Sinclair Way?

White Panther Circle?

tee hee.

Very good and well-thought-out ideas from Larry. One quibble. I'd rather name a street for a townie than a temporary student, and there's already a fervent Wallenberg cult in town, and no less than 2 annual bigtime lectures per year devoted to him. Obviously he did valorous, saintly, commendable work that saved people's lives while putting himself in extreme danger. But let's root street names into longtime community members. Perhaps one of the many Civil War vets from A2 (talk to the A2 Civil War Round Table folks [contact info on their website] for suggestions). Just an idea.

Heaven forbid the great Ronald Reagan could have a street named after him in Ann Arbor. Alas, would the denizens be so enlightened as to honor him in such a liberal bastion ? I won't hold my breath...

I like the idea of true people of ann arbor, but I wouldn't discredit students, i would just use a fair process for choosing the person(s)

i rather think that is what ann arbor needs, helping students understand rooting to an area.

Edited by author 12-11-2003 02:27 AM
also, we could use this idea to start the weblog map? and do you have an rss feed?

Hey, if Ann Arbor can have a Nixon Street then I think they can handle a Reagan Street.

Edited by author 12-11-2003 10:53 AM
In addition to Nixon Road, Ann Arbor has a major thoroughfare across the south end of town called Eisenhower Boulevard. The very liberal Burns Park neighborhood also has McKinley Street, Roosevelt Avenue (named for TR), and Harding Road. Hoover Avenue is on the south edge of the main campus, a few blocks north of Michigan Stadium (though I assume it was named for the auto industry pioneer who built the Hoover Mansion on Washtenaw Ave). And there's Ford Road just north of town (probably named for Henry Ford since it goes all the way to Dearborn).

But in any case, the names of plenty of 20th century Republican presidents appear among Ann Arbor street names.

My preference, though, is for street names to reflect local people and local history.

"And there's Ford Road just north of town (probably named for Henry Ford since it goes all the way to Dearborn)."

I'm surprised no attempts have been made to change it. While there's no denying his contributions as an industrialist to the nation as a whole, there's also no denying he was a fairly rabid anti-semite. That's always a tough call with such public figures, do you honor them despite their character flaws or don't you ?

Here in Michigan, Henry Ford has been more than forgiven for his sins, and many, many things are named for him. Ford Auditorium in downtown Detroit, Henry Ford Hospital, and Henry Ford Community College are three examples that come immediately to mind.

As late as the 1960s, many Jews would never consider buying a Ford product, due to Henry's rabid anti-semitism. Thanks to "Hank the Deuce" (Henry Ford II), that has changed a lot. Indeed, a former president of our synagogue was a career executive with Ford Motor Company. I myself drive a Mercury Sable.

Er, in response to the question, I don't have an RSS feed. Should I?

Yes, you should have an RSS feed. :)

As to Nixon, the charm of that street is that it intersects Bluett (pronounced Blew It), and that street sign is often stolen.
While I like the idea, Wallenberg is too long a name to trip lightly off the tongue (though Wheeler is fine).
js

The last time I went by the intersection, I noticed that they had reversed the signs so that Bluett was above Nixon.

Heh. I'm a little late on this one, but I lived on Fourth Avenue and on the day I moved in, the landlady told me, "The cable people have already been here." Huh? I hadn't ordered cable.

Turns out the cable company had made the same mistake, coming to my place instead of one at the same address on Forth Street.