Category Archives: Ann Arbor

Ypsilanti Immigration Interview: Erika Hess

By Mark | May 12, 2013

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a young woman who’d just moved to Ypsi from Brooklyn, after a brief layover in Ann Arbor. She was looking for studio space, and thought, I guess, that I might be able to help. I couldn’t. But, one thing led to another, and I ended up [...]

Also posted in Art and Culture, Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Ann Arbor Derby Dimes, artists, bandanas, bikes, Boston, bowling alley, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bowl, comics, container gardening, Corner brewery, Erika Hess, FEASTMass, gardening, images of Mark, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, pasta salad, portrayals of Mark Maynard in popular culture, Rebecca Solnit, Riverside Park, Rob Hess, roller derby, Sherlock Holmes, Spur Studios, The Warriors, unflattering portraits, University of Michigan, University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Ypsi immigration interview | 30 Comments

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Newcombe Clark

By Mark | April 10, 2013

A week or so ago, in front of an audience at Conor O’Neills, I had the pleasure of conducting a live exit interview with Ann Arbor-born commercial real estate broker turned University of Michigan MBA Newcombe Clark, who will soon be leaving Michigan for Chicago. As there was still a great deal that we didn’t [...]

Also posted in History, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Special Projects | Tagged affordable housing, aging population, Ann Arbor City Council, Ann Arbor history, Ann Arbor problems, Annarbour, Babo, Best Buy, big box retail, Borders, brain drain, Briarwood Mall, car free, change, Chicago, childhood, childhood memories, complaining about things that can't be changed, construction, craftsmanship, density, design porn, development, Discount Records, Encore Records, excellence, exit interviews, fear of change, Five Guys, Fleetwood Diner, Gandy Dancer, Grange, Iggy Pop, India, Kerrytown, land speculation, Last Word, Leopold Bloom’s, Literati, lure of cities, Mani, Mark's Carts, mentorship, Michigan Theater, Mr. Flood’s Party, Mumbai, national chains, Ned Duke, Newcombe Clark, North Ashley, nostalgia, Ojibwa, our fragile downtown business ecosystem, Portlandia, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, poverty, protectionism, Pune, race, race and poverty, racial steering, real estate, rent, retail in Ann Arbor, rewriting history, Rock Paper Scissors, Ross Business School, segregation, Shaman Drum, shifting national demographics, shop local, Vault of Midnight, Vellum, Waterhill, West End Grill, yoga, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews, Zingerman's | 46 Comments

Old man with bad back requests help rioting: Ann Arbor

By Mark | April 8, 2013

At some point in 1991, I had the occasion to witness a basketball-related riot in Ann Arbor, as I stood wedged between an open 450-degree pizza oven and a large plate glass window facing the intersection of Church and State. I can’t recall, but I don’t think my friend Roger and I, who were busy [...]

Also posted in History, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Tagged Backroom Pizza, Church Street, frats, life's not fair, misremembering, NCAA, pizza, riots, South University, student riots, tear gas, The Brown Jug, University of Michigan, vandalism | 24 Comments

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews: live, in front of an audience, and over beers

By Mark | April 8, 2013

Video of the recent Concentrate event has now been posted online, for those of you who weren’t able to attend in person. Among those interviewed are local illustrator Dustin Krcatovich, soon-to-be-graduating MBA Newcombe Clark, and U-M postdoc Linda Foit. (A fourth woman was plucked from the audience, but I don’t recall her name.) I’ve yet [...]

Also posted in Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged Concentrate, Concentrate speaker series, Dustin Krcatovich, exit interviews, free beer, interviews, Jeff Meyers, Linda Foit, Newcombe Clark, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews | 15 Comments

Inside Ann Arbor’s Workantile coworking community

By Mark | April 2, 2013

118 South Main Street in Ann Arbor is home to a coworking community known as Workantile. Over the last several years, I’ve probably scratched out notes to myself half a dozen times, reminding me that I needed to hunt down the folks in charge and interview them for the site. Well, a few days ago, [...]