Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

"Ann Arbor Schools Musings", other online comments on the AAPS

Posted by Matt Hampel on 25. January 2009

A new blog, Ann Arbor School Musings, hosts commentary.

The Ann Arbor News’ Study Hall section lives on.

The AADL has a tag about the AAPS, but most of what’s there cannot be categorized as news.

Mr. Wright’s class at Angell has a blog:

This week, we learned a lot. On Monday, we learned a box with three categories.

Unfortunately, Community High’s school newspaper has not been updated in a long time. The Huron Emery is only available as PDFs. Pioneer’s Optimist doesn’t publish online.

Where do you get your news about the Ann Arbor Public Schools?

Comment [2]

McKinley renovates part of Liberty by the Michigan Theater

Posted by Nancy Shore on 22. January 2009

You might have noticed some signs of construction on Liberty Street where the old National City used to be.

According to Concentrate, this space is currently being renovated by Mckinley, who also renovated the building next door that houses Salsaritas, Bar Louie, Google, Ann Arbor Spark, Renaissance, and other businesses.

Originally, McKinley had intended to raze the old buildings and put a new 2 story building in its place. Now, they are just going to renovate the buildings to make room for tenets.

According to Concentrate:

“Renovation includes a new brick-and-stone façade. The 15,000 square feet McKinley is renovating doesn’t have a tenant yet. The project is supposed to be done and ready for occupancy within four months.”

Comment [5]

AATA proposes fare changes

Posted by Matt Hampel on 20. January 2009

From a press release sent today (no theride.org link yet):

AATA’s proposal includes a two-phase increase to change the current fixed-route adult full fare of $1.00 to $1.25 in May, 2009 and to $1.50 in May, 2010. Current half-fare charges would go from 50 cents to 60 and 75 cents, respectively.

Comment [60] • Read More »

City Council: Inauguration

Posted by Juliew on 19. January 2009

City Council: Tuesday, January 20 at 7:00 pm. (one day later due to Martin Luther King holiday)
Ann Arbor City HallAgenda

Highlights:

  • Graffiti ordinance updates
  • Tappen/E.U/Hill three-site plans
  • Capital Improvements Plan
  • Farmer’s Market Master Plan construction design project budget

Comment [18]

A2 Parking Geeks

Posted by Nancy Shore on 16. January 2009

If you haven’t already noticed, parking is a popular topic of conversation in Ann Arbor.

In addition to talking about parking, there are people in Ann Arbor who are creating ways to better understand parking availability in the downtown. Let’s call them A2 Parking Geeks.

Any A2 Parking Geek already knows about the real time parking data on the DDA website. This data shows you the number of available parking spaces in downtown parking structures, and is updated every minute.

This info has recently been used to create some other tools. These tools have been discussed in detail on the Ann Arbor Bi Bim Bop lunch email group (A2B3).

Comment [8] • Read More »

Ann Arbor City Council Retreat Recap

Posted by Nancy Shore on 12. January 2009

The Ann Arbor City Council met for a retreat this past Saturday. The event was covered by the Ann Arbor News and the Ann Arbor Chronicle.

Based on those articles, here is a brief summary of the main items discussed at the meeting:

  • Priorities: The City Council set three priorities for the coming year: land use policy, economic sustainability, and improved communication and service delivery.
  • Communication: City is looking to use social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook to help publicize and communicate about Community Services activities.
  • Conference Center and New Blake Transit Center: There was talk of both building a Conference Center on top of the proposed underground parking structure on Fifth Ave and replacing the AATA Blake Transit Center with a new structure that would have a roof that would stretch over Fourth Ave.
  • City Income Tax: In light of the current economic situation, there was some interest among some City Council members of exploring a City income tax (and issue that has been discussed at length here). It appears the Mayor is not supportive of this idea.
  • Zoning: There was interest in finishing the master planning of the City, which includes the rezoning and other changes that are involved with the City’s A2D2 efforts.
  • Regional Cooperation: City managers also outlined the many ways the City is looking at regional cooperation, such as creating a joint data center with Washtenaw County and coordinating fire services.
  • Other Issues: Other issues on the horizon included engaging the public in a question of the future of Argo Dam.

Comment [46]

New MLive homepage preview

Posted by Matt Hampel on 10. January 2009

MLive has an article up about its upcoming redesign. There’s a screenshot of the new homepage, too. Some new things include more news above the fold homepage, local sports in a prominent position, and highlighting of most-commented articles. I don’t see evidence of local ads in the style of the Ann Arbor Chronicle, but that may yet be coming.

See also:

Comment [2]

Snow removal information, flyer for your walking convenience

Posted by Matt Hampel on 10. January 2009

The Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition publishes a page on local snow removal ordinances. Here’s the Ann Arbor blurb:

General Rules: All snow and ice which has accumulated on the adjacent public sidewalk prior to 6am must be removed by noon. Immediately after the accumulation of ice on such a sidewalk it must be treated with sand, salt or other substance to prevent it from being slippery. Within 24 hours after the end of each accumulation of snow greater than 1 inch, the owner of every residentially zoned property must remove the accumulation from the adjacent public sidewalk.

Contact: Community Standards Division (734) 994-1788

They also make a handy set of handbills (PDF) that you can distribute to remind property owners to clear their sidewalks. I’ve made my own version that has more information, and I try to carry a couple with me when I go out walking.

Does anyone have any experience with receiving a citation or calling in a violation? Is the response prompt or effective?

Some related links:

Comment [21]

Dominick's Proposes PUD

Posted by Nancy Shore on 8. January 2009

  • a bed and breakfast?
  • residential apartments?
  • small grocery store/gift store with a coffee shop?

All of these ideas and more are on the table as local institution Casa Dominick’s (812 Monroe) is looking to rezone its restaurant and some surrounding parcels as a Planned Unit Development.

There is a public meeting planned at Dominick’s to talk about this proposal on January 12, 2009 at 6pm.

All of the info including a map of the areas impacted can be found here.

Comment [5]

Ceasefire vigil on Thursday

Posted by Chuck Warpehoski on 7. January 2009

Michigan Peaceworks, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, and several other local groups are holding a candlelight vigil for a ceasefire in Gaza on Thursday, January 8 at 6:00 p.m. at the corner of Main and Liberty.

Peaceworks and ICPJ are have issued a statement saying they “mourn all death and deeply want the violence to stop” and calling for “an immediate ceasefire.”

Comment [82]

Keep reading: next previous