Is Ann Arbor part of Detroit? (Warren, Flint: homes, restaurants, airport)

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Ypsi the Clown

to flip the subject a little bit, even though Romeo and Armada are in the tri county area, wouldnt u think they would be grouped with the Flint area rather than Detroit area being that Flint is less the 30 minutes away from those towns; however, they are damn near an hour away from Detroit??

Take a drive down the Van Dyke freeway from Romeo to Sterling Heights and you are in the metro Detroit area in no time.

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by nycinmichigan

By the numbers Ann Arbor is part of the Detroit Metro Area. Ann Arbor uses DTW. Generally speaking a suburb is defined loosely by statisticians as any town/city that is within 40 miles of contiguous uninterrupted corridor communities. There isn't anyplace on I-94 the presents a serious enough metropolitan interruption. Perfect example Dutchess County, NY is 1 1/2 hours away from NYC, but is got the Metro Train and it's part of the NY Metro Area. When a large city is in close proximity with an area it generally becomes the ----- Metro Area.

Ann Arbor is unique in so many ways, it's NYC/Berkeley in the Mid-West. I love living here and I'm from NYC. I set pretty high expectations for places. However, having a "unique identity" or income base doesn't divorce you from the area you are in.

I think most people just don't want to associated with the stigma of Detroit, but that's unfair.

I completely agree with your assessment.

Ann Arbor quite frankly wouldn't nearly be as impressive if it weren't for its proximity to Detroit.

Heck, majority of U of M's students come right out of Detroit.

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by ragnarkar

Part of Detroit proper? no
Part of Detroit area? yes

Who said we were speaking of Detroit proper?

In these type of discussion, Detroit = Detroit region.

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by johnr83

Ypsilanti (city and township) rests completely in Washtenaw County. Ypsilanti is more connected culturally with Belleville and Romulus than with Detroit. If Ann Arbor isn't a suburb of Detroit and stands alone, the same can be said of Ypsilanti.

Willow Run was Detroit's primary airport after WWII, and it's still licensed to Detroit. This was before all of the sprawl took place remind you.

So it's pretty safe to say the Ypsilanti area is a part of Detroit.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by 313Weather

Willow Run was Detroit's primary airport after WWII, and it's still licensed to Detroit. This was before all of the sprawl took place remind you.

So it's pretty safe to say the Ypsilanti area is a part of Detroit.

Pretty interesting that you say that. US Census Bureau considers that apart of Ann Arbor's urban area.



But Detroit's urban area touches Ann Arbor's so I really don't know the reasoning for the split. Something about if there's .5 miles between development and/or if a census block has less than 1500 people or something.



So for statistical purposes, Ann Arbor isn't apart of Detroit?

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Pretty interesting that you say that. US Census Bureau considers that apart of Ann Arbor's urban area.



But Detroit's urban area touches Ann Arbor's so I really don't know the reasoning for the split. Something about if there's .5 miles between development and/or if a census block has less than 1500 people or something.


So for statistical purposes, Ann Arbor isn't apart of Detroit?

It depends on what statistics you use.

Ann Arbor is still firmly entrenched in Detroit's media market. It's also a part of Detroit's CSA.'

The South-Lyon-Brighton-Howell urbanized area is very strange too. Most people would consider the eastern portion of that area a part of Detroit, but once you get past Brighton towards Howell it's very difficult to make a case of that area being a part of Detroit.

That said, Lorain-Elyria in Ohio technically have their own urbanized areas, but most people I think consider them a part of Cleveland.

Now personally, don't like to define regions by their Urbanized areas though, they all get too muddled when urban sprawl is factored into the equation.

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

That is true.

I took a little road trip out that way. I took Highway 24 from Pontiac to Flint and I was actually surprised at how close Flint was. Grand Blanc was where I lost some of Detroit's radio stations and started hearing "Mid-Michigan".

I passed through Almont on the way back and it didn't feel like Metro Detroit, but on the map, the Ford Proving Grounds are too far from there. Even Romeo didn't really feel like a suburb of Detroit even though sprawl is almost to the point of being contiguous within the area.

It wasn't really until I got to 29 Mile road on the Van Dyke Freeway that I started to see the rapid sprawl-like home construction and huge strip malls that made it feel like I was on the edges of a big metro.

I even drove to Grosse Isle and it felt worlds away from Detroit. Grosse Isle is actually closer to Monroe than it is to Downtown Detroit. And then Monroe is actually closer to Detroit than Ann Arbor is to Detroit! (By like 2 or 3 miles).

It's a weird little region, but I could definitely see each area sprawling to the point that all areas mentioned would becoming contiguous with Metro Detroit.

Anywhere south of Flint could be considered metro Detroit, especially along I-75. Grand Blanc and Fenton may be in Genesee county and outside of the traditional south east Michigan area, but they have strong ties to the southeast and the people there are very much in touch with the southeastern Michigan life. Many of them even commute to metro Detroit for jobs, they go to Detroit for entertainment. Im betting that in Fenton you can pick up a Detroit TV station, and radio too. Detroit is part of thier lives. From Flint north and west that changes completly, you are then truly in mid, or central Michigan at that point. Many people in that area never go to Detroit, or maybe never have been there. They work locally and dont make as much money and small town life (other than those in Flint, Saginaw and bay city) is pretty much the norm.
As far as Ann arbor and the area around it goes, I would consider them part of metro Detroit as well for the same reasons I say those south of Flint are. They work there, they play there and they shop there. I dont believe they have thier own TV station, so they get thier TV news from Detroit. If you can pick up Detroit TV stations you are part of metro Detroit. Ann arbor is a unique town within southeast Michigan, but its still part of southeast Mi/metro Detroit.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

I even drove to Grosse Isle and it felt worlds away from Detroit. Grosse Isle is actually closer to Monroe than it is to Downtown Detroit. And then Monroe is actually closer to Detroit than Ann Arbor is to Detroit! (By like 2 or 3 miles).

.

Is that all the difference it? It takes me maybe 20-25 minutes to get to Monroe and 37 minutes to get to Detroit at best. Of course miles and time are not always related.

[Ypsi the Clown]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Pretty interesting that you say that. US Census Bureau considers that apart of Ann Arbor's urban area.



But Detroit's urban area touches Ann Arbor's so I really don't know the reasoning for the split. Something about if there's .5 miles between development and/or if a census block has less than 1500 people or something.


So for statistical purposes, Ann Arbor isn't apart of Detroit?

i remember seeing these maps last year. its interesting because the city of Belleville isn't grouped in with the rest of the "detroit" map, despite it being in Wayne County.

its interesting because a lot of people think South Lyon is in the tri-county area,,,for the longest time i thought it was too.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Ypsi the Clown

i remember seeing these maps last year. its interesting because the city of Belleville isn't grouped in with the rest of the "detroit" map, despite it being in Wayne County.

its interesting because a lot of people think South Lyon is in the tri-county area,,,for the longest time i thought it was too.

What tri-county area is South Lyon not in? South Lyon is in Oakland County. (Unless they moved it and never told anyone).

Growing up in South Lyon our city alegiance was Ann Arbor. We almost never went ot Detroit, but went to Ann Arbor for movies, plays, sports concerts and the like. Many high school final competitions were in Ann Arbor. Until they built 12 Oaks and Novi appeared on the map. Ann Arbor was pretty much the place to go for everything. If Ann Arbor is considered a seprate Metro (which I an not sure I agree), then South Lyon should probably be considered part of the Ann Arbor Metro, rather than Detroit.

Brighton, Howell and Pinkney (and Fowlerville) I would not consider part of Detroit Metro. For one, they are in livingston county. They are not really connected to any particular place. People commute from there to Ann Arbor, Jackson, Detroit, Lansing, but it is not close or connected to any of them. I wonder whether the people there consider themselves part of the Detroit metro.