ann arbor is overrated. » Blog Archive

Use this map to find

Use this map to find out what ward you’re in, then this candidate list to find out where the candidates in your area stand on the issues (well, actually just the greenbelt issue.) And this site will tell you where your polling place is when you vote on Tuesday.

A number of urban planning professors have been weighing in on the greenbelt issue in the News’ “Other Voices” section. But this column, entitled “Smart growth is key; hold Greenbelt’s supporters to their word”, may be the most interesting. Essentially, they endorse voting for the greenbelt, then after it passes, making sure that “it serve as one component of a larger smart growth effort that addresses issues like regional coordination, infill development, and affordable housing in a meaningful way.” Why should we expect anything like this to happen? Well, “proponents have essentially made the promise.” Oh, well, why didn’t you say so?

13 Responses to “Use this map to find”

Yay! Comments!
posted by ann arbor is overrated on October 29th, 2003 at 4:34 pm
Had to add another one because “1 comments” looks stupid. Also, yay, comments!
posted by ann arbor is overrated on October 29th, 2003 at 4:50 pm
Comments! Most excellent.
posted by Mer on October 29th, 2003 at 5:45 pm
I was about to say the same thing! Although I wasn't sure it would be incisive enough for this site. But what the heck. Yay! Comments!
posted by Shmuel on October 29th, 2003 at 9:56 pm
Yay people besides me leaving comments! Good to hear from the two of you.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on October 29th, 2003 at 11:09 pm
Yay! Comments! take three.
posted by Liana on October 30th, 2003 at 6:44 am
Fortunately, after ten long years (grad l and undergrad), I escaped to the East Coast and have been steadily importing my grad school friends. I have to say that Ann Arbor didn't annoy me at all until I hit grad school, but then the town started to seem both pretentious and at the same time provincial. It's hard to say if my feeling about it was an effect of the town changing over time, or an effect of me growing up and not having 30,000 people my age everywhere nor, any longer, the inclination to go to undergraduate hangouts and parties.

Although I don't think I hated it as much as you do, I was *really* sick of it by the time I left. Every time I read your blog, it really makes me chuckle — you really do a great job of articulating what it feels like to be a grad student in Ann Arbor.

P.S. My advice — drop this academia thing and get an MBA, and then high-tail it to a major city as soon as possible.
posted by Anna on October 30th, 2003 at 12:46 pm
My thoughts on the greenbelt are pretty close to that op-ed piece. If implemented responsibly, large swaths of agriculturally- and naturally-important land can be preserved. However, even the Mayor is quoted in yesterday's News as saying the overall impact on land available for development will be minimal– this is a piecemeal band-aid on the problem of sprawl– without regional cooperation (which will likely need to be state-mandated), a commitment to affordable housing, increased density, infill development, and building mixed-use, pedestrian- and transit-friendly neighborhoods adjacent to existing urban areas, the impact on sprawl will be minimal. Overall, preserving some land via Proposal B is a good thing, but we can't expect it to put the brakes on development in Washtenaw County in a meaningful way without a much more comprehensive sustainable growth program. The fact tha the city's professional planning department wasn't consulted about this plan is bothersome, as is the council's rejections of the planning board and departments' recommendations frequently, such as the recent Dicken Woods debacle.
posted by Brandon on October 30th, 2003 at 12:47 pm
Nicely said, Anna. Ann Arbor is both pretentious and provincial. An explosively bad combination.
posted by Boris on October 30th, 2003 at 12:51 pm
When will Ann Arbor locals realize that their city is nothing more than the Detroit suburb we have always known it was?
posted by Frank on October 30th, 2003 at 3:23 pm
Very comforting to see that I'm not the only one who hasn't fallen in love with AA just quite yet. Moved here from Los Angeles for grad school and am basically convinced that I've found Orange County without the beaches, weather or restaurants. Still a bit puzzled by all the UM alums who recommended the town as hip, sophisticated, exciting, progressive, etc. Am I just living in the bland white-collar suburb outside the real town?
posted by Nick on October 31st, 2003 at 1:36 am
They're remembering the 60's A2 where strip joints lined main street and young progressive people could afford to live in the city limits. UM alums also believe that they are still cool.
posted by Hillary on October 31st, 2003 at 9:26 am
Ann Arbor was a hotbed of student organization and experimentation in the 60s. Students for a Democratic Society from here to Port Huron, the MC-5 / John Sinclair. Ann Arbor is often thought of as a Midwestern Berkley California. It was cool.
posted by Steven B. Cherry on October 31st, 2003 at 10:12 am