ann arbor is overrated.

Today’s Ann Arbor news letters page carries an intriguing missive from an Ypsilanti woman. “I find it difficult to accept the fact that while the Ann Arbor Police Department somehow has found the time to write 30 percent more traffic tickets this year than last, they no longer have time to investigate burglaries,” she writes. We don’t remember reading that the police department has given up all pretense of trying to prevent burglaries, but it’s not much of a stretch. “As a homeowner,” she says, she would like the police to concentrate on actual crime.

But it doesn’t appear to be homeowners that the city is targeting with their new budget, under which “the city already is committed to increasing its collection of parking tickets and to handing out more tickets to speeders.” Two housing inspector positions have been cut, even though it is the job of housing inspectors to hand out tickets as well.

“City’s budget reflects spirit of cooperation,” runs the headline of the News editorial. It’s a beautiful thing when Ann Arborites from all walks of life can get together and agree on how best to screw over students.