Arbor Update

Local

Where goes those 100 SROs?

Posted by Nancy Shore on 11. February 2008

The recently scrapped plans for William Street Station has left many people wondering what is going to happen with the 100 units of affordable housing that were going to be built as part of that plan.

On Tuesday, the City of Ann Arbor Housing and Human Services Advisory Board will hold a public meeting on just this topic.

Here’s the text of a flyer I recently received:

Ann Arbor Housing and Human Services Advisory Board Public Meeting

As part of its 2008 work plan, and with the assistance of the Office of Community Development, the City of Ann Arbor Housing and Human Services Advisory Board (HHSAB) is charged with preparing a written recommendation to the City Council, on or before May 31, 2008, summarizing options and a recommendation for the development of 100 units of affordable housing for low-income residents, including supportive services for the residents of this housing. These units will replace 100 SRO units located at the former YMCA site.

The HHSAB requests public comment at a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 6 p.m. to address the following issues, and requests:

• Whether the 100 units of affordable housing should be located on the site or elsewhere;
• Whether the 100 units of affordable housing should be developed on one site or dispersed in a variety of locations;
• Whether the 100 units of affordable housing should be located in the downtown area, outside the downtown area, or dispersed both inside and outside the downtown area;
• Likely requirements and possible sources of funding for development of the 100 units of affordable housing, including provisions of social services for the housing residents;
• Whether non-profit developers, for-profit developers, and social service providers in the community have sufficient capacity to develop and provide services for 100 units of affordable housing within the next four (4) years; and
• Any other challenges or opportunities related to the development of 100 units of affordable housing for low-income residents.

The public is encouraged to participate and share its opinion.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Feb. 12, in the lower level conference room at 200 North Main Street, Ann Arbor.

For additional information or questions, please contact Jennifer Hall by calling 734.622.9006.

Comment [9]

Business

Tear in my beer

Posted by Josh Steichmann on 6. February 2008

In case you haven’t heard, the Leopold brothers are leaving Ann Arbor

(Justifiably) high rents are cited. Denver to be new location.

Comment [24]

City Council

City Council: Trash, Booze, NIMBYs, and Parking

Posted by Juliew on 4. February 2008

Monday, February 4 at 7:00 pm.
City Council Agenda

Highlights:

• Changes to compost pickup to eliminate “resident-supplied containers” and require residents to buy City-approved carts at $49.70/cart (although compost bags and bundling of materials next to carts will still be allowed). A program to pick up old carts for reuse or recycle has been added. Also, changes to solid waste ordinances to allow placement of waste carts in front open space for some buildings.
• Class C liquor licenses and redevelopment district liquor licenses. Several agenda items cover the awarding of the one available Class C liquor license (currently being fought over by Everyday Cook, the Golf Course, and apparently Sweetwaters). Also in the mix is the establishment of a liquor “redevelopment district” for the DDA which would give two more available licenses to businesses within the DDA boundaries.
• Resolution to direct Planning Commission and Planning and Development Services Staff to develop an ordinance requiring petitioners to engage in additional citizen participation for planned projects, planned unit developments and conditional zoning early in these projects.
• Resolution authorizing the Downtown Development Authority to design and construct an underground parking garage on the city-owned South Fifth Avenue (Library Lot) parking lot.

Comment [40]

Ann Arbor Transportation Authority

AATA Snow Delays

Posted by Juliew on 1. February 2008

From the AATA:

Anyone using Ann Arbor Transportation Authority services today (Friday, February 1) can expect delays due to the current snow storm. For the latest information, call 734.996.0400, go to AATA’s real time information or the AATA web site at www.theride.org.

Comment [8]

Local

Ann Arbor: The YouTube Experience

Posted by Nancy Shore on 31. January 2008

With a lot of snow in the forecast tomorrow, chances are some of you will be sitting at home.

And what better way to while away the hours than sitting in front of the computer waiting for YouTube Videos to load!

To save you some time, I decided to search “Ann Arbor” on YouTube to see what kind of stuff is out there .

This is just a taste of what I found. Please note, I am including links instead of embedding videos.

For those interested in politics
Check out Liz Brater’s 20 second take on Granholm’s State of the State Address .

Michigan Peaceworks recently created a People’s State of the Union featuring local people (and local people wearing masks of politicians) and their thoughts on our national priorities.

For those interested in news
The Ann Arbor News does a daily webcast featuring current news.

For those interested in downtown Ann Arbor videos
Bob Dascola, local barber and downtown enthusiast, has several videos on Ann Arbor Downtown People and Places

Kirk Wesphal shares his insights into a lively downtown

For those interested in food
Watch a Chef at Champion House in Ann Arbor make an Onion Volcano!

The Blimpy Burger clip from that Food Network Show.

For those interested in music
There are tons of live Ann Arbor music performances on YouTube. I won’t list them here, but if you are into that stuff, you should do a search for Ann Arbor on YouTube.

This is a year old, but I just saw it. The Dead Schembechlers with Bomb Ann Arbor Now

A video called Ann Arbor filled with people cavorting in some greenspace.

Other random stuff
Some students breakdance at the CCRB

He scales tall buildings in a single bound! It’s that Ninja Warrior guy from Ann Arbor.

Rev.Paul Jones of Shekinah Christian Church Minstering in Mime .

Comment [24]

Transportation

Keeping the big boys downtown

Posted by Nancy Shore on 27. January 2008

Some of you might have seen Arbor Networks in the news lately. Arbor Networks is a global network security firm with their Research and Development arm based in downtown Ann Arbor.

They are a home grown, rapidly expanding company with 72 employees. Their offices are in the at the City Center Building on Huron Street.

They have well-paid workers, just received a tax break from Michigan Economic Growth Authority board, and are going to be adding 56 more jobs to the area.

On all accounts they are a great company that deserves press and all the love are currently getting

And they’re moving . . . to South State Street over by Wolverine Tower.

They are not moving because they don’t like downtown. I went over to visit Arbor Networks last year. The Office Manager did an informal poll of workers and found that many of them eat lunch at a downtown restaurant 3-4 times a week. Many, many of the employees love being downtown because it’s a great place to work, with close proximity to shops, places to eat and . . . public transportation. More on that in a moment.

The big challenge for growing companies like Arbor Networks is that there are just not enough downtown spaces that will accommodate them. So they look for larger spaces elsewhere, often outside of the downtown, which I am sure are often cheaper.

This usually means these companies move to locations that have limited access to public transportation compared to the downtown.

This is definitely the case with Arbor Networks. In the downtown, Arbor Networks has access to 16 bus routes and the Link. In their State Street Location, they have access to one route (the 36).

From a downtown location, Arbor Networks employees have access to a variety of bike lanes (like the ones on Packard and Liberty) and many employees can potentially walk to work because there are many houses within easy and safe walking distance to the downtown. While I’ve biked on State Street to places like Howard Cooper, I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable going all the way to Wolverine Tower by bike and I’m not sure how walkable it is.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that I want companies like Arbor Networks to stay in the downtown because being downtown allows workers to take advantage of all sorts of commuting options, reduce carbon footprints by not having to drive, etc. The downtown is truly a great place because you don’t have to drive to get there.

But the reality is our downtown has a hard time accommodating these large companies, so they sometimes move out.

So what is a downtown to do?

Comment [38]

Local

Library Renovations and the Library Lot

Posted by Juliew on 26. January 2008

Last summer, the Ann Arbor District Library released their “Space Needs and Facility Study for the Downtown Library.” It generated a bit of controversy and really made the citizens, the Library, the DDA, and the City think about what we all wanted for downtown.

Next week, nine architectural firms will be making presentations for the Downtown Library project (schedule after the jump). The presentations are free and open to the public. They will be in the 4th Floor Board Room in the Downtown Library.

Earlier this month, the DDA proposed (and will entirely pay for) twoone underground parking structure adjacent to the Library and a “Library Lane.” Article here.

Comment [40] • Read More »

City Council

City Council: Hotels, Apartments, and Houses

Posted by Juliew on 22. January 2008

Tuesday, January 22 at 7:00 p.m. (One day late due to Martin Luther King Holiday)
City Council Agenda

Highlights:

• 202 South Division Street PUD Site Plan and Development Agreement. (Replacement for Metro 202. This proposal is for an 120-room hotel rather than the previously-approved apartment building.)
• 42 North Site plan (Maple Road) (160 four-bedroom student apartments with 640 parking spaces).
• Lower Burns Park rezoning.
• Recommendation to change compost pickup to carts similar to waste carts. Residents can buy City-approved compost carts from local retailers (compost bags and bundling of materials next to carts will still be allowed). Also changes to allow selected buildings to store waste carts in front open space.
• Emergency Request for Additional Funds from the Federal Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) for the Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) on the Charles and Catherine Braun Farm and William Gould Farm in Ann Arbor Township (added after the newspaper deadline).
• Emergency Purchase and Installation of Conduit from Turnkey Network Solutions and the Appropriation of Funds and Amendment of the Information Technology Service Unit Budget (added after the newspaper deadline).

Comment [51]

Local

RIP Community Life

Posted by Nancy Shore on 20. January 2008

Community Life is no longer with us.

At least according to the Ann Arbor News who used to have a special “Community Life” pull out section on Saturdays.

I am one of those 20 somethings who still gets the paper every day. And I faithfully read it every day. And every year it takes me less and less time to read the paper.

First there was the end of the Connection Section, that Sunday section with health, entertainment, and a column by Judy McGovern.

Then there was the thinning out of the Local News section.

And now there is no Community Life. With it’s Good Deeds and Reflections by News photographers, volunteer spotlight, and other random stuff. Update: Some of these elements, like the Engagement Announcements, Reflection, Good Causes and Faces in the Crowd are now in a “Milestones” section of the Sunday News.

So I am left to wonder: what is the News’ grand plan? What makes a local paper good and what makes people want to read it? Because every time the News takes away local news I scratch my head.

But I am not in the print media business and I know it is not as easy as just continuing to provide content that the majority of people don’t want to read at the same time that your costs keep increasing.

I am happy the News is still around, but I am left to wonder where its headed.

Comment [13]

Politics

Primarily Confusing

Posted by Juliew on 12. January 2008

The Michigan Presidential Primary is Tuesday, January 15. Voting will be at regular polling places from 7am to 8pm. The only item on the ballot in Ann Arbor is the presidential primary. Sample ballots can be found here. You will need to show your ID.

That part is clear, the rest is confusing. First of all, this is a “closed” primary. This means you must declare if you are going to vote Republican or Democratic and your ballot will only have the candidates for the party you chose. Although this is not public information, it will be given to Michigan’s political parties (Ann Arbor does not keep track of party preference). Write-in candidates will not be allowedcounted. Yes there will be a line for a write-in vote, but don’t use it because no write-in votes will be allowedcounted.

Adding to the confusion, it seems that Michigan has been a very bad state and chose to have its primary before the February 5 deadline. This upset the national Republican and Democratic Parties so they decided to sanction Michigan. The Republicans have removed half of our delegates. The Democratic Party has removed all of our delegates. In a show of solidarity to the National Party, several candidates pulled out of the Michigan Democratic Primary, including Barack Obama and John Edwards.

If you are planning to vote Republican, your options are pretty easy. You declare, you pick up your ballot, you vote for the candidate of your choice. Be aware that although some candidates have dropped out of the race, they may still be on the ballot because of long printing lead times. (Tancredo and Brownback have dropped out.)

If you would like to vote for a Democratic candidate, you have a few options. The first is to vote for Clinton, Gravel, or Kucinich as they are listed on the ballot (Dodd has dropped out). If you are an Obama or Edwards supporter, you can vote for “Uncommitted” and hope that Uncommitted gets enough votes to get delegates and that they vote for your choice. Or you can declare as a Republican and vote for the least-likely-to-get-elected Republican candidate.

Why vote Democratic at all if there aren’t going to be any delegates at the National Convention? The general consensus is that the Democratic leaders will feel more, well, democratic and eventually give us back some delegates. If that is true, the assumption will be that if you voted “Uncommitted,” you wanted either Obama or Edwards and the delegates should act accordingly.

So don’t forget to vote on Tuesday! Remember your vote counts, or it doesn’t, maybe.

Comment [92]