ann arbor is overrated.

ann abor [sic] is over rated [sic]

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When I was asked to write about “why Ann Arbor is overrated,” I recalled an exchange I overheard once: “You’re so annoying!” “Why am I annoying?” “I don’t know, maybe because your parents raised you that way?” Why is Ann Arbor overrated? That depends — are you asking for a justification of the claim that Ann Arbor is overrated? Or an explanation of how Ann Arbor came to be overrated in the first place?

“Overrated” implies that the thing in question is actually rated. You’d probably be hard-pressed to come up with much on the theme of “why Peoria, Illinois is overrated.” Ann Arbor, however, is rated. It’s constantly appearing on one best-cities list or another. Best Cities for Dating. Best Cities for Retirement. College Scenes That Rock. And Ann Arborites don’t just sit back and let national publications do the rating. They rate themselves, as well — very highly. There’s the ridiculous nicknames — A-squared, Tree Town, Ace Deuce. There’s the slogans bandied about — Manhattan of the Midwest, Athens of the Midwest. There’s the “i’d rather be in ann arbor” bumperstickers.

So, Ann Arbor is rated. But is that rating necessarily too high? Well, let’s take a look at the reasons Tree Town partisans give for why their town deserves all the plaudits it gets. First of all, the music scene. You can see any kind of music you want here, as long as it’s jazz, folk or jam bands. Then there’s the cost of living — definitely cheaper than Manhattan or Palo Alto. Yes, this argument is actually used to defend Ann Arbor against charges that it’s overpriced.

A-squared boosters then talk about the city’s walkability. It’s true that you can walk to any number of cute outdoor cafes or New Age gift shops in under half a mile from Central Campus. Unfortunately, the nearest grocery store is about two miles away, leaving students without cars to scrape together pantry supplies from a motley array of gourmet stores and convenience marts. It’s easy to come up with any number of three-item grocery lists — meat, tomato paste, aluminum foil, for example — that require three separate trips.

But what about Ann Arbor’s funky, tolerant liberalism? If you want a City Council that passes bold, purely symbolic resolutions against the Patriot Act or the war in Iraq, this is the place to be. But somehow local government is less enthusiastic about progressive planning ideas that might create more affordable housing and denser, more walkable neighborhoods. The City Council unanimously decided to drop discussion of a proposal that would allow homeowners to create accessory dwellings to rent out on their properties, after some neighborhood groups objected. It actually took a Republican, mayoral candidate Jane Lumm, to get this issue out on the table in the recent election. The same City Council did not pass a proposed ban on porch couches, but the idea has vocal support in some areas of our “liberal” city.

Ann Arbor, then, is indisputably overrated. But how did it get its absurdly inflated rating in the first place? Ah, there, as P.G. Wodehouse would say, you take me into deep waters. Part of it could be its location in Michigan. While overrated, Ann Arbor is still probably better than anywhere else in Michigan, and the in-state students it attracts realize this.

Another theory that’s sometimes floated is that Ann Arbor used to be cool at some point, and its rating simply has not yet changed to reflect its current status. While plausible, it requires accepting that Ann Arbor was cool.

What about the best-cities lists? How does Ann Arbor get on all of those? Well, many of these lists are the work of one Bert Sperling, a formidable one-man city-ranking empire. The ratings for which he’s responsible include the “Least Stressful Cities,” “Best Cities for Women” and Frommer’s “Cities Ranked and Rated” lists, upon all of which Ann Arbor has appeared near the top. This guy really likes Ann Arbor. Although he presumably wouldn’t rather be in Ann Arbor, since he hasn’t moved here from Portland yet.

We may never figure out why Ann Arbor is overrated. So how can we make it less overrated? There’s a couple things that might help. First of all, students should register to vote here, not in the towns where they grew up, and vote in local elections. They should also run for City Council. Those with an interest in opening a local business here after graduation might consider that there’s a wide-open market for a decent coffeehouse that’s open past midnight, not a chain and not a sit-down restaurant.

But, really, since “overrated” implies a contrast between reputation and actual value, making Ann Arbor better is only part of making it less overrated. The other part is bringing down its rating. So the number one thing you can do is complain about it a lot. That’s more fun than all of this constructive stuff anyway.

This piece originally appeared in Consider Magazine in January 2005.