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

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.

In 2003, Money magazine rated Ann Arbor as one of the best cities to retire in.  

AAA Michigan Living magazine readers voted Ann Arbor’s Main Street the “Best Main Street in the State” in 2002. 

Employment Review rated Ann Arbor the 10th best city in the nation to live and work in June, 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, 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 a quality of life comparison against such cities 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 for 2000.

University of Michigan

• Total Enrollment (Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses) - 51,833
• Ann Arbor Enrollment – 36,964
• Alumni Body – 404,668 living degree holders
• Land Holdings – total acreage 21,159; Ann Arbor acreage 3,114
• 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: Actor James Earle Jones, U.S. President Gerald Ford, Playwright Arthur Miller, Cartoonist Cathy Guisewite and Soprano Jessye Norman.