Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 114,024, not including approximately 42,000 college students with permanent residences somewhere else. Supposedly named for the spouses of the city's founders and for the stands of trees in the area, Ann Arbor is best known as the location of the main campus of the University of Michigan, which moved there from Detroit in 1837.
The city's economy, which once centered on the production of agricultural implements, carriages, furniture, pianos and organs, pottery and flour, is now dominated by education, high tech, and biotechnology. Average home prices and property taxes are well above the state and national medians. The city is also well known locally as a destination for dining out and entertainment, as it contains a wide and eclectic variety of restaurants and performance venues.
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 114,024 people, 45,693 households, and 21,704 families residing in the city. About 30,000 university students are added to the population each September. The population density is 4,221.1/mi2 (1,629.9/km2). There are 47,218 housing units at an average density of 1,748.0/mi2 (675.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city is 74.68% White, 8.83% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 11.90% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.21% from other races, and 3.05% from two or more races. 3.34% of the population are Hispanic American or Latino of any race.
There are 45,693 households out of which 23.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% are married couples living together, 7.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 52.5% are nonfamilies. 35.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.22 and the average family size is 2.90.
In the city the population is spread out with 16.8% under the age of 18, 26.8% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 17.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 28 years. For every 100 females there are 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $46,299, and the median income for a family is $71,293. Males have a median income of $48,880 versus $36,561 for females. The per capita income for the city is $26,419. 16.6% of the population and 4.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 7.3% of those under the age of 18 and 5.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Ann Arbor's crime rate is below the national average. Compared with that average, the violent crime rate is much lower than the property crime rate: 50% and 26% less than the national average, respectively.
The University of Michigan plays a major role in shaping Ann Arbor's economy, both through its role as the city's largest employer (with approximately 15,000 workers plus an additional 6,000 at its medical center), and by attracting companies through its graduates and research and development work. Aside from education, high tech, health services and biotechnology are major components of the city's economy, with numerous medical offices, laboratories, and associated companies located within the city. Companies associated with the automobile industry, such as General Motors and Ford, also employ a large number of residents. Nevertheless, the city's economy remains relatively stable due to the major presence of the University of Michigan.
There are a number of high-tech companies located in the city. Ann Arbor Terminals, during the 1980s, was the manufacturer of the famous video-display terminal, the Ann Arbor Ambassador. Other high-tech companies in the area include Arbortext (provider of XML-based publishing software), Harris & Baseview (provider of newspaper publishing software and ASP services), and ProQuest, which includes UMI.
Websites and online media companies located in the city include All Media Guide, Everything2, and the Weather Underground. Ann Arbor is also the site of the Michigan Information Technology Center (MITC), whose offices also house Internet2 and the Merit Network, a nonprofit research and education computer network.
Pfizer operates a large pharmaceutical research facility on the northeast side of town. It was previously operated by Warner-Lambert and, before that, Parke-Davis. The city is the home of other research and engineering centers, including those of General Dynamics and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Other research centers sited in the city are the Environmental Protection Agency's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory and the Toyota Technical Center.
Ann Arbor serves as the headquarters to several major companies. The original Borders Books was opened on Ann Arbor's State Street in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders, and began operating other outlets around the region beginning in 1985. The Borders chain is still based in the city, as is its flagship store (although not in its original location). A little-known fact is that dogs are allowed inside the flagship store, and the cashiers have a stock of doggy treats for canine visitors. Domino's Pizza's headquarters are in Ann Arbor on Domino's Farms, a massive 271-acre (109 hectare) Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired complex in the northeastern portion of the city. Flint Ink Corp., another Ann Arbor-based company, was until recently the world's largest privately held ink manufacturer (in October 2005 it was acquired by Stuttgart-based XSYS Print Solutions). Another Ann Arbor-based company is Zingerman's Delicatessen, which serves sandwiches and Jewish foods, and has derived and developed a variety of businesses under different brand names.
Many cooperative enterprises were founded in the city during the 1960s and 1970s; among those that survive today are the People's Food Co-op and the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan, a student-housing cooperative. The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is an association of cooperatives, headquartered in Ann Arbor. There are also three cohousing communities located just outside the city limits to the west.
Ann Arbor was founded in January 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey, both of whom were land speculators. There are various accounts concerning the origin of the settlement's name, but one states that Allen and Rumsey decided to name it "Annarbour," for their spouses, whose names were both Ann, and for the stands of burr oak in the 640 acres (260 hectares) of land they had purchased for $800 from the federal government. The Native Americans of the region knew the settlement as Kaw-goosh-kaw-nick, after the sound of Allen's grist mill.
Ann Arbor later became the seat of Washtenaw County in 1827, and was incorporated as a village in 1833. The town set aside 40 acres (16 hectares) of undeveloped land and offered it to the State of Michigan as the site of the state capitol, but it lost the bid to Lansing in 1836. In 1837 the unused land was sold to the University of Michigan, forever linking Ann Arbor and its history with the university. The town became a regional transportation hub in 1839 with the arrival of the Michigan Central Railroad. Ann Arbor was chartered as a city in 1851.
During World War II, Ford Motor Company's nearby Willow Run plant turned out B-24 Liberator bombers. The population of Ann Arbor exploded with an influx of military personnel, war workers, and their families.
The city gained a reputation as an important center for liberal politics over the course of the 1960s and 1970s. Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy unveiled his Peace Corps proposal in 1960 at the University of Michigan, and in 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson first called for a "Great Society." The city also became a locus for left-wing activism, serving as a hub for the civil-rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and the student movement. The first major meetings of the national left-wing campus group Students for a Democratic Society took place in Ann Arbor in 1960, and in 1965 the city was home to the first U.S. teach-in against the Vietnam War. Over the course of the ensuing fifteen years, a plethora of countercultural and New Left enterprises sprang up and developed strong constituencies within the city.
These influences washed into municipal politics during the early and mid-1970s when three members of the local, progressive Human Rights Party (HRP) won city-council seats on the strength of the student vote. During their time on the council, HRP representatives successfully fought for measures ranging from pioneering antidiscrimination ordinances to measures decriminalizing marijuana possession to a rent-control ordinance - many of which remain in effect in modified form today.
Alongside these liberal and left-wing efforts, a small handful of conservative institutions were also born in Ann Arbor. These include Word of God (established in 1967), a charismatic Catholic movement of national scope; and the Thomas More Law Center (established in 1999), a leading religious-conservative advocacy group.
The economy of Ann Arbor underwent a gradual shift from a manufacturing base to a service and technology base over the course of the 20th century, a shift which accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s. At the same time, the downtown has transformed from one dominated primarily by retail establishments dealing in staple goods to one comprised mainly of eateries, cafs, bars and clubs, and specialty shops.
Over the past several decades, the city 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. On November 2, 2004, voters approved a greenbelt plan under which the city government would buy up the development rights to large swaths of land adjacent to Ann Arbor in order to prevent sprawling development. Since then, a vociferous local debate has hinged on whether, and how, to accommodate and guide development within city limits.
Source:
AnnArbor-USA.com
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