Ann Arbor

Is Ann Arbor one of America’s most literate cities?

If you're reading this then you're part of the reason Ann Arbor is considered one of the world's most literate cities.Excerpt:No list of America's Most Literate Cities would be complete without Ann Arbor.Or would it?A recent study ranked Seattle and Minneapolis as tied for first place on the literacy list. Ann Arbor - a city that finds itself near the top of all kinds of lists - wasn't ranked.But there's a reason. The literacy list, published since 2003, only ranks cities with populations above 250,000. Detroit is the highest ranked Michigan city at 51st, just ahead of Newark, N.J.Many local book experts say Ann Arbor could hold its own against any metro city.Read the rest of the story here.

Downtown Ann Arbor businesses finally go green with recycling services

Ann Arbor is known for its ambitious recycling program but the dirty little secret is that that ambition didn't extend to downtown businesses.Things are about to change. The Ann Arbor City Council approved a program that will give downtown businesses recycling options by July. The goal is to divert up to 60 percent of the solid waste stream to recycling.The city and its downtown development authority have been pushing to make the downtown district as sustainable as possible. The reasons range from helping boosting the city's already green image to helping save downtown businesses and residents money.The new commercial recycling program includes providing containers and recycling the basics for downtown businesses, such as paper and plastic. The details of the plan are still being worked out.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor SPARK’s Finney: Tech economy can grow

Growth isn’t exactly the easiest thing to achieve right now but Ann Arbor SPARK's Michael Finney thinks that's precisely what Ann Arbor's tech economy will do.Excerpt:The lack of access to credit threatens the short-term health of Ann Arbor's startup business community, but Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Michael Finney believes the region's tech economy can still grow in 2009. Finney said he expects there to continue to be significant opportunity to generate "high-value, knowledge-intensive jobs" in "innovation-based sectors" such as information technology, clinical services and medical devices.Read the rest of the story here and what other local leaders see for the Ann Arbor-area economy here.

High-tech boost seen for region as U-M buys Pfizer property

Plans for The Madison make it leaner, meaner and more palatable to Ann Arbor City Council

Back again for the first time, it's The Madison. But the downtown development isn't bigger and better. This time it's a bit leaner and meaner.Jeff Helminski, the developer, has cut the plans down from 14 stories to four after the Ann Arbor Planning Commission recommended rejecting the original plans. That means the number of rental apartments has been chopped from 161 to about 60.But many of the details of the project remain the same. It's still aiming at providing work-force housing for people who work downtown or want to live in one. It's still going to incorporate sustainable features and affordable housing. A handful of old student-ghetto houses will be razed to make room for the structure on the north side of Madison Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues.The new plans, which will be submitted to the city late this month, call for a 4-story building with one level of underground parking. The apartments will range in size from studios to four-bedrooms. The building's design will take cues from surrounding architecture, such as industrial finished from the Fingerle Lumberyard across the street."It will be a modern façade," Helminski says.Source: Jeff Helminski, developer of The MadisonWriter: Jon Zemke

“The Scientist” dubs U-M engineer’s kit a Top 10 innovation

The University of Michigan scores another Top 10 hit in innovation. Excerpt: One of the top 10 science innovations for 2008 was created by a University of Michigan engineering professor, according to The Scientist, a scientific journal. Mark Burns, chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering and a professor in that department and in Biomedical Engineering, developed what's called a "make-your-own-microfluidic-device kit." A microfluidic device, also known as a "lab on a chip," integrates multiple lab functions onto a tiny computer chip only a few millimeters or centimeters wide. The devices could lead to instant home tests for illnesses, food contaminants and toxic gases. Because the devices are not easy to build, Burns developed the 16-piece set of microfluidic device building blocks with graduate student Minsoung Rhee. The kit brings the technology to the scientific masses, cutting costs and reducing the construction time from days to minutes, U-M said in a press release. Read the rest of the story here.

Washtenaw Land Trust protects 25 more acres in Whitmore Lake

Ann Arbor's Greenbelt may get most of the headlines when it comes to rural land preservation, but the Washtenaw Land Trust is the real big dog.Case in point: the Trust just took 25 acres near Whitmore Lake under its protection. Significant, yes, but a drop in the bucket for a non-profit that controls the development rights to 3,711 acres across Washtenaw County. The trust has added 91 acres so far this year, but it expects to grow that number significantly in the coming weeks. "There will be much more by the end of the year," says Susan Lackey, executive director of the Washtenaw Land Trust. "We do as much in the last week and a half of a year as we do in the balance of the year."That meant about 1,000 acres in the waning days of 2007. Most of the donors were in a last minute rush to earn valuable tax credits - similar to the way people make charitable donations during the holidays to get tax breaks.And that's one of the big differences between the Trust and the greenbelt. While the greenbelt will spend millions of dollars to acquire development rights around Ann Arbor, the Trust protects rural acres through donations all around Washtenaw County."For us (paying for development rights) is more the exception than the rule where it's the opposite for the greenbelt," Lackey says.Both are similar in that they are located in Ann Arbor. The Trust is in the New Center building adjacent to the railroad tracks and Huron River in a space once occupied an old scrap yard on the city's north side. Jerry Norblom and Barbara Michniewicz made the most recent donation of development rights for 25 acres to the Trust. The property is composed of wetlands, a mature hard wood forest and old tree farms. The Washtenaw Land Trust now protects 334 acres in Webster Township. For information send an email to info@washtenawlandtrust.org or call (734) 302-LAND (5263).Source: Susan Lackey, executive director of the Washtenaw Land TrustWriter: Jon Zemke

CSI:Miami uses Ann Arbor firm’s real life technology to solve fictional murder case

Ann Arbor is fast becoming the new darling of show business. Not only is CSI giving a local tech firm props, but a new Hollywood production starring Hillary Swank moves into town.Excerpt:It can look through walls or peek through a wallet's contents. It can even see underneath a person's clothing.And now, an Ann Arbor company's real-life technology that uses special wavelengths to see below the surface of nearly any object will help forensic investigators in the TV crime drama CSI:Miami solve its latest fictional murder mystery on Monday night.Read the rest of the story here and how the new Hillary Swank movie is set to be filmed in Ann Arbor here.

Council approves Ann Arbor City Apartments, financing is next step

The light is green, but building construction will only begin in Ann Arbor when the green starts flowing again.Excerpt:Financing is the next step for the Ann Arbor City Apartments, a new apartment project approved by the City Council this month. The building, at the corner of Washington and First streets, will consist of seven stories with 156 residential units built and operated by Farmington Hills-based Village Green Companies above a four-story parking structure financed and run by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.Village Green's director of public relations Andrea Roebker said the company has contacted a few banks regarding prospective loans."With the financial market status right now, there is a delay in granting loans, but as soon as the banks make the loans, we will be ready to go," she said.Read the rest of the story here and how Ann Arbor is going for $60 million in bonds here.