Less Is More
The Bank of Ann Arbor billboards we’ve seen around lately perhaps epitomize A2’s unfounded smugness. We can’t remember the exact wording - essentially, they point out that other banks have hundreds of branches, but then declare that you don’t need hundreds of branches. They don’t claim to offer something else - free checking, short lines, even hometown friendliness - in place of the extra locations. They just tell you that they don’t have them. It parallels the ways that Ann Arborites talk about their hometown: we’re just as good as any big city. And if a big city happens to have something we don’t, well, you don’t need that, whatever it is.
Is that the one whose billboard on Packard just west of Carpenter says, “From Kerrytown to Depot Town”? Last I checked, there wasn’t a Bank of AA branch in Depot Town. There is a little ATM in Depot Town, however…perhaps they’re counting that as a “branch”?
posted by Laura on June 19th, 2004 at 4:23 pmSerious question: is there a map of all of AA’s “towns” and “wards” somewhere? As a newcomer to the area, I have no idea where each of these places are. I mean, I know where Kerrytown is, but what is Depottown besides the Gandy Dancer? Where is the Old 4th Ward? Is there such a thing as a “downtown,” or is it merely the area between the restaurant strip and campustown?
More than anything, it seems funny to have a dozen different such municipal appellations in a town about three miles by three miles.
posted by Dan on June 19th, 2004 at 4:53 pmA map of Bank of AA’s many locations can be found here. Note that even the Ypsilanti branch, unmistakenly located in the heart of Ypsi and with an Ypsi ZIP code, still has an Ann Arbor mailing address.
By comparison, a list of Bank One’s Michigan banks can be found here.
posted by Dan on June 19th, 2004 at 5:01 pmnote: that’s not my post above, I’ve been here since 83′ and can find my way around in the dark.
posted by the original Dan on June 20th, 2004 at 11:22 amHey! I’ve been posting as “Dan” on this site for months and you’ve never noticed or complained.
Why in the world have you lived here for 21 years? I can only think of one excuse: tenure.
posted by Dan on June 20th, 2004 at 12:33 pmThank you! You have just put into words what I could not describe. After growing up here, leaving for 8 years, and coming back a month ago, to the same streets but an increasingly ugly attitude–sadly, there are things out there in the big cities that we DO need/want. Pride? Self-involvement? Snobby smugness indeed.
posted by no name #1 on June 20th, 2004 at 5:03 pmwell this was the fist time i noticed another Dan is all. Reason I’ve been here 21 years is not tenure, I’m not even associated with the university so get over that.
posted by the original Dan on June 20th, 2004 at 8:43 pmYikes! Sorry to offend, old crotchety Dan! I was just making a joke!
But it is enlightening to know that the I’ve-been-here-longer-than-dirt-and-am-therefore-better-than-everyone phenomenon is not just limited to people who love AA.
posted by the new Dan on June 20th, 2004 at 9:07 pmdan,
posted by Anonymous on June 21st, 2004 at 11:42 amdepot town is in ypsilanti, and not actually around a2’s depot street, where the gandy dancer is located.
The thing that irks me is that my bank, fifth third, doesn’t have a branch or even atm in ann arbor or ypsi. I was with them before I moved here and have my car loan from them so I’d rather not just get a new bank.
posted by daryl on June 21st, 2004 at 2:57 pmFunny that you should post this. These bank signs have been bothering me as well.
I’ve been reading the site for awhile and absolutely love it.
posted by Vanessa on June 21st, 2004 at 8:28 pmI like the WAAM billboards with “Lucy Ann knows ANN ARBOR” that were plastered all over inner Ypsi. I think an ad agancy owes someone a refund.
posted by leighton on June 22nd, 2004 at 2:22 pmNew-to-town Dan,
It’s not the easiest-to-use reference, but the City’s website has a map of all of the neighborhood associations; things like “old fourth ward”, “old west side” and so on can be found on it: http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/Planning/neighborhoods/assocmaps.html#res
The City Clerk’s page contains a ward map, but note that the “old fourth ward” is currently in the first ward: http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/Clerks/w4map.html
Finally, the Ann Arbor Observer’s webpage has a map of neighborhoods, defined by what school they go to: http://www.arborweb.com/cg/t0030.html
Between the three of those, you should be able to find most “towns”, if you care enough.
posted by Murph on June 22nd, 2004 at 5:28 pmthanks, Vanessa!
So, who is Lucy Ann Lance? I’ve been wondering that for a while, but I assume that I don’t wake up early enough to catch her show.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 22nd, 2004 at 5:59 pmThe Bank of Ann Arbor has always been sort of a curiousity for me in that “why whould there be a Bank of Ann Arbor?” Is Ann Arbor so isolated that it needs an independent financier like so many small rural towns need because large banks don’t have branches there? Wait, Ann Arbor is the “center of the universe”….
posted by Ben the Geographer on June 23rd, 2004 at 9:18 amLucy is the very white, right-leaning morning host on WAAM. In true AAIO fashion, she is in the River Rat Hall of “Fame” and seems to have never left the city limits (except for the unavoidable forays into Detroit with OnStar on the whole time).
http://huron.aaps.k12.mi.us/athletics/hof/lvisovatti.html
posted by Leighton on June 25th, 2004 at 8:49 amThe bank of Ann Arbor is anything BUT friendly. Being a typical student…that is…a typical student at universites where students aren’t wealthy, I dress accordingly. They always treated me like a criminal. I complained about it, they closed my account, told me that perhaps another bank could serve me better. I’ll give them one thing, they were certainly right. I didn’t have to look very hard to find a bank that serves me better, not hard at all.
posted by Past Customer on July 9th, 2004 at 4:54 pm