There are plenty of reasons to take the scenic route back to Ann Arbor from the Plymouth/Canton area. Taking Plymouth/Ann Arbor Rd. is simply a beautiful drive. Also, the numerous nurseries along the way are fun stop-offs and generally avoiding M-14 is always preferable. And then there's Dixboro.
Immediately before re-entering Ann Arbor from the northwest almost feels like one is passing through time. There's a one-room schoolhouse, a general store, and if you're commuting at the right time, you can catch live Celtic music played on hammered dulcimers, fiddles, vocals, reed pump organ, guitars, banjo, penny whistle, harmonicas, and bass at the local farmers market.
What is this place that feels so quaint and rural, yet fresh and lively at the same time? And being less than two miles from the heavily developing stretch of Plymouth Rd. just past US-23, how has it remained so? To understand the full story, the first important thing to know about Dixboro is what it isn't: a city, village or any type of official municipality. It's almost more like an idea.
"Well, that's anybody's guess," says lifelong Dixboro resident Tom Freeman when asked about the area's population. "It doesn't have official boundaries. People who live right near the
Village Green say they're from Dixboro, and then some people a mile out say they are too. It could be a few hundred people."
Dixboro is actually an area within Superior Twp., and has been recognized as something since 1824. While its historic charm is just as long-term, its rejuvenated bustle is a relatively recent development. The magic of present-day Dixboro is a potion made up of two ingredients: the ability to stave off developers and a reemerging desire to restore the area's historic integrity.
"There are some natural constraints that are a challenge for developers," says Freeman, who sits on the Dixboro Village Green Board of Directors. "Sewer and water are not available. We don't have modern municipal services. Also, Plymouth Rd. is a two-lane road, and everyone wants to keep it that way."
So why would big developers consider Dixboro with its major infrastructure drawbacks, when a fully accessible city sits just over US-23? While this proximity to Ann Arbor may have deterred developers, it acts as an attraction to residents.
"Washtenaw County is a pretty nice place to live," says Freeman. "You've got access to great schools, great employment opportunities, and great schools for kids. The character of this community, that has been sought after and achieved, is attractive to people."
So while Dixboro might not be an employment hub, it doesn't need to be. Plenty of people who work in busy Ann Arbor, or even Canton, wish for a quieter way of life when they come home. While the bedroom community has long been for great for that purpose, the people who have made homes there have been working to make it a little bit more than that.
"We're very fortunate that individuals have decided to invest in Dixboro. There have been some great enhancement to the village," Freeman says. "I think you can credit the local unit of government. They've done an excellent job at managing their growth."
With a design review board in place to ensure the right kind of development comes to town, redevelopment has been the name of the growth game in Dixboro. When the
Moonwinks Café opened in 2006 in one third of the former Michigan Saddlery, it found a community ready for a place to gather.
"The Moonwinks café has become a great community gathering place," Freeman says. "I have a regular morning coffee dates with friends, and our board meets there weekly."
The renovation of the Moonwinks building continues, and now includes the popular
Pear Tree Gift Shop. The new local hotspots abut up to the amorphous community's center, the Village Green.
"The Village Green was identified in the original plan for Dixboro. It was set aside for a school and a church," Freeman says. "It's a place where the community met. It's where you got together and played softball."
The most prominent piece of the Village Green is the historic one-room schoolhouse. The 1888 building is in remarkable condition considering its age, but the Village Green Board of Directors – which includes Freeman, who attended school in the building as a boy -- wants it to be more than a deteriorating relic.
"You have to work to maintain a community resource like that," says Freeman. "We want to find a way to facilitate investment into the Green, including landscaping and revitalizing the schoolhouse. Now, there's no restroom, no water. We'd love to bring the schoolhouse back into use."
The desire to restore the schoolhouse has prompted the beginning of the Dixboro Farmers Market, which raises funds for the Village Green. Now in its second year, the market includes up to 18 vendors, weekly live music, and raises funds to restore the schoolhouse.
Across Plymouth Rd. from the Village Green, the
Dixboro General Store continues to nod toward it's original, 1840s function by selling penny candy and glass-bottled refreshments to passers-by, while serving as an admired seller of fine furniture and country décor. While the store has passed through many hands in its more than 170-year history, its recent revival happened with new ownership in 2007, when the momentum in Dixboro was just getting moving.
"They took on a building that had been a traditional general store that was in a serious state of disrepair," says Freeman. "The current owners have made it a terrific place to shop."
There is a way for cities to grow without expanding, and without losing historic character and charm. Dixboro proves the case. Of course without the thriving economy of Ann Arbor right next door, the pressure for Dixboro to grow differently would change the entire story. Likewise, if it weren't for unique, preserved-yet-vibrant nearby locations like Dixboro, Ann Arbor wouldn't be the well-rounded, diverse city it purports itself to be.
And the future of Dixboro, despite not being the ideal area for big money developers to invest, seems to have a pretty bright future. By sticking to their own philosophy of careful development, Freeman believes the "village" has more surprises to come – thanks to the surprise investments of others before them.
"Some very smart people looked at some opportunities here and took them," Freeman says. "The developer of the building that Moonwinks is in was advised against the renovation. She believed that it had a great chance and she was absolutely right. I think there are more things coming."
Fortunately for those in the "big city" right next door, it won't be too difficult to keep an eye out on Dixboro's progress and take advantage of the growing retail offerings there. And let's be honest: it's pretty much the best excuse yet to dodge M-14.
Natalie Burg is a freelance writer, the development news editor for Concentrate and Capital Gains, and a regular contributor to Metromode.
All photos by Doug Coombe
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