Ann Arbor makes Money’s list of the eight best cities in which to retire - the magazine calls it “a small but cosmopolitan town, rich in culture but relatively inexpensive.” Snort derisively at everything following “small” if you wish, but of all the best-of lists on which A2 has found itself, we think this one is the most appropriate.
The Daily preemptively attacks Art Fair in a piece whose headline, in which the event’s name is deemed a “double misnomer,” might have sufficed.
Also, Ann Arbor native Marc McFinn writes in about the city where he grew up and still remains:
Believe it or not, Ann Arbor actually was very cool at one time. But it was long, long ago. Every time anything remotely cool pops up here it is almost immediately driven from the town.
Unlike most of our correspondents, though, he’s not down with the Ypsi love.
Some people move to Ypsi so they can pretend that they are more “down with real people” or some shit. Whatever. When people try to give me that “Ypsi rules!” shit I just laugh. Saying Ypsi rules because it’s cooler than Ann Arbor is not saying much. It’s like saying herpes sucks, but syphilis kicks ass!
Needlessly vitriolic? Well, the News has already jumped on the Ypsi bandwagon. We can only hope it’s not destined to become the Williamsburg of Michigan.
Business Direct Weekly features an interview with the chair of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority that encapsulates everything that’s wrong with downtown. Asked what her choice of any new business to open downtown would be, she says “I don’t feel like we’re missing anything. I don’t think we need a big anchor retailer.” Apparently, she doesn’t know anyone who’s had to shop for groceries without a car. She cites “the bohemian factor” as the one thing most important to the A2 identity. And her favorite thing about Ann Arbor? “I love downtown because it has a very European feel. There’s a diversity in the type of people you see downtown, all kinds of different activities, always a lot of foot traffic, and the sounds and smells and sights - it feels like a great, little European city to me.”
Shmuel, upon his release from the A2 gulag to the most wonderful city on the planet, offers some moving reflections about what he’ll miss about Tree Town. His friends, Meijer - well, that’s about it. His friends and Meijer. Oh, and his “apartment, my refuge during those two wretched years.” We can’t wait until it’s time for us to offer a similar loving tribute.
Well, it’s new to us: this 1998 Daily column written by a Michigan State student attempts to debunk myths about A2 long held by our Lansing brethren.
Michigan produces more socially inept people than the Branch Davidians could ever dream of: OK, fine, so maybe Ted ‘Unabomber’ Kaczynski developed a twisted, homicidal mistrust for other humans in Ann Arbor. But what about Madonna? She went to Michigan for just one semester, and I’d say she definitely qualifies as ’social.’…
Ann Arbor is a haven for snotty, overprivileged brats from New York: Can we stop with the generalizations already? Michigan is home to plenty of arrogant schmucks from Jersey and Massachusetts as well, not to mention Bloomfield Hills.
The Top of the Park manager laments, “The only thing that is negative (this year) is parents are letting their kids down here younger and younger…There is not so much of a college student presence anymore.” If 11 swing bands, “rock ‘n roll the way you remember it” and movies like “Spy Kids 2″ aren’t enough to attract the college crowd, what is?
The News has a great parody of the kind of yuppie boutiques that thrive in A2. It describes a shop started by two sisters-in-law, one who crafts original lamps and the other who sells varietal olive oils. The lamp/olive oil store, located in a historic house - nice touch - is called “Shade of the Olive.” (They set it in Dexter rather than A2.) Someone at the News has a future at The Onion. This was a parody, right?
We’re trying to compile a list of blogs created for the sole purpose of dissing the blogger’s city or town. So far, we’re aware of Lansing Sucks and DC Blows. If you know of any others, e-mail us at annarborsux@diaryland.com.
Finally, someone complains about the fact that C-SPAN2 is forced to share Channel 3 with Eternal Word Television on Ann Arbor Comcast. There’s no reason why the people of A2 shouldn’t be able to watch two Democrats emphatically agreeing with each other in an empty Senate chamber at 9 in the evening. Would it be too much to cut into Channel 19’s Huron graduation and elementary school Little Prince production coverage? While we’re at it, why is it that Chicago network television features three Spanish-language channels, one channel that seems to be half-Polish and half-Korean and another one that’s Filipino and Bulgarian, but Ann Arbor cable has only Univision (which becomes Michigan legislative coverage during the day) and the International Channel?
A reader’s theory on the over-the-top A2 praise that dominates many a conversation here:
It’s like talking about the weather, or shaking hands so that each person knows the other isn’t holding a sword. “Yeah - I really LOVE Ann Arbor. It’s so nice.” Speaker then looks at other person, awaiting proper response. The response: “Oh yeah, Ann Arbor is great. It’s just so great.” The two can now relax and converse at ease, having passed the initial screening test.
Also, the News has two stories about artists fleeing A2 for the more welcoming environs of Ypsi. “I don’t understand why the people [in Ann Arbor] hate art so much,” one muses.
The News profiles a “small group of local historians” responsible for placing “glass panels etched with historic photographs and descriptions” around town. We have an idea - how about an etched-glass photo of Iggy Pop with a little description of how punk died in A2?
We had no idea it was Weblog Imitation Day, but Mythoslogos mimics our snooty, high-handed schtick quite well.