Ann Arbor is a river town.
Yes, really.
The Huron River is relatively clean, close to downtown and widely ignored as a beautiful feature of city life. Yes, kayakers, canoeists and scullers use it. If you remember to look to your right as you head for M-14 out of downtown, it's there – scenic and serene.
Compared to 19th-century Ann Arbor, we hardly use our riverfront at all. Even
Broadway Park, the beautiful new park east of the Gandy Dancer Restaurant and south of the Broadway Bridge, is seldom used.
As for grand cafés with terraces and river views – there's nothing.
"When we look up and down the river, it's surprising and sort of appalling – we have Zukey Lake Tavern, a couple of restaurants on Belleville Lake, but (nothing) on the main section of the river. It's a shame," says Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council.
"In our watershed, we've been very lucky that the parks departments in our cities and counties have been able to buy and maintain a great (many) parks along the river. We have beautiful parks and river access through them along our cities. A place to enjoy a drink or a meal? We don't have that."
When communities can embrace the riverfront and see it as an economic driver, it ties recreation and economic development, Rubin points out.
"In this town, there are a lot of people who don't really know that there's a river down there. From the downtown itself, it's not easily accessible," she says.
How did we lose our connection to the river, asks Brenda E. Bentley, author of
Riverwalks Ann Arbor (
Citywalks LLC, $24.95) "The river is inaccessible from downtown. At the path at the foot of State Street, you're made to feel like a criminal. The railroad crosses every street at grade – and we all get along," she says.
Bentley's book is a treasure trove of river lore with dozens of walks along the river and surrounding territory, annotated with history, geology, geography and more. It's richly illustrated with historic and contemporary river views and great maps.
One spot where Ann Arborites can dip in: The University of Michigan Nichols Arboretum steps.
"If the weather is conducive, at the Arb steps, you can take off your shoes and get in the river. Water is a fantastic amenity for a city. We love water. We need to see water, to touch water, see it sparkle in the sun. Even if you don't get in, you need to be near it," Bentley says.
"We have water features (in the city) that are really impressive – such as the
new water feature at City Hall," Bentley adds.
To help enhance river access, HRWC has been working with several partners to ready the MichCon property for development. Owned by DTE Energy, the brownfield site on the north side of downtown could eventually hold a mixed use development or hotel. A DTE Energy spokesman said the company would not comment on its plans.
"[Landscape architecture firm] JJR is looking at options for the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. A year ago, DTE completely vacated the property," Rubin says.
Like the YMCA, a building could rise there on stilts. "I'm not saying that we'd like to see all that property developed but we're open to mixed use, public-private use. When you get people down to the river, they're much more likely to wish to protect it," Rubin says.
In August, HRWC announced RiverUp!, an initiative to improve recreational access, clean up spot pollution and focus the river's host communities on its attributes. Last May, the watershed council announced plans for a 100-mile-long river trail aimed at boosting tourism.
Raising awareness needs to include existing assets. For example, one way to bring more visibility to the under-used three-acre Broadway Park might be for the city to host events, perhaps through the parks department. "Then people are more likely to remember it. We've got to get people to use what we've got already. I don't know if there aren't enough strong enough visual cues (for the Broadway Park.) It's a forgotten pocket of niceness,' says Larissa Larsen, UM associate professor of urban planning, who teaches environmental planning and urban design.
"That's one of the challenges of proposing more green space in Ann Arbor – park usage is a bit of a hurdle. Getting the network in place and getting people to use it is a chicken-egg thing."
"The steps at the foot of the Arb are well-used. The Arb has done a good job of hosting activities and seasonal shows. A lot of people incorporate the Arb into their recreational patterns on a regular basis," Larsen says.
In 2005, the city of Ann Arbor convened a task force to work on a new greenway that would follow the Ann Arbor Railroad right of way west of downtown to connect with the existing Huron River Greenway.
Basically, it went nowhere.
"The task force looked at how to make a strong connection between the river and Main Street, to overlook the river and terrace down to a green area with a pathway along the riverfront with evening lights. It would really enhance our downtown," says Larsen, who was a task force member.
After the task force presented its report, "the city decided we needed more planning and hired Calthorpe," Larsen says. Calthorpe Associates, a Berkeley, Calif. urban planning and architecture firm, conducted a series of public workshops and analysis for the city that resulted in a 2006 downtown development strategic plan.
"It was a little bit crushing to go to all that effort and have nothing happen. It felt like, ‘Why did we all work so hard?' So many good people and so many good ideas," Larsen recalls.
Among the task force proposals were restaurants and mixed-use development including meeting spaces along the river, HRWC's Rubin says. The current canoe livery could be improved to include some of those, she adds.
This past August, City Council passed a resolution in support of the creation of an Allen Creek Greenway, directing city staff to work with and assist the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy during the Greenways' development and implementation. Calls to the city of Ann Arbor planning department were not returned by press time.
The Huron will never be a huge, raging river, but one of the challenges is water management, Larsen observes. Daylighting the creeks – the process of bringing river tributaries out of underground pipes – involves many issues, including flooding, because of the high percent of impervious surfaces downtown. Recent flooding in the West Park neighborhood highlights the problem: the volume of water. Still, knitting together city sites with urban parks would make a big difference downtown, Larsen says.
Another barrier is the Ann Arbor Railroad, she adds. A downtown plaza at Ashley and William Streets with water access visible from Main Street would require Allen Creek to surface. So far, the railroad is inflexible on a potential greenway along its tracks.
"It's easy to say and difficult to daylight," she says. "(Still) I don't see why we can't have Milwaukee-style development here. Ann Arbor needs to have a certain amount of density. An Ashley/Willam plaza would make it more livable."
In Milwaukee, canoeists can paddle right up to riverside breweries. (Canoe responsibly.) In other places along the Milwaukee riverfront, reconditioned warehouses hold beautiful live-work lofts above lively retail and restaurant districts, particularly around the Public Market, which is home to many delectable food and drink choices and outdoor seating with river views in fair weather.
San Antonio's River Walk is one of the oldest (since 1968) and most successful urban river revivals. As befits the number-one tourist attraction in Texas, it even has its own web site. The nonprofit Paseo del Rio Association protects and promotes it with special events and a monthly visitor magazine,
Rio.
San Antonio has a lot more people than Ann Arbor. Its metro area population tops two million, with a median age of 30.1 years, according to the city of San Antonio web site. Ann Arbor's median age is 32.9, according to the
SPARK website. The median age for the whole U.S. is 36.6.
We don't have to look far for good role models to make the Huron more accessible from downtown. Both Grand Rapids and Traverse City have made their riverfronts accessible and desirable. The Boardman River in downtown Traverse City has a boardwalk along its entire length. New high-rise condos overlook both the river and Grand Traverse Bay. Nineteenth century warehouses are being revived as living spaces. Like Ann Arbor, it has a downtown farmers market.
"Everybody wants glimpses, not necessarily to go down to the (Boardman) river. It isn't hidden, not put out of sight. You can see it from the bridges – but there are so many barriers at car eye-level," Brenda Bentley says.
Ann Arbor could easily have the same kind of glimpses, both in town and on the outskirts, Bentley says. Bringing swimming back to the river could raise awareness – HRWC's Laura Rubin also mentions it. "The river is cleaner now than when it was in 1948. We're out of the habit of river swimming. Swimming pools are more sterile. People like to get out and be more natural," Bentley says.
A wild tangle of brush protects the river banks. Trimming the tangle would make the river more visible from existing paths. "There's a lot of buckthorn. On walking paths, brush could be cut to waist level. The river is a joy. It's an amenity. Volunteers could do it. People want to help. I actually have been known to walk along with clippers," Bentley says.
Ann Arbor could have lots of pedestrian crossings, retail and restaurants on the river, Bentley says. Getting rid of Canada geese would also contribute to the quality of river life, she adds. "It's hard to walk because of them. Why not eat them? They're organic. They're big, beautiful, fat – there are just too many of them," she notes.
Bentley's next book will be a walking guide to Woodward Avenue from the Detroit River to Pontiac, targeted for release in Spring 2012. Woodward Avenue embodies the whole history of Southeastern Michigan, she says: "Autos, wealth, the original settlement, the watershed with the Clinton, Rouge and Huron Rivers, glacial history, which I love. The more I researched, I knew I could do a walking guide even in Wayne County, starting at the river. It's full of history," Bentley says.
Constance Crump is Concentrate's Senior Writer. She's also an Ann Arbor-based writer whose work has appeared in Crain's Detroit Business, The Ann Arbor News, The Detroit Free Press, and Billboard Magazine
All photos by Doug Coombe
Photos:
Laura Rubin in Bandemer Park
Broadway Park
Larissa Larsen and her daughter standing above Allen Creek
The Huron River as it passes through Nichols Arboretum
Laura Rubin
The Huron River 1.5 miles from downtown