If Ypsilanti is starting to remind Ann Arborites of what their town looked like 20 some years ago it might be that a lot of the funky-type of businesses Tree Town was known for are opening up their again. One more that is coming down the pipeline is a possible outpost for Zingerman's.
Someone must be smiling down on the Ann Arbor area because the region is blessed with a multitude of start-ups. Take Lumen Christi Church Design, specializing in old-school, cathedral-style church interiors. The two-person accidental start-up's work is taking off across the nation and hopes to hire a person or two in the not-too-distant future.
Ypsilanti's notorious Water Street project may look stalled right now, but city officials the upcoming Brownfield 2008 conference in Detroit will help kick start the redevelopment efforts. City officials plans to aggressively market the 38-acre prime piece of property at the conference in the hopes of attracting a new developer.
It's down to the final four contestants in the EMU presidency game. The university's short list includes everyone from the former head of the Detroit Public Schools to state's superintendent of public education.
Making a buck as an artist is easier when rents are lower. That tried-and-true stratefy is playing out in Ypsilanti where a number of artists are taking advantage of the city's cheaper cost of living to open art galleries.
The Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse hopes its train will come in one day soon. The small group of dedicated local residents working to restore the landmark building recently raised $3,000 to move the restoration along and hope to get even more soon.
The best shot for Ypsilanti to find a developer for its Water Street project could be coming up this spring. To prepare for it, city officials are putting together promotional materials and looking for help from residents in the way of video of the project site that could be posted on YouTube.
As much of the economy goes global, James Marks of Ypsilanti's VGKids finds that there's plenty of success to be found locally. Paradoxically, this success has given him both a national reputation and the opportunity to expand his business to the west coast.
It's down to two locations in downtown Ypsilanti in the bottom of the 9th inning of Ann Arbor Spark's decision process. The business incubator is set to make a decision within a month on where it will set up its Ypsilanti satellite incubator.
Is it real or a practical joke? A supposed crocodile sighting Ypsilanti on April 1 had a lot of local residents asking just that question.
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