As two major Michigan cities and infamous college towns—home to the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartan—Ann Arbor and Lansing draw huge crowds every year.
Ann Arbor is home to The Big House, the biggest stadium in the United States and the third largest stadium in the world. It’s no surprise that a venue this big draws fans from all over the country just to sit in one of its 107,601 seats.
Despite The Big House and University of Michigan football defining a lot of the Ann Arbor environment, Ann Arbor manages to make a medium-sized city seem like a cozy college town. With The Diag right in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor and Nichols Arboretum just a short walk away, students always have the opportunity to immerse themselves in nature despite being surrounded by cars and buildings.
Because downtown Ann Arbor is a mixture of city and suburban area, you’ll often see rows of houses when driving through. Most of these are occupied by students and, once a week, are flooded with people for game day parties.
Ann Arbor is also an infamous foodie town, home to Zingerman’s Deli (where all freshman have been at least once) and cultural food from all over the world. Boba lovers should stop by one of the eleven boba shops right in the downtown area! Visitors should make sure to check out Joe’s Pizza on South University Avenue, HopCat on Maynard Street, or the Fleetwood Diner on Ashley Street, which is open 24 hours.
Like Lansing, Ann Arbor also hosts Rick’s—a bar where all fresh 21 year-olds go for their first legal night out. Other great bars include Good Time Charley’s, Ashley’s, Alley Bar, and many more. Ann Arbor offers a lot of opportunities for students to go out, something that makes it stand out from traditional brick-and-mortar college towns.
Something unique about Ann Arbor is that the University of Michigan Campus is intertwined with the city, meaning that students may attend a class in a building next to a restaurant, or just that they can see South State Street from their classes on the third floor of Mason Hall.