Ah, Depot Town, Riverside Park, Eastern Michigan University. Ypsilanti is all about the perfect summer festival. Its walkable neighborhoods boast vintage housing to die for and its downtown historic district is the third largest in Michigan -- only Detroit and Grand Rapids have larger ones. Its independent music and art scenes are thriving, and it boasts a diversity and community spirit very few other Metro Detroit cities can touch.

Grab a sandwich at Cafe Luwak. Catch an outre performance at the Dreamland Puppet Theatre. Down a Michigan brew at Frog Island or Corner Brewery. Check out the latest art show at Riverside Gallery or lust after an antique architectural find at Materials Unlimited.

At nearly 200 years old, this storied community's history has yet to be written. After all, name another city in Michigan that holds an annual summer festival dedicated to Elvis and the biannual DIY fest, the Shadow Art Fair?
 

Art Funding Takes It On The Chin: What's The Impact?

By: Constance Crump, 5/6/2009 The arts are getting pretty roughed up in the current economy. How do local arts and culture groups survive in a state that cuts all its funding? And, more importantly, what are the implications for our region as it struggles to attract and retain new economy workers?

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Photo Essay: New Biz In A Bad Economy

By: Dave Lewinski and Jeff Meyers, 4/22/2009 In case you hadn't noticed, it's bad out there. And yet, there are always those bold souls who pull on their waders and get down into it. Concentrate's resident View Master, Dave Lewinski, takes snaps of six businesses who've opened in the last six months and found success.

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MASTERMIND: Todd Osborn

By: Jennifer Eberbach, 4/8/2009 Who would trade New York or London for Ypsilanti? DJ and music producer Todd Osborn would. From owning a local record store once upon a time to filling the virtual vinyl bins of Ghostly International's ever-growing music scene, Osborn has carved out a successful career from his native soil. Oh, and he once built a hovercraft.

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Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These

By: Megan Pennefather, 4/1/2009 Noise rock. Experimental theater. Puppets. Dreamland Theater is the very defintion of fringe, cementing Ypsilanti's growing reputation as the city where starving artists don't have to go hungry in order to make their art.

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Ann Arbor's Tweet

By: Terry Parris Jr., 3/18/2009 Are you a follower or do you have a following? Who's tweeting who? Social Media is this year's buzz word and Twitter is its newest doo-dad. Our story would end here (if we stuck to the 140 character limit) but Twitter has only just begun in the Ann Arbor area.

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