Whose vision will prevail in Ann Arbor?

I happened to call Sandy Arlinghaus when, as luck would have it, our minds were on the same thing.

Well, more or less the same thing.

What a coincidence, the former chairwoman of the city Planning Commission said, "I'm flooding Ann Arbor right now.''

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Now, this particular flood was confined to a computer model running in Arlinghaus's office in the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment.

But Arlinghaus, who teaches mathematical geography and population-environment dynamics at U-M, worries that in the future streets and neighborhoods could be really, rather than virtually, swamped.

"I'm adamantly opposed to any building in the flood way or flood plain,'' she said.

Add that to the list of issues that will be under a microscope when, eight days from now, Ann Arbor's planning consultants present their recommendations for boosting downtown density.

And while I wasn't exactly thinking of flooding, I was thinking about those recommendations - and what's apt to come next.

Informed by public workshops, meetings with elected officials, real estate folks, representatives of various city boards and commissions, the consultants' report will suggest zoning and other changes.

But even among community members who accept the premise that growth is desirable, there are very different ideas about building heights and aesthetics, the mix of land uses, types of housing and the import of amenities like public transportation, parking, public and green spaces.

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