Anyone live in the Ann Arbor?

[blantonator]

I currently live in the DC metro area and have a job I like in a location I like, but I hate the traffic and cost of living. Riding out here is great and only an hours drive the mountains is a real bonus. Anyways, I'm being offered a job that might be too good to refuse and would likely be moving to Ann Arbor. I'd be getting in on the ground floor for autonomous driving at one of the big three.

How is the riding? Gravel, mountain, cross?

Real estate seems pricey compared to Detroit, but much more reasonable than Northern Virginia.

What are your thoughts?

[93legendti]

I am close by. A2 is a great town. Very good riding scene. When I rode mountain there were good trails area very close to town. Poto they call it, as well as many others.
You get into rural road riding pretty quickly-at least you did when I last rode out there.

Homes are expensive relative to Detroit...True 4 seasons. Say goodbye to mountains.

http://www.a2gov.org/departments/systems-planning/Transportation/Pages/Bike.aspx

http://www.maccracing.org/biking/locations.php


I.e.:
"Pontiac Recreation Area
Pontiac has been re-worked in the past few years and gotten rave reviews from some of our bikers. The 11-mile mountain bike trail has been ranked as one of the "Top 100 Trails" in the United States. To get to the park from M-59, drive north on Williams Lake Road then turn left on Gale Road. Follow the signs to the entrance."


"The Poto (Potowatomi Trail) (click for the Poto maps 14 mi, 18 mi)
Pinckney Recreation Area (state park). The park is NW of Dexter, on Dexter-Townhall Rd a mile or so N. of Territorial Rd. This ride has several loops, ranging in distance from 5 mi to 18. Often we split into smaller groups at the cut-off point for the 8-mi return loop. This trail is one of the most established mountain bike trails in the state. It is more hilly than most of the other rides. It is also rockier and rootier than most, making it one ot the more challenging rides.


Bluffs Park (the "Classic") Loop
The Bluffs Park loop is our more challenging Ann Arbor ride. It includes some steep climbs and descents along the valley wall of the Huron River. It begins by heading south through Bandemeer Park along the Huron River to Summit Street, the into Bluffs Park. This area contains a myriad of highly technical trails and some interesting hills. After Bluffs Park, the trail becomes easier, passing under M-14 and crossing Kuebler-Langford Park to reach Huron River Drive and the entrance to Barton Park. The trail then crosses the Huron River, meanders through the oxbow, heads north to the Barton Pond dam and eventually back to the Bandemeer Park parking lot."

[zmudshark]

I live in A2 in the Summer. Outside of the city housing is cheaper. Do you have school age children? Traffic is horrible in Ann Arbor, but not by 'big city' standards. The roads are mostly crap.

I'd suggest looking at one of the smaller towns near Ann Arbor, but be aware of school systems, if you have children school age.

Will you be working at the North Campus site?

[blantonator]

I'd be working in Dearborn, no children. I'm open to other areas, but have a few friend sin Ann Arbor.

[zmudshark]

Look at Pittsfield Township, lower taxes and still basically Ann Arbor (I live there). A few of my neighbors work at Ford in Dearborn. Also look in the Plymouth/Canton area.

[blantonator]

I should also note, I'm looking to be in an area where I could walk/ride to coffee shops or bars, as a single early 30's.

[zmudshark]

Plymouth would be an alternative to A2, also Northville. Otherwise you are looking at A2. Some nice new condos in town that would fit your wishes, pricey, by my standards.

Here is our crappy local news site:
http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor/#/0


Feel free to PM.

[wallymann]

i head over to that area when i want to get away from the hustle/bustle and just ride.

- A2 you're basically 5 minutes from "riding in the country" so it's great in terms of accessibility.
- active riding community with the Ann Arbor Velo Club locally and several others in the metro area.
- roads can be shatty in springtime (frost heaves, potholes, misc detritus and whatnot), but there's a good % of chip-and-seal roads so your gravel-bike will get a good workout.
- terrain/elevation is very benign in SE-mich but the spring winds can be brutal, so you'll lose your grimpeur skills but your inner flahute/flandrian will emerge in exchange.
- winters are a fair bit longer and more brutal than you're used to in DC. refer to "become a flandrian" above.
- you're very close to a couple nice state/metro parks with great MTB trails if that's your thing.
- the bloomer park velodrome is about an hour drive away if that's your thing.
- A2 is the home of UofM, so there's plenty of local social activities you bike or walk to.
- more generally, detroit itself isnt quite yet a "proper" big city with the amenities and diverse cultural offerings you'd expect of NYC/chicago/DC/etc, but it's coming along.

[Matthew]

I live in west Michigan but I have heard Ann Arbor is a good cycling town. As others have said, get used to winters! They can be long and crappy, but at least you don't have to deal with lake effect snow in Ann Arbor like we do on the west side of Michigan. My dad used to have season tickets to UM football. On football Saturdays the traffic is crazy. There are likely lots of cycling clubs/groups in the area to fill your needs of all types of riding. Contrary to what most outsiders see, Michigan is much more that Detroit. If you get a chance head west or north. There is lots to see and do here. Lake Michigan is stunning. Great little towns and incredible beaches. If it is a great job offer I say go for it!! Michigan is actually pretty nice! Matthew

[soupless]

If you're wanting fun 30s childless single person stuff I'd say Ann Arbor proper or Ferndale/Royal Oak.
A2 is expensive-ish for Michigan but my guess is you'd find it a nice discount as compared to the DC area.

[mtb_frk]

A2 to Dearborn commute seems like it would be nothing compared to the DC area. I don't know that you could ride the bike to work though. I live about 45 min north of Detroit, but have friends in A2 we go see from time to time. This year was the first Waterloo grit and gravel race which was a bit west of there, poto is just the north as well. There is a book called something like gravel roads of washtenaw county or something like that as well.

Really SE Michigan has a lot mountain bike trails. I think something like 30 in the area.

I just heard on the news today the big announcement from ford about plans to modernize their campus as well. Might be a good time to make the move.