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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan andthe county seat of Washtenaw County. It is thestates seventh largest city with a population of114,024 as of the 2000 Census, of which 36,892(32%) are university or college students. Thecity, which is part of the Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI CSA, is named after the spouses of thecitys founders and for the stands of trees in thearea.

Ann Arbor was founded in January 1824 by JohnAllen and Elisha Rumsey, both of whom were

land speculators. On May 25, 1824, the town plotwas registered with Wayne County as An-narbour. The city became the seat of Washt-enaw County in 1827, and was incorporated asa village in 1833. The town became a regionaltransportation hub in 1839 with the arrival of theMichigan Central Railroad, and was charteredas a city in 1851. During the 1960s and 1970s, thecity gained a reputation as a center for liberalpolitics. During the 20th century, the economyof Ann Arbor underwent a gradual shift from amanufacturing base to a service and technology

base, which accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michi-gan, established in 1837. As the dominant

institution of higher learning in the city and oneof the top public universities in the world, theuniversity provides Ann Arbor with a distinctcollege-town atmosphere. The university shapesAnn Arbors economy signicantly as it em-ploys about 30,000 workers, including about7,500 in the medical center. The citys economyis also centered on high-technology, with severalcompanies drawn to the area by the universitysresearch and development money, and by itsgraduates. On the other hand, Ann Arbor has in-creasingly found itself grappling with the effects

of sharply rising land values and gentrication,as well as urban sprawl stretching far into theoutlying countryside.

Many Ann Arbor cultural attractions and eventsare sponsored by the University of Michigan.Several performing arts groups and facilitiesare on the universitys campus, as are museumsdedicated to art, archaeology, and natural his-tory and sciences (see Museums at the Univer-sity of Michigan). Regional and local performingarts groups not associated with the university

include the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre; the ArborOpera Theater; the Ann Arbor Symphony

Orchestra; the Ann Arbor Ballet Theater; theAnn Arbor Civic Ballet (established in 1954 as

Michigans rst chartered ballet company); andPerformance Network, which operates a down-town theater frequently offering new or nontra-ditional plays.

The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, located ina renovated and expanded historic downtownre station, contains more than 250 interac-tive exhibits featuring science and technology.Multiple art galleries exist in the city, notably inthe downtown area and around the Universityof Michigan campus. Aside from a large restau-

rant scene in the Main Street, South State Street,and South University Avenue areas, Ann Arborranks rst among U.S. cities in the number ofbooksellers and books sold per capita. The AnnArbor District Library maintains four branchoutlets in addition to its main downtown build-ing; in 2008 a new branch building replacedthe branch located in Plymouth Mall. This newbranch is called the Traverwood Branch, andopened on June 30, 2008. The city is also home tothe Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

Sunday Morning by Carl Milles in Ann ArborSeveral annual events many of them centered

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on performing and visual arts draw visitorsto Ann Arbor. One such event is the Ann ArborArt Fairs, a set of four concurrent juried fairsheld on downtown streets, which began in 1960.Scheduled on Wednesday through Saturday inthe third week of July, the fairs draw upward ofhalf a million visitors. One event that is not re-lated to visual and performing arts is Hash Bash,held on the rst Saturday of April, ostensibly insupport of the reform of marijuana laws. It hasbeen celebrated since 1971.

A person from Ann Arbor is called an AnnArborite, and many long-time residents callthemselves townies. The city itself is oftencalled A (A-squared) or A2 (A two), and,

less commonly, Tree Town. Recently, someyouths have taken to calling Ann Arbor AceDeuce or simply The Deuce. With tongue-in-cheek reference to the citys liberal politicalleanings, some occasionally refer to Ann Arboras The Peoples Republic of Ann Arbor or 25square miles surrounded by reality, the latterphrase being adapted from Wisconsin GovernorLee Dreyfuss description of Madison, Wiscon-sin. Ann Arbor sometimes appears on citationindexes as an author, instead of a location, oftenwith the academic degree MI, a misunderstand-

ing of the abbreviation for Michigan.

Customer Service Center(Located diagonally across the street from City Hall)

City Center Building, 1st Floor220 East HuronAnn Arbor, MI 48104(734) 994-2700Fax: (734) 994-1765E-mail: customerservice@a2gov.org

Ann Arbor, Michigan