Why Tear Down Letter for Too-Easy Post?
A letter to the News brings to our attention a growing problem in A2 that will only be exacerbated by a proposed development on Fifth Avenue: “ugly apartment buildings in residential areas.” “[T]here is nothing worse for a quiet residential area (which that area is, generally) than a rental unit that has about four times the number of occupants than currently lives in that space.” Yeah, really — what does this developer think he’s doing, bringing all these residents into a residential area?
And it gets worse: it’s possible that the landlord of the new building won’t discriminate on the basis of his tenants’ source of income or family status. “I doubt he will rent to just professionals or families. He will probably be allowed to rent to students.” So we have not only people living in residential areas, but the terrifiying prospect of a landlord who may follow the law. Is there no way this can be stopped?
I have maps of the 5th ave proposed site at
http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2007/08/proposed-city-p.html
from the looks of it, the existing residents that are going to have their views change the most are the folks on the W side of Hamilton who used to have other houses in their back yard and who now will have a big structure (or parking for same, or garbage bins for same).
I love Hamilton for the gardens in the spring time.
posted by Edward Vielmetti on August 25th, 2007 at 1:05 pmThe homes on that side of S. 5th Ave. are some of the nicest looking examples of downtown residential homes. They’re in great condition and well cared for. It’s a beautiful block and one of the few examples of what real downtown residential neighborhoods in Ann Arbor were like before Mondo Concreto took over. It would be a shame to tear them down.
I forgot, no more preserve in amber.
Some people’s got no taste.
posted by muchogusto on August 25th, 2007 at 1:21 pmI don’t have a problem holding on to these homes at all, mucho.
The problem is, as I’m sure you’ve read from me before….is where in the heck are they supposed to build? I saw that infantile mondo concreto video too.
The mondo contreto people are SPECIFICALLY asking for this 5th avenue project. They make fun of the tall buildings that are going in. So if we aren’t going to put in tall buildings, and you, as you say, are not a ‘preserve in amber’ guy…..how can you say that you don’t like this 5th avenue project? It’s more “to scale” as the people who hate tall buildings seem to keep asking for…..
In other words, if you and the other old school residents don’t want the tall condos in city center, and you don’t want 4 story apartments in the fringe neighborhoods, and you swear that you aren’t the freeze in amber crowd I have to ask the obvious question:
Where the heck are the new residents supposed to go?
posted by todd on August 25th, 2007 at 1:43 pmI can think of a bunch of other blocks where this development would be better suited, but I want to be my usual ranting, creepy asshole self.
So where are these new residents, other than on some urban planners spreadsheet?
Who says that Ann Arbor must have more new residents? Who says that bigger is inevitable and always better?
Has anyone ever imagined that maybe Ann Arbor is just meant to be a fairly liberal, middle class college town with a big university, some high tech industry, nice neighborhoods, a diverse community, and beautiful, active downtown? And because of the gifts we have here, that, just maybe we should play to our strengths and not try to be like everyone else? Or get too big for our britches?
Other than “the growth is good and without it the city center will die” crowd, who’s in favor of changing the character of this place? At this point in time, there don’t seem to be a whole hell of a lot of people clamoring to move downtown for a raft of reasons, (high cost of living, inadequate urban infrastructure). I think it’s a huge assumption that if it’s built, they will come as much I assume that I’m ready to fight off the hordes of Ann Arbor wannabes waiting on the horizon.
I think that the city and developers are putting the cart before the horse. The downtown resources aren’t there to support the projected (just projections, folks!) thousands of new residents. Development has to be organic and without all the pieces coming together in the right way and at their right times, bad development will result. Let the other cities get it wrong. We can do better.
This has nothing to do with preserving anything in amber. It’s about sustainable, honest development not based on desperate thinking that Ann Arbor will only be saved by packing in people like sardines in concrete boxes.
I imagine that most people when asked if they would want to live here if the character of Ann Arbor was changed due to bad or too much development, the answer would be a resounding, NO!
posted by muchogusto on August 25th, 2007 at 2:33 pmMucho?!?!? Et tu???
You know EXACTLY why “Ann Arbor must have new residents”.
Come on. Why is it that you can’t pretend that Ann Arbor’s residential needs are the same as Dexter’s? Why is the demand for housing greater in Ann Arbor, and specifically DOWNTOWN Ann Arbor then there is anywhere else in Washtenaw County?
(Anyone is free to answer this mind-numbingly simple question)
posted by todd on August 25th, 2007 at 4:01 pmOkay, I had to just google “mondo concreto”
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9212563206634997767
Some people shouldn’t be allowed to use Web 2.0 …not even debating their motives, this is just not even clever, biting, funny, persuasive, comprehensible… I think your average high schooler could do better.
posted by Brandon on August 25th, 2007 at 9:28 pmOMG.
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-2272961622105980712&hl=en
posted by Brandon on August 25th, 2007 at 9:32 pmMy brain just broke.
Can’t you schedule some kind of impromptu Madison House concert to showcase these jams?
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 25th, 2007 at 9:41 pmMaybe I’ll get that dude for Mittenfest ‘07 (stay tuned, 2 days at 3 venues!)
posted by Brandon on August 25th, 2007 at 9:55 pmDidn’t the New West Side Angry Renters and Students Association have a website? Didn’t they do a lame video? If they did, I must have missed it!
I bet they can’t wait to sign the leases on those new digs on S. 5th!
posted by muchogusto on August 25th, 2007 at 10:42 pmAnn Arbor is neither liberal nor particularly middle class. Although it plays a liberal, middle class town on TV…
posted by Pants Rule on August 25th, 2007 at 10:44 pmCan we admit that in the past, there’s been some real atrocities dumped into neighborhoods of single family homes? Whoever thought that a concrete block apartment building should be shoehorned on a single-family lot did a real disservice to Ann Arbor back in the day.
But MG is reeking NIMBYism today. Or maybe NIMAA (Not in My Ann Arbor)? Whether there’s a demand or not for downtown living, what’s with this “I’m ready to fight off the hordes of Ann Arbor wannabes waiting on the horizon”? So you’re going to be the gatekeeper deciding who’s good enough to have the honor of living within the borders of Ann Arbor? I guess they better be middle class. We wouldn’t want any outside of the middle class messing up your vision of the city.
posted by John Q. on August 25th, 2007 at 11:56 pmSome people just don’t get understatement, because I’m really bad at hyperbole. And yeah, sarcasm is a favorite weapon of the weak and unintelligent, so I say, let’s grab the weapons. (I guess JQ missed the “huge assumption” part and Pants Rule should move our of the dorm)
Please substitute the name your favorite city wherever I inserted the name Ann Arbor in the post that has everyone’s neck hairs standing on end. Maybe you’ll get the picture then, pilgrims.
I guess A2 isn’t liberal or middle class (sarcasm). But you have to understand that by todays political thermometer, what was once conservative is considered mainstream, the popular definition of a liberal is now a radical and the folks I consider middle class earn more than $100k a year. Ask most folks who earn that much $$ if they think they’re middle class and they’ll probably answer, “uh, barely”. Actually, I consider most average folks I know or meet on the streets as working class, hardly middle at all. Where people get this image of Ann Arbor as having an overload of BMW driving, Birkenstock wearing, million $$ condo owning yuppies is beyond me.
posted by mucho gusto on August 26th, 2007 at 7:46 amMe too. Million $$ single family residence is more likely.
posted by JCP2 on August 26th, 2007 at 10:32 amI guess my question was a shade too easy. Not for our letter writer, though, who seems shocked that students may actually move into new developments. Note to letter writer: when the population in a college town drops, while at the same time enrollment and new hires at the University grows, students and UMich employees are the likely candidates for almost any new development or residential vacancy. Get used to it. You’re the one who chose to take this path, not the students.
Show of hands from those of you who watched the Mondo Concreto video, and noticed that in all of the photos of Greeways/Riverwalks/whatever there were 20 story buildings a few yards away in the background.
Looks like other cities have managed to figure out all on their own that you actually need taxable infrastructure to pay for amenities like a multi-million dollar Greenway that runs through a downtown area.
Show of hands again from those who think that the “Greenway Now!” advocates want Ann Arbor to turn into a gated community where only they hold the key for entry…..
posted by todd on August 26th, 2007 at 10:48 amI remember being at a council meeting apprx. 2 years ago. A woman in her 80’s told council she could not afford the price the city was asking for to fix sidewalk in front of her house. She stated she only had enough to pay the land taxes. She was told toooooo bad!
posted by james on August 26th, 2007 at 11:15 amI wonder whatever happened to her.
JCP2 needs a reality check. Most of those million dollar homes you think you see are in the townships or Barton Hills, not the city of Ann Arbor. From my intimate knowledge of A2 buildings, there are comparatively few actual million dollar homes in the city for the perceived image of A2 as a place of high priced real estate. The coolest million dollar condo that I have ever seen in the city sat vacant for a couple of years and then was re-priced under a million and then it was still overpriced and it might still be for sale today. I think that most of JCP2’s complaints come from the incorrect perceived image of A2 as a place of privileged millionaire homeowners and a certain level of economic envy, like when young people say that the boomers got theirs, I didn’t (by my 35th b’day) and the world sucks.
todd, yeah there are some tall buildings in the background of that Greenway video, but there’s a Greenway in them too. I see the tall building here, but no greenway. A2 pays lip service to any semblance of urban open space while it drools over tall buildings. Where’s the balance? Where’s the liveability? The sustainability?
Gated community? That would be the Polo Fields where city credit card junkie administrator Roger Fraser lives… in the township sprawl.
posted by mucho gusto on August 26th, 2007 at 12:55 pmHmm, Mucho, maybe you can check with Homeland Security and see if they’ll build you an A2 border fence.
posted by Nick on August 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pmHey Mucho, I’m sure there are more million dollar homes in Ann Arbor Hills and near the Arboretum than million dollar condos downtown. They’re just not for sale now.
posted by JCP2 on August 26th, 2007 at 4:31 pmNick, I’m putting on my tin foil hat, k?
posted by mucho gusto on August 26th, 2007 at 5:35 pmAt this point in time, there don’t seem to be a whole hell of a lot of people clamoring to move downtown for a raft of reasons, (high cost of living…)
Ah yes. No one wants to live in those places because they’re too expensive. And that restaurant down the street? No one goes there anymore… it’s too crowded.
posted by Constantine on August 26th, 2007 at 10:37 pmYes, there are plenty of big houses in the township and Barton Hills. But if you received the latest copy of the City Guide, just take a look at the neighborhood pricing. The Burns Park, Angell, Wines, and King school districts all have more than their fair shares of million-dollar homes. In the city of Ann Arbor.
Also, how can one rant about sprawl, and in the same breath deplore buildings of more than four stories? Here’s the “reality check”: Ann Arbor’s population is growing. I echo an earlier commenter who asked: Where are people supposed to go?
posted by Jordan on August 27th, 2007 at 1:23 pmAt this point in time, there don’t seem to be a whole hell of a lot of people clamoring to move downtown for a raft of reasons, (high cost of living…)
I don’t have numbers in front of me, but my anecdotal experience is that with the housing bust in Michigan, the houses in Ann Arbor that are actually selling are the ones near downtown. The newer condos and houses near the old Pfizer plant, or in Pittsfield Twp, etc, are sitting on the market forever, because new houses and suburban streets are a dime a dozen.
I don’t think the sprawl outside of AA is any cheaper than living downtown, but I admit I am in the midst of moving to California, so the cost of things in AA is just a drop in the bucket.
posted by Becky on August 28th, 2007 at 6:54 pmYeah, California prices are different. Unless you’re going to Salton Sea…
posted by js on August 29th, 2007 at 4:02 pmActually, Jordan, according to the Census Bureau, Ann Arbor City’s population is *shrinking.*
posted by David Cahill on August 29th, 2007 at 4:42 pmSad actually. Some of these homes are historic gems and should be saved, not destroyed. Also, 5th ave will have to be enlarged to a minimum of 5 lanes to handle the traffic. Too bad AA hasn’t learned from the its previous mistakes with building crap in downtown. Most of the tall apartment/office buildings in AA never reached a 100% occupancy, so this proposal makes even less sense. Clearly, someone is getting kickbacks. Maybe that’s why Mayor Hefty drives a BIMMER?
posted by green meanie on September 30th, 2007 at 7:03 pmIn response to the notion of Ann Arbor’s diversity: is a town with three or four different kinds of white people really “diverse”? Was I spoiled in the South (of all unlikely places) to have diversity that encompassed at least four prevalent, important, and interesting ethnicities? Hippies, frat boys, and hipsters…diversity indeed.
posted by charlie on October 8th, 2007 at 12:55 am