City Guide
Neighborhoods - Bach
With their porch swings and bountiful front-yard flower gardens, the homes of the city's Old West Side-just a short walk from downtown-welcome passersby to the heart of the Bach Elementary area, which boasts 13 historic districts within its borders. Most homes are small Victorians originally built by 19th century German workmen. Many have been painstakingly restored. In exchange for some of the highest prices per square foot in the city, buyers get shady streets, houses with character, and a fabulous location.
Also part of Bach are the neighborhoods north of downtown and campus, including the Old Fourth Ward Historic District. Gentrified in spots, with rehabbed single-family homes as well as new homes and condos, the area also has plenty of well-worn student rentals. All are just a few minutes' walk the Farmers' Market, the People's Food Co-op, Zingerman's, and Kerrytown Market & Shops.
North of Miller, homes are set close to the sidewalk on narrow lots, with porch sitters, bike riders, and kids playing on the sidewalk. Always racially mixed, this neighborhood has become home to young professionals. Rentals are common. Nestled in a valley between Huron and Miller, newly renovated West Park has a band shell, a baseball diamond, and a great view of downtown from sloping lawns and walks.
Farther south, single-family bungalows, small ranches, and a few story-and-a-halfs (most built after World War II) thread outward from Allmedinger Park, with its softball diamonds, playground, tennis and basketball courts, and picnic facilities. Lilacs line its perimeter.
The red-brick buildings of the 207-unit Nob HIll apartment complex fit comfortably into the neighborhood's southern edge. To the east, Bach extends through the downtown all the way to the U-M Diag, including downtown loft apartments and thousands of student rentals in small and medium-sized buildings of every vintage.
At 26 stories, the Tower Plaza condominium on William is Ann Arbor's tallest building-and likely to remain so, since the city has height limits for new construction.
Bach School also serves the triangle bounded by South Main, Eisenhower, and Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. Residents of the 306-unit Woodland Mews flats and townhouses (which include both owner-occupied condos and rental units) can walk to Busch's supermarket and Whole Foods-or to a game at U-M's new soccer stadium.
Most Bach kids go on to Slauson, but some on the northern edge of the district can choose Forsythe. Children in the southern triangle go to Tappan. Bach kids who live north of Huron attend Skyline High, while all the rest go to Pioneer.
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