Have had exactly that thought gbinlansing - there is actually, already, a ton of great stuff to do in Lansing, but it's all over the place. Put it in one spot and that would make one awesome downtown. Unfortunate that we have so many poles (with no distinction so significant as the nearly equal pulls of downtown Lansing and downtown East Lansing).
I totally agree that regionalism is necessary to make Lansing more competitive, I think it's going to be awhile before the suburbanites warm up to the idea though. in the meantime some less visible services can continue to be consolidated between communities as has already begun to happen. I guess one plus side to having several disparate city centers is that as they grow they may eventually merge together and become greater than the sum of their parts (the perfect potential example is downtown Lansing/downtown East Lansing/Frandor/Michigan Ave).
I agree that the suburban communities which were created to expressly state "we are not Lansing" will not want to change that distinction . For the purpose of discussion [I know it won't happen] what great police and fire departments, schools,parks, and roads we could have as one city. I think that overall it could be cheaper than having like ten different overlapping departments doing the same thing. You can look at the county parks, and CATA to see areas where the greater community cooperates to create something better.
I like the idea of the downtowns growing together, quick,easy and cheap transit will help that happen. I am hoping they will come up with a zoned fare system for the new bus system, so if you just wanted to ride one stop it would be less than if you wanted to go all the way to Okemos.
I noticed while reading about the light rail in Ann Arbor they said that light rail once built would be cheaper to run and maintain than a the bus lane type system, people said they would more likely use a light rail than a bus. Also that a bus lane system would not be able to accommodate the anticipated ridership while light rail could. I wonder why they have come to such a different conclusion here.
The consolidation of some area fire departments is already being seriously considered, while a police consolidation is less likely I think it would be fairly realistic. I doubt schools will be consolidated any time soon, but the parks and roads are two areas where consolidation would be more likely. If several of these services are consolidated and it works out well over the course of years it may warm people up to the idea of actually merging with Lansing.
One of the projects applying for the PILOT program, the "Walnut Park Apartments," is back in this weeks council agenda. It is the new apartment building that's part of The Abigail project (The Abigail's PILOT is also up for approval). This makes me a little more optimistic that the "Capitol Park Center" that was mentioned before is actually a new unannounced project, though there's no mention of it in this weeks agenda.
Also in this weeks agenda is a public hearing for the South Edge Lofts' brownfield plan, the approval of the Red Cedar Renaissance rezoning and a 'Letter from the Mayor' regarding the Washington Ave substation including more info/renderings/site plans.
It says the boat club land in question is west of Waverly and across the river from Woldemar. On the satellite photos I see a driveway leading from the end of Hunters Ridge to a small greenish building near the river. If I had to guess, this is the land in question, perhaps they were supposed to move there at one time or something.
I went by Frandor today and got this picture of the new Sparrow facility at the corner of Saginaw and 127, it's the building in with the green insulation/walls.
Looks like a good sized building, would have been great to see it on a smaller footprint and stacked taller.
I agree, I would have liked to see the Sparrow facility taller. You can get a good view of the building from northbound US-127 near Frandor or southbound in your rear view mirror (will be directly behind you).
I also think it's scaled right for that area. It'd be nice if it were closer to Grand River, but I don't have any major complaints about this building nor am I a fan of it, it just is.
Comments
I like the idea of the downtowns growing together, quick,easy and cheap transit will help that happen. I am hoping they will come up with a zoned fare system for the new bus system, so if you just wanted to ride one stop it would be less than if you wanted to go all the way to Okemos.
I noticed while reading about the light rail in Ann Arbor they said that light rail once built would be cheaper to run and maintain than a the bus lane type system, people said they would more likely use a light rail than a bus. Also that a bus lane system would not be able to accommodate the anticipated ridership while light rail could. I wonder why they have come to such a different conclusion here.
First, a short article giving a status update on the Red Cedar Renaissance and Kewadin Casino projects: Lansing developments move slowly towards completion. The second is a feel-good story on Old Town: The rise of Old Town
Also in this weeks agenda is a public hearing for the South Edge Lofts' brownfield plan, the approval of the Red Cedar Renaissance rezoning and a 'Letter from the Mayor' regarding the Washington Ave substation including more info/renderings/site plans.
Looks like a good sized building, would have been great to see it on a smaller footprint and stacked taller.