The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, located
in a renovated and expanded historic
downtown fire station, contains more than
250 interactive exhibits featuring science
and technology. Multiple art galleries exist
in the city, notably in the downtown area
and around the University of Michigan
campus. Aside from a large restaurant scene
in the Main Street, South State Street, and
South University Avenue areas, Ann Arbor
ranks first among U.S. cities in the number
of booksellers and books sold per capita.
The Ann Arbor District Library maintains
four branch outlets in addition to its main
downtown building; in 2008 a new branch
building replaced the branch located in
Plymouth Mall. This new branch is called
the Traverwood Branch, and opened on
June 30, 2008. The city is also home to the
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Events
Several annual events – many of them
centered on performing and visual arts –
draw visitors to Ann Arbor. One such event
is the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, a set of four
concurrent juried fairs held on downtown
streets, which began in 1960. Scheduled
on Wednesday through Saturday in the
third week of July, the fairs draw upward
of half a million visitors. One event that is
not related to visual and performing arts
is Hash Bash, held on the first Saturday of
April, ostensibly in support of the reform of
marijuana laws. It has been celebrated since
1971. Ann Arbor, Michigan
­­
Fun Facts
A person from Ann Arbor is called an "Ann
Arborite", and many long-time residents
call themselves "townies". The city itself
is often called A² ("A-squared") or A2 ("A
two"), and, less commonly, Tree Town.
Recently, some youths have taken to calling
Ann Arbor Ace Deuce or simply The Deuce.
With tongue-in-cheek reference to the city's
liberal political leanings, some occasionally
refer to Ann Arbor as The People's Republic
of Ann Arbor or 25 square miles surrounded
by reality, the latter phrase being adapted
from Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus's
description of Madison, Wisconsin. Ann
Arbor sometimes appears on citation
indexes as an author, instead of a location,
often with the academic degree MI, a
misunderstanding of the abbreviation for
Michigan.
Customer Service Center
(Located diagonally across the street from City Hall)
City Center Building, 1st Floor
220 East Huron
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Phone: (734) 994-2700
www.a2gov.org
Fax: (734) 994-1765
E-mail: customerservice@a2gov.org
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of
Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw
County. It is the state’s seventh largest city
with a population of 114,024 as of the
2000 Census, of which 36,892 (32%) are
university or college students. The city,
which is part of the Detroit-Ann Arbor-
Flint, MI CSA, is named after the spouses
of the city’s founders and for the stands of
trees in the area.
History
Ann Arbor was founded in January 1824 by
John Allen and Elisha Rumsey, both of whom
were land speculators. On May 25, 1824,
the town plot was registered with Wayne
County as "Annarbour". The city became
the seat of Washtenaw County in 1827, and
was incorporated as a village in 1833. The
town became a regional transportation hub
in 1839 with the arrival of the Michigan
Central Railroad, and was chartered as a
city in 1851. During the 1960s and 1970s,
the city gained a reputation as a center for
liberal politics. During the 20th century, the
economy of Ann Arbor underwent a gradual
shift from a manufacturing base to a service
and technology base, which accelerated in
the 1970s and 1980s.
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor is home to the University of
Michigan, established in 1837. As the
dominant institution of higher learning in
the city and one of the top public universities
in the world, the university provides
Ann Arbor with a distinct college-town
atmosphere. The university shapes Ann
Arbor's economy significantly as it employs
about 30,000 workers, including about 7,500
in the medical center. The city's economy
is also centered on high-technology, with
several companies drawn to the area by
the university's research and development
money, and by its graduates. On the other
hand, Ann Arbor has increasingly found
itself grappling with the effects of sharply
rising land values and gentrification, as
well as urban sprawl stretching far into the
outlying countryside.
Local Attractions
Many Ann Arbor cultural attractions and
events are sponsored by the University
of Michigan. Several performing arts
groups and facilities are on the university's
campus, as are museums dedicated to
art, archaeology, and natural history and
sciences (see Museums at the University of
Michigan). Regional and local performing
arts groups not associated with the
university include the Ann Arbor Civic
Theatre; the Arbor Opera Theater; the
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra; the Ann
Arbor Ballet Theater; the Ann Arbor Civic
Ballet (established in 1954 as Michigan's
first chartered ballet company); and
Performance Network, which operates a
downtown theater frequently offering new
or nontraditional plays.