Elyssa ([info]elyssa20) wrote in [info]umstudents,
2008-01-06 12:30:00
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South University Student Housing Proposal

So, in the Daily, I read a bit about the proposed 26 story sky rise with four bedroom suites, built-in washers/dryers and all this good stuff. Sounds like a pretty place, I suppose. Especially if you can afford
it, seeing as Mom is a lawyer and Dad a doctor. What nice dessert after the BMW you got for your 16th birthday.

Well, on a side note, if the plan wins approval of the city's planning commission, the developers will demolish the buildings across the street from University Towers, including the Village Corner. The Village Corner, a small grocery/wine store, is the one place where I can find detergent, toothbrushes, and other basic items through late at night. Because I don't have my own BMW, I need a place I can walk to after bus hours, unless I want to pay 10 dollars for a cab (to the grocery store.) Not to mention its renowned wine selection that I'm told connoisseurs relish.


On some levels, the Village Corner is just another grocery/liquor store. Though it is also a local business that has many customers. One of the aspects of Ann Arbor I enjoy is that many local businesses thrive. It's not just another area of outlet malls with impersonal chain stores. People have the opportunity to start honest businesses from scratch and actually gain success. Just look at Big Ten Burrito and its new Cantina being built next to Charley's.

Entrepreneurs have an option not to get tied up in the corrupt corporate web. (Though, who knows? Maybe Big Ten Burrito is corrupt.)


If people repeatedly enable the demolition of local businesses that nourish Ann Arbor's uniqueness and rich local culture, then it will eventually turn into another corporate, sterile, dehumanizing, and empty place, like the one I grew up in. It is in Ann Arbor that I finally awakened after laying dormant for 18 years in a kingdom of upper middle class monotony. I don't want to lose my refuge.

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  • 55 comments

[info]lapenn

January 6 2008, 18:25:51 UTC 4 years ago

you should write a letter to the city council and also to the AA Observer.

It might be possible for the city to relocate those businesses to other locations on south main (or to incorporate businesses into the bottom floor of the high rise, which I think would be awesome).

My one thought of the benefits of building these huge places right on campus: it frees up lots of space in the rental market for the rest of us. I don't know about you, but I think the rental housing in Ann Arbor is damn expensive.

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[info]lapenn

4 years ago

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[info]wpl510

4 years ago

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[info]cr4zyp3rs0n

4 years ago

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[info]lapenn

4 years ago

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[info]cr4zyp3rs0n

4 years ago

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[info]etheb

January 6 2008, 18:47:36 UTC 4 years ago

amen! The house I've lived in for the past year and a half will be torn down to make room for this monstrosity, and it's really sad. Even though I'm a senior, so it won't make a difference whether or not I could stay here, it's still awful to see beautiful and historic homes being demolished in the name of "progress."

I'm also concerned about the class segregation that this building will inevitably cause, as you mentioned--only the rich kids will be able to afford to live there! Not to mention the annoyance a construction project of this size will bring to the neighborhood, and the blight such a tall tower will become on the skyline of the city.

By the way, the article about this project in the Ann Arbor News (mlive.com; i don't have time to locate the exact link right now) said that Champion's Party Store has already secured a deal to have space on the first floor of the new building. Perhaps VC is working out a similar deal?

[info]dainslaif

January 7 2008, 13:18:50 UTC 4 years ago

I would think that if they already have a party store in the first floor, they would not need VC and would just plow it. Really, VC is like a party store +10, there'd be no need for both.

[info]etheb

4 years ago

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[info]dainslaif

4 years ago

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[info]wpl510

January 6 2008, 19:04:21 UTC 4 years ago

I remember the laws being changed relatively recently to allow taller buildings down that way, but it was a close thing- so there probably is some wiggle room to protest to the city still.

Opening the bottom floor to businesses would be very cool (and reduce the feeling of "dead space" that comes from walking by a bunch of apartment buildings)... though the Michigan Daily article suggests security measures like keycards for building entry. Although, this building sounds pretty ritzy, so I suspect I'd be facing the same competition in my price range as ever (blegh!).

[info]wpl510

January 6 2008, 21:08:03 UTC 4 years ago

Also on the subject of chains, I like the independents too... but would this be the wrong time to mention that both Border's and Domino's pizza were founded locally? It's kind of ironic to realize that a place like this has produced some of the monoliths that now cover so many other cities across the country.

(Proquest is also local, apparently, but that's a whole different rant)

[info]elyssa20

4 years ago

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[info]elyssa20

4 years ago

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[info]poopbucket

January 6 2008, 19:10:59 UTC 4 years ago

Ehhh, until the village corner hires normal people instead of RC freaks, I'm all for the demolition.

[info]swiviol

January 6 2008, 19:31:08 UTC 4 years ago

lol, nice.

-an RC "freak"

[info]sbgskl

January 6 2008, 19:52:13 UTC 4 years ago

I'm another asshole engineer who eats hippies for breakfast, but I went to the Village Corner almost weekly when I lived nearby last year. The register folk were always friendly, and they had a great selection of alcohol, chocolate and all manner of good things. Like bacon. I love bacon.
...and 9 more comments... from [info]aikaterina, [info]colintj, [info]lefteyeright… Expand

[info]hey_february

January 6 2008, 19:36:54 UTC 4 years ago

Village Corner does have a nice wine selection! When I still lived on campus, that was where I went to get a nice (and affordable btw) bottle. A grocery store in walking distance that isn't as over-priced as White Market is nice. I hope they don't tear it down.

Oh, slightly off topic... isn't there supposed to be apartments going up on E. U? Why would you need to apartment sky-rises in within a few blocks of each other?

[info]evilsporkman

January 6 2008, 19:44:32 UTC 4 years ago

Because there isn't enough housing in the city relative to the number of people who want to live here. You can't bitch about both new housing and high rent, for instance...

[info]dainslaif

4 years ago

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[info]colintj

4 years ago

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[info]dainslaif

4 years ago

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[info]colintj

4 years ago

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[info]hey_february

4 years ago

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[info]cokewithdrawl

4 years ago

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[info]bedlover

January 6 2008, 20:29:15 UTC 4 years ago

here here to this entry!
that: and, VC is one of ann arbor's most beloved locales. i can remember buying many a pint of ben and jerry's a long while back, as many before me can remember. there is something wonderful about it, and i am sad to hear that it is going. good for you to stick up for our town!

[info]square_rooted

January 6 2008, 21:49:06 UTC 4 years ago

My parents shopped at VC when they went here 30 years ago. I love that place.

[info]colintj

January 7 2008, 07:11:38 UTC 4 years ago

heh, mine too.

[info]por_que_no

January 6 2008, 22:19:50 UTC 4 years ago

I hit up VC all the time back in my days living at the marth. They can't take it down :( I like the idea of putting it on the first floor of an apartment complex, like bdubs (my friend lived in that complex and it was really, really nice)

[info]onlytati

January 7 2008, 00:06:33 UTC 4 years ago

If they could put VC on the first floor or something, have it be more spacious, better organized, and other good stuff, Im all for it.
I live about two blocks away and go there at least once a week to get a bottle of wine or something. I would hate to see it gone.

[info]fachidiot

January 7 2008, 02:25:00 UTC 4 years ago

If this school didn't have such shit housing, there wouldn't be a market for this =/

[info]delectatio

January 7 2008, 02:56:01 UTC 4 years ago

something needs to be done about the shitty apartments students are forced to live in

[info]elyssa20

4 years ago

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[info]colintj

4 years ago

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[info]elyssa20

4 years ago

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[info]colintj

4 years ago

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[info]elyssa20

4 years ago

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[info]colintj

4 years ago

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[info]wendynyc

4 years ago

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[info]erinemm

January 7 2008, 06:16:33 UTC 4 years ago

I always found tower plaza and utowers to also be "pricey" and perhaps even involve "class separation" (that being if you don't share a bedroom within one of them).

I think all of us just came here used to them being around though...

[info]elyssa20

January 7 2008, 15:42:41 UTC 4 years ago

I agree. Though it's not so much that the new apartments would exist, but that it would take the place of a pre-existing successful small business.

[info]colintj

January 7 2008, 15:57:36 UTC 4 years ago

Having been in one of them quite a bit, I can tell you utowers appts are shite.

[info]prozach1576

January 8 2008, 18:40:26 UTC 4 years ago

I'm sorry, but opposing a massive housing development that close to campus because of a sketchy convenience store and a ratty house or two is just ludicrous. I hate gentrification as much as the next guy, but such a massive increase in density for the South U area is a great, great thing. As others have said, the reason we have to pay exorbitant rent for terrible apartments and houses in Ann Arbor is because of supply and demand. Increasing the supply of decent housing in a premium location puts pressure of on other landlords. Between this development, the one on East U, and North Quad, I think there will be appreciable effects in the housing market in years to come because of the influx in new housing. That probably won't help most of us, but it's still a good thing and ought to be encouraged.

Who knows, maybe the increased density would encourage a real grocery store to open within a reasonable distance?

[info]cokewithdrawl

January 8 2008, 22:42:56 UTC 4 years ago

They're also building the private dorms on North Campus next to Bursley so in five years or so, there should be quite the increase in available housing and (hopefully) competitive rent prices.

[info]penguinfairy

January 10 2008, 03:28:42 UTC 4 years ago

you've been cited elsewhere

http://www.annarborisoverrated.com/2008/01/09/students-for-higher-rents/

[info]elyssa20

January 10 2008, 04:36:02 UTC 4 years ago

Re: you've been cited elsewhere

Thanks for letting me know! : )
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