Ypsilanti: A stepchild takes its own steps =
Storefront clubs, boutiques, cafes help =
city=20
carve a gritty-hip identity
July 7, 2003
BY DAVID=20
ZEMAN FREE PRESS STAFF=20
WRITER
This is part of an occasional series exploring Gov. Jennifer =
Granholm's idea that Michigan needs to create "cool cities" to =
keep young=20
people from moving away. E-mail suggestions and comments to coolcities@freepress.com.=20
Ypsilanti has long played the forlorn stepchild to Ann Arbor, =
its=20
Volvo-driving, polenta-eating, culturally imperious neighbor to =
the west.=20
| About Ypsilanti |
| WHAT'S COOL=20
Live music clubs, open late. See http://www.ypsirocks.com/.=20
Rubber Soul Records, with old vinyl, =
vintage concert=20
posters, live bands. See http://www.rubbersoulmusic.com/<=
/A>.=20
Henrietta Fahrenheit, with funky women's =
boutique,=20
paintings of women with guns. See http://www.henriettafahrenhe=
it.com/.=20
Mother Fletcher's vintage clothing (sister =
to the=20
store in Ferndale).=20
Riverside Arts Center, with local theater, =
dance and=20
studio space. See http://www.riversidearts.org/.=
=20
WHAT'S NOT COOL=20
Lack of a destination restaurant.=20
Comparing Eastern Michigan University and =
the=20
University of Michigan.=20
What's coming=20
Two new coffee shops and a steak and =
oyster=20
restaurant.=20
Michigan ElvisFest on Friday and Saturday =
at=20
Riverside Park in Depot Town.=20
Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer =
Festival, in Frog=20
Island Park in Depot Town, July 26.=20
DATA=20
Name: Demetrius Ypsilanti was a general in the =
Greek=20
revolution.
History: The city grew up at the intersection of =
an Indian=20
trail and the Huron River. One of the first white settlers, =
Benjamin=20
Woodruff, arrived in 1823. EMU, a former teachers college, =
opened in=20
1852. The bomber plant in nearby Willow Run built 8,685 B24s =
during=20
World War II.
Population: 22,362, 81st most populous in =
Michigan.=20
| So it is with=20
some pride that the unglamorous sidekick of a town can now trumpet =
two=20
words rarely combined in the English language: Ypsilanti =
nightlife.=20
With little hype, a downtown stretch of Michigan Avenue is =
attracting=20
large crowds to hear indie, alt-country, metal and stoner-rock =
bands in=20
storefront clubs. Around one corner, a nightspot that draws from =
across=20
metro Detroit is jammed with dancers. Around another, theater =
groups play=20
to regional audiences in a circa-1909 Masonic Temple building. A =
salon and=20
spa have opened in an old flour mill. Young artists, evicted from =
Ann=20
Arbor, are setting up studio space.=20
The buildings are old. The crowd, decidedly, is not. Nor are =
the=20
merchants, who are bravely opening niche boutiques, cafes, record =
shops,=20
bookstores and theater space along what was a desolate urban =
landscape=20
only three years ago.=20
It may be too early to call Ypsilanti hot. But it is certainly =
on the=20
cusp of hot-ness, in a laid-back, gritty, chain-store-averse way.=20
"Business is good and getting better," said Jennifer Albaum of=20
Henrietta Fahrenheit, a funky women's clothing boutique that =
opened in May=20
2002. "It's still scary and still difficult because Ypsilanti's =
downtown=20
obviously hasn't yet reached its full potential. . . . But I =
wanted to get=20
in and ride the wave. And I have."=20
That wave, admittedly, is more ripple than tsunami.=20
Threadbare groceries, dated hair salons and empty storefronts =
still dot=20
the area. There are few office workers. Street corners remain =
popular with=20
men drinking from paper bags. The neighborhood's 19th-Century =
homes are=20
mostly rentals. And merchants still haven't quite figured how to =
get more=20
Eastern Michigan University students to spend time and cash in =
their=20
oh-so-hip stores.=20
All of which, in a perverse way, only adds to the town's =
coolness=20
quotient. As downtown habitue and graphic designer Linette Lao put =
it, "I=20
see crazy people, and I see people I'm afraid of -- but they're =
always=20
interesting."=20
Anecdotally, merchants and residents say more young =
professionals are=20
moving downtown, many after realizing they could not afford =
housing in Ann=20
Arbor. Among this group is a large and thriving gay community. =
This influx=20
would mark a welcome shift for Ypsilanti, which had a 15-percent =
decline=20
in its population of 20- to 35-year-olds between 1990 and 2000.=20
And on the horizon is a project that may yet transform the =
downtown=20
into a bona fide destination spot, for better or worse.=20
It's known locally as the Water Street project, 38 acres of =
acrid=20
industrial and commercial land along the Huron River that is being =
converted into upscale condominiums. The project, with 872 condos, =
many of=20
them lofts, is geared mainly to young professionals, with units up =
to=20
2,000 square feet for up to $250,000.=20
"It will be one of the most dramatic changes to all of =
Ypsilanti in the=20
last 100 years," said Bill Kinley of Phoenix Contractors. "It will =
be a=20
real magnet for people who want to own a home in Ypsilanti."=20
But Water Street is at least five years from completion. In the =
meantime, area merchants say they are seeing more young customers =
from=20
beyond Ypsilanti -- including style setters from Ann Arbor, =
Detroit and=20
its suburbs.=20
They are jamming places like the Elbow Room, a smoky bunker of =
a bar=20
that features nationally touring bands of various styles. Summer =
acts=20
include the Immortal Lee County Killers, Slobberbone and the=20
Christpunchers ("the 7000 Dying Rats one, not the dress-up Sabbath =
band,"=20
as its Web site explains).=20
They are visiting Rubber Soul Records, which sells used CDs and =
vinyl=20
and where customers can sip latte while watching local bands play =
in the=20
back.=20
Then there is Mugs Hideaway, an all-ages venue for alternative =
bands.=20
And the venerable Tap Room, for live blues and open mike nights.=20
Around the corner on Washington Street is Club Divine, a =
DJ-driven=20
nightclub that attracts a young but glitzier and more mainstream =
crowd=20
from across the region. The club's owner, David Curtis, has also =
opened=20
Pub 13 next door, which features dueling pianists and sports-bar=20
amenities. He plans to open a steak-and-oyster restaurant with =
live jazz=20
across the street.=20
Also soon to open are two upscale coffee shops.=20
Neither of them will be named Starbucks. And that's how most =
locals=20
want to keep downtown Ypsilanti -- growing, but not gentrifying, =
unsoiled=20
by ubiquitous chains like the Gap and Borders. In other words, =
they want=20
to remain the anti-Ann Arbor.=20
Which would explain the enduring popularity of anti-Ann Arbor =
bumper=20
stickers. And the resentment toward Ypsilanti's long-standing =
reputation=20
for drugs, dirty books, southern immigrants (hence the moniker =
Ypsitucky),=20
and as the place where suspected 1960s serial killer John Norman =
Collins=20
preyed on EMU coeds.=20
Indeed, after so many years of perceived slights, Ypsilanti =
residents=20
get a bit ornery when asked about their neighbor.=20
"People in this community have suffered so much for being in =
the shadow=20
of Ann Arbor," said Jennifer Goulet, director of Ypsilanti's =
Downtown=20
Development Authority. "It's aggravating."=20
So there is some satisfaction that Ypsilanti's artistic cache =
has, to=20
some degree, come at Ann Arbor's expense. There was, for example, =
last=20
month's closing of the Technology Center in Ann Arbor, which =
displaced=20
about 150 artists and musicians, so that the YMCA could build on =
the land.=20
Carl Goines, 23, a sculptor, and seven colleagues found =
low-priced=20
studio space in downtown Ypsilanti, in a building owned by the =
city. Other=20
artists may follow.=20
"We want to be a part of the community," Goines said. "That's =
why we=20
liked downtown. We're not way out in the boonies."=20
Some of Ypsilanti's coolest assets cannot be found in downtown=20
storefronts. Ypsilanti is home to two progressive record labels -- =
Flying=20
Bomb Records, which did work for the White Stripes, and =
Pochahontas Swamp=20
Machine.=20
Mark Maynard of Pochahontas and his wife, graphic designer Lao, =
also=20
put out an alternative magazine called Crimewave U.S.A. The =
publication=20
has gained some national notice for themselves and for Ypsilanti.=20
"Ypsilanti's a good town," Maynard said, "and it has a heart."=20
But will it succeed, when so many efforts failed? Jennifer =
Albaum of=20
Henrietta Fahrenheit remembers an afternoon last summer when nary =
a=20
customer entered her rasberry red shop. She called a neighboring =
merchant.=20
"Is it going to get better?" she wailed. "Please, tell me it's =
going to=20
get better!"=20
In a year, it has, she says now.=20
"I could have put this business in a more viable place and made =
money=20
already," she said. "But I put my money where my heart is, in =
Ypsilanti.=20
And it's been hard. But I think we've seen the worst of it. And it =
is=20
getting better."
Contact DAVID ZEMAN at 248-586-2604 or zeman@freepress.com.
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