Size Matters

What Ann Arbor once was and what it is becoming can be found on ether side of Huron Street near the city's downtown.

The Ann Arbor of old, on the north side of Huron between Glen Ann and Main streets, is often referred to as the Old Fourth Ward. Resplendent with two- and three-story Victorian-era homes, it creates a quiet, quaint neighborhood composed of a mix of long-time residents and older graduate students at the nearby University of Michigan.

New Ann Arbor, on the other hand, is sprouting up around the fringes of the Old Fourth Ward in the form of new mid- and high-rise buildings. Adjacent to downtown, these high-density dwellings tower over the neighborhood, allowing more new residents and workers to take advantage of the city's thriving core. None is bigger than the university's 10-story North Quad development, which will loom over the Old Fourth Ward just outside its boundary at State Street and Huron. It will house 500 students in a university that is rapidly growing and constantly improving its building portfolio.

In theory these two worlds should coexist peacefully. In reality they clash, with one side saying the other is spoiling their neighborhood while the other responds that such obstructionism stands in the way of progress. This leaves Ann Arbor in the precarious spot of a college town trying to balance its small-town charm with the kind of blossoming downtown development that attracts companies like Google.

"There is a place for all of that," says Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, who has voted both in favor of and against high-rise developments in downtown. "We certainly don't want to become overwhelmed by tall buildings, but there is a core area downtown that can stand a few tall buildings. There has to be a balance."

It's an issue that is starting to pop up in Metro Detroit's reviving suburban downtown areas now that developers are recognizing the demand for vertical, urban lifestyles. The problem is diversifying the metro area's largely horizontal housing stock while respecting the character that makes each city attractive in the first place.

"A 12-story building next to a two-story building can be problematic," says Will Wittig, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy and the co-director of its masters of community development program. "A good design will take into account the context of the surrounding neighborhood."

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