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Join over 2,400 Ann Arbor residents in demanding the city suspend work until these issues are addressed and robust public engagement has taken place.
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2404 of 2500 signatures
📢 Make your voice heard by Emailing or Calling the Ann Arbor City Council and demand they Pause the Plan Now!
Contact an individual Ann Arbor City Council Member, or all:
May 2025 Vacancy Rates:
The City of Ann Arbor's Draft Comprehensive Plan relies on vacancy data from 2022, which does not reflect the most current market conditions. More recent data from multiple sources, including CoStar Real Estate Information (May 2025), the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) for 2023, and SEMCOG (July 2024 estimates), indicate significantly higher vacancy rates than those cited plan:
Specifically, the Draft Comprehensive Plan states on page 48: "Current vacancy rates are extremely low, creating an unhealthy balance between supply and demand: owner vacancy is 1.1% and renter vacancy is 3.1%."
However, May 2025 CoStar data shows a market-rate rental vacancy of 6.9%, a figure that falls within the 5-8% range often considered indicative of a "healthy" housing market, a definition acknowledged within the Draft Comprehensive Plan itself.
Market Rate Units: 6.9% vacancy (23,664 total; 1,633 vacant)
Student Housing Units: 5.3% vacancy (11,913 total; 631 vacant)
Total Vacant Units and Beds: 6,018 (including student + market-rate)
The selective use of older data misrepresents current housing availability, directly misinforms residents, creates a skewed public engagement process, and undermines public trust. The Draft Comprehensive Plan must be updated to incorporate the latest available data to ensure an accurate foundation for future planning and development strategies.
Note: The City of Ann Arbor pays for CoStar and has access to the same real-time vacancy data (City of A2 OpenBook):
