About Ann Arbor

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 opening found in the Michigan woods. Folklore also states that the two men named the city after seeing their two wives talking in the shade of a tree. 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

• Ann Arbor was named the "Best Place in Michigan to Raise Your Kids" by Business Week Magazine in 2009.


• Ann Arbor is the third "Best Place to Retire" according to Black Enterprise Magazine


• Gaywired.com named Ann Arbor one if its "Top Five Surprisingly Gay-friendly Small Towns."


• Money magazine rated Ann Arbor #42 on their "Best Cities to Live and Launch a Business" in 2008.


• Forbes.com rated Ann Arbor as the "4th Smartest City in the America" in 2008.


• Sperling's Best Places rated Ann Arbor as the "5th Best City To Live in the U.S." in 2007.


• Country Home Magazine awarded Ann Arbor a #11 ranking on its "Greenest Places in America" list in 2007.


• Money magazine ranked Ann Arbor as one of the "Top 25 Places to Live in the U.S." in 2006.


• 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.


• 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.


• 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.


• Outside Magazine ranked Ann Arbor the "Best Place to Raise a Family" based on the high quality schools and the numerous activities available for families in 1999.

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