Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

What to Do about Historic Preservation?

Posted by Dale Winling on 14. November 2006

Sloooooowly.....Unless you’re drinking beer with bloggers on Thursday, residents interested in the ongoing saga of the Calthorpe Process might come to two public meetings on proposed changes to the Historic Preservation chapter of Ann Arbor’s zoning city code (chapter 103 to HP dorks).

Meeting 1: Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. City Council chambers (City Hall)

Meeting 2: Tuesday Nov. 28 at 7 p.m.. Bach Elementary School (600 W. Jefferson across from the Jefferson Market)

From a notice:

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Prop 2, It Isn't Over

Posted by Ari Paul on 13. November 2006

The Michigan Daily has the story:

University President Mary Sue Coleman pledged yesterday that the University would fight the implementation of Proposal 2 in the courts.

A defiant Coleman addressed thousands who gathered on the Diag about the potential impact of the constitutional amendment that will ban affirmative action programs in Michigan.

The administration’s immediate concern is trying to delay the implementation of the amendment so all of this year’s applicants will be evaluated under the same admissions guidelines. The constitutional amendment will likely take effect in late December; depending on the date the Secretary of State certifies the election results. If this happens, the University would be forced to change its admissions policies halfway through the admissions cycle – a scenario the administration desperately wants to avoid.

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ArborUpdate Update

Posted by Bruce Fields on 13. November 2006

A software update this afternoon caused some temporary problems. In particular, if you tried to submit a comment then you may have been told your IP address was on a blacklist.

Everything should be back to normal now; if not, let us know here or at arborupdate@umich.edu. This is also your chance for any general complaints or feature requests.

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Regional Transit--Do SEMCOG's numbers add up?

Posted by Chuck Warpehoski on 10. November 2006

Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) released a presentation on its Ann Arbor to Downtown Detroit transit study (pdf).

Transportation Riders United (TRU) notes that the study “offered quite low ridership and high cost estimates for all five primary options considered. They suggest instead concentrating on two low-cost alternatives – premium bus service and basic commuter rail using existing infrastructure. The presentation gave no explanation for the ridership or cost estimates and SEMCOG does not currently plan to release an actual report.”

You will also have a chance to chat transit with TRU at a Transit meetup in Ann Arbor on Monday, December 04, 2006 at 7:00pm Ann Arbor District Library Freespace (third floor), 343 S. Fifth Ave., at William. (Mary Jean writes, “We’ve had to cancel (because SEMCOG is having its transit-plan public hearing that night) and plan to reschedule but don’t know when, yet.”

(Thank you to Mary Jean and Ed V. for sharing these stories).

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ArborWiki Maps

Posted by Bruce Fields on 10. November 2006

Brian Kerr points out the recent addition of a mapping feature to ArborWiki.
Some examples:

Nifty.

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Proposition 2 Aftermath

Posted by Bruce Fields on 9. November 2006

U-M President Coleman gave a speech to a large crowd on the U-M Diag yesterday:

In the short term, we will seek confirmation from the courts to complete this year’s admissions cycle under our current guidelines. We believe we have the right, indeed the obligation, to complete this process using our existing policies. It would be unfair and wrong for us to review students’ applications using two sets of criteria, and we will ask the courts to affirm that we may finish this process using the policies we currently have in place.

Read on for more….

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Road Comissioners and Jail Bond

Posted by Bruce Fields on 9. November 2006

From Conan Smith:

On November 15, the County Board of Commissioners will vote on several contentious issues, including appointments to the Road Commission and Historic District Commission and a proposal to bond for $21 million to, in part, construct a new jail pod with 96 beds.

More details follow….

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City Council: Post-election Edition

Posted by Juliew on 9. November 2006

Thursday, November 9 at 7:00 pm.
(Moved to Thursday due to Election Eve)
Ann Arbor City HallCity Council Agenda

The agenda is long and varied. A few highlights:

  • Public Hearings on the Arlington Shops Planned Project Site on the corner of Washtenaw and Platt across from Whole Foods, parking and zoning changes in the C2 districts downtown, and a small change to a property on Ashley.
  • Resolution establishing a City Council Audit Committee
  • Budget appropriation for a professional services contract for a master plan schedule for the Broadway Village at Lower Town Project (paid by the developer)
  • Amendments to the Ann Arbor Housing Trust Fund which include the removal of the requirement that the housing be in Ann Arbor.
  • Condos at the State Theatre?

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Will the (Small-Mart) Revolution overtake Ann Arbor?

Posted by Chuck Warpehoski on 9. November 2006


As a lead-up to Buy Local Week (December 4-10), Washtenaw County’s Think Local First is hosting Michael H. Shuman on Wednesday, November 15th at Courthouse Square Ballroom (100 S. Fourth Avenue, 2nd Floor). Doors open at 6pm for food, mingling, and buy-local merchandise; Shuman’s talk begins at 7pm.

He’ll be speaking about his new book The Small-Mart Revolution.

Will the small-mart revolution save downtown Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti? Will it be televised—or podcast? Whose backs will be against the wall?

Now, hearing the talk about the revolution has a price tag: $20 general admission, $15 for Think Local First members and for students, or $22 at the door. But for those in the vanguard, I hear you might be able to get in free as a volunteer. Check out Think Local First for details.

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election results

Posted by Bruce Fields on 8. November 2006

The summary:


  • 1, 2, and 4 passed, 3 and 5 failed.
  • Both Ann Arbor millages (parks and roads) passed.
  • Granholm, Stabenaw, and Cox were reelected.
  • Democrats won the UM, MSU, and WSU races.
  • Cavanagh and Corrigan won the Supreme court race.
  • Democrats will control the state house, Republicans the state senate.
  • ...

Government data:

Other media:

Ed Vielmetti’s results page (thanks to Ed for the above links)

And while we’re waiting, Larry Kestenbaum has an interesting discussion of the security of the voting system we use in Michigan.

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