My last couple of negative rants about Lansing have been largely in relation to seeing the multitude of positive things happening in Ann Arbor. I'm to the point know where I accept and understand Grand Rapids' success, it's notably larger than Lansing and has several billionaire philanthropists. I understand Ann Arbor's relative success much less, I know it's close enough to Detroit for people to commute and they have U of M, but that still doesn't even begin to account for the gap in the size, quantity and quality of the developments happening there versus Lansing. I'll stop there before I risk going on another rant....
I do not think expressing your thoughts is a rant.
As pointed out here on this site, many folks think the solution to this kind of small thinking in terms of development would be to have a more regional approach. If all the townships and East Lansing,and Okemos where departments or boroughs of a Greater Lansing, Lansing would be one of the largest cities in Michigan. That would bring in a lot more money from the state and US governments. Maybe if we saw ourselves as one big city, development could be planned with more regional plans instead of each town competing for development in each "downtown".
I don't know too much about Ann Arbor but I think they have just one downtown so they can focus development there. I think that there is a ring of dense population all the way around Detroit that Ann Arbor is part of, and that much of that population is more affluent than here in Mid-Michigan,this could be part of the reason they have more expensive and beautiful plans for their city. Thinking of it another way,if Eastwood, East Lansing,MSU,and Frandor where all downtown one might say wow! look at all the great things they are building in Lansing. I think with one downtown Ann Arbor is more focused on a small area with limited space, because it is limited it becomes expensive, they build expensive buildings on expensive land. Here we have lots of cheap land[parks and gardens]to build cheap buildings on.
I think a more regional focus between all municipalities is the only way Lansing is going to emerge as the great Capitol city we all know it can be. I believe. We are finally headed in that direction, I've notice that we are focusing on tricounty as a way to unite. It's the common ground for all in mid Michigan. However it's sad that some of the other communities frown upon Lansing to the point to that Greater Lansing or Metro Lansing is not the campaign vs tricounty or midmichigan. Nationwide more people know Lansing than midmichigan.
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.
Little piece of news, but for reference, seems Accident Fund has changed it's name.
LANSING – Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. has changed its name to AF Group.
The name change better reflects the brands it carries - Accident Fund Insurance Co., United Heartland, Compwest and Third Coast Underwriters, said Bob Lapinski, the Lansing-based company’s media and public relations adviser.
The company changed its sign outside its headquarters on Grand Avenue on Monday.
AF Group employs 600 people at its headquarters, which was a former power plant operated by the Lansing Board of Water and Light. The company spent $125 million to renovate the building, and moved its operations there in 2011.
Contact Alexander Alusheff at (517) 388-5973 or aalusheff@lsj.com Follow him on Twitter @alexalusheff.
LANSING - Arcadia Ales & Smokehouse is slated to open as early as August on East Michigan Avenue.
Tim Suprise, owner of Battle Creek-based Arcadia Brewing Co., made the announcement Thursday night during the 22nd Annual Greater Lansing Entrepreneurial Awards, where he was the featured speaker.
...
The Lansing location was announced in November with few details. Kris Elliot of Urban Feast, which owns Troppo and Tavern & Tap, obtained the licensing to put the Arcadia name on the brewpub, which will be located on the site of the former PNC bank at 2101 E. Michigan Avenue.
The brewpub will be affiliated with Arcadia only by name and serve only Arcadia beers. It will also have between four and six Lansing-only beers brewed at the facility, Suprise said.
Comments
As pointed out here on this site, many folks think the solution to this kind of small thinking in terms of development would be to have a more regional approach. If all the townships and East Lansing,and Okemos where departments or boroughs of a Greater Lansing, Lansing would be one of the largest cities in Michigan. That would bring in a lot more money from the state and US governments. Maybe if we saw ourselves as one big city, development could be planned with more regional plans instead of each town competing for development in each "downtown".
I don't know too much about Ann Arbor but I think they have just one downtown so they can focus development there. I think that there is a ring of dense population all the way around Detroit that Ann Arbor is part of, and that much of that population is more affluent than here in Mid-Michigan,this could be part of the reason they have more expensive and beautiful plans for their city. Thinking of it another way,if Eastwood, East Lansing,MSU,and Frandor where all downtown one might say wow! look at all the great things they are building in Lansing. I think with one downtown Ann Arbor is more focused on a small area with limited space, because it is limited it becomes expensive, they build expensive buildings on expensive land. Here we have lots of cheap land[parks and gardens]to build cheap buildings on.
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