Does your college town suck? University of Michigan

New to the line up this season: we will be examining the various college towns of Wisconsin’s opponents. We’ll be answering all of the important questions – Is it a state capital? What is the population? Does it have a Culver’s?

Facts:

City: Ann Arbor, Mich.

Size: 28.79 square miles

Location: 42°16′53″N 83°44′54″W

Population: 123,851 (2020)

State Capital? No

Time zone: Eastern

Landmarks: Huron River, 157 Munical Parks

About:

Ann Arbor, the home of the University of Michigan, is the fifth largest city in the state of Michigan.

Ann Arbor was founded in 1825 and was named after the wives of the village’s founders, Josh Allen and Elisha Walker Rumsey, whose wives were both named Ann. Wait, it was named after...her?

Ann Arbor was first registered as “Annarbour.” The Arbor in the name, comes from the bur oak trees in the 640 acre parcel of land Allen and Rumsey purchased from the federal government for $800.

In 1833, the Ann Arbor Land Company set aside 40 acres of land and offered it to the state of Michigan, so that Ann Arbor could become the state capital, but Lansing beat them out for the site leaving the 40 acres free for the University of Michigan, which moved from Detroit in 1837.

With there being a 640 acre parcel of land, filled with oak trees, it should come as no surprise that Ann Arbor has the nick name of “tree city.” The city has more than 50,000 trees lining its streets and an equal number in its 157 municipal parks.

Their parks range from small neighborhood green spaces, to several large city parks. However, with all those trees, there are some drawbacks, mainly in the emerald asher borer, which has destroyed many of the city’s 10,500 ash trees.

Ann Arbor is also the location of one of the many Lululemon stores across the nation, where you will find football head coach Jim Harbaugh caressing their khaki pants following any rather taxing days at work.

They close at 7 p.m., but its OK, they made him a copy of the key so he can close up when he’s done.

Bars:

Topping the a list of sports bars in Ann Arbor is The Session Room. This sports bar offers a vast menu that includes pizza, burgers, appetizers and salads...eww, that is my food’s food. The Session Room also offers 70 beers on tap. The sports bar also has lofted ceilings, which provide for an unobstructed view of their many televisions through the dining room.

The second-best bar in the Eater article is Conor O’Neill’s, which is as you guessed, an Irish Pub, which is known as a popular place to drink a pint and watch soccer matches.

Rounding out the top three is The Pretzel Bell, which is a popular bar among Michigan students. The bar has many pieces of sports memorabilia and offers a more modern selection of food than some older alumni may remember from their time on campus.

Lastly, the question you are all dying to know the answer to, does it have a Culvers? Yes, it does, located at 5910 Jackson Rd.

Stadium:

Michigan Stadium, aptly nicknamed “The Big House” as it is the biggest stadium in the United States with a capacity of 107,601. That beats out Beaver Stadium, home to the Penn State Nittany Lions by just over 1,000 seats.

Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 for $950,000, which would be the equivalent of $11.4 million in 2019. While the capacity is just north of 107,000, the record attendance at Michigan Stadium was 115,109 during a game against Notre Dame in September 2013.

When the stadium was first constructed, the capacity of the stadium was just 72,000, leading to several remodels over the years. Following the approval of a $226 million renovation in 2007, the University of Michigan was sued by a disabled-veterans group, who alleged that the design did not meet federal standards for wheelchair-accessible seating.

I mean, there shouldn’t have needed to be a lawsuit, they should have just done that initially...

The renovation was set to replace bleachers, widen aisles and seats, install hand rails, add a new press box, 83 luxury boxes and 3,200 club seats. The university announced in 2008 that the official capacity of the stadium would be reduced to accommodate more wheelchair accessible seating.

Does your college town suck?

Oof, this is a tough one. I love me some nature and parks, which Ann Arbor is chock full of, but at the same time, it is the home to the University of Michigan, of which I am not a fan. So I cannot objectively say that Ann Arbor does not suck, as much as the town and it’s quaintness appeal to me...

Then again, as everyone knows...Ann Arbor is a whore, so it must suck.