Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. stateof Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County.

It is the state’s seventh largest city with apopulation of 114,024 as of the 2000 Census,of which 36,892 (32%) are university or collegestudents. The city, which is part of the Detroit- Ann Arbor-Flint, MI CSA, is named after thespouses of the city’s founders and for thestands of trees in the area. Ann Arbor was founded in January 1824 byJohn Allen and Elisha Rumsey, both of whomwere land speculators. On May 25, 1824, thetown plot was registered with Wayne Countyas “Annarbour”. The city became the seat ofWashtenaw County in 1827, and was incorpo-rated as a village in 1833. The town becamea regional transportation hub in 1839 with thearrival of the Michigan Central Railroad, andwas chartered as a city in 1851. During the1960s and 1970s, the city gained a reputationas a center for liberal politics. During the 20thcentury, the economy of Ann Arbor underwenta gradual shift from a manufacturing base to aservice and technology base, which acceler-ated in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan, established in 1837.

As the dominant institution of higher learn-ing in the city and one of the top publicuniversities in the world, the universityprovides Ann Arbor with a distinct college-town atmosphere. The university shapes Ann Arbor’s economy signicantly as itemploys about 30,000 workers, includ-ing about 7,500 in the medical center. Thecity’s economy is also centered on high-technology, with several companies drawnto the area by the university’s research anddevelopment money, and by its graduates.On the other hand, Ann Arbor has increas-ingly found itself grappling with the effectsof sharply rising land values and gentrica-tion, as well as urban sprawl stretching farinto the outlying countryside.

Many Ann Arbor cultural attractions and events are sponsored by theUniversity of Michigan

Several performing arts groups and facili-ties are on the university’s campus, as aremuseums dedicated to art, archaeology, andnatural history and sciences (see Museumsat the University of Michigan). Regional andlocal performing arts groups not associatedwith the university include the Ann Arbor CivicTheatre; the Arbor Opera Theater; the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra; the Ann ArborBallet Theater; the Ann Arbor Civic Ballet (es-tablished in 1954 as Michigan’s rst charteredballet company); and Performance Network,which operates a downtown theater frequentlyoffering new or nontraditional plays.The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, located ina renovated and expanded historic downtownre station, contains more than 250 interac-tive exhibits featuring science and technology.Multiple art galleries exist in the city, notablyin the downtown area and around the Univer-sity of Michigan campus. Aside from a largerestaurant scene in the Main Street, SouthState Street, and South University Avenueareas, Ann Arbor ranks rst among U.S. citiesin the number of booksellers and books soldper capita. The Ann Arbor District Librarymaintains four branch outlets in addition toits main downtown building; in 2008 a newbranch building replaced the branch located