I Wanna Go
2011 single by Britney Spears
"I Wanna Go" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her seventh studio album, "Femme Fatale" (2011). It was written and produced by Max Martin and Shellback, with additional writing by Savan Kotecha. Spears first posted on her Twitter account a link to a clip of the song in February 2011, a month prior to the album's release. Following a poll on her official website, "I Wanna Go" was chosen as the third single of the album, and Jive Records released it on June 14, 2011.
"I Wanna Go" is a dance-pop and Hi-NRG song that features a heavy bassline and drum fills reminiscent of English rock band New Order. The pre-chorus has a whistled hook that received comparisons to the music of Bob Sinclar and Frankie Knuckles. The lyrics of "I Wanna Go" feature Spears singing about losing inhibitions. The song received favorable reviews from critics, some praised it for being effective and highlighted its hook, while others dismissed the processed vocals. The song was treated with different remixes, including a Bollywood mix with guest vocals by Sonu Nigam and another one by DJ Frank E and Alex Dreamz.
After the release of "Femme Fatale", "I Wanna Go" charted due to digital sales in the upper end of the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100, and also topped the South Korean International chart. Following its release as a single, the song reached the top ten in several music markets, including Canada, France, Finland and the United States. In the United States, "I Wanna Go" made "Femme Fatale" the first album by Spears to have three top ten singles and with Spears' best radio airplay performance.
An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Chris Marrs Piliero, premiered on June 22, 2011. It depicts Spears daydreaming at a press conference about a series of events, including being chased by paparazzi cyborgs and being rescued by actor Guillermo Díaz. Piliero described the video as "a ridiculous, exaggerated rumor about her life and career". The video references the films "Half Baked", "Crossroads", "" and "Michael Jackson's Thriller". It received positive reviews from critics, who praised its fun spirit. Spears has performed "I Wanna Go" on her Femme Fatale Tour (2011) and during her Las Vegas residency show (2013–2015).
Background and artwork.
"I Wanna Go" was written and produced by Max Martin and Shellback, with additional writing by Savan Kotecha. The song was written in 2009 and registered on Broadcast Music Incorporated under the legal title "I I I Wanna Go O O". On February 22, 2011, Spears posted on her Twitter account a link to a 29-second clip of the song, while calling Martin "amazing". In an interview with "Rolling Stone", Spears stated that the song's signature whistle gets her "every time [she] hears it", adding that Martin's melodies are "Incredible ... Who would have thought of that? There is nobody I feel more comfortable collaborating with in the studio." Kotecha told Digital Spy in May 2011 that the song was likely a contender for third single due to positive reaction. On May 11, 2011, a poll was launched on Britney.com in which fans could choose the third single of the album. Two days later, "I Wanna Go" was officially announced as the third single from "Femme Fatale" by Jive Records through a press release after winning the poll. The cover art was revealed on June 6, 2011, and featured Spears on set of the music video, wearing colored hair extensions and crop top with a skeletal Mickey Mouse by designer Mila Fargo.
Composition.
"I Wanna Go" is a dance-pop and hi-NRG song, which features a heavy bassline and drum fills; the latter are reminiscent of English band New Order's song "Blue Monday" (1983). Spears squeals and chuckles throughout the song, and her vocals are processed. In the pre-chorus, she draws out the "e"'s in lines such as "Shame on me / To need release / Uncontrollably." The section also has a whistled hook, which was compared by Rich Juzwiak of "The Village Voice" to the music of French recording artist Bob Sinclar and American recording artist Frankie Knuckles. In the chorus, Spears stutters "I-I-I wanna go-o-o/All the wa-a-ay/ Taking out my freak tonight". Ryan Brockington of the "New York Post" compared "I Wanna Go" to the music of her fifth studio album "Blackout" (2007). In the lyrics, Spears sings about losing inhibitions, as evident in lines such as "I-I-I wanna sho-o-ow/All the dir-ir-irt/I got (sic) running through my mind.", while playfully apologizing for her need for sexual release. Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" stated that she sings about "the scrum that surrounds her" in "Lately people got me all tied up / There's a countdown waiting for me to erupt". According to the sheet music published by EMI Music Publishing, "I Wanna Go" is written in the key of D minor, with an electropop beat infused metronome of 130 beats per minute. Spears' vocals range from the low note of D3 to the high note of D5.
Critical reception.
"I Wanna Go" received generally favorable reviews from music critics. A reviewer for Samesame.com.au called "I Wanna Go" Spears' best song since "Toxic", and added that "I’d go so far as to say that it is probably the best song that she has ever recorded. [...] How the decision was made that 'Hold It Against Me' would be a better first single over this is baffling". Parker Bruce of the "Washington Square News" stated that the song functions as "a sort of formal declaration and mission statement" for "Femme Fatale", saying that "It is not an innovative song, but it is fantastically effective and endlessly enticing with its liberating, toss-your-cares-away, dance-like-a-complete–and-utter-fool cathartic chorus, repeated words and typically saucy Britney lyrics". "The Daily Collegian" writer Hannah Rishel said "I Wanna Go" would have been "another good lead single", while "The Washington Times"'s Andrew Leahey said that along with "Till the World Ends", they are "bass-heavy tributes to club culture."
Robert Copsey of Digital Spy called it "anthemic" and noted the song would become a future single. Rich Juzwiak of "The Village Voice" called "I Wanna Go" the highlight of the album, and said "get ready for [it] to score your summer". However, Juzwiak went on to note that Spears' vocals are heavily manipulated to maximize the chorus's potential, even though "the joy she sings about is palpable". The "Chicago Sun-Times" journalist Thomas Conner also noted that the singer's vocals were processed to the point "these songs could be sung by anyone", exemplifying "'I Wanna Go' tweaks her up so high she could be Jackie Evancho". Andy Gill of "The Independent" also criticized the singer's vocals on "Femme Fatale", stating that they sounded more programmed than natural, with "even the little whistling hook in 'I Wanna Go' has a synthetic character about it".
Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine noted that "If not for its infectious pre-chorus whistle, 'I Wanna Go' would be just another song off the Max Martin assembly line". "The Guardian" contributor Alexis Petridis gave the song a negative review, and said that although most of tracks of the album are "genuinely exciting [...] there's certainly some unremarkable stuff on offer, notably 'Seal It With a Kiss' and 'I Wanna Go'". Evan Sawdey of PopMatters also noted that "I Wanna Go" is the point of the album in which "things stop being fun and start becoming intensely repetitious", criticizing specifically "[the] utterly stupid set of syllables repeated ad nauseam for no reason whatsoever? [..] the 'ably' part of 'uncontrollably' gets recycled far beyond the point where it just sounds stupid". Nicholas Hautman, from "Us Weekly", called it "so beyond AutoTuned at points that it could be Ozzy Osbourne singing for all we know". In September 2011, "I Wanna Go" topped "Rolling Stone"'s reader's poll of The Best Songs of the Summer.
Chart performance.
On the chart issue of April 3, 2011, "I Wanna Go" debuted at number 73 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and at number 52 on the Hot Digital Songs component chart due to strong digital sales. The song debuted at number 60 on the Canadian Hot 100 on the chart issue of April 16, 2011. It also debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon International Chart, and remained on the same position for three consecutive weeks. After its release as a single, the song debuted at number 37 on the "Billboard" Pop Songs chart on the chart issue of July 2, 2011. It also re-entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 89. The following week, it surged up to number 29 on the Hot 100 due to the premiere of the music video, with sales of 67,000 copies (up 282% from the previous week). "I Wanna Go" became Spears's 21st top-forty single, the third-highest female total since her first week on the chart on November 21, 1998, and only behind Taylor Swift with 27 and Rihanna with 22.
On the chart issue of August 4, 2011, the song climbed from number 11 to number nine on the "Billboard" Hot 100, making "Femme Fatale" the first album by Spears to achieve three top ten singles. It became her fifth top ten single in a row, and her twelfth top ten entry overall, the third-highest female total since her first week on the chart, behind Rihanna with eighteen and Beyoncé Knowles with fifteen. "I Wanna Go" peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 on the chart issue of August 24, 2011. The song peaked atop the Pop Songs chart on September 24, 2011, becoming Spears' sixth single to top the chart, and setting a record for the longest span of number-one singles by an artist (12 years, seven months and four days). Spears scored her first number-one single on the chart with "...Baby One More Time" on the chart issue of February 20, 1999. She also tied Mariah Carey and Knowles for the third-highest female total of number-one singles. As of July 2016, "I Wanna Go" has sold 1,780,000 digital downloads in the United States. It is her eighth best-selling digital single in the country.
In Australia, "I Wanna Go" debuted at number 33 on the ARIA Singles Chart on the chart issue of July 10, 2011. It peaked at number 31 three weeks later, on July 31, 2011. The song became the third lowest peaking single of Spears' career in the country, after "Radar" (2009) at 46 and "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" (1999) at 37. It spent nine weeks on the chart. It has since been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 35,000 units. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number 25 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and peaked at number 22 the following week. It became her lowest peaking single since "Radar", and her sixth single to not enter the top twenty. The song spent 10 weeks on the chart. On July 7, 2011, "I Wanna Go" debuted at 41 on the Irish Singles Chart. It became her first single to not chart in the inside the top 100 in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 138 on the chart issue of June 9, 2011. Across Europe, the song has peaked at number five on Belgium (Flanders) and France; number 10 in Finland; the top twenty in Belgium (Wallonia), Norway and Denmark; and the top forty in Czech Republic and Sweden.
Music video.
Development.
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"Let me tell you, all of that is bulls[hit]. Every artist has management, that's their job. It's what they're paid for. I work with the artist. Your question goes along perfectly with the whole concept of the video and that press conference – it's a ridiculous, exaggerated rumor about her life and career. I met with her, talked with her, went over the concept with her. It was extremely collaborative. She suggested alternatives and tweaked other things. As much as the management is there, this was a concept that Britney really dug. She was a big part of the decision-making process."
—Chris Marrs Piliero, on how the rumors of Spears being 'a puppet' related the concept of the music video.
The music video for "I Wanna Go" was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and filmed in Los Angeles, California. Spears first contacted Piliero and asked him to put together a concept for the video. The main idea for Piliero came from the lyric "be a little inappropriate", which stood out for him, but he did not want to make a video about sexual inappropriateness. Piliero wrote the opening press conference scene as a tribute to the film "Half Baked" (1998), which he is a fan of. He explained, "That scene resonates with everyone as the epitome of the greatest way to quit your job, and just blow people off. [...] I felt like that would just be such a perfect way for her to tell the reporters to eff off." Marrs Piliero first asked actor Kellan Lutz to co-star the clip with Spears; however, Lutz turned down the role, saying that "there were a couple of weird things about the part that didn't make sense", including the scene where he was going to pour milk on himself. Piliero then thought of asking one of the stars of "Half Baked", Guillermo Díaz, to be part of the video, explaining that it "would make it come full circle." Piliero watched all of Spears' videos and wanted to pull what he loved from them, but also give it something fresh. Piliero felt that all of her references to the paparazzi in her previous videos had been more of a statement than an action, and for "I Wanna Go", he wanted her to have the opportunity to fight back.
Piliero had the concept nearly finished by the time he met with Spears. Both wanted to explore fun ways for Spears to be inappropriate in the video, who had several ideas, such as a cop frisking her. Having seen Spears on "How I Met Your Mother" and "Saturday Night Live", Piliero felt that none of her videos had really taken advantage of her comedic timing, saying, "She never had a music video where she could show her acting chops and have fun with comedy while being super badass. That was my goal from day one: I wanted her to be funny, badass and super cool." During the first day of the shoot, he requested Spears to "have as much fun as possible over these next two days". Piliero also stated that the "Crossroads" (2002) reference "[i]s a fun Easter egg for fans. Plus, "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" is the most ridiculously awesome way to title a sequel. It just felt like the right thing to do. When Britney saw it, she loved it."
Synopsis.
The video begins at a press conference where Spears, wearing a cropped Mickey Mouse Skull top by "Mila Fargo" (paying homage to her days in "The New Mickey Mouse Club"), is being asked inappropriate questions by news reporters, such as "Is it true you banned junk food, smiles, candy, sunshine and laughter from your Femme Fatale Tour?" and "Is it true that you hate puppies?" Angered by the questions, Spears replies (albeit censored): "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, fuck you – I'm out", referencing a scene from the film "Half Baked". After leaving the press conference, Spears walks out of the building and out into the street, wearing a white leather jacket and a black skirt with matching with studded combat boots. She signs a fan's copy of "Femme Fatale" and then blows a kiss to a baby as he whistles the melody of the chorus. As Spears walks along the street, she flashes several men, including a policeman (played by Adrien Galo). As a criminal offence, the policeman searches Spears, feeling up and down her legs, as she is bent over a car. Spears later walks away from the policeman, swinging handcuffs around her finger while he buttons his shirt.
She continues walking down the street, where she smashes the camera of a paparazzi photographer who takes pictures of her. More paparazzi appear as she runs away and jumps on top of a taxi. Spears then stands atop of it, wielding the microphone as a weapon against the paparazzi who are hassling her. Across the street, a marquee of the cinema besides her reads "Crossroads 2: Cross Harder", referencing her film debut "Crossroads". After all the paparazzi, revealed to be cyborgs, have been knocked to the floor, they start crawling back with their eyes glowing red and their faces bursting with wires, reminiscent to a scene in "" (1991). A car suddenly pulls up near to Spears, and the driver Guillermo Díaz tells her to get inside. In the next scene, Spears dances in the passenger seat in a pink bikini top, as Guillermo drives. He attempts to drink some milk while driving but pours the carton of milk over his face. His chest starts to spark, and Spears pulls open his jacket to reveal that he too is a cyborg. The video then cuts back to the press conference, indicating that Spears was daydreaming, due to being asked monotonous and inappropriate questions. Guillermo steps in and leads Spears out of the room following him putting seashells in Spears' hand. Then, he turns to the camera with his eyes glowing red, and his laugh is heard, referencing "Michael Jackson's Thriller" (1983).
Release and reception.
On June 17, 2011, Jive Records announced through a press release that an exclusive 30-second teaser would premiere on June 19, 2011, on Bravo's "Watch What Happens: Live" and on VEVO simultaneously. The full length video was revealed to premiere on MTV and Vevo on June 22, 2011. Following the premiere, the video was played hourly on MTV, during video hours, and on VH1's "Best Morning Buzz Live". Jen McDonnell of "Dose" said, "damn if [the video] doesn't rock. [...] It all sounds very weird – and it is. But it's also buckets of fun." Megan Gibson of "Time" stated that the video is "random, weird and intended to be funny" and that despite the lack of dancing "Britney seems pleasantly energetic and spunky in 'I Wanna Go' which is a comforting change from her usual blank-eyed look." Sarah Anne Hughes of "The Washington Post" commented that the video "shows a much livelier Britney than the world has seen since the 'Toxic' years."
Jason Lipshutz of "Billboard" said that the video continues the visual representation of Spears' relationship with the paparazzi and her public image, as previously seen in the videos for "Everytime" (2004) and "Piece of Me" (2008), but "the new clip is arguably her most playful yet." Amos Barshad of "New York" stated the video "is awe-inspiring in "almost exactly the way it intended to be"" and that "the spirit of the song, as reflected in the video, is that of free will and dream fulfillment in the face of a repressive society." Jocelyn Vena of MTV commented that "Britney displays the sass and charm fans fell in love with a decade ago during performance shots, where she flirts with the camera, her eyes as big and wide as her smile." An editor for VH1 called the video "fan-freakin'-tastic" and compared it favorably to the music video for Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" (2011), saying that "they share a silly temperament, a flirty star, and funny cameos. Upon closer examination, though, Britney's video blows Katy Perry's out of the water."
Devin Brown of CBS News called it her best video from "Femme Fatale", and added that unlike "Piece of Me", "'I Wanna Go' offers a bevy of pop culture references meant to ridicule the rumors about the star – and finally no 'dancing.'" An editor from "Rolling Stone" said "The weirdness seems very calculated, but that doesn't make the video any less delightful." Another critic from "Rolling Stone" noted that the press conference "is hysterical because she's one of the least media-accessible singers in the world. It's easier to get a sit-down with Bob Dylan than it is with Britney." Becky Bain of Idolator called the video "delightful" and "flat out funny", explaining that Spears "focuses her energy on being too darn cute (and deliciously naughty) instead of having to worry about dancing, [she] is in on the joke and loving it all."
The video was Spears' first to be Vevo Certified, which means that it was the first of her videos to have received over 100 million views on Vevo.
Live performances, remixes and other versions.
Though the song has never been performed live as part of a televised performance, "I Wanna Go" was featured on the set list of the Femme Fatale Tour (2011). Spears and her dancers bring fans onstage and dance with them throughout the performance. Shirley Halperin of "The Hollywood Reporter" stated that "[the] mid-tempo numbers [...] seemed to stall out quickly, where faster offerings like 'Womanizer,' 'I Wanna Go' and 'Toxic' had the sold out crowd jumping in place and pumping their number twos in the air." Shaunna Murphy of "Entertainment Weekly" said, "Of the newer songs, 'How I Roll' and 'I Wanna Go' were standouts, the former for its bubblegum fun and the latter for the uproarious fan participation on stage." Spears also included the song on her residency show in Las Vegas, . After a rendition of "Circus", a performance of "I Wanna Go" followed, where Spears dances with six mirror images of herself. The mirrors, that are moved around by her dancers, are screens showing pre-recorded images of the singer. Keith Caulfield from "Billboard" considered the performance "cool".
"I Wanna Go" was remixed with guest vocals by Indian singer Sonu Nigam and released on the DesiHits website in June 2011. In the remix, Sonu mirrors Spears' vocals in Hindi over Indian instruments. Spears said about the song, "I'm so excited about having Sonu on I Wanna Go. His vocals add such a different feel, which I love! Watch out Bollywood – it's Britney and Sonu!". A remix done by DJ Frank E and Alex Dreamz removes the whistled hook and adds an extra beat to the song. The accompanying video for the remix contains footage of the music video for the song with a glowing yellow tint. The version of the song that was published on her official SoundCloud page on June 12, 2011 contains an extended bridge before the final chorus, making the song 26 seconds longer than the standard version that appears in other streaming platforms and physical releases.
Track listings.
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Credits and personnel.
Credits adapted from "Femme Fatale" booklet liner notes.
Charts.
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References.
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
City in Michigan, United States
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the fifth-most populous city in Michigan. Located on the Huron River, Ann Arbor is the principal city of its metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Washtenaw County and had 372,258 residents in 2020. Ann Arbor is included in the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor combined statistical area and the Great Lakes megalopolis.
Ann Arbor was founded in 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey. It was named after the wives of the village's founders, both named Ann, and the stands of bur oak trees they found at the site of the town. The University of Michigan was established in Ann Arbor in 1837, and the city's population grew at a rapid rate in the early to mid-20th century.
A college town, Ann Arbor is currently home to the University of Michigan, which significantly shapes the city's economy, employing about 30,000 workers which includes about 12,000 in its medical center. The city's economy is also centered on high technology, with several companies drawn to the area by the university's research and development infrastructure. The city has been a center for progressive politics as well as several social and religious movements.
History.
Before founding as Ann Arbor.
The region was once inhabited by several Native American tribes, the most prominent being the Anishinaabe people of the Three Fires: the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. The Potawatomi founded two villages in the area of what is now Ann Arbor in about 1774. Other tribes that inhabited the area included the Fox, Wyandots, and Sauk. These peoples established several trails that converged on present-day Ann Arbor. The land that included Washtenaw County was ceded to the U.S. by the Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Wyandot in the Treaty of Detroit of 1807.
19th century.
Ann Arbor was founded in 1824 by land speculators John Allen and Elisha Walker Rumsey. On May 25, 1824, the town plat was registered with Wayne County as the Village of Annarbour, the earliest known use of the town's name. Allen and Rumsey decided to name it for their wives, both named Ann, and for the stands of bur oak in the of land they purchased for $800 () from the federal government at $1.25 per acre. The local Ojibwa named the settlement , after the sound of Allen's sawmill.
Ann Arbor became the seat of Washtenaw County in 1827 and was incorporated as a village in 1833. The Ann Arbor Land Company, a group of speculators, set aside of undeveloped land and offered it to the state of Michigan as the site of the state capitol, but lost the bid to Lansing. In 1837, the property was accepted instead as the site of the University of Michigan.
Since the university's establishment in the city in 1837, the histories of the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor have been closely linked. The town became a regional transportation hub in 1839 with the arrival of the Michigan Central Railroad, and a north–south railway connecting Ann Arbor to Toledo and other markets to the south was established in 1878. Throughout the 1840s and the 1850s settlers continued to come to Ann Arbor. While the earlier settlers were primarily of British ancestry, the newer settlers also consisted of Germans, Irish, and Black people. In 1851, Ann Arbor was chartered as a city, though the city showed a drop in population during the Depression of 1873. It was not until the early 1880s that Ann Arbor again saw robust growth, with new immigrants from Greece, Italy, Russia, and Poland.
20th century.
Ann Arbor saw increased growth in manufacturing, particularly in milling. Ann Arbor's Jewish community also grew after the turn of the 20th century, and its first and oldest synagogue, Beth Israel Congregation, was established in 1916.
Following a 1956 vote, the city of East Ann Arbor merged with Ann Arbor to encompass the eastern sections of the city.
In 1960, Ann Arbor voters approved a $2.3 million bond issue (equivalent to $ million in 2023) to build the current city hall, which was designed by architect Alden B. Dow. The City Hall opened in 1963. In 1995, the building was renamed the Guy C. Larcom Jr. Municipal Building in honor of the longtime city administrator who championed the building's construction.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the city gained a reputation as an important center for liberal politics. Ann Arbor also became a locus for left-wing activism and anti-Vietnam War movement, as well as the student movement. The first major meetings of the national left-wing campus group Students for a Democratic Society took place in Ann Arbor in 1960; in 1965, the city was home to the first U.S. teach-in against the Vietnam War. During the ensuing 15 years, many countercultural and New Left enterprises sprang up and developed large constituencies within the city. These influences washed into municipal politics during the early and mid-1970s when three members of the Human Rights Party (HRP) won city council seats on the strength of the student vote. During their time on the council, HRP representatives fought for measures including pioneering antidiscrimination ordinances, measures decriminalizing marijuana possession, and a rent-control ordinance.
Two religious-conservative institutions were created in Ann Arbor; the Word of God (established in 1967), a charismatic inter-denominational movement; and the Thomas More Law Center (established in 1999). Since 1998, Ann Arbor is also the home office of the Anthroposophical Society in the United States, an organization dedicated to supporting the community of those interested in the inner path of schooling known as anthroposophy, developed by Rudolf Steiner.
21st century.
In the past several decades, Ann Arbor has grappled with the effects of sharply rising land values, gentrification, and urban sprawl stretching into outlying countryside. On November 4, 2003, voters approved a greenbelt plan under which the city government bought development rights on agricultural parcels of land adjacent to Ann Arbor to preserve them from sprawling development. Since then, a vociferous local debate has hinged on how and whether to accommodate and guide development within city limits. Ann Arbor consistently ranks in the "top places to live" lists published by various mainstream media outlets every year.
In 2016, the city changed mayoral terms from two years to four. Until 2017, City Council held annual elections in which half of the seats (one from each ward) were elected to 2-year terms. These elections were staggered, with each ward having one of its seats up for election in odd years and its other seat up for election in even years. Beginning in 2018 the city council has had staggered elections to 4-year terms in even years. This means that half of the members (one from each ward) are elected in presidential election years, while the other half are elected in mid-term election years. To facilitate this change in scheduling, the 2017 election elected members to terms that lasted 3-years.
In 2020, partly as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city government opened several downtown streets to pedestrians, limiting their use by motor vehicles to emergency vehicles during summertime weekends. In addition to providing a large pedestrian mall, these changes allow restaurants to use more of the sidewalks and part of the street for outdoor seating. These changes were popular enough that in 2021 the city council extended the dates from March to November, continuing the schedule of cordoning off cars from Thursday evening until Monday morning.
Geography.
Ann Arbor is located along the Huron River, which flows southeast through the city on its way to Lake Erie. It is the central core of the Ann Arbor, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of the whole of Washtenaw County, but is also a part of the Metro Detroit Combined Statistical Area designated by the U.S. Census Bureau. While it borders only Townships, the built-up nature of the sections of Pittsfield and Ypsilanti townships between Ann Arbor and the city of Ypsilanti make the two effectively a single urban area.
Landscape.
The landscape of Ann Arbor consists of hills and valleys, with the terrain becoming steeper near the Huron River. The elevation ranges from about along the Huron River to on the city's west side, near the intersection of Maple Road and Pauline Blvd. Ann Arbor Municipal Airport, which is south of the city at , has an elevation of . Ann Arbor is nicknamed "Tree Town", both due to its name and to the dense forestation of its parks and residential areas. The city contains more than 50,000 trees along its streets and an equal number in parks. Into the early 2000s, the emerald ash borer has destroyed many of the city's approximately 10,500 ash trees.
The city contains over 160 municipal parks ranging from small neighborhood green spots to large recreation areas such as Buhr Park. Several large city parks and a university park border sections of the Huron River. Fuller Recreation Area, near the University Hospital complex, contains sports fields, pedestrian and bike paths, and swimming pools. Opened in the summer of 2014, the city-funded Ann Arbor Skatepark is a skatepark located within Veterans Memorial Park. The city is also home to the Washtenaw County-owned County Farm Park. The Nichols Arboretum, owned by the University of Michigan, is a arboretum that contains hundreds of plant and tree species. It is on the city's east side, near the university's Central Campus. Located across the Huron River just beyond the university's North Campus is the university's Matthaei Botanical Gardens, which contains 300 acres of gardens and a large tropical conservatory. Several other green spaces around Ann Arbor are privately owned or owned by government agencies such as Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Cityscape.
The cityscape of Ann Arbor is heavily influenced by the University of Michigan, with 22% of downtown and 9.4% of the total land owned by the university. The downtown Central Campus contains some of the oldest extant structures in the city—including the President's House, built in 1840—and separates the South University District from the other three downtown commercial districts. These other three districts, Kerrytown, State Street, and Main Street are contiguous near the northwestern corner of the university.
Major landmarks in downtown Ann Arbor include the Michigan Theater, The Diag, and Tower Plaza, a 26-story condominium building that is the city's tallest building. Downtown is also home to several Fairy Doors and other public art installations.
Three commercial areas south of downtown include the areas near I-94 and Ann Arbor-Saline Road, Briarwood Mall, and the South Industrial area. Other commercial areas include the Arborland/Washtenaw Avenue and Packard Road merchants on the east side, the Plymouth Road area in the northeast, and the Westgate/West Stadium areas on the west side. Downtown contains a mix of 19th- and early-20th-century structures and modern-style buildings, as well as a farmers' market in the Kerrytown district. The city's commercial districts are composed mostly of two- to four-story structures, although downtown and the area near Briarwood Mall contain a small number of high-rise buildings.
Ann Arbor's residential neighborhoods contain architectural styles ranging from classic 19th- and early 20th-century designs to ranch-style houses. Among these homes are a number of kit houses built in the early 20th century. Contemporary-style houses are farther from the downtown district. Surrounding the University of Michigan campus are houses and apartment complexes occupied primarily by student renters. The 19th-century buildings and streetscape of the Old West Side neighborhood have been preserved virtually intact; in 1972, the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and it is further protected by city ordinances and a nonprofit preservation group.
Climate.
Ann Arbor has a typically Midwestern humid continental climate (Köppen "Dfa"), which is influenced by the Great Lakes. There are four distinct seasons: winters are cold and snowy, with average highs around . Summers are warm to hot and humid, with average highs around and with slightly more precipitation. Spring and autumn are transitional between the two. The area experiences lake effect weather, primarily in the form of increased cloudiness during late fall and early winter. The monthly daily average temperature in July is , while the same figure for January is . Temperatures reach or exceed on 10 days, and drop to or below on 4.6 nights. Precipitation tends to be the heaviest during the summer months, but most frequent during winter. Snowfall, which normally occurs from November to April but occasionally starts in October, averages per season. The lowest recorded temperature was on February 11, 1885, and the highest recorded temperature was on July 24, 1934.
Demographics.
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Ann Arbor has seen consistent growth in population between all decennial censuses since 1860 with the exception of the 2010 census which reported almost no growth from the previous census. As of the 2020 U.S. census, there were 123,851 people and 49,337 households residing in the city, with a population density of . The racial makeup of the city including Hispanics in the racial categories was 67.6% White, 6.8% Black, 0.2% Native American, 15.7% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 1.8% from other races, and 7.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race made up 5.5% of the population. Ann Arbor has a small population of Arab Americans, including students as well as local Lebanese and Palestinians, and a large community of Japanese nationals.
According to the 2022 American Community Survey estimates, out of 49,337 households, 33.8% were married-couple households, 9.8% were cohabiting couple households, 26.1% had a male householder with no spouse present, and 30.4% had a female householder with no spouse present. 18.4% of the households had individuals under the age of 18 living in them, and 20.1% had individuals over age 65 living in them. The average household size was 2.22 people and the average family size was 2.78 people. The median age was 25.9; 12.2% of the population was under age 18, and 12.3% was age 65 or older. The percentage of city residents age 25 years or older with at least a high school degree was 97.8% while 77.5% had a bachelor's degree or higher, which is higher than the U.S. national percentage of 89.1% for persons age 25 years or older with at least a high school degree and 34.3% with a bachelor's degree or higher.
The median household income in 2022 was $78,740 (versus the U.S. national figure of $75,149), with family households having a median income of $126,292. The per capita income for the city was $52,276, which is higher than the U.S. national per capita income of $41,261. Males working full-time jobs had median earnings of $86,970 compared to $61,543 for females. Out of the 109,973 people with a determined poverty status, 23.1% were below the poverty line compared to the U.S. national poverty rate of 11.1%; the age group with the highest percentage below the poverty level was persons between 18 and 34 years at 43.0% while other age groups have percentages between 2.7% and 7.7%. Further, 3.5% of minors and 7.7% of seniors were below the poverty line.
Crime.
According to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program in 2022, Ann Arbor had 371 reported violent crimes (which include homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and 2069 reported property crimes (which include arson, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft). With a violent crime rate of 309.5 per 100,000 people, the city's violent crime rate is lower than Michigan's rate of 461 per 100,000 people and the U.S. national rate of 380.7 per 100,000 people. However, Ann Arbor's property crime rate, at 1726.0 per 100,000 people, is higher than Michigan's property crime rate of 1536.8 per 100,000 people and lower than the U.S. national property crime rate of 1954.4 per 100,000 people.
Economy.
The University of Michigan shapes Ann Arbor's economy significantly. It employs about 30,000 workers which includes about 12,000 in the medical center. Other employers are drawn to the area by the university's research and development money, and by its graduates. High tech, health services and biotechnology are other major components of the city's economy; numerous medical offices, laboratories, and associated companies are located in the city. Automobile manufacturers, such as General Motors and Visteon, also employ residents.
High tech companies have located in the area since the 1930s, when International Radio Corporation introduced the first mass-produced AC/DC radio (the Kadette, in 1931) as well as the first pocket radio (the Kadette Jr., in 1933). Current firms include Arbor Networks (provider of Internet traffic engineering and security systems), Arbortext (provider of XML-based publishing software), JSTOR (the digital scholarly journal archive), Truven Health Analytics, and ProQuest, which includes UMI. Duo Security, a cloud-based access security provider of two-factor authentication, is headquartered in Ann Arbor. It was formerly a unicorn and continues to be headquartered in Ann Arbor after its acquisition by Cisco Systems. In November 2021, semiconductor test equipment company KLA Corporation opened a new North American headquarters in Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor is the home to Internet2 and the Merit Network, a not-for-profit research and education computer network. Both are located in the South State Commons 2 building on South State Street. The city is also home to a secondary office of Google's AdWords program—the company's primary revenue stream. As of 2022,[ [update]] Ann Arbor is home to more than twenty video game and XR studios of varying sizes. The city plays host to a regional chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) which hosts monthly meetups, presentations, and educational events.
The city is the home of many research and engineering centers, including the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory that is operated by NOAA and the Michigan Tech Research Institute. Other research centers sited in the city are the United States Environmental Protection Agency's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory and the Toyota Technical Center. The city is also home to National Sanitation Foundation International (NSF International), the nonprofit non-governmental organization that develops generally accepted standards for a variety of public health related industries and subject areas.
Non-high tech companies in Ann Arbor include Domino's Pizza, headquartered on Domino's Farms, a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired complex just northeast of the city. Another Ann Arbor-based company is Zingerman's Delicatessen, which serves sandwiches and has developed businesses under a variety of brand names. Avfuel, a global supplier of aviation fuels and services, is headquartered in Ann Arbor as is Pinkerton, a detective and private security firm. Many cooperative enterprises were founded in the city; among those that remain are the People's Food Co-op and the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan, a student housing cooperative founded in 1937. There are also three cohousing communities—Sunward, Great Oak, and Touchstone—located immediately to the west of the city limits.
Culture.
Several performing arts groups and facilities are on the University of Michigan's campus, as are museums dedicated to art, archaeology, and natural history and sciences. Founded in 1879, the University Musical Society is an independent performing arts organization that presents over 60 events each year, bringing international artists in music, dance, and theater. Since 2001 Shakespeare in the Arb has presented one play by Shakespeare each June, in a large park near downtown. Regional and local performing arts groups not associated with the university include the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, the Arbor Opera Theater, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, The Ark, and Performance Network Theatre. State Theatre and the adjacent Michigan Theater are a movie palace and a performing arts center, respectively. Another unique piece of artistic expression in Ann Arbor is the fairy doors. These small portals are examples of installation art and can be found throughout the downtown area.
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, an interactive science center, is located in a renovated and expanded historic downtown fire station. The Ann Arbor Art Center is a nonprofit that organizes art activities and exhibitions. Aside from the Ann Arbor District Library, which maintains four branch outlets in addition to its main downtown building, and being the home to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor ranks first among U.S. cities in the number of booksellers and books sold per capita.
Several annual events—many of them centered on performing and visual arts—draw visitors to Ann Arbor. One such event is the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, a set of four concurrent juried fairs held on downtown streets. Scheduled on Thursday through Sunday of the third week of July, the fairs draw upward of half a million visitors. Another is the Ann Arbor Film Festival, held during the third week of March, which receives more than 2,500 submissions annually from more than 40 countries and serves as one of a handful of Academy Award–qualifying festivals in the United States.
Ann Arbor has a long history of openness to marijuana, given Ann Arbor's decriminalization of cannabis, the large number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city (one dispensary, called People's Co-op, was directly across the street from Michigan Stadium until zoning forced it to move one mile to the west), the large number of pro-marijuana residents, and the annual Hash Bash: an event that is held on the first Saturday of April. Until (at least) the successful passage of Michigan's medical marijuana law, the event had arguably strayed from its initial intent, although for years, a number of attendees have received serious legal responses due to marijuana use on University of Michigan property, which does not fall under the city's progressive and compassionate ticketing program.
A person from Ann Arbor is called an "Ann Arborite", and many long-time residents call themselves "townies". The city itself is often called "A²" ("A-squared") or "A2" ("A two") or "AA", "The Deuce" (mainly by Chicagoans), and "Tree Town". With tongue-in-cheek reference to the city's liberal political leanings, some occasionally refer to Ann Arbor as "The People's Republic of Ann Arbor" or "25 square miles surrounded by reality." In "A Prairie Home Companion" broadcast from Ann Arbor, Garrison Keillor described Ann Arbor as "a city where people discuss socialism, but only in the fanciest restaurants." Ann Arbor sometimes appears on citation indexes as an author, instead of a location, often with the academic degree "MI", a misunderstanding of the abbreviation for Michigan.
Sports.
Ann Arbor is a major center for college sports, most notably at the University of Michigan. Several well-known college sports facilities exist in the city, including Michigan Stadium, the largest American football stadium and the third-largest stadium of any kind in the world with a capacity of 107,601. The stadium is colloquially known as "The Big House" due to its status as the largest American football stadium. Crisler Center and Yost Ice Arena play host to the school's basketball (both men's and women's) and ice hockey teams, respectively. Concordia University, a member of the NAIA, also fields sports teams.
In semi-professional sports Ann Arbor is represented in the NPSL by AFC Ann Arbor, a soccer club founded in 2014 who call themselves The Mighty Oak.
Government.
As the county seat of Washtenaw County, the Washtenaw County Trial Court (22nd Circuit Court) is located in Ann Arbor at the Washtenaw County Courthouse on Main Street. Seven judges serve on the court. The 15th Michigan district court, which serves only the city itself, is located within the Ann Arbor Justice Center, immediately next to city hall. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit are also located in downtown Ann Arbor, at the federal building on Liberty Street.
In the Michigan Legislature, the city is split between Districts 23, 33, 47, and 48 in the Michigan House of Representatives. In the Michigan Senate, Ann Arbor is covered by Districts 14 and 15. Ann Arbor is within the 6th congressional district, currently represented by Debbie Dingell.
Ann Arbor has a council–manager form of government, with 11 voting members: the mayor and 10 city council members. Each of the city's five wards are represented by two council members, with the mayor elected at-large during midterm years. Half of the council members are elected in midterm years, with the other in general election years. The mayor is the presiding officer of the city council and has the power to appoint all council committee members as well as board and commission members, with the approval of the city council. The current mayor of Ann Arbor is Christopher Taylor, a Democrat who was elected as mayor in 2014. Day-to-day city operations are managed by a city administrator chosen by the city council. While Democrats, as of 2024,[ [update]] hold the mayorship and all ten council seats, Ann Arbor has two major political factions. A major source of this local divide is differences in views on the city's growth.
Education.
Primary and secondary education.
Public schools are part of the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) district. AAPS has one of the country's leading music programs. For the 2021–2022 school year, 17,070 students were enrolled in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Notable schools include Pioneer, Huron, Skyline, Community high schools, Pathways to Success Academic Campus, and Ann Arbor Open School. The district has a preschool center with both free and tuition-based programs for preschoolers in the district. The University High School, a "demonstration school" with teachers drawn from the University of Michigan's education program, was part of the school system from 1924 to 1968.
Ann Arbor is home to several private schools, including Clonlara School, Michigan Islamic Academy, and Greenhills School, a prep school. The city is also home to several charter schools such as Central Academy (Michigan) (PreK–12) of the Global Educational Excellence (GEE) charter school company.
Higher education.
The University of Michigan dominates the city of Ann Arbor, providing the city with its distinctive college-town character. University buildings are located in the center of the city and the campus is directly adjacent to the State Street and South University downtown areas.
Other local colleges and universities include Concordia University Ann Arbor, a Lutheran liberal-arts institution. Washtenaw Community College is located in neighboring Ann Arbor Township. In 2000, the Ave Maria School of Law, a Roman Catholic law school established by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, opened in northeastern Ann Arbor, but the school moved to Ave Maria, Florida in 2009, and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School acquired the former Ave Maria buildings for use as a branch campus.
Media.
"The Ann Arbor News", owned by the Michigan-based Booth Newspapers chain, was the major newspaper serving Ann Arbor and the rest of Washtenaw County. The newspaper ended its 174-year daily print run in 2009 due to economic difficulties, and began producing two printed editions a week under the name AnnArbor.com. Ann Arbor has been said to be the first significant city to lose its only daily paper. The publication resumed using its former name in 2013, and also produces a daily digital edition named MLive.com. Another Ann Arbor-based publication that has ceased production was the "Ann Arbor Paper", a free monthly. The "Ann Arbor Chronicle", an online newspaper, covered local news, including meetings of the library board, county commission, and DDA until September 3, 2014.
Current publications in the city include the "Ann Arbor Journal" ("A2 Journal"), a weekly community newspaper; the "Ann Arbor Observer", a free monthly local magazine; and "Current", a free entertainment-focused alt-weekly. The "Ann Arbor Business Review" covers local business in the area. "Car and Driver" magazine and "Automobile Magazine" are also based in Ann Arbor. The University of Michigan is served by many student publications, including the independent "Michigan Daily" student newspaper, which reports on local, state, and regional issues in addition to campus news.
Four major AM radio stations based in or near Ann Arbor are WAAM 1600, a conservative news and talk station; WLBY 1290, a business news and talk station; WDEO 990, Catholic radio; and WTKA 1050, which is primarily a sports station. The city's FM stations include NPR affiliate WUOM 91.7; country station WWWW 102.9; and adult-alternative station WQKL 107.1. Freeform station WCBN-FM 88.3 is a local community radio/college radio station operated by the students of the University of Michigan featuring noncommercial, eclectic music and public-affairs programming. The city is also served by public and commercial radio broadcasters in Ypsilanti, the Lansing/Jackson area, Detroit, Windsor, and Toledo.
Ann Arbor is part of the Detroit television market. WPXD channel 31, the owned-and-operated Detroit outlet of the ION Television network, is licensed to the city. Until its sign-off on August 31, 2017, WHTV channel 18, a MyNetworkTV-affiliated station for the Lansing market, was broadcast from a transmitter in Lyndon Township, west of Ann Arbor. Community Television Network (CTN) is a city-provided cable television channel with production facilities open to city residents and nonprofit organizations. Detroit and Toledo-area radio and television stations also serve Ann Arbor, and stations from Lansing and Windsor, Ontario, can be seen in parts of the area.
Infrastructure.
Healthcare.
The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) includes University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital in its core complex. UMHS also operates out-patient clinics and facilities throughout the city. The area's other major medical centers include a large facility operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, and Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in nearby Superior Township.
Utilities.
The city provides sewage disposal and water supply services, with water coming from the Huron River and groundwater sources. There are two water-treatment plants, one main and three outlying reservoirs, four pump stations, and two water towers. These facilities serve the city, which is divided into five water districts. The city's water department also operates four dams along the Huron River—Argo, Barton, Geddes, and Superior—of which Barton and Superior provide hydroelectric power.
The city also offers waste management services, with Recycle Ann Arbor handling recycling service. Other utilities are provided by private entities. Electrical power and gas are provided by DTE Energy. AT&T Inc. is the primary wired telephone service provider for the area. Cable TV service is primarily provided by Comcast.
A plume of the industrial solvent dioxane is migrating under the city from the contaminated Gelman Sciences, Inc. property on the westside of Ann Arbor. As of 2021,[ [update]] the average measured concentration was found to be 201.19 ppb, with the maximum being 6.000 ppm. While the United States Environmental Protection Agency does not impose a federal limit on the level of the contaminant allowed in drinking water, the World Health Organization suggests a limit of 35 ppb. The Gelman plume is a potential threat to one of the City of Ann Arbor's drinking water sources, the Huron River, which flows through downtown Ann Arbor.
Transportation.
The streets in downtown Ann Arbor conform to a grid pattern, though this pattern is less common in the surrounding areas. Major roads branch out from the downtown district to the highways surrounding the city. The city is belted by three freeways: Interstate 94 (I-94), which runs along the southern and western portion of the city; U.S. Highway 23 (US 23), which primarily runs along the eastern edge of Ann Arbor; and M-14, which runs along the northern edge of the city. Other nearby highways include US 12 (Michigan Avenue), M-17 (Washtenaw Avenue), and M-153 (Ford Road). Several of the major surface arteries lead to the I-94/M-14 interchange in the west, US 23 in the east, and the city's southern areas. The Washtenaw County Border-to-Border Trail connects Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti, mostly along the Huron River, for pedestrians, bicycles and other non-motorized transportation.
The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA), which brands itself as "TheRide", operates public bus services throughout the city and nearby Ypsilanti. The AAATA operates the Blake Transit Center on Fourth Ave. in downtown Ann Arbor, and the Ypsilanti Transit Center. A separate zero-fare bus service operates within and between the University of Michigan campuses. In 2019, 36% of trips in Ann Arbor were taken by walking, biking or transit.
Since April 2012, the "AirRide" connects to Detroit Metro Airport a dozen times a day. The Michigan Flyer, a service operated by Indian Trails, cooperates with AAATA for their AirRide and additionally offers bus service to East Lansing. Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service. Megabus has direct service to Chicago, Illinois, while a bus service is provided by Amtrak Thruway for rail passengers making connections to services in East Lansing and Toledo, Ohio.
Amtrak, which provides service to the city at the Ann Arbor Train Station, operates the "Wolverine" train between Chicago and Pontiac via Detroit. The present-day train station neighbors the city's old Michigan Central Depot, which was renovated as a restaurant in 1970. Ann Arbor Municipal Airport is a small, city-run general aviation airport located south of I-94.
Sister cities.
Ann Arbor has eight sister cities:
Notes.
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References.
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Andy Michner
American racing driver
Andy Michner (born October 27, 1968, Ann Arbor, Michigan), is a former driver in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Busch Series. He is the current record holder of the world's fastest Sprint Car race at a United States Auto Club event in Phoenix, Arizona at 136.034 mph 1996. Michner finished twice a runner-up to NASCAR'S Tony Stewart in United States Auto Club competition and has 19 USAC Wins. He passed his Indy 500 Rookie Orientation Program but elected to not qualify for the race 1996 Indianapolis 500. In 1996 & 1997, Michner ran a partial season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as Chevrolet's Development Driver. He then returned to the Indy Car series in 1998 with Konica/Syan Racing and captured his career best finish of eighth place in his first race, the 1998 Indianapolis 500. Michner then signed with Factory Riley&Scott Reebok Indycar Team where Michner led in the closing laps of the 1998 Texas Longhorn 500 but failed to finish due to an engine failure. At Michigan International Speedway in August 1998, it was announced, Michner signed a 3-year contract to drive the Bayer Aleve, Coca-Cola Chevrolet in NASCAR's Busch Series for BACE Motorsports. Michner suffered ultimately career ending injuries in October 1998 while testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway in a NASCAR Busch Series test. He attempted to qualify for the 1999 Indianapolis 500 for Byrd Racing but failed to make the field due to rain. He was named to a Logan Racing entry to two races in 2000 but the car did not appear at either race.
 "1 The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities."
References.
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