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Michigan Avenue in downtown Ypsilanti.

(File photo | The Ann Arbow News)

Despite obvious differences, including size, the comparison of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to Manhattan and Brooklyn has come up again.

"If Ann Arbor is perceived as Manhattan, Ypsi is Brooklyn," Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, said on Wednesday afternoon.

Pollay was citing a comparison others have made before, based on the relative affordability of Ypsilanti compared to Ann Arbor.

Brooklyn, where housing is cheaper than in Manhattan, helps make it possible for artists and the like to be part of the Manhattan scene, Pollay said, noting the two don't operate separately.

Describing Ypsilanti as cool and happening, Pollay posed the question: "How do we help drive demand to Ypsi as our Brooklyn?"

Pollay's comments came during a DDA Partnerships Committee discussion on affordable housing, a particularly hot topic as of late in Washtenaw County.

Ann Arbor DDA Director Susan Pollay.

A new report suggests 3,137 new affordable housing units are needed in the Ann Arbor area over the next 20 years, while the Ypsilanti area needs to grow demand for market-rate housing by 4,187 units.

The report suggests that's needed to avoid having Washtenaw County become decreasingly affordable and out of balance, and eventually unsustainable, as some parts of the county possibly degrade beyond a point of no return and others grow in value beyond a point that's ever again affordable.

Mary Jo Callan, director of the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development, told DDA officials on Wednesday the plan is to form a regional working group, including representatives from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and other jurisdictions, to begin discussing ways to tackle the report's recommendations.

Callan said the DDA's continued investments in public transit services between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti are important. She mentioned the idea of adding an express bus service from the Ypsilanti area into downtown Ann Arbor, something the DDA already is discussing with the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority.

"Strengthening Ypsilanti is going to strengthen Ann Arbor," Callan said. "Strengthening demand in Ypsilanti is absolutely going to strengthen demand in Ann Arbor."

She added, "We are going to grow together. I think many would argue Ann Arbor is going to grow. I agree it is going to grow. It will grow more sustainably and in a way that we all benefit more if our neighbor is also on a positive trajectory."

Jeremy Peters, an Ann Arbor planning commissioner and member of the DDA's Partnerships Committee, pointed to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in Minnesota, which has long been branded as the "Twin Cities."

"They have their own identities, but they also work together very, very much, and so thinking in a similar manner might be a good thing," he said.

Pollay's remarks comparing Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to Manhattan and Brooklyn are similar to what Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., told Ann Arbor officials last year during a discussion on attracting millennials to Ann Arbor.

One city official noted that some of the nicer apartments being built downtown -- such as Ann Arbor City Apartments and new condos near Kerrytown -- are attracting empty nesters and retirees who can pay more than young professionals.

"That's Manhattan and Brooklyn, right?" Glazer said. "I mean, in the really successful places, the millennials are ending up near downtown, not downtown, because downtown gets too expensive."

Asked whether Ypsilanti could become the Brooklyn to Ann Arbor's Manhattan, Glazier responded: "Both cities have a role to play. If it's dense and connected by transit, this county does a heck of a lot better than it's doing now, so Ypsi matters a lot."

Since those remarks were made, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township have partnered to expand transit services linking the three urban core communities.

At the end of Wednesday's meeting, Pollay invited Callan to formally join the DDA Partnerships Committee so she can be a part of the DDA's continued discussions around housing and transportation. Callan gladly accepted.

Rob Krupicka, a Virginia-based consultant hired to study housing affordability in Washtenaw County, presented data this week showing workers need to make $17 an hour to afford the average rent in Ann Arbor, versus $12 in Ypsilanti.

And they need to make $75,000 a year to buy the average home in Ann Arbor, versus $44,000 in Ypsilanti, according to Krupicka's presentation to Ann Arbor officials.

Krupicka's figures showed Ann Arborites having a $50,648 median household income and a $220,000 median home value, for an affordability ratio of 4.34.

In Ypsilanti, the affordability ratio was 3.99 with median household income being $31,469 and median home value being $125,600.

In places like Seattle, Boston, Boulder and San Francisco, the ratios are 6.5, 7.2, 8.5, and 10, respectively, making them much less affordable, Krupicka said.

"You are on the path to become like those places," he said.

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.