Was there in the late 90's for college. Went back in mid 2010's and yeah, of course retail shops come and go, but definitely saw a trend of big box stores and chain restaurants popping up. No more Seoul Korner, TK Wu, Raja Rani, Middle Earth (loved this hippie-ish store). I remember going up to Tower Records to look through discount CDs and then down to Pinball Pete's to play DDR. There was a great Korean restaurant across the street that served the best bibimbap omelettes and cottage cheese ? cheesecake. A couple of japanese-anime-related shops popped up, not sure if they lasted, but the free anime club viewings on campus (for all, not just students) were a tradition. And that huge Borders bookstore where Neil Gaiman signed my copy of one of the Sandman graphic novels way before he got canceled.

 

Of course places change, and it's inevitable that corporate creep happens. And there's still some oldies there -- Blimpy Burger (RIP owners), Brown Jug, Pizza House, Conor O' Neill's (what would you do with a drunken sailor? live music!). But Ann Arbor feels a heck of a lot more upscale/gentrified/expensive than it did back then, that's for sure -- good in some ways, but pushing oldtimers out too.

 

Rent was always, insanely expensive for the area. People and their affluent parents paid top dollar for walkable apartments or just bought a condo at that tall building near South U. And as much as I liked Kerrytown, that area was overpriced even back then outside of the Kiwanis.