Ann Arbor is well known for its small town feel, award winning homes and companies, even at the 2009 Detroit Home Design Awards a local Ann Arbor company, Architectural Resource, LLC was honored with receiving design awards in four different categories including recognition in both of the remodeling categories.

The Detroit Home Design Awards (DHDA) program is Michigan’s residential design competition showcasing the region’s top design talent. The awards program, now in its fifth year, was authored by Detroit Home, a publication devoted to discerning residential architecture and decor.

The awards included two first place awards: one for a whole house remodel and addition in the Remodel Less Than 1,000 sq ft. category, and one for a unique stairway design, which was itself part of a remodeling project, in the Contemporary Stair and Railing category. The company was also presented with a second place award in the Traditional Interior Design category and a third place award in the Large Remodel More Than 1,000 sq ft. category. All of their projects were located in Michigan.

Having a well designed home to live in is key, luxury homes are designed with important living elements all considered. There are many custom built and designed luxury properties for sale in Ann Arbor, if you are thinking about relocating to Ann Arbor or the surrounding communities then be sure to contact us.

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

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Keller Williams Realty

Forth of July is coming this weekend and preparations across the region and the country are being made for the event.

However in Ann Arbor that is not the only celebration that is occurring. Summer is upon us which means that the better weather is here and that all manner of festivals are coming to Ann Arbor and the surrounding area.

A major festival which is coming in mid-July is the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, which is actually four art fairs in one, this event runs through downtown Ann Arbor and around the University of Michigan campus. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. July 15-17 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 18th 2009. The fair was established in 1960,  which attracts over 500,000 attendees from across the nation. The fair has received many accolades including the Number One Art Fair in the country (October 2004) and a Top Ten Art Fair (October 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008) by the readers of AmericanStyle Magazine.

So why not take a day out and soak up some of the local culture in Ann Arbor - art fairs are a great place to enjoy art and see up and coming artists work as well as perhaps take home something for yourself! Kathy Toth took time out last year to attend the fair, so why not stop by and have a look yourself!

Thinking or relocating to Ann Arbor or the surrounding communities?

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

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Keller Williams Realty

Talks are afoot again about the prospect of a commuter rail system throughout Michigan. Following the I-96 route and connecting cities from Lansing through to Ann Arbor.

However it may not just be an ordinary rail like, it is proposed that it be a magnetic railway line which would be faster and safer for passengers than a high-speed rail that uses existing tracks.

It has been suggested that the federal government should focus more on building a technologically advanced high-speed passenger rail system along interstate highways, rather than upgrading tracks owned and used by freight rail companies.

Earlier this month a legislative task force met to discuss the proposal. It was the first of four hearings on a project by Interstate Traveler Co. LLC, which is seeking investors for $2.3 billion for elevated rail lines between Detroit and Lansing and Detroit and Ann Arbor.The company naturally needs state permission to use right-of-way land next to the freeway.

We will watch this story closely as it develops over the next few months as it could be big news for Ann Arbor residents - who are already gaining a commuter bus route to Canton!

Thinking or relocating to Ann Arbor or the surrounding communities?

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

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Keller Williams Realty

Ann Arbor is going to his the big screen again! Yet another movie is being filmed in Ann Arbor.

This time on June 18th, neighbors of Virginia Park, located just north of W. Liberty Street in Ann Arbor, received a letter from the city. The note from parks and recreation services manager Colin Smith alerted them to the filming of the Rob Reiner movie “Flipped,” to take place towards the end of July. Construction of the set, according to the letter, would begin as early as June 22 2009.

Part of this set construction involves the delicate task of trimming some branches on two of the park’s sycamore trees. Some of the neighbors of the park were skeptical about the trim job for the sycamore tree, which is slated for movie stardom.

The story of “Flipped” partly involves a young girl, Juli, who’s trying to save a tree. In the identically-named youth novel by Wendelin Van Draanen, on which the movie is based,  it’s a lone sycamore tree that Juli wants to save.

Digital technology will be used to remove one of the  trees completely. The trimming of the two trees was undertaken to achieve a visual separation of the tree canopies, to allow digital removal of the second tree – the one to the north.  The resulting shot will depict a single, lone free-standing tree, as in the book.

Naturally of course asides from the prestige of having another movie/tv show made in Ann Arbor it also provides a great boost to the economy – the workers have to eat and sleep somewhere, and there are jobs created for locals or work for existing businesses that would not otherwise exist.

In addition the park is being rented out by the city to the production company for $100 per day and with 49 days of filming, that will yield $4,900 in revenue for the city!

Thinking or relocating to famous Ann Arbor?

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

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Keller Williams Realty

Commuters can breathe a sigh of relief due to the great news that there is to be a new commuter bus link between Ann Arbor and Canton!

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority is opening a commuter bus route from Canton Township to Ann Arbor that will be ready by the end of the August 2009.

The route is a demo park and ride route funded from a $495,000 U.S. Department of Transportation grant that will enable the AATA to guage interest and support for a permanent link between the two communities.

This is definately welcome news for the thousands of western Wayne County residents commute to Ann Arbor for work, including 3,000 residents of Canton, Plymouth and Westland who work at the University of Michigan. Commuters will pay $125 a month fare but U-M will pay half the cost for qualified employees and there will be three stops in Ann Arbor: downtown, U-M Central Campus and the University of Michigan Hospitals and in Canton, buses will pick up at Independence Park and Cherry Hill Village - in the Cherry Hill and Ridge roads area.

The Canton Township Board of Trustees approved an agreement Tuesday to lease 100 parking spaces in Independence Park, located at Denton and Proctor roads, for $6,000 a month to the AATA. The lease runs from July 1 to June 30, 2011. The service is expected to continue as long as fares and the grant are able to sustain it.

While the schedules are not worked out, there is exciting news that for the first month commuters will be able to ride the bus for free!

Thinking or relocating to Ann Arbor to save your commute?

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

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Keller Williams Realty

There are few areas in Ann Arbor as well known and as lively as State Street. This eclectic mix of establishments really is part of the community and landscape of Ann Arbor.

However, it is evolving! There are some businesses leaving and some that are inbound! The Shaman Drum Bookshop at 311 S. State is closing after nearly 30 years in business; a CVS Pharmacy may build a new store at 209 S. State; and a new University of Michigan dorm and privately operated student housing high-rise promise to bring hundreds of new residents to the immediate area.

The area is a shopping destination for the whole community and while some stores are in a transition, the area is as popular as ever. There are well established restaurants offering a range of foods from the quick service fast food variety, through to higher end fine dining.

With the natural gentrification of the State Street area as well as students who live near the district wanting more diverse options it is sure that the place is urban, trendy and definitely a great place to be.

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

www.KathyToth.com
Keller Williams Realty

Ann Arbor Michigan is known for its great community feeling, the city is large enough to offer the amenities of a large city, but small enough where you will know the name of your neighbor.

This small town feel is what draws people to visit Ann Arbor and to relocate here.

Places such as the Washtenaw Dairy just outside downtown Ann Arbor have become part of daily life for many residents who still call in for a coffee and a freshly made doughnut. This dairy has been part of the Ann Arbor landscape for 75 years this year and is still growing strong. The doors open at 5am every day of the week and the dairy is tucked on a corner behind an unpretentious cement facade and surrounded by clapboard homes and has for generations been the defining element in its turn-of-the-century neighborhood — a remainder, if you will, of an older America, before modern zoning codes banned businesses in residential areas.

The dairy is somewhat of a local stalwart, a friendly kinda place where you can walk, enjoy a doughnut (daily sales of over 1200!) or an ice cream (yearly sales of over 100,000 cones!) - depending on the weather of course - and soak up the atmosphere.

It is this atmosphere that modern towns desire to recreate through new urbanism, the sense of history, permanence and presence that local institutions like Washtenaw Dairy offer (click here for a map to the dairy). Here at the Kathy Toth real estate team we wish the dairy a happy birthday!

If you are thinking about relocating to Ann Arbor then please click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

www.KathyToth.com
Keller Williams Realty

As always, we at the Kathy Toth team like to keep you informed with the local situation in Ann Arbor and around the greater Michigan region.

Economist Dana Johnson had this to say about the local economy - “Earlier this month, the Commerce Department reported that real GDP in Michigan declined 1.5 percent in 2008.  With auto sales particularly hard hit by the disruptions in financial markets and the national recession, Michigan inevitably will underperform again in 2009.  In gauging the potential for a turnaround in the Michigan economy, however, nothing is more important than the timing and vigor of the recovery of the national economy. And in that regard, the evidence of stabilization is increasingly widespread.”

To read the full release, please click here to open a PDF containing a current economic brief detailing the complete picture of Michigan at the present time.

The full release contains a boat load of useful information including graphical representation of data. One graph in particular is of interest - entitled “Michigan Residential Building Permits” showing the sharp decline of new permits being issued between 2006 and 2009. With the level of inventory available for purchase at the moment this is to be expected. After all buyers have the best opportunity for decades to purchase the home of their dreams at a great price!

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

www.KathyToth.com
Keller Williams Realty

Ann Arbor may be a great city known for its open spaces and vibrant community, however downtown there is much happening with areas which are not working being spruced up and rejuvenated and unused sites cleared for new developments.

For instance there is a new high-rise building called the “Metro” apartment project - a 202 unit, 9 story building at Washington & Division Streets which has approval from the city council in 2006 no has asked for a two year extension of the site plan approval.

The 0.12 acre lot was purchased in 2008 by Illinois based hotel developer “First Hospitality Group” who changed its plans for the building last year to 16 studio units and 72 one bedroom properties, originally the proposal included 12 studios and 30 two bedroom units.

Despite the delays it is expected that this project will go ahead and the extension will go through the approval process shortly.

Watch this space for more information on downtown Ann Arbor Real Estate & Development.

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

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Keller Williams Realty

Boy we sure do love our pets here in America! In fact, many say that in the last decade we have gone pet crazy, with a host of dog boutiques and bakery’s which have sprung up in our markets and malls.

However, if you have ever wondered which cities in the nation are the most dog friendly, then we have it for you. Courtesy of PetMD.com and Dogfriendly.com.

Guess what? Ann Arbor makes the list at number 10 out of the whole country! This is great news for pet owners!

If you are thinking of visiting the area for some R&R then it means that you do not have to leave Fido behind with a friend or in a kennel, he can come too!

The list is as follows:

1. San Francisco, CA
2. Austin, TX
3. Boston, MA
4. Northern Virginia, VA
5. Portland, OR
6. Charleston, SC
7. Chicago, IL
8. San Diego, CA
9. New York, NY
10. - Ann Arbor, MI!

As stated in the article: Ann Arbor, MI offers Dog-friendly canoeing, gardens and farms, and don’t miss Nichols Arboretum, the 123-acre botanical collection at the University of Michigan.

In fact, Dogfriendly.com publishes a guide for dog owners of pet friendly establishments in Ann Arbor - including accomodations, parks, stores and restaurants - even a Canine Social Club!

There you have it, if you and your dog are looking at relocating to a city which is very pet friendly then Ann Arbor has what you are looking for!

Click here to search Ann Arbor Real Estate using our complimentary Ann Arbor Real Estate MLS Search service. Alternatively please contact Kathy Toth and the team if you need more specific assistance in your Ann Arbor Real Estate needs.

www.KathyToth.com
Keller Williams Realty