It's Neighborhood Week!

 

Headliner events for Neighborhood Week

Gentle readers, this week is Neighborhood Week. This is a week of events focused on advocacy around housing, transportation, and vision for Ann Arbor's future. It is being hosted by the Neighborhood Institute, Neighbors for More Neighbors A2, and the University of Michigan Urbanism Club. 

While events have been occurring all week, the headline events kick off tonight with Neighborhood Fundamentals: Housing, Transportation, and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. This event is from 7-9 PM at Blau Hall, Room B1580. It will cover:

Why is it so hard to rent or buy in Ann Arbor? What are our barriers to walking, biking, or taking transit? How can we envision a better future? Designed for newcomers to housing, planning, and transportation safety activism, these expert-led conversations will cover the essentials of how we got here — and where we're going. Dinner at 7pm, while talks begin at 7:15pm.

Sounds great, but I want to know what dinner will be. There are tons of other great events this week including Parking Day, the Green Fair, and Bikeapalooza. You don't want to miss it. 

Ann Arbor City Council Preview: September 15, 2025

 

RETVRN

Gentle readers, it's #a2Council night in Ann Arbor. Here's the agenda. 

The evening kicks off with a substantial, 19-item consent agenda. Of note, CA-16, resolution to authorize the administrator to sell development rights for 415 W Washington and 309 S Ashley (Kline Lot). Exciting to see these moving forward. 

There are no public hearings on the docket this evening but there are 4 ordinance first readings. C-1 is for rezoning of 4.16 Acres from O (Office District) to R4E (Multiple-Family Dwelling District). This is for "The Crescent" development at 2525 Ann Arbor-Saline Road. This project will bring 262 new dwellings to an area well served with transit. You love to see it. 

C-2 is to rezone 0.11 Acre from P (Parking) to C1 (Local Commercial) at 1007 Woodlawn Ave in Lower Burns Park. This is a small change, but it's great to get rid of parking. 

C-3 updates the city's rules on purchasing, contracting, and selling. And C-4 adds a new chapter on Temporary Reduction of Distance Requirements Between K-12 Schools and Marijuana Facilities in they city's marijuana rules. 

On to the resolutions. DC-1 is a resolution to appoint Karlene Goetz to the Public Market Advisory Commission as a Non-registered Elector. DC-2 is a Resolution to Correct the Appointment of Julie Lynch to the Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees. DC-3 is a resolution for Bicentennial Park Improvements. 

DC-4 is a resolution to affirm the city's support for the Treeline Trail Project. Spoiler: we don't support the Treeline largely do to the opportunity cost of the project versus building actually useful non-motorized infrastructure. Read more here. 

DC-5 is a resolution to revise the remainder of the 2025 Council Calendars. 

That's all there is. Should be pretty short. Make sure to follow the blow by blow tonight with the #a2Council hashtag on Bluesky.