All Local Stops
A letter in the News again propagates a well-meaning fallacy: that local businesses, no matter what they do or how well they do it, are superior to chains. “It is clear that one of the most important factors in increasing both coolness and good old fashioned economic success is supporting and cultivating locally owned, independent businesses,” writes Lisa Dugdale of the Washtenaw Living Economy Network. While that’s not exactly wrong, what it leaves out is enough to explain why Ann Arbor was never cool, even before local New Age gift shops started closing.
There are usually three parts to the local-business boosters’ argument:
It’s always better to have local businesses than chains downtown. What local businesses, and what chains are they keeping out? If you could eat scented candles, then maybe we’d have the right mix of businesses downtown.
Local businesses invest more in the community. Fair enough. But in A2, that investment might take the form of supporting the Old Fourth Ward Association’s organized teams of party informants.
It’s worth paying a little more to support local business. But how do you know you’re paying more for well-compensated workers and a diverse downtown, rather than for downtown businesses to take advantage of students without cars?
This isn’t just an idle bit of contrarianism. Failure to recognize that local businesses are not intrinsically cool can lead to areas like Ashley Street. In an oft-quoted passage, Mark Maynard voices concern about those who would make Ypsi cool. Their efforts, he worries, will one day lead to a Starbucks in downtown Ypsi. “Success, to these people, I’m quite sure, isn’t [Henrietta Fahrenheit], it’s the shopping complex which might follow it.” What if success is, instead of a mall and Starbucks, a Downtown Home and Garden and Vintage to Vogue? Is that any cooler?
Also, Jim Rees has a fascinating archive of Ann Arbor photos. Perhaps the most eye-opening are the “lost Ann Arbor” ones. These should pretty much dispel any ideas that A2 was a bohemian paradise before Jimmy John’s and Starbucks moved in. The only thing he’s missing is Bill Knapp’s, the embodiment of lost Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor is going to have yuppie boutiques either way, so they may as well be local– at least the money stays in the community that way. I’d rather have Downtown Home & Garden than Crate & Barrell– it’s the lesser of two evils… there is too much demand for shit like that here for it to go away completely.
posted by Brandon on December 28th, 2003 at 3:22 pmI’m too wrapped up in Ypsi affairs to pay much attention to A2, but–if you’re so concerned, are you attending community city-planning meetings and contributing ideas? Or are you just taking cheap potshots at a community you’ll be leaving in a year or so? I’m a bit tired of the whiny tone on this site–I don’t see any AAIO involvement, according to posts here, to make the city better. If you are involved and trying to make A2 better, my apologies; if not, you’re trolling for similarly whiny posters who, with a few laudable exceptions, lack the commitment to actually attend city-planning meetings and try to make a difference. Attend the city-planning meetings and put up or shut up–I’m a bit weary of the glib potshots from someone who has no long-term involvement in the Ypsi-Arbor community.
posted by Laura on December 29th, 2003 at 12:17 am“Don’t kill the messenger”, I always say. Laura, let’s let annarbour be what it wants to be. Why fight the inevitable?
posted by Steven B. Cherry on December 29th, 2003 at 12:32 amNo, I don’t attend such meetings. My schedule as a grad student doesn’t allow it. I do occasionally watch them on CTN, and I read every news article about them I can get my hands on. I would consider myself informed but not involved.
I would love to say I’m leaving in a year, but that’s not going to happen if I want to finish my Ph.D. But no, I won’t be here for the long term, if that means 10 or more years. A website written from the perspective of someone who’s planning to be in the area that long would be very different from this one. Such sites do exist, and I don’t want them to change and start writing from my perspective. Many perspectives = good.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on December 29th, 2003 at 1:31 amI was down in Kentucky a few days ago and learned that there had been Bill Knapps restaurants in Ohio and Kentucky, as far away as Paducah. Probably they existed in other nearby states like Indiana and Illinois. No doubt people in some of those places (Muncie? Akron?) miss Bill Knapps as much as the local folks AAIO has quoted.
So, just to be clear, Bill Knapps was a restaurant chain with many identically designed outlets in at least three states. It was not even based in Ann Arbor. Hardly something that could be called the “embodiment” of Ann Arbor. Maybe the embodiment of a certain kind of Midwestern middle-class middle-aged middlebrow culture — something that “elitist” Ann Arbor is usually thought to regard with scorn.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on December 29th, 2003 at 9:07 amI’m glad to see a voice of reason here. I’ve lived in Ypsi for five years and while I love the idea of a thriving local business community and am pleased to see one slowly beginning to develop, the idea of a Starbucks on Michigan Avenue doesn’t horrify me either. I mean, the wig shop is local. The Chamber of Commerce’s beloved Haab’s is local. Neither one exactly compels thirtysomething, admittedly bourgeois-bohemian me to go downtown and spend money. The food co-op is local and I tried my level best to support it before facing up to the fact that they had some of the worst produce I’d ever seen (granted, this was several years ago–maybe things have changed). I guess I just don’t get the mindset that even a local business like Downtown Home & Garden in A2 is the ‘lesser of two evils.’ There must be a happy medium between the ‘Keep Ypsi Dirty’ crowd and those who would have it plastered with chain stores.
posted by Kristi on December 29th, 2003 at 11:25 amwhiny tone indeed, and I have to agree with Larry, what’s with the Bill Knapp’s fixation ? Aaio makes some valid points but is completely mis-informed on others.
posted by Dan on December 29th, 2003 at 12:33 pmLarry, I know Bill Knapp’s is a chain, but it seems like the one defunct establishment people actually miss most, as judged by letters to the News. I’ve always thought it was weird that a place like Ann Arbor would go for Bill Knapp’s too.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on December 29th, 2003 at 12:54 pmOverpriced candles shops are able to pay higher rents than sandwich shops. The problem with Starbucks is they can afford to pay ridiculously high rent that local businesses can’t afford. When the rent increases to chain store proportions after a few move in, they’re all you’ve got left. I don’t think anyone wants to keep Ypsi dirty, but we do want to keep it cheap. What good is it to fix up your town only to have it be too expensive to live in when you’re finished (like Annarbour)?
posted by Hillary on December 29th, 2003 at 12:57 pmSo typical of the new geek ethic… and one of the main reasons that Ann Arbor is overrated…
Let’s do a “policy” analysis of what would happen if…
And then to top if off with the flame bait, “In Annarbour” (What kind of bs is that misspelling??? Maybe John Allen or Elisha Rumsey(founders of A2), but no one I know) “no one works for a living” What a furball writes that kind of stuff?
As far as local yokels go, when the posters and owners of this board have lived here long enough to claim that Tree Town is overrated… well, I would think that few of you suburban 20 and 30 somethings have lived here long to enough to make that claim. Yeah, it is overrated but most of you have no clue why. How can someone claim it is overrated unless they were here when it was Ann Arbor did rate?
Ann Arbor had couches on porches long before students made it fashionable. Long ago, Ann Arbor had a real beatnik coffee shop named Marks. It was where NY Pizza is on William. Mark’s had real bohemians who wore black turtlenecks, read poetry and played chess. There was a community run theater named the Matrix Theater upstairs where the pinball joint is aboive NYPizza. I saw John Waters movie “Pink Flamingo’s” there. A neighbor of mine dated the Unabomber when he was a student at the UM. A2 had at least three head shops. There were free concerts at Gallup Park and a renowned Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival played it’s concerts in the vacant field next to Huron High School. 1510 and 1520 Hill Street were homes of pot smoking, rock n roll radicals, the home of John Sinclair and The MC5. Simple possession of pot was a 5$ fine. The Human Rights Party (a real 3rd political party) elected at least 3 people to city council. There were several large scale political demonstrations (riots) from 1968-1970.
I heard the growing trend among gen X, Y and Z is going home to live with Mommy when the going gets tough. So go the *#!* home and take your SUV with you!
That breakfast place by the hospital is named Angelo’s.
The bohemian past of A2 is indeed past but it is not a myth
posted by mucho more gusto on December 29th, 2003 at 1:07 pm“mucho”: What are you, new?
posted by Steven B. Cherry on December 29th, 2003 at 1:55 pmSteve… I was here when you were sperm. I guess now we’ll all change our spelling of “Glacier Way” to “Glazier’s Way”
So you got a website that has a picture of a sign that spells it like the Brits would… just another reason why Ann Arbor is overrated
Rumsey and Allen are dead. The last time I heard of them their names were on a steak house on Stadium where King’s Keyboard House is now located.
posted by Anonymous on December 29th, 2003 at 2:08 pm“How can someone claim it is overrated unless they were here when it was Ann Arbor did rate?”
I like this logic mucho, everyone under fifty can just fuck off right? But we’re supposed to listen you waxing-nostalgic about Ann Arbor’s heyday. I don’t think so.
Looks to me like A2’s goin out with a whimper.
posted by Steven B. Cherry on December 29th, 2003 at 2:41 pmWow, what’s weird is I remember most of those old places in the photos — and didn’t even know some of them were gone.
Although I agree AA’s bohemian paradise days have long passed, some of those places were nice to have around. Drakes was cool, the Ann Arbor Theater wasn’t a *great* movie theater but walking there after a couple beers was more fun than driving out to the strip-mall multiplex if you wanted to catch a mainstream film. There was a certain quirkiness and humor that isn’t around anymore — there was something fun about driving through a liquor store and having the same strange lady card me no matter how many times we went in. Rider’s hobby shop attracted an interesting mix of dorks and the Chasing Amy set, Shlenker Hardware could order and even build to spec some research laboratory aparatus (much easier to deal with than ordering online, albeit more expensive), and it was nice not to have to go to a superstore to buy a bike chain.
I agree that there is nothing necessarily a priori cooler about locally owned businesses, (for instance, until the local clothing stores around here figure out that women aren’t all the same height and start stocking petite sizes I’m shopping at J. Crew), but Ann Arbor was less sterile and homogenous before some of those older small businesses left.
posted by Anna on December 29th, 2003 at 2:49 pmCome now, Steven. We’re just supposed to sit silently on Grandpa Mucho’s lap and thrill to repetitious tales of Annarbour’s bohemian days. If we’re good maybe he’ll tell us again about the black turtlenecks. Pleeeeeease?????
posted by Boris on December 29th, 2003 at 3:04 pmAnna’s right. Ann Arbor is overrated because it’s homogenized and boutiqued. Lansky’s junkyard is but a memory and Friedman’s (on MAiden Lane) is not long for this world. Sigh…
OK, Steve, ya got me. I used to live in Ypsilanti. First on Perrin St in the block off of Cross. It’s that little forlorn place that was at one time owned by David Kircher, slumlord extraordinare. Then it was next to the frat (still?) around the corner on Cross next to the bank. Back then it was known as the “Yippie” commune. We started the Ypsilanti Food Co-op out of that house and moved in down Cross to the basement of the Catholic Church. Then I lived in a house on Summit. We called it the “White House”. David Kircher owned that one too. It’s at the south end of Summit next to the Gingerbread house. The last place I lived was around the corner on Michigan Ave. It’s now demolished. We called it “The Gutter”. Several past Ypsilanti Socialists of note lived there, namely Pete Murdoch and Eric Jackson.
As much as you might like to believe, Steve, you had nothing to do with Ann Arbor being overrated. It became overrated after I moved here.
posted by mucho gusto on December 29th, 2003 at 3:19 pmBoris, I’m not allowed to be in the presence of any children under 8 years of age without their parent or guardian present. I gues that leaves you and Steven out of any rides on my bony old lap
posted by mucho gusto on December 29th, 2003 at 3:35 pmWhat’s also interesting about those pictures is that a lot of the old locally owned places have been replaced by new locally owned places (I think). Metzger’s moved to Zeeb road and now the Arena is there. ‘Oz’, some mid-eastern type bar, is where the A2 theatre was. Palio’s may be owned by a smallish corporation (Cottage Inn, I think), but it’s worth mentioning that Cottage Inn is an Ann Arbor business.
Places change hands. Failed businesses are replaced sometimes by exciting new businesses.
I wonder why this person didn’t include in his photo montage the Olga’s, Burger King, 2 McDonalds, and Taco Bell that all went out of business downtown relatively recently?
posted by James on December 29th, 2003 at 3:49 pmGrandpa Mucho,
You have a lap?
posted by Boris on December 29th, 2003 at 3:52 pmI’m flattered that some misguided soul has decided to impersonate me and steal my identity, but I must point out that the post above was NOT authored by me (the *real* Boris).
posted by Boris on December 29th, 2003 at 3:59 pmdon’t feed the bear…
posted by innocent bystander on December 29th, 2003 at 4:15 pmMucho, I bust your chops but I think we have mutual friends in the “old guard”. Some of us kids aren’t completlely unfamilair with sds, sinclair, and the white panther party.
posted by Steven B. Cherry on December 29th, 2003 at 5:32 pmBoris - e-mail me so I know which fake posts to remove.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on December 29th, 2003 at 5:43 pmBust away, Steverino. Don’t let the “mutual friends in the old guard” thing stop you.
Where we might disagree is to what makes A2 overrated. It’s not the Starbucks, boutiques, pricey housing or restaurants that attract more out of towners than locals.
Ann Arbor is a conservative town that wants everyone to think it’s not… It’s that a city with a history of liberal and progressive thought that isn’t progressive of particularly liberal anymore. Yet many local folks still think of it that way, especially the newer ones who don’t have much perspective on the scene here.
It’s easy to criticise what on doesn’t fully understand and that is yet anither reason why A2 is overrated.
Ypsi and A2 have always had a love/hate relationship. All the way back to when Washtenaw Ave was a cow path. I’ve lived in both places and know both their relative strengths and weaknesses.
Personally? I think Ypsi is underrated, but if Granholm has her way, the cool city thing could ruin that gritty cachet that’s so appealing. It’s the problem of not wanting what you wished for when you get it.
posted by mucho gusto on December 29th, 2003 at 6:17 pmJames — I think that Palio is owned by Main Street Ventures. They own almost all of the restaurants on Main Street and many of the other ones in town, too (e.g. Gratzi, La Dolce Vita, Real Seafood, The Chop House). They aren’t that small a corporation by local business standards — they own millions worth of property and other assets and have a lot of local political connections. They also own restaurants in Florida and Ohio.
posted by Anna on December 29th, 2003 at 6:42 pmMucho, I think you’re onto something. This is the type of critical analysis that answers the tough questions. Like “who dropped the ball”?
posted by Steven B. Cherry on December 29th, 2003 at 8:29 pmWho dropped the ball? The 60% of possible voters who didn’t cast a ballot. The politicians who are afraid to lead. The bureaucrats who won’t speak up. The utterly spoiled and overtaxed populace.
The losers? Us. Folks who think A2 is overrated, but like it anyway.
It really doesn’t help to place blame.
Main Street Ventures used to own a restaurant named Maude’s on Fourth Ave where Studio 4 meat mark… er, disco… er, dance club is located. Before Maude’s it was the Golden Falcon, a great jazz and blues club that was a Black club. Before that I think it was retail flooring.
The Northside Grill on Broadway and Plymouth used to be the Cloverleaf which is now at the corner of Fourth Ave and Liberty.
posted by mucho gusto on December 29th, 2003 at 8:47 pmOff-topic, but if you’re interested in a stroll down Michigan Memory Lane, check out The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit.
posted by Anna on December 29th, 2003 at 11:13 pmblame is underrated. it’s one step away from accountability.
posted by elise on December 30th, 2003 at 12:12 amI’m with elise. Blame is totally underrated.
We are in the midst of generational war and most of my side doesn’t even know they’re being had.
posted by Steven B. Cherry on December 30th, 2003 at 12:40 am“Ann Arbor is a conservative town that wants everyone to think it’s not… It’s that a city with a history of liberal and progressive thought that isn’t progressive of particularly liberal anymore. Yet many local folks still think of it that way, especially the newer ones who don’t have much perspective on the scene here.”
You know, the funny thing is, the REAL AA old-timers that I have met (including the son of the man who build our building way back when) have been very specific in saying that the 60’s and early 70’s were a blip on the political radar for this town. In other words, the liberalness that everyone seems to associate with this town blew through like tumbleweed. It isn’t that the town used to be liberal, it’s that it has always been conservative, but had a wee bit of liberalism sprinkled in for a span of about 15 years.
Who gets press? A bunch of hard working Germans (AA was very German back in the day), or a bunch of priviledged, over-the-top liberal students who protest the fact that the sun rises in the east? We all know the answer to that.
Ok, so the last sentence was exaggerated, but you get my drift. I like to take swipes at hippies like everyone else does…..all in holiday fun.
I am inclined to believe the people who were here before the Big Chill years.
posted by todd on December 30th, 2003 at 10:20 amCottage Inn does have a hand in Main Street ventures or vice versa. I know because I worked for Cottage Inn a couple years ago and I got discounts at most of their restaurants.
Regardless, I walk through downtown ann arbor every day to work and it doesn’t seem to me like chain or franchise/chain stores are taking over. If anything there might be a need for a couple more low cost stores and restaurants (typically franchise or chain stores) to help bring down the cost of living for students.
posted by James on December 30th, 2003 at 10:24 amThe view of Ann Arbor that sees the 60s as a blip in an otherwise monotonous landscape misses a lot. Ann Arbor has most definitely NOT returned to the frugal, hard-working, predominantly German conservatism of its past. Much has happened since the 1960s, not all good, but it doesn’t represent a restoration of status quo ante.
Here again, I see clashing critiques. Some complain that Ann Arbor’s problem is that it’s too liberal, while others mourn the loss of past 1960s liberalism, which they see as havig been displaced by resurgent conservatism.
The White Panther Party and the Human Rights Party are long gone, but from a political standpoint, the electorate of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County has never been more liberal than it is today.
Partisanship isn’t a perfect measure of this, but the percentage of Republican votes has declined almost monotonically from election to election for the past three decades. The Ann Arbor City Council was controlled by Republicans as recently as the 1980s; now that would be inconceivable.
Ironically, the high and rising cost of living in Ann Arbor drives the trend toward greater political liberalism. Given high demand, high property values, and high taxes, people move to the city of Ann Arbor because they want to live here. For the same money, you could buy a much bigger/better house anywhere else in the region — and save on taxes, too.
Presumably people who choose to pay higher house prices and higher taxes appreciate all the “socialized” amenities those taxes buy. And they like being associated with Ann Arbor’s reputation as a very liberal town. Those who value a different set of choices tend to move away. By any national standard, the town is moving steadily further to the left.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on December 30th, 2003 at 11:35 amJames — Perhaps Cottage Inn is owned by or related to Main Street Ventures; I don’t know. If that were the case, it would just further illustrate the point that a lot of the restaurants in town are part of a single restaurant company. I am all for local businesses growing and becoming successful and even becoming large companies and spreading beyond Ann Arbor. But have you noticed that your dining experience all over town is very similar almost regardless of where you go or what kind of food you’re eating? Near-monopolies are not good — they drive up the prices and lead to further homogeneity.
posted by Anna on December 30th, 2003 at 11:52 amLarry,
Obviously I was generalizing about the history of AA…isn’t that the point of this site??
I will say, IMHO, that you are crazy if you think that AA, when compared to the 60’s, hasn’t become more conservative. You may cite voting, but the wealthy powers that be in this town could care less about who sits on the council. They have precious little power. The only people who affect the richos are the members of the planning commission and the building inspectors.
You are right that AA is more leftist when it comes to the no-brainer milemarkers like choice, half-baked environmentalism, or religious tolerance.
….and I will agree that AA certainly isn’t as hard-working or as frugal as it once was.
posted by todd on December 30th, 2003 at 12:06 pmI appreciate Larry’s insightful perspective.
But (you knew that was coming), what was once thought to be progressive or liberal is now moderate. What was once moderate is now compassionate conservative. And what was once conservative is now arch right wing. The positons and labels have shifted as the political pendulum has swung towards the right. Liberal doesn’t mean what it once did.
Ann arbor is a wealthy community. Where there’s money, people prefer the staus quo and supporting the status quo is a conservsative position.
Ann Arbor likes being in favor of a living wage but still shops at Wal Mart.
The cottage Inn is owned by a Greek family not associated with Main St Ventures. Ann Arbor restaurants are way overrated. They are far too similar and take the dining public for granted.
posted by mucho gusto on December 30th, 2003 at 12:08 pmwow, what a great thread!! I’m hanging on every word. Funny off topic story, my neighbor in the flat behind me has to be around 60 years old. Last night I hear The Stooges, Fun House, blaring really loudly through the wall. I call him up “hey!!! turn that up some!!!”
posted by Dan on December 30th, 2003 at 1:17 pmHe proceed’s to invite me over for a drink, man he’s got some good stories about the 60’s and early 70’s in this town.
The disco where Madonna Ciccone used to hang out was known as the Blue Frog. Today, it’s the home of Real Seafood
posted by mucho gusto on December 30th, 2003 at 1:25 pmAnna, Main Street Ventures does not have a near monopoly on restaurants. According to their website they own 5 restaurants in A2 (6 if Cottage Inn is somehow related to main street ventures). I probably frequent 6 or 7 restaurants in Ann Arbor and none of them are owned by that corporation. It’s also nearly impossible to have a monopoly or have monopolistic behavior in the restaurant industry since most people have the alternative of dining at home.
Basically, I think my dining experience in A2 is fine and I don’t feel like any chain or restaurant cartel is threatning to ruin the A2 dining experience.
posted by James on December 30th, 2003 at 1:37 pmI too appreciate Larry’s insights. He is much more in touch w/the politicos in the Washtenaw area…in addition, I think that he has contributed more to the Wash. area than most who post here (maybe I should just speak to my own lack of contribution).
Funny story about Muchos “living wage” comment—the worst group, tipwise, to ever come into our bar a few years ago was AA For a Living Wage. A group of 40 left a big donut for our staff, and left a hell of a mess.
I won’t get into the “environmental” groups who left tons of packaging on our tables after meetings—-but I will say that you can always know that an “environmental” group is at our place….if you look in our parking lot, it’s filled with SUV’s.
Don’t you love irony? Although, since we have come to expect this, it’s no longer irony.
posted by todd on December 30th, 2003 at 1:42 pmJames, I got curious about this and looked up a few of the main players in Main Street Ventures. Between them, they are involved in over 40 non-defunct LLCs, at least a couple recently formed in Michigan with Ann Arbor addresses and new restaurant names (not to mention the ones in other cities in Michigan, and in other states). I think you can look forward to more MSV or MSV-related restaurants in the near future.
posted by Anna on December 30th, 2003 at 3:26 pmIf you want to see where Ann Arbor is headed, tkae a trip out west and take a look at Boulder. There is the PEFECT example of a gentrified college town. Ann Arbor might be overrated, but Boulder REALLY sucks.
posted by Lucky Jackson on January 4th, 2004 at 11:03 am