Arbor Update

City Council

City Council, Brownfield Cleanup Edition

Posted by Dale Winling on 3. June 2006

City Council takes on evaluation of brownfield redevelopment in a public hearing and a new business agenda item in their once-a-fortnight twice-a-month meeting June 5th.

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Local

Main Street Area June Report

Posted by Juliew on 2. June 2006

Vault of Midnight opens in their new digs at the former Afterwords building. Acme retools, extends hours, and creates a website. MosaicSphere moves to bigger space on Huron Street. Jules moves to smaller space on Ashley. Vinology opens in the former Mayer-Schairer building. Spears/Amvest Properties buys the Dobson/Mcomber building on North Main and almost a block of South Main across from Leopold Brothers. South Main Market contemplates reconfiguration of their space to give existing tenants more room.

The Main Street summer festival/entertainment season kicks off with the first Summertime First Friday event this Friday (June 2) with free entertainment in the Main Street area from 7-9 pm. Saturday is the 11th Annual African-American Downtown Festival on 4th Street and Ann from 7 am-9 pm and Sunday is the Taste of Ann Arbor from 11 am-5 pm.

And through August, weekend parking at the Ann/Ashley parking structure is free to the public from Friday at 3:30 pm through Monday at 6 am.

Comment [4]

Local

Downtown Drama

Posted by Dale Winling on 1. June 2006

Ann Arbor’s downtown gets still more attention from planners, developers, and reporters as the News offers two stories on downtown development and density.

The First and Washington site, once the location of the nation’s first municipal parking garage, then the location of an awesome demolition, now the location of a boring surface lot, is the subject of three proposals pursuant to the remnants of the Three Two One Site Plan.

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Culture

Swilling South America

Posted by Heidi Sulzdorf, Guest Contributor on 28. May 2006

Exotic spirits are invading for the summer. For my first Arbor Update entry about the food and drink of Ann Arbor, I’ve decided to start about as close to (my) home as humanly possible: Leopold Brothers Brewery. Now, much ink has been spilled ....

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Local

No bus fare increase

Posted by Chuck Warpehoski on 26. May 2006

The Ann Arbor News reports that:

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority decided against a proposed fare increase Thursday, but AATA will continue to explore a countywide transportation millage to help with projected budget shortfalls.

Also

AATA will continue the Ypsilanti routes, spending $25,000 to subsidize them this year and $30,000 next year, officials said.

Laura B., founder of Keep Ypsi Rollin, predicts:

I don’t expect the AATA to continue service to a city that, unlike all the other participating municipalities, refuses to pay.

In addition to commenting here, you can email your thoughts on this to the aata at: aatainfo@theride.org

Comment [5]

Local

Jefferson Market for Sale

Posted by Juliew on 24. May 2006

It hasn’t been around all that long (only since 2000), but Jefferson Market has become a fixture in Ann Arbor and especially in and near the Old West Side. With the local owners, the charming interior, the fun toys, and the yummy food, it was exactly what the neighborhood needed. So the announcement this week that the store is for sale was quite a shock. The hope is that someone local will buy it and run it just the way it has been, but what are the odds (think Food and Drug Mart)? And of course, to make that work, they would have to bring Matt Banks back to do his magic in the kitchen, which has been missing since he left earlier in the year.

Comment [16]

Local

The Taxman Cometh

Posted by Dale Winling on 23. May 2006

How much are Ann Arbor residents willing to pay for parks activities, maintenance, and development? A citywide vote in November will answer the question. Leading up to the November 2006 ballot question on renewing two expiring parks millages, the city of Ann Arbor is holding a set of public meetings to develop and narrow down the millage options for the fall vote. According to the Ann Arbor News, several of the options include the following:

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Labor

Immigration and Ann Arbor–The Restaurant Workplace Project

Posted by Chuck Warpehoski on 19. May 2006

As the national immigration debate rages, it can be useful to learn what’s happening with immigrants locally. The Restaurant Workplace Project surveyed local immigrant restaurant workers. You can read their Brochure (PDF, requires Adobe Acrobat Viewer).

Among their findings :

• The majority earn between $6.50 and $8.50 an hour, although a few workers reported that they earn less than minimum wage.
• Nearly half of the workers are on the job more than 40 hours per week, and one in five works more than 50 hours per week.
• Only 37 percent said they consistently receive overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week, as required by law.

I guess not all “immigration policy” is set in Washington.

Comment [68]

Site Announcements

ArborUpdate's Second Birthday: 2 June 2006

Posted by Murph on 19. May 2006

It’s a mere two weeks from the second anniversary of ArborUpdate’s launch, back on 2 June 2004. Therefore, it’s time to announce the 2nd ArborUpdate Birthday Party.

Venue will be the traditional blogger hangout, Leopold Bros., on the evening of Friday, 2 June 2006. I’ll probably show around 7pm.

As usual, masks and cloaks are welcome, if you enjoy anonymity and want to keep it that way. Leave the daggers at home, please. RSVP on Upcoming.org or in comments.

Comment [10]

Campus

UM crime map

Posted by Bruce Fields on 18. May 2006

Dug Song says:

“kind of like the Daily’s Crime Notes, but… wizzy.

umichcrime.org

i started out with a quick a2 real estate mash-up, until someone
pointed me to zillow.com. i think this is more fun anyhow. it’s
interesting to see the map updated after a good day on my skateboard.
:-)”

Comment [5]