Things to Do in Old West Side

Old West Side sits just west of downtown Ann Arbor with the quiet confidence of a neighborhood that has never needed to advertise itself. The streets here, Liberty, Seventh, Eighth, Madison, are lined with towering elms and maples that turn the sidewalks into cathedral aisles come autumn, their leaves releasing that particular smell of decay and sweetness that signals the Michigan fall. The housing stock tells you everything about who built this place: solid Queen Anne Victorians with generous front porches, Craftsman bungalows with original woodwork intact, the occasional Foursquare sitting broad-shouldered on a corner lot. These are homes people stayed in, generation after generation, which gives the whole neighborhood a density of history that shows in small ways, original hardware on gate latches, hand-laid brick walks gone pleasingly uneven with tree roots. The neighborhood occupies an interesting in-between: close enough to the University of Michigan's campus that you can hear the distant roar of Michigan Stadium on football Saturdays. Yet removed enough that the streets stay calm the rest of the year. Families push strollers past students heading to the library. Longtime residents nod to each other from opposite porches. For whatever reason, Old West Side has managed to preserve a texture that most American neighborhoods this close to a major university tend to lose, the grain of everyday life is still readable here, not buried under a campus-service economy. The commercial edge, where Liberty Street curves toward downtown, rewards slow walking. Small businesses that have survived multiple economic cycles share blocks with newer coffee shops and a few restaurants worth sitting in for a full hour. Come on a weekday morning and you'll likely have most of it to yourself, the particular pleasure of a place that doesn't perform itself for visitors.

Old West Side is best seen on foot. Architecture reveals itself at walking pace. Streets are flat. A moderate walker can cover the whole area without grief. Downtown Ann Arbor lies roughly a ten-minute walk east. Most visitors skip wheels entirely. The AATA bus network blankets the neighborhood. Routes along Liberty Street and Stadium Boulevard link to the wider city, including the University of Michigan campus and Blake Transit Center downtown. Arriving from Detroit or the interstate? Street parking on outer residential blocks is painless. The walk in takes minutes. A bicycle, if you can borrow one, is ideal. Ann Arbor's cycling infrastructure keeps improving. Old West Side side streets stay quiet even during Michigan football madness.