As Brooklyn is to Manhattan. Or Oakland is to San Francisco. Or just plain Ypsitucky. Over the years Ypsilanti has been endlessly compared to Ann Arbor. But now, with the elbow grease of its growing creative class, the former factory town is creating an identity all its own. Terry Parris looks at the community's emerging DIY arts identity and how it squares with Ann Arbor's more established institutions.
Not even the recent financial tsunami can wash away the venture capital groundwork that has been laid in Ann Arbor.Excerpt:More than $200 million in government funds allocated to Michigan-based venture capital investors in recent years will enable Ann Arbor’s VC sector to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a crippling blow, local experts said.National observers have notably predicted that the financial crisis would liquidate one out of every three venture capitalists. But local VC proponents say many Michigan investors have positioned themselves to survive the crisis.“We have just as much of a chance to survive as other states,” said LeAnn Auer, executive director of the Ann Arbor-based Michigan Venture Capital Association. “That’s because we have a lot of the infrastructure built - we have a great entrepreneurial economy that’s been plugging along and improving within the last few years.”Read the rest of the story here.
We only pick six events each week (after all, even the big guy in the sky took a day off) and Michigan-born, Raconteurs bandmate Brendan Benson is the tasty foam at the top of this week's cultural cappucino. A master of sublime powerpop gems, he's celebrating the release of his first solo disc in four years with a free show at A2's downtown Borders then a gig at The Blind Pig.
Ann Arbor has struck another blow for bicycle equality this summer, making room for more bike racks in what are normally parking spaces for automobiles.The city is starting a pilot program this summer where bike racks will be placed in actual parking spaces that have traditionally reserved for automobiles. The three bike racks are in Kerrytown (in front of the People’s Food Coop), Main Street (Arbor Brewing Company) and State Street (Bivouac). The space that once made room for one car will be able to house up to 14 bikes. Seattle has instituted a similar practice of creating bicycle equality.The idea is to help promote non-motorized ways of transportation by making them more visible. The sight of a gaggle of bicycles occupying the same space once meant for a car is meant to send a message that bicyclists are welcome in Ann Arbor's downtown."They see they will have a premier parking spot n ext to the business they work or shop at," says Nancy Shore, executive director of getDowntown.It is also meant to help clear some room on Ann Arbor's sidewalks. Many of downtown's sidewalks are full of café seating, parking meters, newspaper boxes, planters and all manner of street furniture. Moving some bicycle racks to the street will help free up some much-needed sidewalk space."It also sends a message that bikes belong on the street," Shore says.Source: Nancy Shore, executive director of getDowntownWriter: Jon Zemke
With a population of nearly 1.2 billion, India occupies a rather large corner of the world. And with its growing technological industries it was bound to discover Ann Arbor's deep well of innovation. But is our region making the kinds of international connections that are necessary to thrive in today's global economy?
The renewal of student housing at the University of Michigan will take another step forward later this month when a renovated Stockwell Hall reopens.The circa-1940 structure on the Hill area of the university was rehabbed from top to bottom. Workers kept the building's Tudor Revival architecture and interior character. They replaced old mechanical, electrical, plumbing, safety and elevator systems."It went through a complete upgrade," says Peter Logan, director of communications for university housing at the University of Michigan.The finished project features creature comforts that have long been absent in student life at U-M, such as air-conditioned rooms and Wi-Fi access. There will also be remodeled lounges, kitchenettes and community bathrooms. What was once the dining hall area will be turned into a new community spaces for music practice, recreation and informal performances. Residents will eat at the newly opened Hill Dining Center.Another big change is who will live in the building. Stockwell Hall has traditionally served as a women's dorm. It will reopen as co-ed this fall due to a drop in demand for all-female housing. Only about 400 students lacking a Y chromosome requested same-sex housing. There are approximately 800 housing units for just women. There are still four other female-oriented dorms on U-M's campus, including Betsy Barbour and Helen Newberry residences, Martha Cook Building and Henderson House. The renovation of Stockwell began last year as part of U-M's Residential Life Initiatives, which is revitalizing and expanding student-living options on campus. Source: Peter Logan, director of communications for university housing at the University of Michigan Writer: Jon Zemke
Ann Arbor's Old West Side neighborhood is showing off one of its newest renovations.Excerpt:Sara Tucker whipped out her cell phone and dialed her husband, Bruce Curtis, saying, “You’ve got to come and see this place!”They weren’t even shopping for new digs in the summer of 2007, but Tucker liked old houses and couldn’t resist looking one Sunday afternoon. When Curtis joined her inside the blue-gray bungalow with discreet white trim at 220 Kenwood Ave. in Ann Arbor's Old West Side neighborhood, he immediately understood the appeal. “The tile in the kitchen is what drew us,” he says.Indeed, black-and-white tiles engulf the kitchen floor and protect strategic sections of the room’s wainscoting. “You don’t see a house with this much tile in the kitchen,” Curtis says. The upstairs bathroom is copiously tiled as well. By Halloween, the bungalow belonged to Tucker and Curtis. In the months before move-in, which occurred on Aug. 8, 2008, they undertook strategic top-to-bottom renovations that will be apparent Sep. 27, when the house is offered as one of six attractions on the 37th annual Old West Side Homes Tour. “A lot of the things we did seemed to us like an unfolding,” said Curtis, who is president of Washtenaw Woodwrights and brought his own hard-won expertise to bringing out the house’s full character and potential. He also brought some of his own carpenters to the job, along with familiar faces in the plumbing, electrical, painting and plastering trades. Read the rest of the story here.
What was once the second home for the Ann Arbor Art Center just outside of Ann Arbor is now the main office for ICON Creative Technologies Group.The 14 year-old Internet firm bought the 11,000 square-foot space at 220 Felch earlier this summer after outgrowing its old 3,500-square-feet of downtown office space. The company's 20 employees (including two new hires) are now in the space. Even with all of these people, there is still plenty of room to spare. So much so that ICON has taken on a tenant - Pure Barre. For now ICON is settling into just over half the space, 6000 sq feet, and expects to grow into the rest within five years when it hits 60 employees.The single-story structure, a block west of Main Street just north of downtown. For years it served as an annex for the Ann Arbor Art Center, which has its headquarters in the heart of downtown. Source: Sara Johns, project manager for ICON Creative Technologies GroupWriter: Jon Zemke
The reality-based world once again shows that a change in human behavior can improve the environment. Case in point: Ann Arbor's ban of lawn fertilizers and the a healthier Huron River.Excerpt: But do the ordinances really help reduce phosphorus pollution? That's been an open question until now, says John Lehman, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan. "It's one of those things where political organizations take the action because they believe it's the environmentally conscious thing to do, but there's been no evidence offered in peer-reviewed literature that these ordinances actually have a salutary effect," Lehman said. Now, such evidence exists in a study published by Lehman and students Douglas Bell and Kahli McDonald in the journal Lake and Reservoir Management. The paper, published online Aug. 14, shows that phosphorus levels in the Huron River dropped an average of 28 percent after Ann Arbor adopted an ordinance in 2006 that curtailed the use of phosphorus on lawns. Phosphorus is naturally plentiful in southeast Michigan soils, so fertilizing established lawns with the nutrient is generally unnecessary.Read the rest of the story here.
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