Washtenaw County, Michigan
Healthy Home Assessments in Ypsilanti
Ypsilanti is a Huron River college town in Washtenaw County, roughly seven miles east of Ann Arbor, built around Eastern Michigan University and the walkable 19th-century railroad district known as Depot Town. One visit, one written plan, no upsell to a project.
Reading a Ypsilanti home
Huron River college city on the old Detroit-Chicago Road, its rail-era Depot Town and 1890 water tower framing Eastern Michigan University. A local distinction: Home of the first teacher-training school west of the Alleghenies, founded 1849 as Michigan State Normal School and now Eastern Michigan University. Counts run to 19,945 residents in 7,853 or so households. Major Thomas Woodruff founded a permanent settlement, Woodruff's Grove, on the east bank of the Huron River in 1823.
Homes and households
By the 2023 five-year American Community Survey, 36.3% of units are detached single-family homes and 33.3% of occupied units are owner-occupied. Some 45.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. With construction recorded from 1838, an older envelope behaves differently from new build. One landmark on the ground here: Willow Run Bomber Plant, now the Yankee Air Museum / Rosie the Riveter Home Front National Museum.
Because owner-occupancy runs to 33.3%, ventilation and shared air paths between units are read before anything inside a single room.
What stands in Ypsilanti:
- Ypsilanti Water Tower. Landmark stone tower built in 1890 at the city's highest point on Summit Street.
- Eastern Michigan University. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the first teacher-training institution west of the Alleghenies and sixth in the nation.
- Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum. Housed in the last Hudson dealership, home of an original Fabulous Hudson Hornet racer that inspired Doc Hudson in Pixar's Cars.
- Riverside and Frog Island parks. Huron River parks beside Depot Town that host the city's summer festivals.
- Depot Town. Historic rail-era commercial district with shops, restaurants, and a farmers market.
Corners of the map
Inside Ypsilanti sits one named district, Depot Town. Depot Town: Historic commercial district by the Huron River parks. Addresses fall in 48197 and 48198. Cabinet Magazine declared the Ypsilanti Water Tower the 'World's Most Phallic Building' in a 2003 worldwide contest; locals nickname it the 'Brick Dick.'.