ypsi~dixit

"The Real World: Ypsilanti" might be just what this city needs!

"The show left a larger wake when it filmed in 2001 in the
northwest Chicago neighborhood of Wicker Park.
"They put a nail in the coffin of what used to be a cool
neighborhood," said Aaron Leverenz, a 37-year-old bartender
at the popular Beachwood Inn, a hole in the wall offering
cheap beer and "Sister Christian" on the jukebox. "It used to
be a starving artist place. It used to be on the hip side. But
the area is not exactly what it used to be. It's not an artist
neighborhood anymore. There's a lot of soccer moms now.

"Tony Jops, a manager at pizza joint/brewery Piece (where
Chicago cast members worked for a spell), said the show
didn't start the neighborhood's gentrification - but it certainly
fast-forwarded it."

"Before "The Real World," "it was still a real cool, edgy
neighborhood," Jops said. "But now you see yuppies walking
around with kids. You didn't see that five years ago."
Tony chain shops like Cold Stone Creamery and Urban
Outfitters have moved in."

Tony chain shops! Sounds good to me!

So what does that mean? Does it mean that if they do a Real World: Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor wont be hip anymore? WHATEVER will they do????

Ypsilanti, of course, is way too hip for MTV to even know about.

Lynne: Ann Arbor wont be hip anymore?

It's a frightening thought, isn't it?

And just imagine: gentrification will be fast-forwarded in Ann Arbor...!

This reminds me of a Detroit magazine which used to come out sporadically called Motorbooty (spearheaded by Mark Dancy). They once did a spoof on shows that didn't make prime-time. One was: "Real World: Kalamazoo"...

It would actually be really interesting if they did something like "Real World: Willis." See if those young-'uns could find ways to entertain themselves out there in bustling Willis. There's always the Pickle Barrel! That should be entertainment enough for today's young people.