Is Ann Arbor part of Detroit? (Flint, Sterling Heights: movies, live, malls)

[Ann Arbor]

I think that Ann Arbor is not a part of Metro Detroit. In fact, what makes Ann Arbor so successful is the University of Michigan and the healthcare, which are not Detroit-related, making it definitely independent. Ann Arbor certainly has a whole different atmosphere than Detroit, considering that it is a thriving college town.

The definition of a suburb is "a district lying immediately outside of a city or town, especially a smaller residential community". (Source: Suburb | Define Suburb at Dictionary.com)

To break this down, Ann Arbor does not lie immediately outside of Detroit. Suburbs also tend to be completely residential and contain little to no major corporations. Ann Arbor is definitely not made up of just residential areas, as the downtown business district and the University make up a great deal of the city. Ann Arbor is also not "small"; its population is 114,024 which makes it a decent sized city.

So basically, I would argue that Ann Arbor is not a part of the Detroit Metro Area.

[Ypsi the Clown]

damn, this is an interesting topic. lol

i agree that Ann Arbor stands alone; however, it is one of metro detroit's college towns, but AA can go both ways i suppose.

however ypsi is definetely a detroit suburb(town, city, whatever). like i said before, ypsi rests on BOTH Washtenaw and Wayne counties(i.e. Willow Run Airport, and where Ypsi turns into Canton).

[skyl4rk]

When you drive from downtown Detroit west on Michigan Avenue, it is pretty much built up until you get past Saline. It is all part of the same urban area, so I would say Ann Arbor is part of Detroit.

[johnr83]

Originally Posted by Ypsi the Clown

however ypsi is definetely a detroit suburb(town, city, whatever). like i said before, ypsi rests on BOTH Washtenaw and Wayne counties(i.e. Willow Run Airport, and where Ypsi turns into Canton).

Ypsilanti (city and township) rests completely in Washtenaw County. Ypsilanti is more connected culturally with Belleville and Romulus than with Detroit. If Ann Arbor isn't a suburb of Detroit and stands alone, the same can be said of Ypsilanti.

[ragnarkar]

Part of Detroit proper? no
Part of Detroit area? yes

[Ypsi the Clown]

to flip the subject a little bit, even though Romeo and Armada are in the tri county area, wouldnt u think they would be grouped with the Flint area rather than Detroit area being that Flint is less the 30 minutes away from those towns; however, they are damn near an hour away from Detroit??

[Ypsi the Clown]

Rollin up in my dixie cup!! Lol

[Ypsi the Clown]

Originally Posted by johnr83

Ypsilanti (city and township) rests completely in Washtenaw County. Ypsilanti is more connected culturally with Belleville and Romulus than with Detroit. If Ann Arbor isn't a suburb of Detroit and stands alone, the same can be said of Ypsilanti.

not true, Willow Run(which is part of YPSI only) is on both Wayne AND Washtenaw. Same applies to areas such as the Ridge Rd, Geddes Rd, and Denton Rd areas

[nycinmichigan]

By the numbers Ann Arbor is part of the Detroit Metro Area. Ann Arbor uses DTW. Generally speaking a suburb is defined loosely by statisticians as any town/city that is within 40 miles of contiguous uninterrupted corridor communities. There isn't anyplace on I-94 the presents a serious enough metropolitan interruption. Perfect example Dutchess County, NY is 1 1/2 hours away from NYC, but is got the Metro Train and it's part of the NY Metro Area. When a large city is in close proximity with an area it generally becomes the ----- Metro Area.

Ann Arbor is unique in so many ways, it's NYC/Berkeley in the Mid-West. I love living here and I'm from NYC. I set pretty high expectations for places. However, having a "unique identity" or income base doesn't divorce you from the area you are in.

I think most people just don't want to associated with the stigma of Detroit, but that's unfair.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Ypsi the Clown

to flip the subject a little bit, even though Romeo and Armada are in the tri county area, wouldnt u think they would be grouped with the Flint area rather than Detroit area being that Flint is less the 30 minutes away from those towns; however, they are damn near an hour away from Detroit??

That is true.

I took a little road trip out that way. I took Highway 24 from Pontiac to Flint and I was actually surprised at how close Flint was. Grand Blanc was where I lost some of Detroit's radio stations and started hearing "Mid-Michigan".

I passed through Almont on the way back and it didn't feel like Metro Detroit, but on the map, the Ford Proving Grounds are too far from there. Even Romeo didn't really feel like a suburb of Detroit even though sprawl is almost to the point of being contiguous within the area.

It wasn't really until I got to 29 Mile road on the Van Dyke Freeway that I started to see the rapid sprawl-like home construction and huge strip malls that made it feel like I was on the edges of a big metro.

I even drove to Grosse Isle and it felt worlds away from Detroit. Grosse Isle is actually closer to Monroe than it is to Downtown Detroit. And then Monroe is actually closer to Detroit than Ann Arbor is to Detroit! (By like 2 or 3 miles).

It's a weird little region, but I could definitely see each area sprawling to the point that all areas mentioned would becoming contiguous with Metro Detroit.