2009 – Page 85 of 98

2020 task force presents future of Ypsilanti in report

By Newsroom

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February 18, 2009

Welcome to the future! Ypsilanti's leaders have big ideas for what the city will look in 2020.Excerpt:The "Ypsi Trolly" makes its way around the city. Ypsilanti's business districts are thriving with arts, culture and a vibrant nightlife. Green technology and historic preservation go hand-in-hand.These are just some of the visions created through careful planning by Ypsilanti's 2020 Task Force.The Task Force made its final presentation to City Council at a special meeting Jan. 27."In the year 2020, Ypsilanti has become one of the most beautiful, vibrant and self-sufficient small cities in Michigan," according to the opening sentence of "The Vision" section of the final report.Read the rest of the story here.

Canter: Ex-Pfizer site promising for University of Michigan

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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February 18, 2009

What plans does the University of Michigan have for the Pfizer campus? David Canter seems to have some ideas.Excerpt:David Canter, former site director of Pfizer's 2-million-square-foot Ann Arbor facility, won't give you a direct answer about whether he's been asked to help the University of Michigan determine how to use the property.But Canter, speaking to Ann Arbor Business Review in a wide-ranging interview, said U-M's $108 million trophy is quite the prize.Despite the economic crisis and the fundraising problems local startup companies are facing, Canter said Michigan could still breed a strong life sciences industry."The Midwest represents something different. It is different from the East Coast, the West Coast. We have a definite set of Midwest values and that's a great environment to be successful. We actually have a very strong history of success," Canter said. "Probably 40 to 50 percent of Pfizer's income comes from products that were invented in the Midwest. We are actually good at what we do. We don't get external praise. It's as though the only sources of great ideas are supposed to come from California or Boston, but the truth is otherwise."Read the rest of the story here.

Saline mayor says arts, culture crucial

By Newsroom

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General

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February 18, 2009

The arts are even more critical in these difficult times, and the Mayor of Saline is willing to go to bat for them.Excerpt:Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell has studied what makes her city tick for more than a decade.She has attended seminars and workshops on how to keep a city like Saline healthy, vigorous and growing.One of the few ingredients she found Saline was missing was a vehicle to help drive the arts and culture in the community.On Monday, Driskell asked City Council to fuel this passion by establishing the new Saline Culture and Arts Committee. Council members voted to support the launch and volunteers are being sought to fill the new mayor-appointed positions."I have talked about the importance of this type of organization, recognizing its contribution to the overall economic development of Saline," she said.Read the rest of the story here.

AAPD: Please Move Your Bicycle

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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February 18, 2009

So many people are riding their bicycles in Ann Arbor, they're starting to get parking tickets.Excerpt:Bright fuchsia cards printed with the Ann Arbor Police Department seal have been threaded through the spokes of the wheels on nine bicycles locked to the hoops at the 4th & Washington parking structure. The cards weren't placed there as decoration, but as a warning: these bicycles face possible impoundment starting Feb. 5.What's the problem with people locking their bikes to the hoops provided for exactly that purpose? As the notices say, "Your bicycle may be impounded as provided by city ordinance when it has remained unattended on public property for a period of more than 48 hours after a written notice has been affixed to the bicycle." The notices reflected that they were written on Feb. 3 and indicated a possible impoundment date of Feb. 5. Read the rest of the story here.

Ypsilanti: Rust Belt to Artist Belt?

By Newsroom

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General

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February 18, 2009

Want to know how Ypsilanti can capitalize on its artistic talent? Watch the video.Excerpt:Brian Friedman, Executive Director of Northeast Shores Development Co. (CDC) in Waterloo near Cleveland, Ohio discusses one community’s successful implementation of an action plan to revitalize their region through business, arts, and culture. Using the model developed in Cleveland, Mr. Friedman. described how branding, marketing and promotion can be used to transform a community like Ypsilanti.Watch the video here.

Ann Arbor’s Yoga Pose

By Amy Whitesall

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General

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February 18, 2009

No posers, please. Ann Arbor holds tight to its illustrious yoga history, but it's no longer a one-guru town. Vinyasa. Iyengar. Russa Yog. With nearly 16 million Americans now practicing some form of yoga, The Deuce has established quite a following, with over 40 studios to choose from.

Construction wraps up on Dexter library, March opening set

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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February 18, 2009

At long last, books in Dexter have a new home. The new Dexter District Library is finished.Construction workers are putting the finishing touches on the new building while movers begin to move the library's stacks into their new home. Library officials are planning for an early March opening."It's all sort of hitting us pretty fast but it's great," says Paul McCann, library director for the Dexter District Library.The new building is in downtown Dexter, 3255 Alpine Street, and overlooks Warrior Creek Park and the Mill Creek bridge. The $7.8 million structure measures out at 25,000-square-feet and two stories. It features more space for books and other materials, studying and reading space and meeting rooms. There will also be computer rooms and wireless Internet access for library patrons.There will be expanded computer resources, significantly more study space, a quiet reading area and more comfortable seating throughout the building. The meeting room space will comfortably accommodate 200 people without the moving book stacks to free up space, which must be done in the current library.It replaces the 4,200-square-foot old library, formerly the Methodist Church Education Building, it moved into in 1996. The future of the old building has been tossed around ever since the library announced it was moving. The village at one time intended to move its offices into it, and is still considering that option. McCann says the library is also looking at selling the building to DISS Data by the time it moves into its new home.Source: Paul McCann, library director for the Dexter District LibraryWriter: Jon Zemke

Ypsilanti to revamp historic elementary schools into company space

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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February 18, 2009

The last pieces of the Schoolpictures.com project in Ypsilanti are starting to fall into place. State bureaucrats are giving the development a thumps up while construction workers hurry to finish the project. The Michigan Economic Growth Authority recently approved $86,800 in tax incentives for the $2.8 million project.Schoolpictures is in the process of taking over the old Ave Maria University campus, which includes two old elementary school buildings. The campus is on Forest Avenue between the campus of Eastern Michigan University and Frog Island Park. It's moving from Pittsfield Township because its growth has been so rapid its old HQ just couldn't accommodate all the new employees.Schoolpictures.com started with seven employees three years ago and has since grown to more than 40. The company's business has more than doubled in that time and it hopes to reach well beyond those numbers in the next five years.Source: Michigan Economic Growth Corporation and the city of YpsilantiWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor looks for bicyclist input at meeting tonight

By Newsroom

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Development News

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February 18, 2009

Ann Arbor city officials have some big ideas about expanding bicycling options in Tree Town, but they need input from locals first.The city is applying for a Bicycle Friendly Community Award from the League of American Bicyclists. It needs citizen ideas to round out the application, hence the meeting set for 6 p.m. tonight.City officials are going for a large federal grant that will add dozens of miles of bike lanes, trails and sidewalks in the city within a few years instead of a few decades. This award will help secure those funds, worth millions of dollars.The meeting will be held in City Council’s chambers in City Hall, on the second floor of 100 N Fifth Ave. All bicyclists and supporters of alternative transportation are encouraged to come. For information, click here.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke

Jackson asks for westward extension of Detroit-Ann Arbor line

By Newsroom

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Development News

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February 18, 2009

It's easy to make the southeast Michigan connection when thinking about Detroit and Ann Arbor, but Jackson?Most people wouldn't consider the birthplace of the Republican Party part of the Metro Detroit mix, but Jackson's leaders are lobbying to be let into the game by including it in one of the region's marquee projects - the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line.Currently the project's first phase, set to become a reality in the fall of 2010, stretches between Ann Arbor and Detroit with stops at Ypsilanti, Metro Airport and Dearborn. That's it for now, according to Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, which is spearheading the project.He added there is talk of extending the line north into Oakland County with stops at Royal Oak, Birmingham/Troy and Pontiac as part of a second phase. SEMCOG is also looking at utilizing Jackson's rail yard as a base for the line, but extending the line to downtown Jackson isn't in the cards, at least not for the project's first phase.Local leaders in Jackson are trying to change that. They argue that if the line uses it rail yard, which would save the project significant money in start-up construction costs, it makes sense to extend the line less than a mile into downtown Jackson's existing train station.Jackson is about 35 miles west of Ann Arbor. Bruce Inosencio, a spokesman for the Jackson Citizens for Economic Growth, points out that section of I-94 that connects the two communities is heavily travelled, making the extension of the line no-brainer."It's very busy. It's very heavily utilized," Inosencio says. "There are a number of companies here in Jackson who have a lot of workers from Washtenaw and Wayne counties."He claims that 61 percent of the 300 employees of one Jackson company --he declined to name it-- live in the Ann Arbor area or east of it, hoping to make skeptics warm to the idea bringing Jackson online with the project.Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and Bruce Inosencio, a spokesman for the Jackson Citizens for Economic GrowthWriter: Jon Zemke