Ann Arbor

Foreclosures aid Ann Arbor residential infill construction

By Newsroom

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April 15, 2009

Developers are finding innovative ways to make the foreclosure crisis work for them in Ann Arbor.Excerpt:Low lot prices caused by foreclosures are making Ann Arbor-area infill home construction easier economically. Building activity within existing neighborhoods - including teardowns and new construction - has continued relatively steadily through the housing slump, local builders said, thanks in part to the availability of cheap land through foreclosures.Tom Fitzsimmons of Huron Contracting has specialized in infill since his company began in 1991, and said lower prices on land have allowed him to sell his homes at the lower rates demanded by the market."It allows us to continue doing what we've been doing," Fitzsimmons said.Read the rest of the story here and how building small houses may be the next big trend here.

U-M fans huddle for look inside refurbished Michigan Stadium

By Newsroom

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Education

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April 15, 2009

University of Michigan diehards got a sneak peek of the newly refurbished Michigan Stadium.Excerpt:Rich Rodriguez realized his mistake almost immediately on Saturday.After being stopped by a parking attendant and asked if he had a reserved space outside Michigan Stadium's tunnel, Rodriguez showed his special parking pass and was able to slide into a spot, steps from the Junge Champions Center, where recruits waited.But getting from his car to the Junge door, a distance of about 30 yards, was difficult as he was mobbed by the fans waiting in line for the free locker room tour. Rodriguez patiently posed for photos, signed autographs as he tried to walk, only getting through once a police officer helped clear a path. He insisted he didn't want to be rude but had business inside.While he didn't expect that reception, it showed how loyal the Michigan fans are, as the line for the tour wrapped three-fourths of the way around the building for most of the 2 1/2 hour availability, with thousands being turned away simply because of time."This is why I wanted to bring my son," said Ty Coleman, an Ann Arbor resident, who had seen the old locker room 30 years ago when his cousin, Ron Simpkins, played. "It's an opportunity to see what Michigan football is all about, especially in an up-close view of the stadium."Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor buildings may only grow so tall

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 15, 2009

Ann Arbor is moving on up, but not too high.Excerpt:At city council’s meeting Monday evening, there was a clear consensus among councilmembers that they wanted to amend the rezoning package for the downtown that had been recommended by the planning commission. The consensus was to include an absolute building height limit.Read the rest of the story here.

Cool Spaces: Loft Living in Downtown Ann Arbor

By Leia Menlove

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Community Development

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April 15, 2009

How to attract and keep young talent? That is the question. Concentrate asked three young professionals who live in the city's hottest living commodity – the symbol of all that is youthful, urbane and hip-- the downtown loft --what they think of their digs, their town, and how Ann Arbor can attract and retain more young people just like them.

GoKnow software says learning goes on cell phones

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 15, 2009

GoKnow knows it's going somewhere fast in Ann Arbor. Excerpt:An Ann Arbor-based company's cell phone software that allows students and teachers to work on the go fits a new national mandate to improve U.S. education, says the founder of GoKnow Inc. Elliot Soloway, co-founder and chief strategy officer of the University of Michigan spinout, said his company's software lets K-12 students and teachers use cell phones to manage school work. Smartphones, Solowsay said, "are the next evolution of computers." Now he predicts an explosion on the national and global market for the new educational cell phone software niche. Read the rest of the story here.

Tuning in to Greenovation.TV

By Kelli B. Kavanaugh

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Arts & Culture

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April 15, 2009

Need practical advise on how to green your home? An Ann Arbor couple has launched the world's first Internet TV channel dedicated to helping you green it yourself.

What’s Next for The Ann Arbor News Building?

By Jon Zemke

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Community Development

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April 8, 2009

For nearly 75 years the A2 News Building has been an iconic cornerstone on the downtown's northern edge. But it's a section of the city that has struggled to achieve vibrancy. Could the demise of the publication and sale of the building mean the kind of redevelopment that promotes business and walkability?

Ann Arbor Hash Bash crowd celebrates new medical marijuana law

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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April 8, 2009

It's no coincidence that Ann Arbor's Hash Bash took place on the first day Michigan's new Medical Marijuana law took effect.Excerpt:Some aspects of the 38th annual Ann Arbor Hash Bash were the same old, same old.The event started with about 200 passionate people protesting marijuana laws at the Federal Building. The crowd then carried signs and marched to the University of Michigan Diag, where an estimated 1,500 people braced the wind to listen to speeches. Then they moved on to a street party with information booths and music.But this year, supporters of the fight to end the drug war and legalize pot had a reason to celebrate.Saturday marked the day Michigan's Medical Marijuana Law, which was approved by 63 percent of voters last November, was fully implemented. That means that as soon as patients take their completed applications to a community health office on Monday, they can receive a state ID that will allow them to use marijuana without penalty.Chris Brunett, who was born with cerebral palsy 22 years ago, will be one of them. As his friend pushed Brunett's wheelchair toward the Diag, Brunett said he is angry that President Obama recently dismissed - with a laugh - the idea of completely legalizing marijuana."He doesn't even want to consider it," said Brunett, who lives in Davison, near Flint. "The option should at least be there, but he swept it under the rug because he didn't want to deal with it. He still wants to dismiss us like we're a bunch of stoners or hippies."Read the rest of the story here.

Longtime U-M historian, professor Sidney Fine dies

By Newsroom

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Education

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April 8, 2009

One of the University of Michigan's most famous historians/professors, Sidney Fine, has gone into the history books.Excerpt:Historian Sidney Fine, who is believed to have had the longest active teaching career in University of Michigan history, died Tuesday at Heartland Healthcare Center in Ann Arbor. He was 88.Mr. Fine earned his PhD in American history at U-M and then taught there for 53 years, retiring in 2001 at age 80.Over his half-century of lecturing, he taught more than 26,000 students.In fourth grade, he announced that he was going to be a history professor; decades later, Mr. Fine taught a 20th-Century history class that was one of the most popular ones at U-M.When he turned 70, the academic inspired Lansing legislators to abolish mandatory retirement for tenured professors at Michigan universities and colleges."Sidney Fine was one of the best-known members of the history department, an amazingly productive and distinguished researcher and an outstanding teacher," said Terrence McDonald, dean of the U-M College of Literature, Science and the Arts.Read the rest of the story here.

Location scout talks about Michigan’s Hollywood close up

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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April 8, 2009

Detroit is known as the Paris of the Midwest, but could Washtenaw County become the Hollywood of the 'Great Flyover'?Excerpt:Michigan's subsidy for filmmakers has been a great success, as evidenced by California's passage earlier this year of its own $500 million tax incentive to retain productions that have been fleeing the Golden State for places like the Great Lakes State.A 42 percent refund for in-state spending is a difficult lure to resist, but Innocence Production Inc.'s George Constas says it's only a start.Constas is a location scout for the Ann Arbor based production company. He is largely why places like Dexter, Chelsea, Jackson, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti were included in the roster of locations around mid and eastern Michigan.Read the rest of the story here and the YpsiNews' April Fools story about the porn industry setting up shop in Ypsilanti here.