Gay Couple Considering Relocating to Ann Arbor

[EastwardBound]

Thank you everyone for your input and feedback. Still narrowing it down between a few places with Ann Arbor in the running. We really want to be in a college town and AA is certainly that. We are also still looking at Ithaca, NY, Asheville, NC (less of a college town, although there is one there) and Charlottesville, VA.

At this point, the two drawbacks for AA are the long winter and the flatness of the landscape. Yes, we would have a long winter in Ithaca too! I like being in and near the mountains or at least hills, but with that said, there seems to be plenty of outdoor recreation available, albeit a little more flat.

[RockChester]

Boulder, Colorado is a college town and it's right next to the Rockies.

[xfactor85]

Boulder is beautiful, however, the cost of living is higher than Ann Arbor. Why not consider Berkeley, which is very liberal and corvallis Oregon?

Generally, you get what you pay for….

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by xfactor85

Generally, you get what you pay for….

But if the money's not there, it's not there!

[Taern]

I haven't lived many places, so I can't speak knowledgeably on how Ann Arbor compares to, say, Boulder, CO - however, I can say this about Ann Arbor, MI:

-Extremely "gay-friendly"
-Very liberal in general
-Lots of mixed race couples
-A strange blend of hippies and yuppies
-It's not particularly difficult to make left turns across congested roads in the Ann Arbor area - which is to say that people tend to stop and let others in. This is a mixed bag. Great if you need to make the turn. Stinks if you're waiting in the line.
-There are some very nice parks within the city
-Pleasant downtown area that has a small city feel. Streets are generally quite clean. Busy but not congested. You will see a couple homeless people downtown but they are not invasive or creepy - the residents tend to interact with them fairly frequently. The downtown is basically synonymous with the sprawling U of M campus. Everyone seems to jaywalk there
-A lot of small businesses selling all sorts of artsy crafts
-There's a nightclub (the Necto) downtown. It isn't particularly big, but is very popular with the locals. Each day of the week has a different theme. They have a website.
-A variety of excellent animal hospitals (people here tend to love their pets and demand the best for them)
-Last I knew, apartment rent was very high if you wanted to live within the city (even near the borders of the city). Houses are generally quite expensive here (probably cheap compared to CA though). They also sell fast. Ann Arbor is a very popular and well-to-do area.
-There are some excellent comedy clubs downtown
-Has a great arcade with all sorts of games downtown
-Ann Arbor has a lot of cultural events throughout the year. There is always something to do
-Compared to the rest of Michigan, the economy in Ann Arbor is flourishing
-I would NOT recommend living in Ypsilanti (which runs up to the Ann Arbor border). The culture there is totally different (more depressed than vibrant). Ypsi is like Ann Arbor's poor shadow.
-Ann Arbor is pretty safe (I used to walk around downtown alone at 3 in the morning and I never had anything bad happen, or felt the slightest bit unsafe). Not to say that it is perfect (nowhere is), but I'd say it rates pretty high on the safety scale. Don't try that in Ypsilanti.