With their porch swings and bountiful front-yard gardens, the homes of the city’s Old West Side—just a short walk from downtown—welcome passersby to the heart of the Bach Elementary area, which boasts thirteen historic districts. Most homes are small Victorians built by 19th-century German immigrants. Many have been painstakingly restored. In exchange for some of the highest prices per square foot in the city, buyers get shady streets, houses with character, and a fabulous location.
Also served by Bach School (Ann Arborites say “Bah”) are the neighborhoods around downtown and the U-M campus, including the Old Fourth Ward Historic District. Increasingly gentrified, with rehabbed single-family homes as well as a growing collection of luxury condominiums, the area is also home to many well-worn student rentals. North of Miller, homes are set close to the sidewalk on narrow lots, with porch sitters, bike riders, and kids playing on the sidewalk. Long economically and racially mixed, this neighborhood has become less diverse as prices rise, but rentals remain available.
Farther south, single-family bungalows, small ranches, and a few story-and-a-halfs (most built after World War II) thread outward from Allmendinger Park, with its softball diamonds, playground, tennis and basketball courts, and picnic facilities. Lilacs line its perimeter. This area also encompasses Michigan Stadium, which means homeowners in the vicinity can make significant revenue offering parking in their driveways and yards during football season.
To the east, Bach extends past downtown all the way to the U-M Diag. The red-brick buildings of 207-unit Nob Hill, the old-timer among the area’s apartment complexes, fit comfortably into the neighborhood’s southern edge. Bordering the Old West Side and downtown sit the 68-unit Liberty Lofts condos, a tasteful conversion of a former auto parts plant.
Downtown student apartments are well represented here and new offerings are sprouting like bamboo. The nineteen-story Legacy near Michigan Theater, which opens this fall, is downtown’s tallest building since the twenty-six-story Tower Plaza on E. William opened in 1969. There’s much more to come: in mid-2025, four student towers were under construction in Bach and other neighborhoods touching Central Campus, and three more were planned. The Brady, a converted former office tower on S. Main, also touts a location “near Umich.”
In the Kerrytown area, the affordable Dunbar Tower is scheduled to add sixty-three subsidized units, as well as a community space honoring Ann Arbor’s Black history, in 2026. Five blocks south, plans are in the works for a twenty-story high-rise with affordable housing next to the Blake Transit Center.
On S. Main opposite Packard, Ashley Mews has condos modeled after traditional brownstones, a central courtyard, and underground parking. North of Miller and Catherine, midrise condo buildings keep sprouting; among those nearing completion in mid-2025 include a “boutique” eight-unit building at 212 Miller, The Bridge eco-friendly luxury condos on 530 N. Division, and 330 Detroit Street, with fifteen luxury units in the triangular block between Detroit St., Fifth Ave., and Catherine. That one proved so popular that its developers are now converting the small office building across Detroit St. to residential use, while across Fourth Ave., a thirty-seven-unit mid-rise condo has been approved to replace Braun Ct.
Bach School also serves the triangle bounded by S. Main, Eisenhower, and Ann Arbor–Saline Rd. Residents of the 306-unit Woodland Mews flats and townhouses (which include both owner-occupied condos and rental units) can walk to Busch’s supermarket and Whole Foods—or to a game at U-M’s soccer stadium.
Bach grads go on to Slauson Middle School, but some on the northern edge can choose Forsythe Middle School. Those who live north of Huron attend Skyline High; the rest go to Pioneer High.
Bike lanes: A protected bike lane on William connects the Old West Side to the university; farther west, Liberty has a bike lane, Seventh has one northbound (the Bach side), and wide Washington is a suggested route.
Walking: Bach School’s Walk Score is 86. Depending on their neighborhood, residents may be just a few minutes’ walk from the stores and restaurants on Main and State streets, Kerrytown, the Farmers Market, the People’s Food Co-op, Zingerman’s Deli, or the original Argus Farm Stop.