After reading it, I'm not sure what's going on. The cover letter says 2026-2030 then says "submitted February 1, 2021", the Action Plan is also from the 2020 report. @citykid I know not your department, but any ideas?
Fair amount of work on the park behind the Brody Complex (does it have a name)? Lots and lots of the brush trimmed. A few new picnic tables about. Pictured, MSU seems to be expanding (or repairing? was it already there?) the fence at the edge of their property.
I do not know, but I wonder again if the park-i-fication is partly an attempt to make the area unappealing to would-be homeless campers, which have made it right to the doorstep of MSU now. Few places left where they can feel concealed.
I think the homeless camping was a big part of why they are clearing these areas, plus it just looks so much better with all the underbrush and weeds gone. The woods next to Kalamazoo St. and beyond have been cleared and the forest looks healthier and inviting, rather than scary and overgrown. Whatever the reason, I'm glad they did it.
Michigan Waterways Stewards are coordinating a lot of this and I've largely been happy with their efforts, there's a lot of opportunity to do more with Red Cedar Park and more than a few other spots along the River Trail.
Lots of promising stuff in the action plan, of interest to me are:
- Connecting downtown's west bank Rivertrail to Michigan Ave via Wentworth Park
- A path and bridge connecting Fulton Park to Anderson Park
- Repairing the Rivertrail near the Francis Park riverside lot
- Renovating Comstock Park's historic community building
- Adding lighting to the Rivertrail from Reo Town to Old Town
- Building an indoor ice arena (!!!!)
- Repair Reutter Park's fountain
Some of these things, such as the Comstock Park building renovation, were on the action plan five years ago so I wouldn't expect all these to happen in the next five years. It was also noted in the plan that the top wish-list item from the community input meetings was a public amphitheater/festival space, that was not in the action plan as far as I can see but it is on the radar of those in charge.
A link between Anderson and Fulton would be big for the MTB community, creating a system of trails 14 miles long. I usually take time to admire the view of one of them from the banks along the river of the other park, so it would be neat to bridge them together.
I do wonder though- would the Delta Township residents near Anderson appreciate their backyards to become accessible by foot from Lansing proper? There's already been an issue here and there between them and the township about Anderson's hours.
Thanks for posting this report, I have always thought that Lansing's parks are such a great asset to the community. I guess there were more kids in the old days, Quentin Park like many other neighborhood parks in Lansing had supervised activities for kids nearly all year which were attended by thousands of kids. I would like to see more children and more everyone in the parks and get people away from their phone/screens for some outdoors time. There are people using the large parks like Frances and Moores Parks, but the smaller neighborhood parks are mostly empty, when I go for a little nostalgia walk over at Quentin Park there is never anyone else there. I'm not sure how to get people away from the screens and into the parks but improving the parks with projects listed here is a start.
Delta Township residents seem to very much want Delta connected to the Lansing River Trail system, and that's a stated priority of the Delta Parks folks. That being said, connecting Fulton and Anderson Parks doesn't really further that goal unless the Southside Pathway can be connected to Fulton (which is a city goal) along with Anderson connecting to somewhere of consequence in Delta Township. So, yeah, I do wonder about Delta residents reactions to seeing a connection to their neighbors across the river. I think it'd be a net positive for Delta Township, and more obviously for Lansing, but for the neighbors immediately surrounding Anderson Park there are some legitimate concerns beyond just more people around. I don't think those concerns will stop this from happening though.
Comments
https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/7561d46b-8bdd-4928-a815-e99aa3e74046?cache=1800
After reading it, I'm not sure what's going on. The cover letter says 2026-2030 then says "submitted February 1, 2021", the Action Plan is also from the 2020 report. @citykid I know not your department, but any ideas?
https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2fZhacBc0DXmOj4?Q_CHL=qr
I do not know, but I wonder again if the park-i-fication is partly an attempt to make the area unappealing to would-be homeless campers, which have made it right to the doorstep of MSU now. Few places left where they can feel concealed.
https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/7561d46b-8bdd-4928-a815-e99aa3e74046?cache=1800
Lots of promising stuff in the action plan, of interest to me are:
- Connecting downtown's west bank Rivertrail to Michigan Ave via Wentworth Park
- A path and bridge connecting Fulton Park to Anderson Park
- Repairing the Rivertrail near the Francis Park riverside lot
- Renovating Comstock Park's historic community building
- Adding lighting to the Rivertrail from Reo Town to Old Town
- Building an indoor ice arena (!!!!)
- Repair Reutter Park's fountain
Some of these things, such as the Comstock Park building renovation, were on the action plan five years ago so I wouldn't expect all these to happen in the next five years. It was also noted in the plan that the top wish-list item from the community input meetings was a public amphitheater/festival space, that was not in the action plan as far as I can see but it is on the radar of those in charge.
I do wonder though- would the Delta Township residents near Anderson appreciate their backyards to become accessible by foot from Lansing proper? There's already been an issue here and there between them and the township about Anderson's hours.