Ypsilanti

Ypsilanti (ĭp′·sĭ·lăn′·tē, often mispronounced yĭp′·sĭ·lăn′·tē) commonly shortened to Ypsi (ĭp′·sĭ), is a city in Michigan, six miles east of Ann Arbor. "Ypsilanti" commonly refers to either or both of the City of Ypsilanti and the Charter Township of Ypsilanti, which lies mostly south of the city, with small portions to both the east and west of the city, and may also include neighboring parts of other townships. The geographic grid center of Ypsilanti is the intersection of the Huron River and Michigan Avenue, the latter of which connects downtown Detroit, Michigan with Chicago, Illinois, and through Ypsilanti is partially concurrent with US-12BR and M-17.

Originally a trading post established in 1809 by Gabriel Godfroy, a French-Canadian fur trader from Montreal, a permanent settlement was established on the east side of the Huron River in 1823 by Major Thomas Woodruff. It was incorporated into the Territory of Michigan as the village Woodruff's Grove. A separate community a short distance away on the west side of the river was established in 1825 under the name "Ypsilanti", after Demetrius Ypsilanti, a hero in the Greek War of Independence. Woodruff's Grove changed its name to Ypsilanti in 1829, the year its namesake effectively won the Greek war, and the two communities eventually merged.

Understand
Ypsilanti is Ann Arbor's smaller, poorer, uglier, and infinitely cooler sibling. Surrounded by pretentious neighbors, Ypsi residents tend to see their city as more relaxed and less yuppified. Ypsilanti was the birthplace of Iggy Pop and home of the Ypsilanti Water Tower, dubbed the most phallic building in the world. It's been said that Ypsi is the Brooklyn to Ann Arbor's Manhattan, and many artists have relocated to Ypsi after being priced out of Ann Arbor. This has resulted in a thriving art scene, most visible at the Shadow Art Fair each summer.

Although Eastern Michigan University's enrollment of 23,000 students is more than the permanent population of the city (less than 20,000), and the school is the city's largest employer, with roughly 1,700 faculty and staff members, Ypsilanti is not culturally dominated by the university in the way Ann Arbor is by the University of Michigan.

Ypsilanti has long played an important role in the automobile industry. From 1920-1922, Apex Motors produced the "ACE" car. It was in Ypsilanti that Preston Tucker, whose family owned the Ypsilanti Machine Tool Company, designed and built the prototypes for his Tucker '48. In 1945, Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer bought the nearby Willow Run B-24 Liberator bomber plant from Ford Motor Company, and started to make Kaiser and Frazer model cars in 1947. The last Kaiser car made in Ypsilanti rolled off the assembly line in 1953, when the company merged with Willys-Overland and moved production to Toledo, Ohio. General Motors purchased the Kaiser Frazer plant, and converted it into its Hydramatic Division (now the Powertrain division), beginning production in November 1953, eventually ending production at the facility in 2010.

Ypsilanti is also the location of the last Hudson automobile dealership. Today, the dealership is the site of the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum, with a collection including an original Fabulous Hudson Hornet race car.

Climate
Ypsilanti has a fairly typical Midwestern climate, with four distinct seasons.

Summers are hot and humid, with temperatures occasionally reaching above 90 degrees but averaging in the low- to mid-80s °F (26-30 °C). The hottest months are June through early September. Summer often brings severe thunderstorms and even tornadoes to the area. Tornado sirens are sounded when a warning is issued, and they can be heard throughout the city; however, surrounding areas often lack such warning devices.

September, October, April, and May tend to bring mild temperatures, although snow may come as early as October or as late as April.

Winter lows average in the teens, but temperatures do periodically plunge into the single digits, and even below zero from time to time. If visiting in the winter, be prepared to dress for cold weather and snow. Although a local ordinance mandates that residents and business owners must clear snow from their sidewalks in a timely manner, this is not always enforced, particularly in residential areas, so if you'll be walking, be prepared to trudge through snow; boots are a must.

Read
Like many cities, Ypsilanti once had a large psychiatric hospital, now closed. Ypsilanti State Hospital was the setting for a classic work of psychology, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, by psychologist Milton Rokeach (1964). The book describes his experimental case study with three men from the hospital. In a study which would not be permitted today for ethical reasons, Rokeach brought together three patients with schizophrenia, each of whom held the delusion that he was the one and only Jesus Christ, in an age before widespread availability of antipsychotic drugs. Rokeach was interested in what would happen to their delusions by coming across others who also believed they were Christ, to test how rigid delusions really are. Rokeach met with them daily as a group, giving them various assignments and experiments, and even moving them in together. However, despite all efforts he was not able to change the fundamental nature of their delusions, demonstrating how rigid and resistant to change delusions are and how people who experience them are able to find all kinds of rationales for their delusions, and alter these rationales to fit new and disconfirming experiences. The work also illustrates other classic symptoms of schizophrenia, such as problems with language. Despite this, the experience did lead to some small changes in their beliefs and ways of relating to each other. The work doesn't require the reader to have any knowledge of psychology and is still in print. It gives an insight into the experience of living with schizophrenia, psychosis and grandiose delusions, as well as conditions in American inpatient psychiatric hospitals of the 1950s and 1960s (also portrayed in Ken Kesey's classic 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).

By car
The simplest way to arrive an Ypsilanti is by car. Ypsilanti is bounded by I-94 (between Detroit and Jackson) on the south, and by US-23 (between Flint and Toledo, Ohio) on the west. From Toledo and other points south, take US-23 north; from Detroit, the airport, and points east, take I-94 west; from Chicago and points west, take I-94 east; from the north, take US-23 south.

By plane
The nearest major airport is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, about 20 minutes away, from which it will probably be necessary to rent a car or have a friend pick you up. A taxi will cost you in the neighborhood of $45 one-way; alternatively, several shuttle services offer pre-booked trips for $30-35 one-way and $55-60 round-trip, with the cost per person decreasing as the size of the group increases. There are quite a lot of airport shuttle services, but the following will give you a place to start:

Ann Arbor Airport, (intersection of State Street and Ellsworth Road), is a small 24-hour airport that handles business, corporate, public and private flights, air ambulance service, flight instruction and charter services.



By train
There has been no railway service to Ypsilanti since 1984, however Amtrak serves nearby Ann Arbor via its thrice-daily Wolverine service between Chicago and Pontiac via Detroit. The railway station in Ann Arbor is in downtown and there are frequent buses connecting to Ypsilanti.

By bus
Several intercity bus lines run from Ann Arbor, from which it is a short taxi ride or local bus trip to Ypsilanti.



By foot or bicycle
Washtenaw County's Border-to-Border (B2B) Trail, intended to eventually reach from Livingston County to Wayne County, along the Huron River, runs from northwestern Ann Arbor through Ypsilanti to Wayne County. In Ann Arbor, it passes near the Amtrak station.

Get around
Ypsilanti is a small enough city that it's easy to get around on foot or on a bicycle -- bicycle racks are plentiful in the downtown, Depot Town, and campus areas -- at least when the weather is good. Free parking is plentiful throughout the city, though in some areas (downtown and campus) free parking may leave you a few blocks away from your destination.

See




Parks
Many of Ypsilanti's parks are on the Huron River, which flows through the center of Ypsilanti into Ford Lake, a man-made lake covering 1.5 square miles in Ypsilanti Township.



Ford Lake Park North Hydro Park North Bay Park Loonfeather Point Park Lakeside Park Huron River Park



Events
Most events in Ypsilanti center around either Eastern Michigan University, particularly in the fall and winter, or the Depot Town district and neighboring parks (Riverside Park and Frog Island Park), particularly in the summer.



Ethnic
Ypsilanti has a number of American-style Chinese restaurants, all offering delivery. None are terrible, but none merit any special notice.

Bars and pubs
Many of Ypsilanti's restaurants serve alcohol, and even have bar areas. Among those worth noting are Sidetrack, Aubree's, Red Rock, the Wurst Bar, and the Tower Inn.



Hotels
The Harmony House Motel is the only hotel in the city itself (near the eastern edge). Your Motel is near the Harmony House, but just outside the city. The Regent Hotel, Comfort Inn, and Days Inn are clustered together west of Ypsilanti, just off US-23. The Marriott at Eagle Crest is just outside the city to the south, just off I-94.



Bed and breakfasts
Ypsilanti is home to two bed and breakfasts, both immediately south of downtown.



Internet
Free Wi-Fi access is plentiful at local cafes. A county government project  attempting to bring free or low-cost Wi-Fi to all of Washtenaw County has been stalled for several years with no coverage in Ypsilanti; however, a free community network called Wireless Ypsi is available throughout most of the downtown and Depot Town areas.

Radio stations
Ypsilanti is home to a single public radio station.



Newspapers
Ypsilanti has no professional daily newspaper. Local newspapers are the Ypsilanti Courier, a weekly newspaper, and the Eastern Echo, the student-run newspaper of Eastern Michigan University.