Towns with Roundabouts

Forward Thinking Towns

August 30- Cleveland

Huron River, running through Ann Arbor. Robin rows on
this 6 months of the year, getting up at 5am to row in the dark!

I've been in some hip and happening towns this summer. 'You have to go to Ashland', 'you're gonna love Bozeman', 'don't miss Madison'. So I listened and went. I touched on many small and large towns along the way and tried to get the flavor of each for a bit. Here are some things I noticed that are total generalizations but never-the-less...

I've driven through some towns that I'd describe as pastie- washed out, no color added, attention not being paid. They make me want to get a group of citizens together to add some fresh paint and color to show some civic pride.


Prosperous, forward-thinking towns have roundabouts. They've figured out traffic snarls and put money into untangling them with roundabouts. They have flowers and flower beds and trees creating green streets. The paint is fresh and the coffee is brewing. The number of coffee shops and breweries per capita is very high. People are walking downtown. There's a coop. Bikes are a priority and bike paths abound.

Everyone needs a sign like this is their front yard!

Ann Arbor is a poster child for this kind of town. Yes, it has the ubiquitous big box strip that so many towns and cities have, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a chain store in the city proper. This is a one-of-a-kind kind of town. And it's downtown is thriving with evening hubbub out on the sidewalks- outside seating under the large shade trees, lots of young people meeting up, lots of oldsters joining in.

Beautiful rain gardens along Miller Avenue to filter
and process storm runoff.

Above and beyond is the effort toward capturing groundwater with rain gardens along the avenues. And the overt effort to be welcoming and inclusive.

Natalie and Will on their fantastic back porch.

Robin, back from an early morning row.

Once again I stayed with near-strangers who quickly became people I hoped to see again and stay in touch with. Will, Robin and Natalie live in a truly quintessential neighborhood of mixed ages, economic brackets and races. Everything is within walking, biking or bus distance, and a river runs through the town. Oh, and chickens in the backyard! They made me feel so welcome.

Let me add that there are lesser-known towns that are equally proactive, many of them beautified for their citizenry, as opposed to potential tourists. Even without roundabouts, the flowers give them away every time.

Could be almost anywhere, I can't even remember.

A vegetable bed in the landscaping around Madison's capitol building!