Downtown Matchup: Downtown Ann Arbor vs. Downtown Lincoln

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Fresh off an exciting win against Penn State in Happy Valley, The 16th ranked Cornhuskers play their second straight away game this weekend in Ann Arbor against the 18th ranked Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines come into the bout with the same overall record and conference record as the Huskers, 8-2 and 4-2 in the Big Ten.  Michigan’s only losses were away at both Michigan State and Iowa.

Located on the Huron River, Ann Arbor is known for its hills, valleys and abundance of trees, which is why its often referred to as “Tree Town”. The city is located in the southeast corner of the state, just 45 minutes west of Detroit and about 45 minutes northwest of Lake Erie.

The Downtown Lincoln Association spoke with Susan Pollay, director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, to find out a little more about the place where tens of thousands of Husker fans will be traveling to this weekend.

“Our downtown is a very walkable, fun, attractive, and safe place to explore,” she says. “So of course I’m going to recommend that Husker fans plan to spend any time they aren’t in the ‘Big House’ downtown enjoying all we have to offer. There was a recent article in the New York Times called 36 hours in Ann Arbor which lists a slew of great ideas for Husker fans.” Click here to read it!

Photo by Ian Freimuth

Some places of note that Susan recommends:

“Zingerman’s Deli (map), is an absolute must. Zingerman’s is located a block away from our downtown farmers market (which will be in full swing on Saturday) and the Kerrytown Shops (a 100-year old former warehouse that houses an array of locally-owned food businesses including a butcher, fish monger, produce, spice shop, wine shop, on the first floor and an array of great shops upstairs including women’s clothes, antiques, children’s toys, and more plus a working carillon (the lovely sound of the bells rings out over the neighborhood!).” 

“The Main Street Area (map) between Huron & William is a virtual foodie heaven, with many dozens of great restaurants of all kinds to choose from to satisfy every budget, including Gratzi (Italian), Shalimar (Indian), Conor O’Neil (Irish), Arbor Brewing Company (brew pub), and so much more.” 

“The State Street Area (map) is an easy walk up from the Main Street area, and includes an array of great shops and restaurants (e.g. Red Hawk right across the street from the UM Diag and Nichols Arcade (which is filled with lots of lovely unique shops).  Lots to see and do, as the UM Central Campus and the State Street area are intertwined in this area.” 

The four main districts of downtown Ann Arbor consist of The Kerrytown Shops, Main Street Business District, the State Street Business District, and the South University Business District.

Husker fans looking for something to do before and after the game can check out this downtown event calendar or this one.

Here is a list and a map of popular tailgating parking lots around the stadium. You can also check out this one.

The Big House

As we did the past few weeks with Fresno, Seattle, Laramie, Madison, Columbus, Minneapolis, East Lansing, Evanston and State College, we continue to look at the cities of our Husker competitors to see how Lincoln sizes up. Below is a comparison of the city of Lincoln and the city of Ann Arbor and their respective downtowns.