Only two more days to take Ann Arbor's deer management survey

Gentle reader, there are only two more days to take Ann Arbor's deer management survey. Sounds like a great way to spend a lazy New Year's Day.

Previously: Oh Deer

Brillig Dry Bar popping up tonight

Brillig Dry Bar is a non-alcoholic, pop-up night club in Mighty Good Coffee. The first night they opened featured lines out the door. They will be open for their second night of business tonight from 7 pm to 11 pm.

Image via Brillig's Facebook Page.

The resurgence of the Great Lakes shipping industry

Canada's right-leaning National Post has a great long read about Great Lakes shipping. Peter Kuitenbrouwer's article tells the story of the industry's recent upswing through a diary of the week he spent aboard the MV Kaministiqua, a 730' bulk carrier as she ships Saskatchewan wheat and Manitoba soy from Thunder Bay to Sorel Quebec. It's a great account of the journey and the cast of characters aboard the Kaministiqua. From the article, it seems like the surge in St. Lawrence shipping this year has taken a lot of folks by surprise. Apparently the surge in transporting crude oil by rail has clogged a lot of the rail lines running from the Prairie Provinces to Canada's western ports. This has forced grain carriers to rely on the St. Lawrence to get their commodities to market. The whole article is worth the read.

Our friend, Michigan Exposures, has tons of pictures of the Kaministiqua and other Great Lakes ships over on his website.

White Christmas looking more probably

Gentle Readers, just wanted to update you on the approaching cold front. Tuesday and Wednesday are looking pretty rainy. Fortunately, it looks like we might be waking up to a snowy Christmas morning.

Unseen Lives of Michigan Engineers photo/video showcase coming in January

A friend alerted me to this upcoming exhibition, a photo and video showcase examining the Michigan Engineering life.

As a graduate from U-M's engineering program, I'm particularly excited to see what I can learn about the lives of the college's faculty and staff.

There'll be an opening reception on Thursday, January 8 at 4pm. Unfortunately I'll be out of town then, but I'll plan to visit soon after I arrive back in town.

The exhibition will run January 6–24 in the Duderstadt Center Gallery on North Campus. The gallery's hours are found here, on the U-M Library website.

Affordability and Housing in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti

Concentrate has an interesting look at the affordability of housing in the Ypsi-Arbor area. The entire article is worth a read, but I found research firm, czb's, analysis of the home and rental markets in Washtenaw County's urban core very interesting. You can read the full presentation here. Here's the tl;dr: to comfortable buy an average house in Ann Arbor you need to be making about $75,000 per year--that's about 150% of the median income. To rent an average ($1000/month) apartment in Ann Arbor affordably (less than 30% of annual income) you need to bring in about $17/hour full time. In Ypsilanti you need to be making about $44,100 per year (140% of the median income) to be able to afford an average house. To rent an average ($700) month apartmentin Ypsi, you'll need to be pulling in at least $12/hour.

The concentrate article suggests reimagined development along the Washtenaw Road Corridor as a potential way to fix the supply and demand discrepancies in the Ypsi-Arbor housing market. I wonder though if adding Accessory Unit Dwellings could help to add some needed capacity to the Ann Arbor market as well as potentially increasing home value in the Ypsilanti market.

Gentle readers, what do you think about affordability of the area? Do you think people would take advantage of Accessory Unit Dwellings to their properties if zoning allowed it?

It's beginning to look a lot like Krampus

It's hard to believe it gentle readers, 2015 is just around a corner. Soon, 2014 will be a memory. That can only mean one thing: it's almost time for Ypsilanti's annual Krampus Ball. Last year's was ton's of fun and culminated with a torchlit walk through the streets of Ypsilanti. One major change this year: the ball will be held at the Dreamland Theater instead of Corner Brewery. Hope to see you there.

Ypsi Food Coop has the best Christmas Trees

Gentle reader, are you still looking for a Christmas Tree? Well the Ypsi Food Coop is selling locally sourced, volunteer "Charlie Brown" trees for just $19. The trees are all Scots Pines and range in height from 6' to 9'. Hard to beat these deals.

Previously:

Christmas Trees, an updated ranking for 2014

Help Jacob find Sox

Somewhere in Ypsilanti, a cat has gone missing. On my run this morning, I came across a truly astonishing number of these posters. I think Jacob really misses his lil' buddy. Maybe you can help him find Sox. In the above picture, Sox appears to be groping thong beclad cartoon butt.

Holiday Craft-splosion this weekend

Gentle reader, both Tiny Expo and DIYpsi are this weekend. Both of these events are a great way to get gifts while supporting local artists and artisans. If you're wondering how you will be able to attend both of these events, you're in luck: Tiny Expo and DIYpsi run Saturday and Sunday.