Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan in Flint/Tri-Cities region of the state. It is the county seat of Midland County. Most of the city's area is incorporated from Midland Township.

A small portion of the city is in Bay County. The city's population was 41,685 as of the 2000 census, and was estimated at 41,084 in 2007. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area. The portion of the city in Bay County is included in the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area for statistical reasons.

The Dow Chemical Company was founded in Midland in 1897. Its world headquarters are still located there. Through the influence of a Dow Chemical plant opening in Handa, Aichi, Japan, Midland and Handa have become sister cities (http://www.midland-mi.org/government/manager/sistercity.htm). The Dow Corning Corporation is also headquartered in Midland.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 41,685 people, 16,743 households, and 11,000 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,254.9 per square mile (484.5/kmē). There were 17,773 housing units at an average density of 535.0/sq mi (206.6/kmē). The racial makeup of the city was 93.38% White, 1.82% African American, 0.29% Native American, 2.69% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.57% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.92% of the population.

There were 16,743 households out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $48,444, and the median income for a family was $64,949. Males had a median income of $53,208 versus $31,098 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,818. About 5.5% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Scheduled airline service is available from MBS International Airport^[1] near Freeland and Flint Bishop International Airport.^[2]

There is no regularly scheduled public transportation (bus service). Residents can call in advance to schedule pickup for transport within the county by two government sponsored agencies ("Dial-A-Ride" within the city, "County Connection" for those outside the city of Midland but still within Midland County) for a nominal fee.

A limited number of taxicab companies operate in the city, but must be requested by phone.

	US 10, a freeway bypassing Midland to the north and east, connects with Bay City on the east Clare and Ludington (as a two-lane highway) to the west.
	BUS US 10 is a loop route through the downtown.
	M-20 connects Midland with Mount Pleasant and Big Rapids to the west.
	M-30 runs northerly from nearby Sanford to West Branch.
	M-47 links from US-10 east of the city to Saginaw and MBS International Airport.

Geography

Topography

• According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.0 square miles (90.5 kmē), of which, 33.2 square miles (86.0 kmē) of it is land and 1.7 square miles (4.5 kmē) of it (4.95%) is water.
• Midland is part of the Flint/Tri-Cities.

Climate

Education

• Midland Public Schools
  • Herbert Henry Dow High School
    • "Home of the Chargers"
  • Midland High School
    • "Home of the Chemics"
  • Central Middle School
    • "Home of the Cavaliers"
  • Jefferson Middle School
    • "Home of the Huskies"
  • Northeast Middle School
    • "Home of the Vikings"

• • The Midland Academy of Advanced & Creative Studies Grades K-12
    • "Home of the Eagles"

• Bullock Creek Public Schools
  • "Home of the Lancers"

• Davenport University

• Michigan State University (research facility)

• Northwood University
• Delta College Midland Center (DCMC)

Sites of interest

Midland Center for the Arts

Midland City parks number over 80 with over 3,000 acres (12 kmē) of park land. Small neighborhood parks nestled within residential areas are found throughout the city. Larger groups enjoy the amenities of two of Midland?s largest parks, Emerson and Plymouth. These parks feature large sheltered picnic areas, playgrounds, a pool and a major softball complex.

Skaters of all skill levels utilize Midland?s new Civic Arena, which has two NHL-sized rinks and one Olympic-sized rink. A new BMX track is located in Midland?s growing Downtown area. Winner of a 2005 Michigan Cool Cities grant (a grass-roots, volunteer-based training program to revitalize a downtown area), Downtown Midland offers dining, shopping and entertainment for the whole family.

Walkers, joggers, bikers, and skaters can use the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail, a ribbon of asphalt stretching to the neighboring city of Clare. Midland County?s system of natural pathways continues to expand, with the recent addition of the Chippewa Trail, which connects to the Pere Marquette trail. The Chippewa Trail ends at the Chippewa Nature Center and their facilities of over 1,000 acres (4 kmē) of deciduous and coniferous woods, rivers, ponds, wetlands (marsh, fen, bog, and swamp) and upland fields.

Also in the recreation mix are two golf courses, the Midland Community Center (with multiple swimming pools and exercise facilities), the West Midland Family Center, the North Midland Family Center, the Midland Gymnastics Center, the Midland Community Tennis Center and the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library. In addition, Midland is the home of Hangtime Sports, an facility with eight indoor courts.

Nature is found in abundance at Midland?s Dow Gardens. The 100 acre (0.4 kmē) garden and arboretum was the original gardens of the Herbert H. Dow homestead and is open for tours. In addition, the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio offers tours of this landmark American architect?s unique and influential style.

More than 100 places of worship county-wide represent most denominations and a variety of architectural styles. Midland?s Volunteer Center recruits upwards of 2,000 volunteers each year, and the United Way of Midland County supports 25 community organizations.

• Alden B. Dow Home & Studio
• Chippewa Nature Center
• Dahlia Hill
• Dow Chemical Company headquarters
• Dow Corning headquarters
• Dow Corning Midland plant
• Dow Gardens
• Downtown Midland
• Grace A. Dow Memorial Library
• Midland Community Tennis Center
• Herbert H. Dow House
• Midland Center for the Arts
• Midland Community Stadium
• Pere Marquette Rail-Trail
• The Tridge, 3-way pedestrian bridge over the Tittabawassee and Chippewa rivers (Satellite photo)
• The Midland Tennis Center is well known for hosting a yearly USTA Match where players ranked as high as 40th in the world have participated (http://www.usta.com/home/default.sps).
• Dow Diamond, Home of the Great Lakes Loons, the Single-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League in Major League Baseball.

Historical markers

There are four recognized Michigan historical markers in the city.^[3]

• John and Almira Kelly House
• Midland County Courthouse
• Origins of Salt Industry / State Salt Well No. 1
• The Upper Bridge

Famous Midlanders

• Terry Collins, former Major League Baseball manager, and current Los Angeles Dodgers Director of Player Development
• Alden B. Dow, architect.
• Herbert H. Dow, founder of Dow Chemical.
• Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist
• James Aloysius Hickey, Cardinal Archbishop of Washington, DC.
• Robert Jarvik, inventor of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart.
• Jim Kern, former 3 time All-Star baseball pitcher with Cleveland Indians
• Nancy LaMott, 1951-1995, cabaret singer.
• Brandon Link, Famous sports handicapper and subject of the feature film, Two for the Money, under the name Brandon Lang.
• Denny Moore, anthropological linguist specialized on Amazonian languages and MacArthur Fellow (1999).
• Howard Mudd, former National Football League All-Pro, and offensive line coach of the 2007 Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts
• Bobby Randall, former Lead Guitarist for the country band, Sawyer Brown
• Jim Scholten, Bass Guitarist for the country band, Sawyer Brown
• Steve Shelley, drummer of Sonic Youth
• Cheryl Studer, opera singer
• Tom Vaughn, Jazz pianist and Episcopal Priest formerly at St. John's Episcopal Church (Midland).
• Scott Winchester, former pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds

Professional Sports

Local media

Midland is the city of license of two FM radio stations serving the Tri-Cities (Saginaw/Bay City/Midland) area. WKQZ ("Z93") is an active rock station owned by Citadel Broadcasting and broadcasting at 93.3 FM. WUGN is a non-commercial station at 99.7 FM owned by Family Life Communications, broadcasting adult-contemporary Christian music and teaching.

WMPX (1490 AM) is Midland's "hometown" locally-owned radio station, owned by Steel Broadcasting and airing an adult standards ("Timeless Classics") format satellite-fed from ABC Radio. WMPX has an FM simulcast station in Beaverton, Michigan, WMRX (97.7 FM), which airs a small amount of local weekend programming separate from the AM. Other area stations include WEJC (88.3 FM) in White Star, Michigan, which airs contemporary Christian music and is affiliated with the Lansing-based "Smile FM" network; WPRJ (101.7 FM) in Coleman, Michigan, a Christian CHR station known as "The Fuse"; and country music station WGDN (103.1 FM) in nearby Gladwin, Michigan.

Midland is also served by radio and television stations from Saginaw, Bay City, Mount Pleasant, and Houghton Lake.

Sister cities