Tag Archives: Ann Arbor DDA

When “shooing away” doesn’t work… Or why we were right to stop the Ann Arbor “ambassador” program

Remember how, a few months ago, a bunch of us got up in arms over plans hatched by the Ann Arbor DDA to hire a small army of Segway-riding “ambassadors” to cheerfully open doors for well-healed visitors, remove unsightly band flyers from telephone poles, and shoo away “street people” who might otherwise interfere with commerce […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Civil Liberties, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ann Arbor’s proposed “Ambassador” program, while laughably stupid, is the best thing to happen in Ann Arbor in a long, long time

I realize that the Ann Arbor DDA’s uniformly mocked “Ambassador” program is likely going to die on the vine, given the overwhelming backlash that we saw last week, but I refuse to just let it go. This is the first spark of life I’ve seen in Ann Arbor in a long, long time, and I’m […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, History, Ideas, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

The fight intensifies over Ann Arbor’s proposed “ambassador” program

“Does Ann Arbor’s downtown belong to the people of Ann Arbor, or to the City’s most influential and vocal business owners?” It’s a question that’s been asked quite a bit this past week, in the wake of news surfacing about an Ann Arbor DDA plan to further the “mallification” of downtown by hiring a small […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Local Business, Marketing, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 73 Comments

How do we deal with the homeless in Ann Arbor? Easy, hire greeters on Segways to shoo them away… Introducing Ann Arbor’s new “Ambassador” program

A few days ago, in a post about the increasing number of economic refugees making their way from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti, I noted a new program being considered by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA) that would put a small army of paid “ambassadors” on the streets of tree town, opening doors for […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 57 Comments

Annarbourites ask, “Why can’t Ypsi just take all of our poor?” Consultant explains.

“So, why isn’t Ypsilanti a good long-term solution for Ann Arbor’s affordable housing issues?” That’s how the story in today’s Ann Arbor News about the work of a consulting firm brought in by the County to assess where we stand relative to affordable housing begins. The onus, it would seem, is on Ypsi. The question […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 75 Comments

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