Ypsilanti? (Detroit, Ann Arbor, Dearborn: for sale, houses, landscaping)

[EB2]

I'm originally from Michigan (born in Ypsi - spent most of my time there, then a bit in A2, and a very small amount in Chelsea). I don't (think I) have any intentions of returning to MI (don't get me wrong, I love it, it's my birth state, and where I spent most of my life), but I'm just curious.... how is Ypsi fairing? I've heard mostly bad things, unfortunately...but it's only been from about 2 people.

[Coldjensens]

My daughter just moved there (EMU Dorm). We poked around the city a bit. Depot Town is very nice and seems to have some life to it. The main downtown is very quaint, but it is a bit run down, and filled with business of little general interest (like tax preparers or shoe repair) Not the kind of places that it is nice to just wander into. Quite a few empty buildings there too. EMU campus seems ok. No indication that it is run down, but it is aging. That is all that we saw so far (except the stadium and a McDonalds, which are all pretty much the same anywhere.)

Edit: Forgot to mention. We got lost and ended up driving around a very nice well kept neighborhood filled with victorian and craftsman homes. It ws very nice there. I cannto guess where we were though.

[ocean2026]

Jensens- Didn't you try to convince her to go to Ann Arbor where you went? Alma Mater means nothing to kids nowadays and my son who will attend college next year, is not considering any of the schools I went to.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

Jensens- Didn't you try to convince her to go to Ann Arbor where you went? Alma Mater means nothing to kids nowadays and my son who will attend college next year, is not considering any of the schools I went to.

She wants to be a teacher. Eastern is probably the best recognized school for teaching in Michigan. Her sister was planning to go to Ann Arbor, but applied too late. She is going to U-M Dearborn which she likes so much so far, that she is less enthusiastic about transferring to Ann Arbor than she originally was. I have 5 chances for a Wolverine. Somewhere in there, we will produce one.

[EB2]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

My daughter just moved there (EMU Dorm). We poked around the city a bit. Depot Town is very nice and seems to have some life to it. The main downtown is very quaint, but it is a bit run down, and filled with business of little general interest (like tax preparers or shoe repair) Not the kind of places that it is nice to just wander into. Quite a few empty buildings there too. EMU campus seems ok. No indication that it is run down, but it is aging. That is all that we saw so far (except the stadium and a McDonalds, which are all pretty much the same anywhere.)

Edit: Forgot to mention. We got lost and ended up driving around a very nice well kept neighborhood filled with victorian and craftsman homes. It ws very nice there. I cannto guess where we were though.

Well, that's a little better/nicer than I've heard from others, and than I was expecting . Ah, yes, the stadium...I used to live behind it, in the campus housing. I had a feeling EMU was becoming aged - after all, it is pretty old, but I've heard they've rebuilt quite a bit of things, and when I left (roughly 10 1/2 years ago), other things had just been built (the library), or were in the works of construction.

Thanks for the info/update, though . I miss MI and would love to visit (but probably not live in) again, one day.

[EB2]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

She wants to be a teacher. Eastern is probably the best recognized school for teaching in Michigan. Her sister was planning to go to Ann Arbor, but applied too late. She is going to U-M Dearborn which she likes so much so far, that she is less enthusiastic about transferring to Ann Arbor than she originally was. I have 5 chances for a Wolverine. Somewhere in there, we will produce one.

Definitely agree on EMU being a great teaching school.

[ocean2026]

LOL cold- '5 chances for a Wolverine" In my case if i had five kids I'd say 5 chances for Bankruptcy as they seem to like private colleges.

[J'aimeDesVilles]

Originally Posted by EB2

I'm originally from Michigan (born in Ypsi - spent most of my time there, then a bit in A2, and a very small amount in Chelsea). I don't (think I) have any intentions of returning to MI (don't get me wrong, I love it, it's my birth state, and where I spent most of my life), but I'm just curious.... how is Ypsi fairing? I've heard mostly bad things, unfortunately...but it's only been from about 2 people.

How long ago did you live here? I live in Ypsi Twp. just a mile and a half northeast of Depot Town. We moved here three months ago as I work in Toledo and my wife works in metro Detroit.. I also went to EMU so I have some familiarity with Ypsi.
It has its rough areas. Along or near (especially south of) Michigan Ave. and Washtenaw Ave. from campus to around Golfside. Some of the areas near campus and downtown I guess are not that great at night.
Economically it has been hit hard. Both Ford and G.M. are gone or soon to be. The Water Street area just east of downtown is still undeveloped and for sale and downtown has quite a few vacant storefronts.
On the plus side this town has so much character! We like living here. There are many historic homes and buildings, many nice little parks and neighborhoods. There always seems to be something going on. All the festivals (Heritage Days, Beer Brewers Fest, Elvis Fest., etc.) seem to be getting bigger each year. There is definitely more of a community feel than where we used to live (West Bloomfield, MI). Plus you have EMU as a bonus.
One senses if the economy ever turns around for this area that Ypsilanti can really be great place to call home.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

LOL cold- '5 chances for a Wolverine" In my case if i had five kids I'd say 5 chances for Bankruptcy as they seem to like private colleges.

One of our kids reallly badly wanted to go to Hillsdale. It is an impressive school, but even with major scholarships, there was not way we could swing the tuition/room and board. I do not know how anyone can do it. they give out a lot of very large scholarships, but it is still considerably more expensive than ppublic schools (which also give out lots of scholarships). She was also somewhat interested in seveal ivy legaue schools (she had great grades and all the supporting stuff to get in pretty much anywhere)


DD #1 was Eastern all they way. Once she looked into a half dozen schools, she was not really interested in anything but Eastern.

Themore I see Ypsilanti, the more I like it. The houses along Huron near the university are amazing. There are a lot of neighborhoods filled with quaint historic homes and not too many awful chinsey aprtment boxes that i have seen. That is what ruins a city. The negiborhoods need some work, but mostly just paint and landscaping to look nice and a better mix pf people. (Too much of any type is not good and Ypsi has too many impoversihed people, they need a mix with more middle class and a few rich people).

The dowontown is very salvagable. There are a few neat stores, but too many are uninteresting service type places. However the building stock is really nice. If they spiffed it up a bit and got some more attractive businesses in there, got the empty places filled with something, it could be a really desireable downtown. The nice thing is that they did not tear down all of the quint builings and replace them with "modern" stuff that quickly become aging junk. The City really seems to have great potential. Withthe right leadership and some way to attract residents and business, it appears to have the potential to become a neater place than either Plymouth or Ann Arbor.

[magik]

the west willow neighborhood has gone down and supposedly there's gangs there now well, before the gang sweeps. the parkwood area is starting to get more 'low-income'. but whenever someone tries to act 'hard' and 'gangsta' they say there from ypsi.