Changes in the city of trees.

[netmouse]

In a response to Mrissa from an earlier thread I go on a bit about ways that Ann Arbor has changed that makes it less fun these days for me to show people around town. I grew up here, and find it much less the comfortable, casual, ideosynchratic and hippy college town it was when I was a kid. Borders has changed from a deep and interestingly unique store to a chain clone. I didn't even go into how the Art Fair has gotten less artsy and fun and more commercial. Even Zingerman's sandwiches are not as good as they once were, since they shrunk them a few years back to keep competitive in the face of Amers and other sandwich cafes.

Would you agree that Ann Arbor is changing for the worse?

What changes do you like? (having Trader Joe's and Whole Foods come in could be counted as positives, for instance).

What do you miss?

Comments

[ex-vergil895.livejournal.com]

Miss:
Bagel Factory on South U. (worked there)
Dawn Treader on South U. (worked there)
PFC on Packard.

Glad to still see:
Shakey Jake on... well wherever he ends up.
PFC near commie high
Hands On Museum
Zen Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom

Really though I'd have to agree with another poster in that what I mostly miss are due to changes in me i.e. missing the lateteen-earlytwenties kid who kicked around the diag off hours kicking hackysack in various states of mind and thought he was going to be a rock-star.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

PFC on Packard... seconded!

Really though I'd have to agree with another poster in that what I mostly miss are due to changes in me ... he was going to be a rock-star.

:( Thirded.

Shaky Jake...

[(Anonymous)]

I heard Shaky died in the 80's. I remember most: Blind Pig, Mr. Flood's Party, Dooley's, Frisbee(before hacky sack) while smokin on the Diag, Del Rio, Playing Pool at the Union, Sister Anne's from Pizza Bob's,etc. Life was just so much simpler then....Best memories of my life - haven't been in A-Squared in 25 years.

Re: Shaky Jake...

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

No, Shakey Jake died in September of 2007 (http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/09/shaky_jake.html).

Ann Arbor's not what it once was, by any means...