tics.
During the 20th century, the econ-
¬¬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.
Ann Arbor was founded in January
1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rum-
sey, both of whom were land specula-
tors. 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 transpor-
tation 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 poli-
omy of Ann Arbor underwent a gradual
shift from a manufacturing base to a
service and technology base, which ac-
celerated 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 public
universities in the world, the univer-
sity provides Ann Arbor with a distinct
college-town atmosphere. The univer-
sity shapes Ann Arbor’s economy sig-
nificantly 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 Many Ann Arbor cultural attractions
the university’s research and develop- and events are sponsored by the Uni-
versity of Michigan. Several perform-
ing arts groups and facilities are on the
university’s campus, as are museums
dedicated to art, archaeology, and natu-
ral history and sciences (see Museums
at the University of Michigan). Region-
al and local performing arts groups not
associated with the university include
the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre; the Arbor
Opera Theater; the Ann Arbor Sym-
phony Orchestra; the Ann Arbor Bal-
let Theater; the Ann Arbor Civic Bal-
let (established in 1954 as Michigan’s
ment money, and by its graduates. On first chartered ballet company); and
the other hand, Ann Arbor has increas- Performance Network, which operates
ingly found itself grappling with the ef- a downtown theater frequently offering
fects of sharply rising land values and new or nontraditional plays.
gentrification, as well as urban sprawl The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, lo-
stretching far into the outlying country- cated in a renovated and expanded his-
side. toric downtown fire station, contains
more than 250 interactive exhibits fea-
turing science and technology. Mul-
tiple art galleries exist in the city, nota-
bly 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. cit-

Welcome
ies in the number of booksellers and
books sold per capita. The Ann Arbor
District Library maintains four branch
outlets in addition to its main down-

to
town building; in 2008 a new branch
building replaced the branch located
in Plymouth Mall. This new branch
is called the Traverwood Branch, and

Michigan
opened on June 30, 2008. The city is
also home to the Gerald R. Ford Presi-
dential Library.

Customer Service Center

(Located diagonally across the street
from City Hall)
City Center Building, 1st Floor
220 East Huron
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 994-2700
Fax: (734) 994-1765
E-mail: customerservice@a2gov.org