OT: Advice on moving to Ann Arbor
Background: Recently my fiancé accepted a spot in a Master's program at U of M starting this fall, which means we're leaving St. Louis and moving to Ann Arbor! While I grew up nearby, I've never actually lived in Ann Arbor so I don't really know what to expect. I've been stressing out the last few days trying to figure out housing and work stuff from afar, when I realized the MGoBoard could probably help point me in the right direction on a few things.
Housing: This is where I'm struggling the most right now. Since I can't see any places myself, I'm basically relying on Google+ reviews of various complexes to determine if they're livable. It's also difficult because I can't drive around neighborhoods I like looking for "For Rent" signs, and I don't really know any of the realty companies in the area. If anyone here knows of any good apartment complexes that aren't too expensive, I'd love to hear about them. Better yet, it you know of a realty company that rents a lot of units in the downtown/campus area, or on the West side of town, I'd really like find out.
Work: I've still got a little time to figure this out, but I'm starting now because doing a job hunt in a small city from 8 hours away is probably not going to be fun. I'm a web developer, so I'm not too worried about being able to find something, but I have a job I really enjoy now, so I'd like to be able to find something like that again. I don't really know what the programming/development situation is in Ann Arbor, so if anyone has some insight on that I'd appreciate it. Are there any web development consulting companies based in Ann Arbor? What about just general programming/development consulting firms?
Other: Is there anything else I should be aware of or look for? Any good online resources to get familiar with the city, or just general advice you may have accumulated over your time in Ann Arbor? I'd appreciate anything you can give me.
Thanks for your help, and I look forward to going to a Michigan hockey game for the first time in probably 10 years. Go Blue!
Update
I just wanted to thank everyone who's contributed here. I got pulled into a couple of unexpected meetings so I wasn't able to follow this thread much in the last couple of hours, but I really appreciate all the help and advice. There's been more than a few useful suggestions that I'm certainly going to use in this moving process. Thanks again, you guys are great.
as a resident of the Metro East area, sorry to see a Michigan fan leave. Enjoy going back home!
The fiancé grew up in St. Louis, and she's much more attached to it than I am to Michigan (the state, that is). Also I've really enjoyed my time in this city, so I wouldn't be surprised if we came back here and settled down after the grad school thing is done.
I am excited to have more options than Buffalo Wild Wings when a game is on BTN though...
Pedantry alert: a fiancé is a man engaged to be married. A fiancée is a woman engaged to be married.
I've lived in KC for the last 6 years. Let me know if you need any advice.
Pleased to be moving back to Ann Arbor this summer though!
Either I already know you, or TWO loyal alums are moving from KC back to Ann Arbor this summer.
Moves can be big and scary but should be exciting. I can't help much for housing but for job searches try indeed.com:
a quick search shows 186 web developer jobs in ann arbor: http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=web+developer&l=ann+arbor%2C+mi
Good luck!
I've never heard of this site before. I already see a couple things that look promising.
with Career Builder. Its a bit generic, but if you put your resume out there on that site you'll start getting some emails and once in a while you'll find that diamond in the rough.
That's were I found it and would prefer to be a athletic cup tester on the steel toe boot line than to ever work for a place like that literal sweatshop again. I am not sure they hire anyone who isn't an engineer but I must have done something horrible to deserve the karma that is that Nb place in Lansing. Just goes to show you nothing good comes from that hell hole of a town.
Hope your new job is way better by the way.
Don
I would get a realtor to help you out. Most campus housing goes through a yearly cycle where leases are usually signed pretty early in the Spring for the following year. You might be a little behind the game and having a realtor, particularly since you are looking from long distance, is going to be worth the commission (which is sometimes paid by the landlord anyway).
When I went there 10 years ago most grad students lived north of the campus by Kerrytown or Catherine and State area. It's a little quieter than, say Packard and State or Hill St areas.
Can't really help with jobs since that's not my field, but I do know Google has a location in AA though. I'm guessing that's rather competitive. I also know there's a temp service for university jobs my wife used, I don't recall what the name is, I'm sure if you web search you can find it. It's going to be pretty low paying, low skill work for the most part, but it might be a good way to network or get your foot in the door.
See if you can find a buyers agent, a company that doesn't directly list houses. You want someone working only for you and some of the major realtors agents I've experienced will sometimes steer you in a direction they want you to go. I'm not suggesting they're shady, just that they make more money when you buy one of their listings. That can dictate some of their advice.
just start contacting people from craigslist with open apartments in complexes.
I looked for housing around this time when I was going to grad school. It's actually easier than you may think, because inventory is kind of low, and you have very specific conditions.
I ended up using these guys and didn't have any problems.
The job market in A2 for programmers/developers is very strong right now. You should have no trouble finding a job and possibly getting a decent bump in salary.
It's a sellers market in Ann Arbor for housing (both to buy and rent), so good luck with that. Most rentals in Ann Arbor are crapholes. There are some exceptions, but the (relatively) nicer places I've rented have been through independent landlords and not the bigger realty companies.
well there's a Google office in AA. I feel like that'd be an ideal job.
But it's an admin/sales office. Unless that changed really recently, there's either no or very few actual development jobs there.
but you're right in that it's not a main dev center.
You should check out Menlo Innovations. They're a pretty interesting group and while I think they hire mostly contractors to start, you can convert that to a full-time position if they like your work and they're pretty plugged into the AA Dev scene so you'll be able to plug into the local network.
I definitely second checking out Menlo. They are great web developers and do a lot of high end stuff. The start up I was working on could not afford them, but we were really impressed with the work they've done. The University itself has some development work, but it is probably much less interesting. TechArb and Spark are the UofM and AA entrepreneurial incubators, respectively, and I'm sure could get you something (though it might not be the ideal job). I recommend checking them out and at least learning what is in the area. Best of luck!
That would ease the stress of you moving and finding a new job.
Interesting idea, and while that certainly is a simple fix, I have a feeling it would just turn out as exchanging one form of stress for another.
It sounded like a win-win situation at the time.
Housing: Really depends on what you're looking for. Right now Ann Arbor is in a building boom for a glut of downtown highrises that are going to be fancy, competing with each other, but pricey.
Like-
But there's around a half dozen of them that have been finished or getting started. The done (new) ones are on South U. Rich student area. New construction west of campus, but downtown.
If money is an object, McKinley is the big renter in town. They own almost everything. But having done business with them, I don't really like them. And every time I hear "Ground level apartments flood" it's invariable a McKinley property. All about the bucks, and rotating people in and out.
Who I would recommend is CMB Properites. Smaller, but still pretty big now with lots of properties.
http://annarborapartments.net/
http://www.cmbmgmt.rentlinx.com/Listings.aspx
They started off as running just a couple of places, a family that had their two daughters come in and help run the business, and it became a family affair, and they've expanded to a bigger company. It's been a few years, so maybe they got bought out, but have nothing but good things to say about my interaction with them. And more of a variety of prices and locations. Closer your are and maybe you don't have to have her pay for parking and such downtown. She's in school, but it doesn't mean she's necessarily super young, so maybe the studnet ghetto doesn't sound appealing...or maybe being part of that does. All depends on your tastes.
Work: I can't help too much. There is a little place called Google in town. More seriously, it probably depends on what kind of work you do in the tech field. Spell it out a little more and I'm sure someone can help you. I know places like Barracuda have moved downtown, but there are surely a variety of companies from Google on down to small maketing and development firms.
http://annarbor.com/business-review/why-the-ceo-of-barracuda-networks-likes-ann-arbors-talent-pool/
Other: What you can do here is lots, but the first thing you're going to need to do is eat, and you don't have to go any further than here for that-
http://mgoblog.com/content/guide-ann-arbor-eating-drinking
You don't say WHEN you're moving. But I'd avoid the exact same times as student move in, if possible, and July 17-20....Art Fair, where all the streets are closed and traffic is a zoo.
This is a ton of useful information. That property company is one I haven't seen yet, so I'll look through their stuff and see if I can find something.
As mentioned above, the Google office isn't really a development office, it's admin and sales. Specifics on what I'm looking for are a little hard to give, because I don't really know myself. I've spent the last few years doing a lot of SharePoint and .NET development, also a ton of JavaScript, with a decent amount of PHP, and all sorts of other web technologies. So my first instinct was to look at consulting firms, because I figured a wide array of experience would go well for something like that.
Mostly I just want to do development. I love writing code and solving complex problems. I've had jobs before that look promising and then turn out to be glorified content entry, and I want to make sure I don't end up in that situation again.
One of the first things I did when we decided on the move to Ann Arbor was read that "where to eat" piece. There is one apartment we're looking at right now that is absurdly tiny but also 2 blocks from Frita Batidos, so that's one for the "pro" column.
We don't know our exact move-in date yet, it kind of depends on where/when I find a job. Latest will probably be mid-August. When is student move-in?
So it's in the Wasington/Main St area? IMHO anything in that area is likely to be overpriced. I would recommend looking a bit farther out, prices start to fall pretty fast and the places get less expensive, larger, and nicer if you live a little farther from campus.
Others here know far more about the tech scene than I do.
But Classes begin this Fall on September 3rd, so the week before, (and particularly the weekend) will probably be hairy. But then Labor day is that weekend too, so if it's easier to get off you can join the crowd. Really depends if you find housing right downtown or not. If outlying it won't matter much. Thought she might have a hard and fast date she has to report to school herself.
There's been a slew of new development downtown and around South U recently but they cater to people willing to pay top $$$ for modern design and amenities.
The general market for housing in Ann Arbor sucks though due to high demand from students - a lot of old houses and apartments still charging you over $1000+ for a 1 bedroom and this gets higher for places near downtown.
I personally like the area around Kerrytown - but if your fiance's masters program is in North Campus the graduate housing units (Northwood) might work well. They're a bit dated but the fact that all utilities are included really saves you money in the long run...especially in the winter where heating alone might run you $150+ month.
But one problem is I'm a little spoiled by the extemely low cost of living in St. Louis. Right now we have a 650ft2 one-bedroom in a fantastic area of St. Louis City and we pay $600/month, which I'm aware is not something we'll be able to even approach in Ann Arbor if we want to be close to campus/downtown.
I've seen a couple outliers with pretty good location for $700 - $750, but they of course have their drawbacks as well (usually size). I'd like to stay under $800 if possible.
Find a rental place around Catherine or Lawrence. It is away from the undergrads, and closer to the real-people bar scene and all the great restaurants. There are extremely affordable duplexes, and it should never be too noisy.
If you have a lotta moola, they are building new apartments right around Ashley and Washington. Perfect location IMO. Right next to the Y, right on top of some of my favorite restaurants, and right off of a side street that takes you away from downtown but avoids Main Street.
Do you know of any companies that rent said duplexes?
I'd avoid the ones that deal with a lot of undergrad housing (ie Dan's houses...maybe a good way to check against that would be to google the landlord before you rent). Since you're looking from out of town...I'd start with a zillow check or something:
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Ann-Arbor-Township-MI-48104/78976_…
Some of the houses will be a little run-down, but you can make them very liveable and they are all quaint and it's a young vibrant area.
Have you looked at U-M jobs? They have a central web development service, and several academic units and research labs have their own web people too.
The University's a pretty good employer, especially if you're in the "continuing business" (job security can be a bit looser if your position is funded by research grants).
I actually work for a University now, on the team responsible for primary development of hundreds of the University's public-facing websites. It sounds like this "central web development service" might be something similar? Do you have any more information about this? A quick Googling didn't turn up much.
You could start here:
There may be more stuff under the "VP for Communications" umbrella. Or you could search the job site:
Some high level advice from someone who has rented as a student and as an adult, and now owns a house in the Water Hill neighborhood (just north of the Old West Side):
1) Anything walkable (10 minutes or less) to Central Campus is either going to be old/small/expensive or new/super expensive. Almost everything is homes that have been chopped up into small units.
2) The rental options in the Plymouth corridor and the Eisenhower corridor are newer, more reasonably priced, and are marketed to the adultish/grad student/young family demographics. Most are on the UM bus lines and are within biking distance. But none of these units are walkable to Central Campus. I lived in Windemere Park for a bit, and it was pretty nice. Because many are run by big national leasing offices, you'll probably find it easier to get set up from a distance.
My recommendation: Look outside of campus and deal with the bus/commute/bike. You'll get a better deal. You'll also get more online reviews and other things that will help you decide, whereas the smaller landlords that own the CC housing are hard to get a good read on.
If you plan on driving, account for some rough parking fees and/or difficulty finding parking. Even the U is jacking up costs after this year, and if you're anywhere close you'll have a hard time finding it.
http://annarbor.com/news/u-m-regents-meeting-may-16/?cmpid=NL_DH_tophea…
http://umjobs.org/search?career_interest=210&work_location=4&position=F®ular_temporary=R&keyword=
I've also got two good friends who work at this interactive agency: http://www.enlighten.com/
Welcome to AA. I've got deep Missouri roots on both sides of my family, with a large number of relatives still in the St. Louis area.
The Northwood Apts out on North Campus are a great deal; when we first got hitched we had a three-bedroom townhouse in Northwood V with a full basement. Tons of little screaming kids around, but that might be better than tons of drunk screaming sophomores pissing on your porch.
Working for the University itself is pretty nice, especially if your work is consistently funded.
When I left Ann Arbor a little over a month ago, I think Barracuda was still looking for programming types. They're a cybersecurity firm.
There are also a bunch of smaller organizations and venues always looking for web development. I'll put my feelers out; I know a guy who might still be looking for someone to literally take charge of a youth facility's website.
I'm sure you've already thought of this, but would your company not be willing to let you work from AA, especially if you tell them you're planning on being back in St. Louis in a couple of years as it is?
It was the first choice. There's still a small chance it will work out, but unlikely. My boss's boss's boss's boss is talking to HR about it today, but the word that's trickled back to me is that there would be some tax issues that will likely prevent it from happening.
Dev stuff
What languages do you write in? Do you have a portfolio posted? I may know some people.
I'm getting my website put back together, it's been in a little bit of disrepair over the last few years because I haven't needed it. The blog is still a pretty good representation of what I can do (even though there's probably only a dozen or so posts), but the home page and work experience sections are basically empty right now. It should be running full steam within a week or two:
I mentioned above, I've got a pretty wide array of experience. My primary employment right now is as a SharePoint developer, so I do a lot with C# and the .NET platform. I also do a ton of frontend web development work, I've got tons of experience (and if I may say so, mad skills) with JavaScript and jQuery, CSS, and HTML. I've also worked on a bunch of PHP and MySQL projects, and I'm pretty good at that stuff too.
Like I said above, I really love writing code and solving complex problems, and I don't want to end up in a glorified data entry position which has happened before.
Thanks for taking an interest, I appreciate it.
My former employer, Q LTD, was recently hiring. You could check them out, qltd.com.
I am in the process of moving to Chicago. They are great people :)
I've worked there as well... I can vouch that they're good folks.
Can't really tell exactly what it is they do... Could one of you maybe provide a little insight there? What role might there be for a web developer?
but they're a marketing communications/graphic design firm. They do a fair amount of web stuff, so they may need a developer/technical expert on staff.
There's an opening for an Applications Programmer/Analyst http://umjobs.org/job_detail/80392/applications_programmeranalyst at the UM Office of Development that would match your skillset nicely. If you're interested, submit an application soon-- the position has been open for a few weeks already.
I work in OUD at UM so I can give you more specifics if you'd like. My email address is my mgoblog username at gmail.com.