I figured it was time to take pictures of my neighborhood in Ann Arbor.  It was in between classes on an ugly day so it might be kind of depressing, but I through in a shot from early this fall to add a bit of color.  The tour begins from my doorstep to the "gateway" to South U from the university.

 

Hope you enjoy.

 

Home sweet home.....ughhhhh......  I don't what's going on with the bottom apartment window.

 

Random student housing

 

Some nicer ones

 

hmmmm

 

The only permanent residents on our block

 

 

 

 

The end of the South U district meets with fraternity row on Washtenaw Ave.  The first major house is Phi Delta Theta.  It was designed by Albert Kahn the architect who revolutionized factory construction in North America and designed many beautiful skyscrapers in Detroit.

 

 

 

I always thought this subdivided house could look nice if renovated.

 

Trotter Multicultural house. (back of it)

 

 

 

Angell Elementary

 

 

Here are some of the better examples of home ownership:

 

 

 

 

The hallways in this building are effed up.

 

2 cheap replacements for a house that burned down.

 

I like this apartment building.  Kind of a German-Alpine feel to it.

 

Cemetery gateway.

 

U of M School of Kineseology annex's anex.  Continuing to take over and tear down the surrounding neighborhoods.

 

Just keep building on top of that porch

 

University Towers stands amongst a scattered collection of houses.  BR I-94 ROW carved a pretty large chunk out of the neighborhood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where Hayward gets his groceries.  Nothing is more classy than a store with a spirited rat as its logo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To close, here's a shot looking over the South U district towards the University

 

 

Hope you enjoyed!  Next time I'll post the neighborhood I grew up in Saginaw, MI

 

About damn time!

 

Excellent shots!!!

Nice. I spent my time in Ann Arbor living on E. University and S. Forest, after a stint in South Quad.

 

Looks like not too much has changed.

Great tour, Hayward!

 

I don't know much about Ann Arbor at all.  What is the make-up of this district as far as students to families?  Is that Angell Elementary a good school?  The pictures make it look like a great neighborhood even for families; but sometimes that's tough to tell...

 

Thanks - great shots.

 

(oh.... and go bucks)

Nice shots.

 

I especially love how the entrance to the upstairs apartment on this one blends seamlessly into the original architecture:

 

Nice! They've done a good job keeping the housing stock intact versus the common college neighborhood trend to replace 2 or 3 homes with a utilitarian apartment complex.

 

Or maybe you did a good job not showing those, and for that, I thank you.

^ Believe me, those exist.  But there aren't a whole lot of them in my neighborhood.  About 4 at most, including the long one pictured above.  The student neighborhoods south of the university have quite a collection though.

 

mleroy,  the area where I live is nearly all student with a few exceptions.  If you go further west then you get into the neighborhoods with families.  Except the houses over there are mansions and home to some of Ann Arbor's most affluent individuals.  I chose this particular neighborhood because it had the least number of break-ins in comparison to neighborhoods South of hill street where nearly every single home had a home invasion or break in within the past 5 years.

 

Surprisingly, a lot of people find the South U district to be less charming or "nice" as the Liberty/State and downtown which have a lot more upscale eateries, retail, and much nicer housing/

^Four isn't bad at all. Oxford's mile square has more than four per street, it has totally ruined the feel of most of the neighborhood, and distracts greatly form the older homes' character.

I go to church in this area (didn't see any pics of it though--beautiful structure).  I sometimes prefer this area to the usual Main Street and Liberty/State areas, even though the South U district has suffered in recent years. Sadako is great for sushi and China Gate has some of the best Chinese food I've ever eaten. 

 

Village Corner is also the nicest little convenience store I've been to with a great wine and beer selection.

 

The South U. area, when I was a student at EMU, was home to Tower Records that was pretty much open 24 hours and my friend and I used to make late night trips from Ypsi to listen to great music and browse tapes (yes tapes) and CDs.

 

I didn't take any pictures of the churches on Washtenaw because they are kind of out of the district.  Those will end up in another tour :-)

 

BTW, did you hear about the Melrose Place Apts being demoed for a 10 story building this summer?  Kind of sad as it's a good example of courtyard apartment buildings.

^^^

The church I go to is right next to all these greek houses.

 

I had to think for a second where those apartments are....that is until I recognzied Zas.  What's going up in their place?