 I think what's unique about Ann Arbor is just how much diversity there is. It's a small city, but there's so much to do. I feel like Ann Arbor is unique because it's concentrated into this one city and there's so much, like, you can get into anything here and if there's anything that interests you, there's probably 20 other people who want to do it too and you can make a group about it and you don't have to feel like, oh, I'm the only one in town who wants to go and watch squirrels. There's a squirrel watching club. I think something that people don't really realize is the number of great kind of performances or kind of cultural activities that somehow magically turn up in Ann Arbor and it's actually through the University of Michigan. One thing great and unique to Ann Arbor is the amount of green space around this town so if you're somebody who likes to get out and do anything outside, just go sit in the park, ride your bicycle, go for a jog, take your pets outside. It's great. The number of parks here, they're unbelievable. I think for me personally one of the things that I enjoy the most about being at Michigan is it is one of the oldest schools. One of the things I'm really interested in is just the history of different things and my own specific area is disability rehabilitation research so for me, just being inside the Rackham Graduate Building where they announced the polio vaccine carries a lot of weight with me personally. One of the other things that I really like about Ann Arbor is despite its I think relative size compared to big cities, it has a great public transportation system which is how I get around because I don't drive. So I've always been able to take the buses to campus and the great thing is that the University of Michigan when you show your student ID on the bus, you write the bus for free so it's free public transportation and much of Ann Arbor is in fact really walkable. I really like Ann Arbor because it's small. It's very easy to get around. For me, I personally get around mostly by walking everywhere. I walk to campus, I walk to the grocery store but bikes are a great way to get around too. I've also used a bike and everything if you get a bike, it's five minutes away so it's very, very quick to get anywhere. So you have all sorts of housing options in Ann Arbor if you decide to be a grad student here. The first thing I would do is start on the University's web pages and look at options both on campus and off campus. I live in a house that has been converted to apartments with three other people, one of which is the pharmacy student and two of which are graduates from Eastern Michigan University. So we live together and it's really nice. I ended up finding them on Craigslist. If you're looking for quiet places, I would suggest looking in North Campus. They have lots of cheaper housing that is in a quieter area and the standard tends to be a little bit better than some for campus. If you're looking for houses, I would look at the old west side and a lot of times people like to live near Kerrytown. The best place to live, in my opinion, is Kerrytown. That's maybe just because I live there but it's just close to campus and close to the market and there's a lot going on around there and it's a good escape from campus life. The closer you get to campus, the pricier it's going to be. Ask current students where they live because a lot of times they might have a house or a neighborhood they'd recommend and they can pass it along to you. I think it really depends on what makes you happy, what makes you content. Again, it's not just about getting an apartment for school. It's really about investing time for the next stage in your life. So you really have to factor in what's the best place for you when you think about where to live. There's so many must-ties and must-dos in Ann Arbor. My must-do is to go to Washtenaw Dairy. I love Washtenaw Dairy. You can get a three-scoop kids' waffle cone for $2.75. You have to go to a football game. You have to walk into that stadium that seats however many hundreds of thousands of people. The whole community feels it. Just walking down State Street, everyone's wearing yellow shirts. It's just a different environment. It's almost like a holiday. My must-do in Ann Arbor is eat. Try just everything and anything. I would definitely check out the Zingamans Roadhouse or the Zingamans Deli. Zingamans is kind of a famous name in the country for great food. They have great sandwiches, great desserts, and you can go in there and you can just sample everything. They have great cheeses. Check out Detroit. When a friend of mine came to Ann Arbor for the first time, we went down to the first two original Coney Islands. These are restaurants that are very native to Detroit and Michigan. And we tried both of their hot dogs and fries to see who's had the best kind of man versus food style. Go to Canada. I've never been in a state that was so close to Canada. So you can go to another country and be back home for dinner. In the spring, I have to go to the Arboretum. I'm not a huge nature person, but for me it kind of signals, okay, winter's over. There's so many things for parents to do with their kids in Ann Arbor. My son, for instance, loves a hand-on museum. And if we ever have a rainy day and my son just wants to get out of the house, I know I can just go to the hands-on museum for free with my membership and let him play around. Ann Arbor is a very family-friendly town. You have the Hands-On Center, which is wonderful, especially for older kids. And then you have lots of other things that you're allowed to do for free with your M-card. And one of those that I love to do is go to the botanical gardens. And you can do that throughout the winter. They have a conservatory where it's heated and it's just lovely. And it's great because we've gone there and allowed our son to crawl around and hang out. And it's just a wonderful thing to do. Walk through the Sune Union. You really kind of get a feel for the history of the university. And then just kind of wander downtown and check out all the cool shops and restaurants. And, you know, you'll get a feel for this neat town. My favorite thing of Ann Arbor is actually I like everything of Ann Arbor. My favorite thing about Ann Arbor is how easy it is to be healthy here. So not only do we have a great fresh farmers market that happens on Saturdays and Wednesdays, every Saturday and Wednesday during the summer, but also everyone here is really active and it's really easy to be active. So there are bike lanes and all in all of the roads. There are runners, joggers, skateboarders, walkers. There's always something going on. And it's really easy and affordable to do so. My favorite thing about Ann Arbor is the summer weather and how everyone comes out and enjoys it. You have all the summer festivals. Summer time is when the culture of Ann Arbor really comes out. And there's several things that you can do. There's art fair, which happens every year. My favorite thing about Ann Arbor is the lack of traffic. I am from a major metropolitan area and so coming to Ann Arbor, I can get to campus from almost anywhere in 15 minutes. I love the fact that Ann Arbor is walking. Everything is within a walking distance. I walk to my lab. I walk to the grocery store. I walk to the farmers market. I walk to downtown. I really enjoy the fact that everywhere I can get, I can go, I can walk. It's easily the coolest town I've ever lived in and I've lived in other college towns before. But this one, Ann Arbor is bigger. It just has more to offer. It's got more interesting people. You know, it's got a whole separate downtown that's next to the campus, but it's got its own life and its own energy. And I love that. So you can kind of escape campus and there are tons of restaurants and movie theaters and, you know, bars, art galleries, all kinds of fun things. So I was really looking for a grad program that had its own kind of town, a vibrant town with it. And Ann Arbor fits that bill.