ann arbor is overrated.

The new Observer has a feature about the push to create a Lower Town historic district and the implications for historic preservationists if it were to suffer a defeat (one might say a historic defeat.) Lower Town has a rich history, supporters of the proposed district say. It was home to a number of abolitionists and “one of Ann Arbor’s first integrated neighborhoods.” What better way to honor that heritage than by keeping out affordable housing like the new private dorm that’s been suggested for the neighborhood? Of course, this being Ann Arbor, what’s “historically significant” is sometimes not as clear-cut. One house is cited for once being owned by a man who led “spiritual worship…in the nude.”

A poet whose work appears as one of the few less-than-positive pieces in the new anthology “Writing Ann Arbor” also touches on the preservation theme: “Trees and a few grand old/accidentally preserved houses/save it from total suburbanization,/give it the mildly authentic complexion/of secondhand furniture.” Uh, because suburbs never have grand old single-family houses.

We should probably point out that we grew up in an old home in a historic district, and our family has fought the town’s policy of permitting demolitions of older houses to make room for McMansions. So we grew up respecting the need for historic preservation. But when, say, some stylish new brick townhouses sprung up along the tracks in our town, it never occurred to us that this was part of the same problem that allowed that cookie-cutter monstrosity with the two-story foyer and stone address plate to be built a few blocks down. It’s our experience with historic districts in other places that makes the Ann Arbor approach so perplexing.

Judy McGovern is unhappy that the university has merely said that they have “no objection” to residential parking districts that “improve [neighborhood] aesthetics” like the new NoBuPa one. Community relations director Jim Kosteva said that they help in getting students to consider other parking options, but that’s not good enough; McGovern wants a whole-hearted endorsement, something like “Dear non-student residents of Ann Arbor, we applaud your efforts to get the unsightly cars of our students and employees off your lovely streets, and remain grateful that you allow us to exist.”

Business Review’s profile of 16 Hands Gallery provides what we can only describe as a uniquely Ann Arbor perspective on September 11th. “While Sept. 11 saw a drop in business, it has had a second effect… ‘People now are more drawn toward having a personal connection with what they buy. They don’t want something manufactured. They want something handmade.’” “Let’s Roll” bumper stickers notwithstanding…

This is why we can’t have nice things:

A controversial 10-story mixed-use development proposal on the edge of the Old Fourth Ward will go back before the Historic District Commission Nov. 9, six weeks after the commission rejected it.

…

It has already been approved by the City Council and Planning Commission.

…

“It’s the gateway to the Old Fourth Ward,'’ [the Historic District Commission’s] Derr said about the site. “That’s primarily residential, two or three-story homes.'’

News columnist Bob Needham is skeptical of Ann Arbor’s inclusion in Schools That Rock: The Rolling Stone College Guide. “[I]t’s not really a surprise that the evidence of U-M’s ‘rocking’ starts out with … the University Musical Society, that bastion of rebellion and teenage musical angst,” he snarks.

But apparently the oh-so-negative Mr. Needham isn’t familiar with the subject of today’s Talk About Town. Where else but A2 could a “funny, playful, jazzy tune” called “I Love Public Radio” be not only produced, but actually broadcast over the airwaves repeatedly every day? The song, downloadable here, contains lyrics like “It’s not at all like other stations, nothing of the sort/There’s no commercials and lots of invitations for listener support” and “Where else can you hear so many folks that went to college/There’s no other station that can boast that kind of knowledge.”

“Ann Arbor man says stolen bonsai was ‘like a friend’”, the Free Press reports.

The University of Toledo’s student paper provides a guide for those taking vacations in the “veritable culturefest” of Ann Arbor over fall break. Particularly singled out for praise is the “not-found-in-Toledo appeal” of Ann Arbor’s retail scene. “[W]hatever you’re in the mood to acquire will have a retail outlet in Ann Arbor. However, this isn’t the crass commercialism you’re used to. Bourgeois bohemianism is the rule here, so shoppers can be stylish and socially conscious while spending to their heart’s content.” The writer does, however, display a better-than-average feel for A2 life: “[T]wo groups compose the city’s population: college students and rich people.”

We’d expect this from the crowd at Scorekeepers or Rush Street, but Leopold’s? Et tu? “Who ever does that ann arbor is over-rated website needs to get out more often. From what I can tell they have no social life and spend all day googling for ann arbor related material to whine about.” Now, that’s just unfair. Sometimes we use Feedster or Technorati.

Talk About Town picks up the Oppenheimer “renew now or lose your apartment” letter.

A2 becomes even more like Manhattan with its very own overheard blog. What’s next, Arbor Stalker?