Sweet Street of Liberty
Liberty Street is News columnist Jo Mathis’ favorite street. “Somehow it seems appropriate that a mural of Woody Allen, that edgy urbanite, is painted on a wall on Liberty between two movie theaters.”
Liberty Street is News columnist Jo Mathis’ favorite street. “Somehow it seems appropriate that a mural of Woody Allen, that edgy urbanite, is painted on a wall on Liberty between two movie theaters.”
Shame that the Borders is actually Borders #2. Borders #1 is now the Steve and Barry’s two doors down from the State Theater.
Fine dining? If you like Vegetarian, I suppose. Or Chinese, although Champion House is bit further down than she is talking about.
Movie Palace? Okay, she’s right on that one. I will admit it is cool having that theater there and it is even cooler to see some old movies on the big screen (Patton was cool, I’m still shocked they showed it there).
Starbucks? How can an Ann Arborite actually praise a chain….
Harry’s? I think Harry’s was much better when it was on Washington(?). It was still a proper Surplus store then. Now it is just another outdoor outfitter for yuppies.
Dawn Treader? I don’t think she mentioned it, but I thought it was much better when it was across the street and downstairs. Nothing like a maze of books.
The thing I miss the most though is School Kids. Used to be a nice ecletic record store. If you were looking for odd, chances were pretty good you could find it there. And if you were looking for classical, you just needed to go a couple stores down to School Kids’ classical.
posted by Kozzie on September 29th, 2004 at 2:09 pmThe current Borders location is it’s third, I think. First it was in the Shaman Drum location, then the location that Kozzie mentioned, then its current location (which used to be a department store).
posted by Anna on September 29th, 2004 at 3:45 pmer… its third.
posted by Anna on September 29th, 2004 at 4:08 pmSomehow it seems MORE appropriate that a mural of Woody Allen, that edgy lover of little asian girls, is painted on a wall on Liberty between two movie theaters.
Borders#1? Try Jacobsons #13.
posted by Leighton on September 29th, 2004 at 4:28 pmblah blah blah
posted by Shaun on September 29th, 2004 at 5:00 pmMathis’ gushing reminds me of how glad I am this site is here; you can also get obnoxiously overpriced (and not very good) haircuts at that place near the corner of Lib and Main. That West Side Bookshop is pretty ladida as well, although I gather it’s more for collectors than anything else. I personally enjoy Dawn Treader–the “booksellers” seem to be the least crabby (next to Shaman Drum, at least) in town.
She’s got a point about the street names, though–my roomies and I used to live on the corner of Spring and…erherm…Hiscock. I was out on the porch one day when a couple of girls actually got out of their car to take a picture of the street sign. What a wonderful Ann Arbor experience to share with a nauseating brood of nonexistent grandkids.
posted by Lazaro on September 29th, 2004 at 5:29 pmI forget, do Felch and Hiscock intersect at any point or they run parallel ? That would make for a good tourist pic.
posted by Bez on September 29th, 2004 at 6:33 pmNonwithstanding the fact that it’s no longer in its original location, the Borders in question is still officially Borders #1. So, you know, no fault on that one particular point.
posted by Shmuel on September 29th, 2004 at 7:46 pm“It’s hard to beat the streets surrounding Kerrytown, where you feel healthy and hip just walking by the Food Co-op, the Farmers Market, the Birkenstock store.” So true. Any beneficial health effects from my daily 18-mile bike commute to and from Ypsi to work in Kerrytown immediately pale in comparison as soon as I’m rolling by that Birk shop. It’s like an aura or something, or a powerful ray. And the hipness in that area is nearly overwhelming, a carpenter-ant-like infestation of smug Boomers notwithstanding–I practically need smelling salts just to stagger into my cubicle every day. Vapid photo or no, Mathis is right on.
posted by Laura on September 29th, 2004 at 11:46 pmIs is possible that this article was intended to be really, really sarcastic?
posted by Nick on September 30th, 2004 at 9:36 amThe barber shop at Liberty and Main doen’t have to give good haircuts. A rumor at one time was that it was a front for gun trafficking. But with the now-elapsed federal assault weapons ban, they’ll probably return to cutting hair. Watch for falling prices soon.
posted by Anonymous on September 30th, 2004 at 10:06 amFelch doesn’t intersect Hiscock, but Gott does…
posted by Jeff on October 1st, 2004 at 12:47 amHiscock is one north from Felch.
posted by js on October 1st, 2004 at 2:26 pmBecause that area of town was planned by 12-year-olds.
js
I was talking to a friend from Boston recently, and he was aware of these streets despite having never set foot in A2. But I didn’t know about Hiscock St. until I saw it posted here.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on October 1st, 2004 at 3:19 pmYour friend from Boston, who posted Hiscock here? I must have missed it.
js: funny.
posted by Steven on October 1st, 2004 at 8:55 pmNo, they definitintely don’t intersect–but you can live snuggly between them.
posted by Alex(andra) on October 2nd, 2004 at 8:48 amIn spite of all the juvenile sniggering at the name Hiscock (pronounced HISS-cock), it is the family name of some early A2 residents.
posted by tom on October 2nd, 2004 at 12:25 pmI’ve always pronounced it that way, tom (I just assumed since there wasn’t a space between the two syllables, that was the pronunciation). I didn’t mean to denigrate the noble Hiscocks, either. I just found it totally bizarre that it has become such an underground joke that people would get out of their cars and take pictures of the street sign.
Come on, people, be with me here… the jokes ARE funny, aren’t they?
posted by Lazaro on October 2nd, 2004 at 2:43 pmMy curiosity excited, I felt compelled to do some quick research. Apparently, a Charles F. Hiscock served as mayor of Ann Arbor from 1897-99. Mystery solved? Or are there more Hiscocks waiting in the wings????
I was going to say “hiding in the bushes,” but that would have been wrong.
posted by Lazaro on October 2nd, 2004 at 2:54 pm(To be honest, I prefer the intersection “Nixon/Bluett,” pronounced “blew-it.”)
posted by js on October 4th, 2004 at 10:29 amAnd don’t delude yourselves, folks, even when Honorable Hiscock was our mayor, the randy mocked his name. Of that I’m sure. Never underestimate the bawdiness of our antecedents.
highlights of liberty street.
posted by somonweawed on October 7th, 2004 at 8:38 pm-the Borders recycling bins
-encore records
-the muraled alley (you know what i mean)
-american spoon (they let you use their phone for local calls…really)
-liberty plaza (well it was only cool before they cleaned it up)
-jerusalem garden (well its off liberty)
-herb david guitar studio (hit or miss…not sure if i like it or hate it)
-liberty st video’s 6 videos 6 days $6.66 deal
I hate to pull the ol’ indier-than-thou, but the mural alley was much, much cooler when it was graffiti murals instead of the commissioned bullshit that replaced it. Over the years, what had started as one guy’s graf had turned into a collaborative gallery, with no one painting over each other’s stuff- instead, they’d extend it further and further, like an exquisite corpse made of spray paint. To turn it into cartoon fun land really took a lot of the art out of it.
posted by js on October 8th, 2004 at 5:07 pmMaking fun of Jo Mathis is like shooting fish in a barrel.
And since no one else has mentioned it, let me add that Alpheus Felch was an Ann Arborite who was governor of Michigan in 1846-47, and later a US Senator, and later still a UM law professor.
I have no idea if he pioneered the peculiar sexual act with which he shares a name.
posted by Chris on October 11th, 2004 at 12:00 pm