Louisville, and similar consolidations, are different in that it was an entire city-county merger. IMO, that type of consolidation would seem a bit much for this small region. I know that since the Census, the large (385 square mile) Louisville/Jefferson County has showed aenemic growth.
I do know that places like Saginaw and Bay City, in state, are actually the consolidation/merging of two or three different cities.
While I'd like to see this, I'd be happy to see an annexation of Lansing Township first. That way there would not be municiple islands within the newly formed City. (ala Hamtramck)
Of course, the residents of Lansing Township would never vote in favor of annexation. Forget the fact that although they comprise less than 5 square miles, are divided themselves on the east and west side of Lansing, have under 10,000 residents they still pay for their own police and fire.
I've never seen a more anachronistic governing body than Lansing Township.
I dont see why they wouldn't. It would actually provide a benifit to the areas outside the immediate vicinity of Eastwood and the nicer neighborhoods just south and north of Willow. Most of the rest of the township is very poorly maintained, especially on the east side, those neighborhoods look horrible.
I think that the annexation of Lansing Township should happen before East Lansing is merged. Lansing Township is completely going against the regionalism that the two cities are working towards.
Yes, Lansing Township definitely needs to be merged or annexed by either or both of the two cities around it. There really is no reason for it to exist, anymore. I don't believe there is one township left like it in Michigan (i.e. five non-contiguous pieces).
I'd challenge the idea, though, that they are not open to this. I know the local government is feeling squeezed by one of Lansing's most aggressive mayors in decades, but I could seriously see the actual electorate of all or parts of the township going to an annexation by Lansing or East Lansing.
BTW, Hood, I was just driving through the west portion on Saginaw, and while some of the areas north of Saginaw are still in pretty good shape, the closing of the Crafte Centre and Metal Farbrication plant and Lansing Car Assembly have left the south end in a terrible state. The commercial sector along West Saginaw is quickly collapsing. I couldn't believe how for the first time in a long time the Lansing side looked better than the Lansing Township side. With the loss of GM as a major tax payer, Lansing Township is in some serious trouble.
To tell you the truth, though, I wouldn't mind if Lansing Township kept its west end, but the 4 pieces between Lansing and East Lansing need to be merged with the respective cities.
I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm talking about Saginaw Street specifically in Lansing Township, which only goes as far as Waverly Road. But, even still, vacancies and such are creeping into the extreme eastern Delta Township along Saginaw.
BTW, that's the scary thing. The center of gravity for Saginaw is quickly creeping west. Driving out to Grand Ledge along Saginaw Highway is getting depressing. This is not what you call progress. This is unsustainable development. It would be different if Lansing was fastly adding people to the metro, but it's not. We're playing that game that's happening in most Michigan metros: musical homes/offices/industry. The area is expanding, but without actual growth.
Definately agree. Really Saginaw is falling apart all the way to just east of the mall. Delta Twp is feeling the crunch from Eastwood/northern tier, Holt and itself, further to the west. They really are going to have to do something with the eastern part of their township.
I doubt Eastwood and the Northern Tier are having much of an effect on Delta Township. They attract from different pools on either side of the metro. What's killing eastern Delta is western Delta (i.e. the Marketplace development west of the freeway). I always feared the day when the commercial district of Delta would spead west of the freeway in a serious way, and it has, and there is now almost sprawl all the way along Saginaw to Grand Ledge.
There was some talk, what, a few years ago about Delta wanting to create a "downtown"-like area around the Lansing Mall area. IMO, that was too little, too late. The cat's out of the bag on this one.
BTW,
I was just checking the 2006 population estimates for the area (released just over a week ago), and though I don't put much stock in official census bureau estimates because of how they calculate them (by housing units, only, as opposed to actual migration and birth/death records), it appears Lansing Township is the fastest shrinking municipality in metro Lansing having fallen by 6.7% in population since 2000. Of course, no one ever talks about that since Lansing always overshadows everything. The city is predicted to have lost 4.1% of its population since 2000, though, I think Lansing Township is in much more trouble, economically. Being small has its advantages, but it also has some serious disadvantages. The closing of the three GM plants in the township are really going to hurt it badly.
Comments
I do know that places like Saginaw and Bay City, in state, are actually the consolidation/merging of two or three different cities.
Of course, the residents of Lansing Township would never vote in favor of annexation. Forget the fact that although they comprise less than 5 square miles, are divided themselves on the east and west side of Lansing, have under 10,000 residents they still pay for their own police and fire.
I've never seen a more anachronistic governing body than Lansing Township.
I'd challenge the idea, though, that they are not open to this. I know the local government is feeling squeezed by one of Lansing's most aggressive mayors in decades, but I could seriously see the actual electorate of all or parts of the township going to an annexation by Lansing or East Lansing.
BTW, Hood, I was just driving through the west portion on Saginaw, and while some of the areas north of Saginaw are still in pretty good shape, the closing of the Crafte Centre and Metal Farbrication plant and Lansing Car Assembly have left the south end in a terrible state. The commercial sector along West Saginaw is quickly collapsing. I couldn't believe how for the first time in a long time the Lansing side looked better than the Lansing Township side. With the loss of GM as a major tax payer, Lansing Township is in some serious trouble.
To tell you the truth, though, I wouldn't mind if Lansing Township kept its west end, but the 4 pieces between Lansing and East Lansing need to be merged with the respective cities.
Agreed
BTW, that's the scary thing. The center of gravity for Saginaw is quickly creeping west. Driving out to Grand Ledge along Saginaw Highway is getting depressing. This is not what you call progress. This is unsustainable development. It would be different if Lansing was fastly adding people to the metro, but it's not. We're playing that game that's happening in most Michigan metros: musical homes/offices/industry. The area is expanding, but without actual growth.
There was some talk, what, a few years ago about Delta wanting to create a "downtown"-like area around the Lansing Mall area. IMO, that was too little, too late. The cat's out of the bag on this one.
BTW,
I was just checking the 2006 population estimates for the area (released just over a week ago), and though I don't put much stock in official census bureau estimates because of how they calculate them (by housing units, only, as opposed to actual migration and birth/death records), it appears Lansing Township is the fastest shrinking municipality in metro Lansing having fallen by 6.7% in population since 2000. Of course, no one ever talks about that since Lansing always overshadows everything. The city is predicted to have lost 4.1% of its population since 2000, though, I think Lansing Township is in much more trouble, economically. Being small has its advantages, but it also has some serious disadvantages. The closing of the three GM plants in the township are really going to hurt it badly.