History : Background Information

Background Information

Ann Arbor Area

Population - Ann Arbor – 114,024 (Washtenaw County pop. - 322,895)
Size – 28.2 square miles
Average Age – 27.3 years (almost 25% of Ann Arborites are between 18 and 24)
Education – 64.2 percent have four years of college or more
Weather – Averages 31.25 inches of precipitation and 37.3 inches of snow avg. high 58.1 degrees Fahrenheit / avg. low 39.4 degrees Fahrenheit

History

Ann Arbor was founded in 1824 when John Allen and Elisha Rumsey left Detroit on a one-horse sleigh and headed west to establish a new community. Originally registered as Annarbour, it is believed that the "Ann" honors their wives Ann and Mary Ann and "arbour" refers to a grove or shady openings common to the area. Eventually the words were separated and the town became known as Ann Arbor – it remains the only city in the world with that name.

Rankings

• Sperling's Best Places rated Ann Arbor as the "5th Best City To Live in the U.S." in 2007.
• Expansion Management magazine rated Ann Arbor "#1 Knowledge Worker Metro in the Nation", and one of the "Top 10 Metros for College-Educated Workers" in 2007.
• Country Home Magazine awarded Ann Arbor a #11 ranking on its “Greenest Places in America” list in 2007.
• American Style magazine ranked the Ann Arbor Art Fairs “One of the Top 10 Art Fairs and Festivals in the U.S.” in 2006.
• Forbes.com ranked Ann Arbor as one of the “10 Smartest Cities in the U.S.” in 2006.
• Money magazine ranked Ann Arbor as one of the “Top 25 Places to Live in the U.S.” in 2006.
• American Style magazine ranked Ann Arbor “One of the Top 25 Arts Destinations in the U.S.” in 2006.
• The Corcoran Group, a leading east coast real estate firm, rated Ann Arbor “One of the Top 5 Cities to Retire” in 2005.
• Forbes.com ranked Ann Arbor as the “16th Best Place to Start a Business” in the country in 2005.
• Frommer’s travel guides named the Ann Arbor area the “6th Best Place to Live” in 2004.
• Sperling’s BestPlaces named Ann Arbor the “6th Lowest Stress City” in the country in 2004.
• Money magazine rated Ann Arbor as one of the best cities to retire in 2003.
• AAA Michigan Living magazine readers voted Ann Arbor’s Main Street the “Best Main Street in the State” in 2002.
• The Princeton Review rated Ann Arbor the “10th Best College Town” in the nation in September, 2001.
• American Style magazine named Ann Arbor the “22nd Best Arts Destination” in the nation in 2001.
• U.S. News and World Report ranked the world class University of Michigan Medical Center #7 in the nation on their annual 2001 Best Hospital Honor Roll.
• Seventeen magazine rated Ann Arbor one of the “Top Ten Places to Live” in 1999 for teens calling it the “quintessentially cool college town.”
• Intelliquest ranked Washtenaw County #1 in Quality of Life compared with cities such as Seattle, Austin, Atlanta and San Jose.
• Money magazine rated Ann Arbor as the “6th Best Medium-Sized Town in the Midwest” in 1998.
• Ladies Home Journal ranked Ann Arbor the #1 “Most Woman-Friendly City” in the United States in both 1998 & 1999, #2 in 2000 and 2001 and #3 in 2002.
• Reader’s Digest polled 1,000 parents and selected Ann Arbor as one of the “Best Places in the Country to Raise a Family" in their 1997 survey.
• Reliastar Financial Corporation rated Ann Arbor as the “#1 City in the United States to Earn and Save Money” in 2000.

University of Michigan

• Total Enrollment (Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses) – 53,031
• Ann Arbor Enrollment – 38,103
• Alumni Body – 439,239 living degree holders
• Land Holdings – total acreage 21,021; Ann Arbor acreage 3,177
• Employment – In Ann Arbor, UM employs more than 27,000 Washtenaw County residents, annual payroll $900 million
• Each home football game generates about $2.2 million for the local economy
• Cultural activities attract about 130,000 attendees each year

U of M graduates include: U.S. President Gerald Ford, Actor James Earle Jones, Playwright Arthur Miller, Cartoonist Cathy Guisewite and Soprano Jessye Norman.