What can I say about the lovely town that has been my home since 1995? I'm going to miss it immensely. There's a reason why Husband and I continued to live here and commuted 35 and 45 miles one way to work, respectively. Actually, there are many reasons why we stubbornly stayed in A2 despite my incredible loathing for spending 2 hours each day in the car. Here are a few:
1. Lifestyle: Ann Arbor is a liberal oasis. We have a liberal gay mayor, a greenbelt around the city that outlaws urban sprawl, mandatory bike lanes on all road updates/construction, a million parks and lots of crunchy, organic stores.
2. People: Living here for 13 years we've seen many friends come and go. But it seems that no matter how many friends leave, new ones are always waiting in the wings ready to go play trivia at Connor O'Neills, suck down Sangria at Dominik's, grab brunch at Zola, or meet up at Burns Park for a playdate. Then there are the infamous people that make Ann Arbor the kind of place that prompts people to say, "Only in Ann Arbor!" as their heads shake, faint smiles on their faces. Like Bra Man, for instance, who Husband and I saw a couple of summers ago, riding his bike downtown in full make-up, bra without a shirt, and a thong poking out of his jean mini-skirt. Or Shakey Jake Woods, who passed away last fall but had been an A2 icon for years, always spotted downtown with his guitar in hand, smile lighting up his face. And then there was the guy we saw this spring with dreads down to his knees. The best thing about the people of Ann Arbor is the amazing level of diversity that is concentrated in such a small city in Southeast Michigan. On our street alone we have people of African-American, Indian, Latino, Asian, Filipino, Spanish, and Serbian (of course!) descent. Pretty amazing.
3. Events: There is always something to do in Ann Arbor. There's Top of the Park, a free two week long festival with music, food, and movies every night, Art Fair (not fun if you live on South U or work downtown!), UofM football games at the Big House, Taste of Ann Arbor, a car show, the Kerrytown Farmer's Market, FestiFools (a parade with huge puppets made by UofM art students), Oktoberfest and countless other things that draw huge crowds downtown.
4. Kids' Stuff: Toddler pools, countless parks, Urban Toddler, Jungle Java, The Hands on Museum, the library, Kindermusik. Lily is really going to miss going "Weee!" and to the "Oct-pus" (her name for the pool) in A2.
5. Soccer: I play soccer 2-4 nights each week, year round in Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor Soccer Association is my outdoor soccer league April through October, and then WideWorld sports complex hosts my indoor teams for the rest of the year. I've not only played, but have been really involved in organizing the teams on which I play. Its going to be very hard to find such great peeps to play with in Metro Detroit!
6. Biking: Husband is already mourning the loss of some of his favorite bike routes in A2 and the surrounding areas. Maybe he'll decide to spend a little less time on the saddle and more time with his needy wifey when we move??? Yeah, right. I'm sure he's already pouring over our new County maps, highlighter in hand, plotting his next 100 mile adventure. He'll definitely miss the bike lanes, though. Let's hope he doesn't get run off the road by the Land Rovers, H2s, Beemers, and Benzes in our new hood.
7. Restaurants: This is a typical conversation between me and Husband on a Friday night..."Where should we go to eat?" Husband asks. I say, "Let's see, we have Zingerman's, Zingerman's Roadhouse, Eve, Pacific Rim, Zola, Palio, Upstairs Palio, Gratzi, Yotsuba, Godiako, Prickly Pear, Zanzibar, Middle Kingdom, Habana, Shalimar, The Earle, Gandy Dancer, Casey's, Amadeus, ABC, Grizzly Peak's, Great Lakes, Tuptim Thai, Siam Square, La Shish, Chop House, Felix...[Pause for breath] Sabor Latino, Bella Ciao,". You get the idea. Man, we're going to miss the food in A2. Our bank account will be happy though!
8. UofM: This is where I went to school for 6 years, and Husband almost as long (although I got 2 degrees and he only got 1! Hahahaha!) There's nothing better than living in a college town. Not only do we get to laugh at all the drunken college kids playing Beer Pong on Packard on our drive home from downtown, but we also get to take advantage of lots of stuff an amazing University has to offer. For example, I took a class at the School of Social Work this summer (as an aside, I don't know how students are able to pass any classes when they sit there clacking away on their laptops messaging their friends on facebook. The best diversion I had as a student was the crossword in The Michigan Daily.)
Yep, it'll royally suck to leave Ann Arbor. Watch for a post in the coming weeks about what its like to live in The Hills (speaking of royal suckage).
1. Lifestyle: Ann Arbor is a liberal oasis. We have a liberal gay mayor, a greenbelt around the city that outlaws urban sprawl, mandatory bike lanes on all road updates/construction, a million parks and lots of crunchy, organic stores.
2. People: Living here for 13 years we've seen many friends come and go. But it seems that no matter how many friends leave, new ones are always waiting in the wings ready to go play trivia at Connor O'Neills, suck down Sangria at Dominik's, grab brunch at Zola, or meet up at Burns Park for a playdate. Then there are the infamous people that make Ann Arbor the kind of place that prompts people to say, "Only in Ann Arbor!" as their heads shake, faint smiles on their faces. Like Bra Man, for instance, who Husband and I saw a couple of summers ago, riding his bike downtown in full make-up, bra without a shirt, and a thong poking out of his jean mini-skirt. Or Shakey Jake Woods, who passed away last fall but had been an A2 icon for years, always spotted downtown with his guitar in hand, smile lighting up his face. And then there was the guy we saw this spring with dreads down to his knees. The best thing about the people of Ann Arbor is the amazing level of diversity that is concentrated in such a small city in Southeast Michigan. On our street alone we have people of African-American, Indian, Latino, Asian, Filipino, Spanish, and Serbian (of course!) descent. Pretty amazing.
3. Events: There is always something to do in Ann Arbor. There's Top of the Park, a free two week long festival with music, food, and movies every night, Art Fair (not fun if you live on South U or work downtown!), UofM football games at the Big House, Taste of Ann Arbor, a car show, the Kerrytown Farmer's Market, FestiFools (a parade with huge puppets made by UofM art students), Oktoberfest and countless other things that draw huge crowds downtown.
4. Kids' Stuff: Toddler pools, countless parks, Urban Toddler, Jungle Java, The Hands on Museum, the library, Kindermusik. Lily is really going to miss going "Weee!" and to the "Oct-pus" (her name for the pool) in A2.
5. Soccer: I play soccer 2-4 nights each week, year round in Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor Soccer Association is my outdoor soccer league April through October, and then WideWorld sports complex hosts my indoor teams for the rest of the year. I've not only played, but have been really involved in organizing the teams on which I play. Its going to be very hard to find such great peeps to play with in Metro Detroit!
6. Biking: Husband is already mourning the loss of some of his favorite bike routes in A2 and the surrounding areas. Maybe he'll decide to spend a little less time on the saddle and more time with his needy wifey when we move??? Yeah, right. I'm sure he's already pouring over our new County maps, highlighter in hand, plotting his next 100 mile adventure. He'll definitely miss the bike lanes, though. Let's hope he doesn't get run off the road by the Land Rovers, H2s, Beemers, and Benzes in our new hood.
7. Restaurants: This is a typical conversation between me and Husband on a Friday night..."Where should we go to eat?" Husband asks. I say, "Let's see, we have Zingerman's, Zingerman's Roadhouse, Eve, Pacific Rim, Zola, Palio, Upstairs Palio, Gratzi, Yotsuba, Godiako, Prickly Pear, Zanzibar, Middle Kingdom, Habana, Shalimar, The Earle, Gandy Dancer, Casey's, Amadeus, ABC, Grizzly Peak's, Great Lakes, Tuptim Thai, Siam Square, La Shish, Chop House, Felix...[Pause for breath] Sabor Latino, Bella Ciao,". You get the idea. Man, we're going to miss the food in A2. Our bank account will be happy though!
8. UofM: This is where I went to school for 6 years, and Husband almost as long (although I got 2 degrees and he only got 1! Hahahaha!) There's nothing better than living in a college town. Not only do we get to laugh at all the drunken college kids playing Beer Pong on Packard on our drive home from downtown, but we also get to take advantage of lots of stuff an amazing University has to offer. For example, I took a class at the School of Social Work this summer (as an aside, I don't know how students are able to pass any classes when they sit there clacking away on their laptops messaging their friends on facebook. The best diversion I had as a student was the crossword in The Michigan Daily.)
Yep, it'll royally suck to leave Ann Arbor. Watch for a post in the coming weeks about what its like to live in The Hills (speaking of royal suckage).
3 comments:
You're bringing a tear to my eye! You know you've always got friends (and a free parking space) waiting for you in Tree Town.
Ann Arbor sounds like heaven! University towns are such great places to live, we miss Columbia, MO which had similar characteristics and homed the University of Missouri...we miss it. You'll find there are good things about the suburbs too!
Katie - A2 sounds great! Other than the winters I am sure I would love it. Have fun investigating your new hood!
Daphne
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