<p>Visited on the college road trip this past Mon. and was surprised by an old man begging on State St. with a cardboard sign, "begging sucks, compassion is better" and was also approached by a young woman with a "story" of how she needed a few bucks to get home. Is this typical for Ann Arbor? Just curious is this is recent or typical.</p>
<p>I have lived here for a year and a half now and that has been my experience. However, typically I only ever saw people by the arch at South U and East U if I stayed on campus (and they were often only there if it was raining.) Now that I am parking several blocks off campus and walking in, I am seeing it a bit more-- there are a few people that are in the same spot every day. It’s likely not something you’d bump into every day on your way to class depending on where you go and I have never been seriously accosted. I did not grow up in an area that had that kind of thing so I am very uncomfortable with it, but I am comfortable in almost all parts of Ann Arbor. I am a big wuss about that kind of thing and could never be here if it weren’t safe or if I were being accosted by homeless people regularly.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor has a long tradition of street people. Some are well known and are adopted by businesses that feed them and watch out for them In my day they were hippies who didn’t want to be a part of the “system”. Now I don’t know who they are, maybe those same hippies grown old! You should always be careful but for the most part I think they are harmless.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>yeah, the worst they might do is heckle you for a second. the people to watch out for are the maniacal Eastern kids who set fire to your cars.</p>
<p>Did they ever actually find a suspect for that? I wasn’t aware that an Eastern kid did it, all I had heard was that an Eastern kid was killed in a possibly related incident.</p>
<p>Don’t think they found the suspect. But yeah, that was terrible for the Eastern kid. He died in a house fire, but it was not related to the car fire incidents.</p>
<p>There’s quite a few beggars around, actually. Some of them sit out by the Diag, and there’s a lot of them up State St. There’s a woman who stands outside Border’s just about every day asking for money to “take the bus home.” Right. </p>
<p>There is, however, a group of beggars who stand in Graffiti Alley every now and again getting drunk and dancing, I tend to throw them a coin for sheer entertainment value.</p>
<p>^Where is that?</p>
<p>Great spokesman, lol. Bums, drunks and arsonists. Go blue!</p>
<p>[Here’s</a> an article on it.](<a href=“http://annarborchronicle.com/2008/09/27/you-say-graffiti-we-say/]Here’s”>http://annarborchronicle.com/2008/09/27/you-say-graffiti-we-say/) It’s much, MUCH more colorful than that now, and a fair bit larger than what’s pictured. There’s another offshoot alley within it that’s covered with gum haha. </p>
<p>Lol, I do try Woody. But hey, it’s a city, if you didn’t expect it, you’re probably drunker than the bums heh.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the insights. I know it’s a “city” but I went to school in NYC where I completely expected beggars and crime. After touring Pitt and Penn St., it was a bit off-putting to my teens who live sheltered suburban lives. Like “we drive 10 hours through corn fields to find this? I thought that was saved for the NYU tour…”</p>
<p>Understandable. Ann Arbor’s also in Michigan, we’ve had crippling depression here for the past ten years. I live in a five-block village and even we have homeless people.</p>
<p>Every large liberal college town attacts transients and stree people. Madison has them, Austin too, the area near U Washington has lots. Boulder too. It is universal in my experience. The warmer it is the more there are. Just part of the scenery. Most are harmless. The main exception was when Castro sent all the criminals to the US and many were given shelter by dumb liberals in college towns. Many of them were deangerous and were re-arrested for new crimes–in a few years they were all off the streets–mostly in prison.</p>
<p>
From a parental standpoint, if you’re actually the one concerned from the vantage of student safety, you needn’t worry too much. Umich has a decent public safety network including blue light and rides home for lone students. They also have a decent ‘heads up’ public safety email/text service.
If it’s your teens, as quoted, who were put off by it, not sure if they will ultimately enjoy the rather ‘un-sheltered’ vibe of Ann Arbor in general. Many celebrate AA’s stature as an awesome college town, which it is, but not all are up for the eclectic antics of the body politic. (Although my son loves it.)</p>
<p>It also helps that the campus area is crowded late into the night and is very well lit, on top of everything kmccrindle said. </p>
<p>It’s funny, now when I go home to my sheltered suburb I am more nervous than I am at school because I am so accustomed to street lights and we haven’t got those at home. I feel safer in Ann Arbor, transients and all.</p>
<p>Not so much worried, after all “bus money” girl was nice enough about her plea. Just surprised. I could tell my teens were just not expecting it and questioned the whole town because of 2 people in the span of the first 5 minutes we were in town. But, that is the nature of making judgements about colleges based on a single day in town right? It made an impression, one that was easily discounted after the rest of the day without incident. We also ran into two weddings in one day on campus but I don’t think they have flagged Ann Arbor as Wedding Central…but then again…</p>
<p>All liberal campuses have transients? This was the first campus where I have run across anyone begging - besides NYU and Columbia. Guess we’ve been lucky.</p>
<p>We were on the tour on the 9th. The engineering north campus tour was phenomenal. Our guide was well versed on specific breakthrough research being done in each discipline, took us past “clean rooms” where they were working on an injectable sensor to track heart function which was the size of a single red blood cell. Both my teens suddenly want to become biomedical engineers.</p>
<p>
Berkeley too. 
Part of the reason why I think UCLA is a more attractive option to sheltered Socal kids. </p>
<p>Some would live in the bushes near campus…my compassionate friend would give a transient some fruit from the dining hall. Part of the life experience I say.</p>
<p>There are not that many homeless people hanging out in A2. I go to there all the time and see a few. It’s hit and miss. For the most part miss. Ann Arbor is safe for the most part. I really can’t think of one area in the entire city limits that I would consider dangerous.</p>
<p>
When I was up in Berkeley visiting my brother, there were two bums fighting and getting arrested. It was siiiiiick. I agree with UCBChemEGrad, part of the life experience for sure.</p>
<p>There aren’t that many bums out in Michigan, and the two times I was out there visiting my cousin I didn’t encounter a single one. The only ‘strange’ person I encountered was this guy who came up to me and gave me a free book, who then said most people make a donation for the book, and after I told him I didn’t have money I gave him the book back because I felt bad. And he was quite possibly the nicest person ever.</p>