That is great news about Walter French. My Dad two of my brothers and my sister went to French JHS, when I sit at the light there I notice there are some beautiful details in that building. It will be so nice to see that building full of light and activity again.
The far south side development seems sort of odd to me because of the location, I guess I would not want to live there but there must be some folks out there who would.
I'm assuming Gillespie still owns this? He had proposed the movie studio here some years ago.
This project certainly sounds promising, it would go a long way towards cementing the future of the Cedar/Larch corridor as an actual part of downtown. If this actually gets built I think it bodes well for eventually seeing a solid urban district stretch all the way from Kalamazoo to Grand River along Cedar and Larch, creating a strong link between downtown and Old Town. Thinking of that I'd still like to see the Kalamazoo Gateway plan revived.
Well, if it isn't Gillespie developing this then that makes it even more interesting. If it's the Eydes then I think this will be our first look at a ground-up mixed use development from them, won't it?
Interesting news, hopefully it comes to fruition. This area is really starting to get built up which is a nice thing.
The real negative around this area is how fast and how many lanes Cedar and Larch have. I wonder if they would eventually contemplate implementing some traffic calming strategies through this area, such as a road diet and lowering the speed. Given that this is a business loop it is probably state controlled so maybe not.
The new Lake Trust branch looks about ready to open. There is a large parking lot at least it is in the rear, there is also some nice landscaping. The small office building behind there on S. Washington has major inside demolition going on, maybe someone in moving in there. The Metro Place Apartments seem to be filling up with more balcony furniture visible, and more cars in the lot. Also in that area, the little brick apartment building on Capitol Ave near St Joe has been cleaned up a bit, and new front stairs installed. I think this is a nice looking building and I hope it is being repurposed.
It is good news to hear about this Cedar Street development. I agree that Cedar and Larch/ Saginaw and Oakland need at least a speed limit reductions. They are state routes but they are not expressways, why do we have streets with homes, businesses, and even schools located on them that have 45MPH speed limits? A lot of drivers go even faster than that, it is kind of scary just to slow down to turn into the QD for fear of being rear-ended. I would also like to see some sort of air pollution controls installed at the Burger King there, that gross burning meat smoke really stinks up that neighborhood. I would not want to live across from that.
The development proposal is great news! It's unbelievable that in a city the size of Lansing that we could basically have a golf cart dirt path downtown (if it was a public park like the BMX park that's a different story ;-) ).
I guess we are a city so "Stinky Lansing" problems go along with that. I have wondered if anyone else noticed these bad smell around town. My building's parking lot is right next to the river across from GM and sometimes especially in the summer it is really bad as the warm air seems to hold the paint and plastic smell down in the river valley. It reminds me of the smell of Fisher Body back when I went to Sexton. You could see that "smoke" in the air back then, today you can not see smoke or anything emitting from the GM plants, [you have to look for where the cars come out] but you sure can smell it over here. Also, I don't know why, but this year has had many days with a strong sewage smell mixed with the paint fumes, and that is really bad. Wearing a mask helps! I live in the front so I don't get it in my home.
I wonder, does the State own all of the milages of the "M" state higways? I pass through many towns where an M highway is the main street and there are 25mph speed limits through town. I just wonder why the State would be reluctant[if they are? maybe we have to ask] to lower Lansing's M highway speed limits. I think speed reductions and two-way streets would do so much to improve the quality of life for the people who live on those streets and the in-between blocks, with an increase in value for the properties along those streets.
Do you think complaining to the Connect Lansing site about Burger King polluting the neighborhood air would do any good, perhaps making them install the smoke eater device? I worked in restaurants and good smells coming out onto the street is a great way to get customers and is one way I judge whether I am going to give a place a try. Burn meat, dirty grills smoking, and cheese left burning in the oven used to drive me crazy when I was a chef and I would have to tell people to clean that up, that smell drives people away.
The renovation of the "pump house"? next to the Cedar overpass on the north side has started, I noticed new windows have been installed. I will take the street that passes by there to get a better look next time. It is great to see this cool building being put back into use.
It is good to see that this will be human space, not marijuana space. It looks like housing is where the developer's money is going right now. If someone was from a big city perhaps the building next to the viaduct might not be a big issue, before the Big Dig the elevated highway went right next to some pretty fancy apartments which you could see into, if you were stuck in traffic. Now those places look out upon the Rose Kennedy Greenway which has exploded the value of those buildings. I think I could find a nicer spot in Lansing but lots of people never even look out their windows.
My favorite north side confusing corner is Ceasar Chavez and Grand River and Seymour which used to be the corner of Grand River and Grand River! Also up there, Turner Street is a nice way out of town to the north, you find yourself in the countryside within minutes, also passing a great stop to watch the planes landing at the airport. In the future, I will want to watch Air Force One landing from there. I resisted that idea in the recent past.:}
Comments
The far south side development seems sort of odd to me because of the location, I guess I would not want to live there but there must be some folks out there who would.
This project certainly sounds promising, it would go a long way towards cementing the future of the Cedar/Larch corridor as an actual part of downtown. If this actually gets built I think it bodes well for eventually seeing a solid urban district stretch all the way from Kalamazoo to Grand River along Cedar and Larch, creating a strong link between downtown and Old Town. Thinking of that I'd still like to see the Kalamazoo Gateway plan revived.
The real negative around this area is how fast and how many lanes Cedar and Larch have. I wonder if they would eventually contemplate implementing some traffic calming strategies through this area, such as a road diet and lowering the speed. Given that this is a business loop it is probably state controlled so maybe not.
It is good news to hear about this Cedar Street development. I agree that Cedar and Larch/ Saginaw and Oakland need at least a speed limit reductions. They are state routes but they are not expressways, why do we have streets with homes, businesses, and even schools located on them that have 45MPH speed limits? A lot of drivers go even faster than that, it is kind of scary just to slow down to turn into the QD for fear of being rear-ended. I would also like to see some sort of air pollution controls installed at the Burger King there, that gross burning meat smoke really stinks up that neighborhood. I would not want to live across from that.
I agree both Cedar and Larch need a road diet.
@gb, I did some searching and found that the same company that makes the char broiler for Burger King also sells a catalytic converter which will cut down on 90% of the smoke exhaust. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-05-28-1996149021-story.html
I wonder, does the State own all of the milages of the "M" state higways? I pass through many towns where an M highway is the main street and there are 25mph speed limits through town. I just wonder why the State would be reluctant[if they are? maybe we have to ask] to lower Lansing's M highway speed limits. I think speed reductions and two-way streets would do so much to improve the quality of life for the people who live on those streets and the in-between blocks, with an increase in value for the properties along those streets.
Do you think complaining to the Connect Lansing site about Burger King polluting the neighborhood air would do any good, perhaps making them install the smoke eater device? I worked in restaurants and good smells coming out onto the street is a great way to get customers and is one way I judge whether I am going to give a place a try. Burn meat, dirty grills smoking, and cheese left burning in the oven used to drive me crazy when I was a chef and I would have to tell people to clean that up, that smell drives people away.
My favorite north side confusing corner is Ceasar Chavez and Grand River and Seymour which used to be the corner of Grand River and Grand River! Also up there, Turner Street is a nice way out of town to the north, you find yourself in the countryside within minutes, also passing a great stop to watch the planes landing at the airport. In the future, I will want to watch Air Force One landing from there. I resisted that idea in the recent past.:}