Ypsilanti
Ann Arbor’s neighbor to the East, Ypsilanti is home to Eastern Michigan University and has been named a Michigan Cool City.
I love this passage from Wikipedia, as it best sums up Yspi (as we know it). “It has been said that Ypsilanti is the Brooklyn to Ann Arbor’s Manhattan. Comparable to the gentrification causing many artists, poets, musicians, and hipsters to flee the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City to areas like Bushwick, nearby Ann Arbor has experienced massive increases in land value and taxes over the last several decades. Despite Ann Arbor’s reputation in the region as a bohemian cultural center, many creative people have been driven out of the city to Ypsilanti due to these changes. A vibrant, underground arts scene has begun to emerge as a result. This community gathers semiannually at the juried Shadow Art Fair held at The Corner Brewery.”
Don’t let any of that fool you, Ypsi residents are staunchly proud of their town, and it is indeed a Cool city. Check out the Michigan Firehouse Museum, any of Depot Town’s bars and restaurants or Willow Run Airport’s Yankee Air Museum and its annual Thunder Over Michigan Air Show.
