percent of voters couldn't name a major problem in the nation, triple the percent from two years ago. Four of five perceive Michigan's and the nation's economy to be good or excellent. Almost two out of three rated their personal finances as good or excellent. That same number say they are working harder than they were five years ago. Only 12 percent feared their children will be worse off financially than themselves, down from 23 percent two years ago.
Gale sees more important things to think about.
She and her husband Tim are building a new home, made possible because Tim's small tool and die business has been booming. In Lincoln Park, Matt and Kathy Szomolyai moved last week from an apartment into their own home, the first they've owned. The couple and their two children had lived in apartments for 13 years, finally saving enough for a down payment for a house when Kathy got a higher-paying job. Now, surrounded by moving boxes, they feel like success stories of the longest economic boom in decades. The economic boom has not been felt equally across race lines.