I missed the whole discussion on parks but suffice to say that I agree with the premise that parks are very important to the city and that they have been neglected. I also tend to agree that there's really no excuse for the lack of basic maintenance and cleanliness at many of the parks, I also find it sad that the parks have been almost totally lacking in capital improvements. All the parks should be decently maintained and clean, some parks such as Moores, Adado, Reutter and Francis should be meticulously maintained and should be looked at for major investments.
I visited Frances Park yesterday and the park was looking very nice with many roses in bloom. They still have they traditional plantings around the picnic pavilion which look very nice. There was a sign at the woodland trail that stated the trail is going to be improved with funds from Ingham County parks and trails money. The street in front of the park is still a mess, maybe we should call it Moorse River Trail then the county might pave the "trail" for us. While at Moorse Park the floodgate construction is over, but the river below the damn was very low for some reason. Is there work going on up stream? I think they could paint the boards on the pavilion green so it might not stand out so much.
I don't know, it looks like the remodel of Unicorn Tavern is aimed at turning it into a hipster bar. Looks like Zoobie's Pt. 2. I'm neutral about the change, though I suppose a change of some sort was inevitable. I think the average clientele is going to end up being completely different, skewed towards millennials.
When you name a place a "dive bar" it usually stops being a "dive bar". Hipsters are among the folks who are in the lead into neighborhoods like Old Town. So yes this brings about changes, but I don't think anyone wishes for the good old days in North Lansing. I do understand that feeling of when something changes, but I would think that the new owner wants to make money. Maybe the current clientele won't mind a fresh coat of paint.
The community forum was great yesterday. The vision is to make Holmes/Pleasant Grove the "downtown" of SW Lansing and the first baby step is building a town square/public art space in the parking lot at that intersection.
This is the location of the park:
It's not huge, but it will feature a metal sculpture by the artist that organizes the Oldtown Scrapfest (David Such). He says he anticipates the piece to be 12-15 feet high.
What a great plan! I think the town square or four corners is a good way to create an urban village within the greater city. I think Holmes and MLK would also be a good area to re-think. It does not have to be such a mess. There are neighborhoods full of people who live in that area and could support a new town [village] center there as well.
That was one of the issues Adam Hussein brought up- that the corridors of the South Side look rough and are lagging, but hidden behind the corridors are strong neighborhoods full of people that currently leave the neighborhood when they need to shop.
Speaking of corridors that need attention, Saginaw through the West Side needs to be rethought.That stretch of Saginaw really represents the next step in revitalizing Lansing. You've got Old Town on the North Side, REO Town on the South Side and Michigan Ave on the East Side. Saginaw needs to become the anchor for the West Side.
For starters, it's time to turn Saginaw back into a two-way street if possible. I think if you did that, improved the streetscaping and established some sort of economic incentive to lure in a small business or two, you could quickly get some real momentum going. Of course that'd take money that Lansing possibly doesn't have, but still... it's something to consider.
It is unfortunate that both Saginaw and Oakland serve as a state highway is some ways, because it changes the mission of that urban neighborhood street into a high speed one way highway it's propose to move traffic as fast as possible. I for instance have been wanting to try the New Orleans style restaurant there on the west side but I am always zipping by keeping up with traffic and don't make that turn. There are already small business areas along there that could benefit from slower two way traffic, and I could see it being like REOtown, small urban "village centers" at several areas along Saginaw. I have never seen anyone using the bike lane on Saginaw. We have 127 and 496 if you want to get through Lansing quickly, it would seems like we could tame these state highways a bit without causing too much trouble. The state highways that also serve as Main Streets in small town Michigan are two way and have 25mph speed limits. Why not Lansing?
Comments
I missed the whole discussion on parks but suffice to say that I agree with the premise that parks are very important to the city and that they have been neglected. I also tend to agree that there's really no excuse for the lack of basic maintenance and cleanliness at many of the parks, I also find it sad that the parks have been almost totally lacking in capital improvements. All the parks should be decently maintained and clean, some parks such as Moores, Adado, Reutter and Francis should be meticulously maintained and should be looked at for major investments.
I visited Frances Park yesterday and the park was looking very nice with many roses in bloom. They still have they traditional plantings around the picnic pavilion which look very nice. There was a sign at the woodland trail that stated the trail is going to be improved with funds from Ingham County parks and trails money. The street in front of the park is still a mess, maybe we should call it Moorse River Trail then the county might pave the "trail" for us. While at Moorse Park the floodgate construction is over, but the river below the damn was very low for some reason. Is there work going on up stream? I think they could paint the boards on the pavilion green so it might not stand out so much.
I don't know, it looks like the remodel of Unicorn Tavern is aimed at turning it into a hipster bar. Looks like Zoobie's Pt. 2. I'm neutral about the change, though I suppose a change of some sort was inevitable. I think the average clientele is going to end up being completely different, skewed towards millennials.
When you name a place a "dive bar" it usually stops being a "dive bar". Hipsters are among the folks who are in the lead into neighborhoods like Old Town. So yes this brings about changes, but I don't think anyone wishes for the good old days in North Lansing. I do understand that feeling of when something changes, but I would think that the new owner wants to make money. Maybe the current clientele won't mind a fresh coat of paint.
Unicorn was pretty bland. Gillespie says he plans on keeping live music and cheap drinks. I think it's a net gain for the neighborhood.
Moving to the south side, there's a forum this evening to discuss some place making initiative on Holmes/Pleasant Grove that I plan to attend;
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2017/06/14/southwest-lansing-needs-your-help-create-public-square/396313001/
The community forum was great yesterday. The vision is to make Holmes/Pleasant Grove the "downtown" of SW Lansing and the first baby step is building a town square/public art space in the parking lot at that intersection.
This is the location of the park:
It's not huge, but it will feature a metal sculpture by the artist that organizes the Oldtown Scrapfest (David Such). He says he anticipates the piece to be 12-15 feet high.
Renderings of the proposal options are here.
What a great plan! I think the town square or four corners is a good way to create an urban village within the greater city. I think Holmes and MLK would also be a good area to re-think. It does not have to be such a mess. There are neighborhoods full of people who live in that area and could support a new town [village] center there as well.
That was one of the issues Adam Hussein brought up- that the corridors of the South Side look rough and are lagging, but hidden behind the corridors are strong neighborhoods full of people that currently leave the neighborhood when they need to shop.
Speaking of corridors that need attention, Saginaw through the West Side needs to be rethought.That stretch of Saginaw really represents the next step in revitalizing Lansing. You've got Old Town on the North Side, REO Town on the South Side and Michigan Ave on the East Side. Saginaw needs to become the anchor for the West Side.
For starters, it's time to turn Saginaw back into a two-way street if possible. I think if you did that, improved the streetscaping and established some sort of economic incentive to lure in a small business or two, you could quickly get some real momentum going. Of course that'd take money that Lansing possibly doesn't have, but still... it's something to consider.
It is unfortunate that both Saginaw and Oakland serve as a state highway is some ways, because it changes the mission of that urban neighborhood street into a high speed one way highway it's propose to move traffic as fast as possible. I for instance have been wanting to try the New Orleans style restaurant there on the west side but I am always zipping by keeping up with traffic and don't make that turn. There are already small business areas along there that could benefit from slower two way traffic, and I could see it being like REOtown, small urban "village centers" at several areas along Saginaw. I have never seen anyone using the bike lane on Saginaw. We have 127 and 496 if you want to get through Lansing quickly, it would seems like we could tame these state highways a bit without causing too much trouble. The state highways that also serve as Main Streets in small town Michigan are two way and have 25mph speed limits. Why not Lansing?