Ann Arbor, Welcome Detroit



As Ann Arbor becomes more and more its own metro area, one separate from Detroit, it's easy for people in both areas to believe that their fates and future aren't tied.

After all, Ann Arbor is Google. It's Pfizer. It's Toyota. It's University of Michigan. When bad economic news strikes the region, it hits Ann Arbor with a glancing blow. And why? Because Ann Arbor has the state's most economically diverse economy, entrenched with knowledge-based jobs, entrepreneurial startups and boasting a good environment that makes it a desirable place to live.

But Ann Arbor needs Detroit. For that matter, every city in Michigan needs Detroit. And Detroit needs Ann Arbor. Detroit is the lodestone for the region. It has the vast infrastructure, the name recognition and the urbanity that can't be duplicated in Ann Arbor. And the people that keep Ann Arbor running, the 25-year-old geniuses who can live anywhere, they want a thriving urban environment with a blazing electronic music scene and sketchy neighborhoods on the rise.

The Young and Restless paper, published by CEOs for Cities, said as much. The people who will determine the path of our economy are the 25-34-year-old trailblazers. These same trailblazers are 60 percent more likely to live in "close-in" communities near a major city. They are more concerned about quality of life issues than being in a hot market.

And Ann Arbor is Detroit's model. It’s a city whose people care about the environment, intelligent design and walkability. It is filled with educated people and natural resources and parks. It has the kinds of jobs that Detroit needs to get, and in the short-term, only Ann Arbor can supply for the same 25-year-old who populate Detroit's clubs on Saturday night.

"If you look at these big metro areas that are thriving, two of the things they tend to have are vibrant center cities and major research universities. Ann Arbor can't be Chicago, Detroit has a chance," said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., an economic think tank. "And obviously, U-M is the world-class research university. People live in Ann Arbor and work in Wayne County and vice versa. The lines are basically irrelevant."

But people living both areas might tell you that Ann Arbor is in an island – the lone community in the state not ravaged by the auto industry and able to attract the new, knowledge-based jobs that sought after. Of course, that isn't true on either count.

Ann Arbor has felt the pain of the auto industry contracting, And Ann Arbor isn't the only place for high-tech jobs. And it is becoming increasingly apparent that working together as a region, and not fixating on what municipality lands a job is the key to success.

"Ann Arbor can't make it on its own," said Sabrina Keeley, the former president of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce who now works as vice president of Detroit Renaissance, a Detroit economic growth organization made up of major corporate leaders in the region. "If Ann Arbor does great and Detroit fails, Ann Arbor is going to fail."

Recognizing the link between the communities, Detroit Renaissance now schedules monthly meetings with the top economic development officials in southeast Michigan, including Ann Arbor Spark.

Ann Arbor Mayor John Heiftje knows his town has a lot going for it. But he also knows that one healthy city is not enough to carry the state.

"There needs to be a greater recognition that the health of the state lies with the health of its core cities," he said.

Hieftje is a strong advocate for establishing a passenger rail link between Ann Arbor and Detroit that would stop at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Dearborn before hitting downtown. Rides to and from Ann Arbor could be as cheap as $4. Having the link to the major city provides one more asset in the tally that makes up quality of life.

"If you allow the quality of life in cities to go downhill, there will be no reason for the Googles of the world to come to Michigan. We're competing on a more global scale now for jobs. Right now, our competition is for the top life science researchers. They can go anywhere," he says.

Hieftje says he often tells people that David Canter, who heads up Pfizer's major research and development campus in Ann Arbor, once told him that Pfizer is in Ann Arbor for one main reason: he can attract the right people to move there.

But there's a limit to the attraction. The hardest people to attract to Ann Arbor are the "Young and Restless." Although the town is replete with college hangouts and cultural events, the hotshot graduates coming out of U-M are leaving town. They want the big city.

Hieftje, whose wife is a professional pianist, says even though Ann Arbor has excellent symphony offerings, there's still no beating the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he and his wife frequently go. Those are the assets that cannot be duplicated.

"If we couldn't go to the DSO, I couldn't keep her here," he said.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick says Detroit is becoming a destination city with unique attractions that can't be duplicated in other places in Michigan.

"Over the last couple of years we have experienced an influx of people from surrounding communities coming here to take part in the transformation. More people are visiting our museums and theaters, eating in our restaurants, and enjoying our thriving nightlife. Events such as the All Star Game, Super Bowl, and World Series have helped to lure people back to Detroit, but its is everything else we have to offer that keeps them coming back."

Susan Pollay, the executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, said the connection between Ann Arbor's and Detroit's downtown is very strong.

Pollay was among hundreds of other folks in the planning world who attended a conference several years ago when Richard Florida was talking about his new book, the Rise of the Creative Class. He helped roll out Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Cool Cities initiative.

"What he talked about was how impossible it was for the rest of the state to succeed without Detroit succeeding and that the University of Michigan is the key to open the door of Detroit," she said. "Even more broadly, the health and vitality of our sister downtowns have a huge impact on our own downtowns. We benefit, the whole region benefits. I would argue we are no longer separate from any area of the state. The benefits of one, benefit the other, and when one stumbles, we all stumble."


Images:

Biosciences Building - Ann Arbor

Near the law library - University of Michigan (photo by Brian Kelly)

Google's new corporate offices - Ann Arbor

Cranbrook Art Museum

Photographs by Dave Krieger - All Rights Reserved
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