Ann Arbor has it all: the University of Michigan, great shopping, bars and restaurants and amazing concert venues. It also has a vitality that few college towns across the country can boast. It's the kind of city that draws in undergrads and then keeps them for good.
Toss a rock into the air and it'd be hard not to hit a cafe, bistro, or high-tech startup. From its ever-thriving summer
Art Fair to its venerable
Film Festival, the city consistently tops national quality of life surveys --
Forbes,
Money/CNN,
Sperlings, the list goes on and on. Its school system is first rate, green spaces dominate the landscape and nearly 70% of the population holds a college degree. This small but mighty city is Michigan's leader in innovation.
By: Amy Whitesall, 7/30/2008
Whether it's cash or conscience, more and more people are going green when it comes to their homes. Meet the Grocoffs and the Chockleys, two local families that reconsidered the inconvenient truth of personal energy consumption and did something about it. Something really big.
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By: Amy Whitesall, 7/23/2008
We're told as children that books have the ability to transport you to worlds beyond your imagination. Josie Parker has taken that lesson to heart and transformed Ann Arbor's library system into a experience that challenges musty notions of brooding book stacks and "shushing" librarians.
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By: Leia Menlove, 7/23/2008
New economy start-ups need banks that offer new economy know-how. Enter Bank of Ann Arbor's Technology Industry Group, the only program of its kind in Michigan. Modeled after the ground-breaking Silicon Valley Bank, it supports local emerging technologies and entrepreneurs in ways corporate banking giants can't.
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By: Constance Crump, 7/23/2008
We're one of the brainiest, greenest and most walkable cities in the country. Not to mention a great place for sandwiches, bicycling and getting pregnant. Too bad we're one of the worst places to find a job. Best of, Worst of, what does it all mean? Concentrate wades through the lists and tries to figure out what we're all about.
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By: Amy Whitesall, 7/16/2008
Food glorious food! And wine. And, oh, man, the cheeses. Okay, everything at Morgan & York is worth singing about. Even their candy crammed alcove. Tommy and Matt are the masterminds behind transforming the Big Ten Party Store (some food, lotsa beer and wine) to an epicurean wonderland for local foodies.
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