Ann Arbor # 1 College Sports Town
According to Forbes Ann Arbor is the number 1 college sports town. Here is the article.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/12/college-sports-towns-lifestyle-sports_…
February 13th, 2009 at 8:30 AM ^
"And what full-time residents also know: Ann Arbor has great public schools, low crime and affordable housing."
February 13th, 2009 at 8:31 AM ^
Take that Wisconsin! I'm from WI and all I hear about is how Madison is the #1 college sports town according to ESPN back in 2006 or whenever they did that. But, not anymore
February 13th, 2009 at 9:00 AM ^
Affordable housing my ass. $1200 a month for an apartment you could get in Ypsi for like $850.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:37 AM ^
apartments aren't houses.
really though, we're talking affordable by Forbe's standards here which means anything under 800,000K.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:47 AM ^
I was under the assumption housing refers to any type of dwelling, be it house, condo or apartment.
February 13th, 2009 at 12:50 PM ^
woot!
February 13th, 2009 at 9:11 AM ^
I'm with Ann Arbor being a great college sports town, but by "low crime," I take it they forget the five serial killers the town has had, including John Norman Collins, Coral Watts, nurses Leonora Perez and Filipina Narciso, and the short guy from the 90's?
I guess it's been fifteen years or so since the last one, so I guess they don't count.
Now, about that "afforable housing....."
February 13th, 2009 at 9:28 AM ^
forbes loves ann arbor for almost everything.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:54 AM ^
I side with Brodie saying housing includes any livable quarters. Why would a selling point for future students be that they can buy a home there at an affordable price? Most are worried about getting enough money for their next cube of Busch/Natty Light, not getting that 30 year mortgage paid.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:12 AM ^
You and Brodie do make a good point, but I think both of you are putting too much emphasis on it since you had to deal with while at UM. Yeah, the prices were way too high for places within walking distance of campus, but Forbes was also looking at places that a student would never consider. Those places are relatively affordable compared to similar places across the nation. When you think about that and the fact that Forbes is a magazine focused on the group of people that is concerned with getting their 30-year mortgage paid, you can see their rationale.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:17 AM ^
I'd agree that Ann Arbor offers a lot of small town charm while being essentially a suburb of Detroit and thus the cost is comparatively low. But dude, I was living on E. Stadium and it was extremely pricey.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:22 AM ^
I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm just saying Forbes doesn't give a flying fuck about those types of houses when they're determining if a city has affordable housing.
February 13th, 2009 at 1:37 PM ^
Yeah, compared to Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor is pricey. Compared to most of the country, it's pretty cheap.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:42 AM ^
They explain their methodology, you know. From the article:
"Using Coldwell Banker's Home Price Comparison Index, we looked at the price of a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,200-square-foot home in each market and compared it to the median income."
February 13th, 2009 at 1:27 PM ^
This list is intended more towards WASPs, not college students who have to split their budget between apartments and beer pong tables.
Also, the crime rate thing is based on statistics. If the stats say we are the 4th lowest they looked, then we are, regardless of how many serial killers we have.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:36 PM ^
As cold as the weather is and as small as it can seem, Ann Arbor is a wonderful place to live. I've lived in four states and three foreign countries in addition to Ann Arbor, and I would have to say AA has the highest quality of life I've experienced.