Michigan Real Estate & Relocation Guide

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Population: 114,024

Located in Washtenaw County

With its tree-shaded streets and clapboard houses, open-air farmers market, and outdoor summer concerts and movies, Ann Arbor exudes a charm that has turned many students info lifelong residents.

Conveniently located just 25 minutes from Detroit Metropolitan airport, less than an hour from the city of Detroit and less than five hours from Chicago, Ann Arbor is easy to reach by car, bus, train or plane.

The city of Ann Arbor has a population of 114,000 - about half of which are University people - students, faculty and staff members. The landscape is a blend of arboretums and industrial parks, intimate boutiques, bike paths and expressways, 19th century theaters and glass-walled office buildings. And with over 1,900 acres of park land at 145 sites, you're always close enough to take a walk or your lunch in a park.

Ann Arbor's citizens and government are committed to an environmentally sensitive lifestyle. Over 95% of the city's homes participate in the curbside recycling program, which collects an unusually broad array of recyclables, including yard waste to be composted, and toxic recyclables like batteries and used motor oil.

To further reduce the waste stream, Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA) operates a re-use center, collecting used but still useful stuff to sells back to the public. RAA's En-House Green Building Demonstration Area is a full scale model of a green building open to the public. Like SNRE's Dana building, it is a reference on blending with the environment, using recycled, natural, or renewable materials, and construction techniques to improve indoor and outdoor air quality, and energy efficiency.

In Ann Arbor, these is never a shortage of things to do. The city - often in conjunction with the University - sponsors a lively year-round arts calendar that includes internationally known musicians and orchestras, cinema from first-run movies to underground classics, Broadway touring companies, experimental theater and every kind of festival imaginable. There are ethnic celebrations, a Summer Festival, and a nationally recognized juried art fair that transform downtown streets into teeming art galleries. There is music to suit every taste. Symphony orchestras such as the Philadelphia and Chicago Philharmonics, and the Cleveland and Leipzig Orchestras; internationally acclaimed performers including Wynton Marsalis, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Jessye Norman, Yo Yo Ma, k.d. lang and Ray Charles; and the renowned dance companies of the Joffrey Ballet and Alvin Ailey, are all regular visitors to Ann Arbor. Restaurants run the gamut, from four star to fast food to coffee houses, most with outdoor seating to take advantage of Michigan's beautiful summer evenings. Book and music stores abound, catering to every interest. And sports enthusiasts will find themselves presented with an almost unlimited array of opportunities that includes everything from canoeing to cross country skiing.

Courtesy of the University of Michigan School of Public Health