ann arbor is overrated.

NoHu might not have caught on to the degree that we’d hoped, but don’t think that A2 has abandoned its Manhattan delusions; the corner of Division and Washington has now been dubbed “Midtown.” Soon appearing near there will be “Bar Louie, an upscale national chain restaurant/bar that is popular with urban professionals in Chicago.” The News talked to one Chicagoan to provide some perspective: “It’s the kind of bar you’d find in the bottom of a hotel in Lincoln Park … The kind of places that are cool are like ABC (Arbor Brewing Company).” At least the place will have ground-floor windows; Buffalo Wild Wings has those, and it’s been something of an improvement to State Street’s pedestrian appeal.

Business Review hosts a discussion with A2 architects. Our favorite part:

What are the best examples of architecture in Ann Arbor over the past 20 years?

All: the University of Michigan Biomedical Sciences Research Building, on Huron at Glen.

…

[Connie] Brown: …Yet it’s a University of Michigan building. It’s ironic that we’re celebrating this building, yet U-M also seems to keep local voices … out of their processes.

Ironic is one way to put it.

We somehow managed to miss the “Initial and Preliminary Vision” for the greenway, but the Old West Side Association reprints it in its latest newsletter. Remember: the people responsible for this document actually have some influence over local politics.

There’s something about Ann Arbor…

Yes. Yes, there is.

Its one-of-a-kind name conjures an image of a delicate intervention within an Arcadian landscape.

A delicate intervention? “Um, Bob, we don’t really know how to say this, but your consumption of distilled spirits is, well — hey, look at that Arcadian landscape!”

This interplay of context and aspiration continues today; much of “Tree Town’s” enduring charm stems from the way potentially conflicting forces somehow find a state of charged reciprocity.

Translation: the “context” of 60’s-style liberalism and the “aspiration” to astronomically high property values are “potentially conflicting forces,” but they somehow come together, and students get “charged” for it in the form of higher rents. Not sure where the “reciprocity” part comes in, though.

The synergistic expression of contrary and complementary characteristics will be the Allen Creek Greenway.

See above.

Hey, come back, Reciprocity and Synergy! You’re not done here yet, not with Symbiosis taking the day off:

The opportunity exists to create a reciprocal, synergistic and beneficial relationship between the land, land use, and creekshed in the Allen Creek valley, and the Greenway’s relationship to other parts of the City and to the Huron River.

And while a normal piece of land in a floodplain might be used to avoid flooding or something, the Greenway will do nothing so prosaic; instead, it will

express the presence of water by incorporating progressive practices to manage rainwater as an asset.

But most importantly, the Greenway will

be a distinct place with a sense of coherence that unites its entirety and provides a fluid sequence of experiences, each considerate of the changing edge conditions.

Did anyone else just have a flashback to sophomore differential equations? In any event, “a sense of coherence” is something that’s sorely needed.

The Washington Post breaks the fairy door story to a national audience. “Ann Arbor is the ideal canvas for such a quirky display of art and imagination; its population skews young, liberal and bohemian, and one of its biggest annual events is the Hash Dash [sic], which celebrates the liberation of pot.” Yeah, those wacky Hash Dashers, protesting America’s unjust drug laws while getting in shape at the same time.

Nordlinger Watch! Today’s Nordlinger column needles liberals who side with Rumsfeld-bashing retired generals: “All my life, I heard people warn about the influence of generals and admirals over Pentagon affairs: ‘Civilian control, civilian control,’ they always stressed…that’s the way it was, in good old Ann Arbor town.” “[W]here I grew up,” he adds.

But ultimately, it’s A2 that Nordlinger credits with forming his political views. “You think I’d be working for National Review if I hadn’t grown up in Ann Arbor?” he asks, rhetorically. Think about that, local Democrats. Every time you push a symbolic resolution on some national issue, you’re creating a new Jay Nordlinger.

A student using the public comment portion of last night’s City Council meeting to complain about his grade in Mayor Hieftje’s class from four months ago provides a change from the usual NIMBY/Palestine fare. At least he didn’t resort to “John, will you look at me? John, will you make eye contact with me?” tactics.

You know you are a part of pathetic Russian community of Ann Arbor when…

The News went looking for some council primary drama, but all they found were mostly unopposed races and a couple of candidates who couldn’t be reached for comment, one of whom lives within a block of the dump that we lived in when we first moved to A2.

The Daily’s Best of Ann Arbor awards are out, and the “Best Overall Website” is…Google.com! Which is this really cool search engine thing, if you haven’t seen it. (Congratulations to Homeless Dave for winning the Current’s poll.)

Jo Mathis picks up on the Arbor Stalker thing, with such potential items as “Ann Arbor City Council members are yukking it up at a corner table. Nobody’s breast-feeding, but it would be cool if they did.” “Keep Manhattan. Just give me the Old West Side,” she concludes.