Binto: thanks! Is there an easy way to do that? I tried the normal photobucket html code but no dice :)
PS in the last one, I just love how the tree fences are made into shapes - musicians playing instruments, artists painting, etc... just an interesting touch that makes all the difference
Woodsstephene, you can just click on the little box with a picture of a small photo (blueish square) on it above where you write in comments. Its along the bar with BIU on it, and a box will come up telling you to enter in the link to the image. Just make sure your comment is formatted as BBCode.
Its funny that you guys should mention fountains, as that is what Virg had been pulling for in the middle of the roundabout finished not that long ago. Granted its more downtown, but its still on Michigan Ave. I do like the area near the Peanut Barrel though and how thats all set up. As for benches I just thought I'd mention that several new benches have been installed since the start of the year. Granted they're all at bus stops but they're still new (they're green and mesh), even in places that already had benches so that now there are two. I personally always wished that the street looked more like downtown East Lansing on Grand River; a combination of old and new buildings, each business being part of one or tightly built together and maybe with lofts above some, kind of like your first picture woodsstephene. Or like Washington in Lansing is now, especially since all of the improvements that have been made to that. Parts of it are already, such as near Rum Runners and near Emils, but most isn't. But that's a whole other issue and not one I'd expect the corridor improvement to itself directly address of course. There is a small closed gas station (not talking about the one being fixed currently) that something should be done with. Eh, I'll write more later...
Binto, just so you know, I was told they are looking to study the entire length of Route 1 from downtown to the Meridian Mall. So, if anything would ever come to fruition, we'd be dealing with a regional route going through four different municipalities.
Yes, I understand, LMich. I'm not saying that there would be no regional considerations, but if mostly the length of route one is what's being considered, then the regionalization has much more to do with governance than regional area size. The comparisons of density and population in those municipalities matters far more than people hundreds of miles out. It would be regional in the way that CATA itself is regional. What's the farthest that Cata goes? From Lansing to Mason? So from a centralized location that the system would be based on even that is only like 15 miles out.
And, that 15 miles out is what I mean by regional, which is the size of the urbanized area. Regardless, CATA is much less centralized than I think you think it is. It's exactly why they have another hub at MSU, which is fed pretty heavily from Meridian Township. My only argument is that the population of Lansing and the density of the city mean quite a bit less than I think you're arguing when we are comparing them with other cities.
Anyway..
I'd like to see some creative streetscape sculptures like decorative arches or like the Avenue of Fashion in Detroit on key parts of the street.
I do realize that CATA has another hub at MSU and that its not completely centralized. I would still argue that unless we're talking about a more extensive system than the length of route one and its location, that the population and density of even those 4 municipalities matters far more than anything outside of them, even though I agree outside still needs consideration (especially if the system were to greatly extend). Again, the urban area that you mention for Lansing is 136 sq miles, so that even going half of that in any direction would still include as far as 68 miles out. If people want to study distances as far as Mason that's fine but even these places and everywhere that CATA already services are very much within the center of the urban area, let alone the metro.
I think it's possible too to integrate the regional rail with bus service. We already have one of the best bus systems in the country - I don't think it'd be too difficult to build something between Lansing/East Lansing/Delta Township and have bus service running to and from the outlying areas. Eventually it could link up with Jackson, St. Johns, Brighton/Howell, etc. but I think even a loop or one line in the main urban area would be the place to start. Without something like that in place and successful, I think a large regional rail line would be a hard sell.
I would also be interested in knowing what kind of lights the city uses, both for streetlights and things like traffic signals. Something like these LED traffic signal lights from GE might be more energy efficient as well as more reliable and emit less C02. They go along with things that the city is already trying to achieve and would apply to more than just Michigan Ave. Again though, I don't know what is currently being used.
There are a few LED's sprinkled throughout the city. I'm pretty sure the one at Cedar and Baker is one. I'm not exactly sure of the policy they use when replacing lights.
On the UA (Urban Area) size (no, I'm not going to let this go as I think it's important to make this distinction), I'm not sure where you're getting the 68 mile number for in terms of the distance from the center to the ends of the area. Within the 136 square mile area it stretches only from Meridian Township/Okemos on the east to Grand Ledge on the west, DeWitt to the north and Mason to the South, pretty much the end points of any improved, comprehensive transit system. When we're talking about "Lansing" in a regional sense, we should be talking about this urban area, its population, its density, its demographics, etc.
Comments
PS in the last one, I just love how the tree fences are made into shapes - musicians playing instruments, artists painting, etc... just an interesting touch that makes all the difference
Its funny that you guys should mention fountains, as that is what Virg had been pulling for in the middle of the roundabout finished not that long ago. Granted its more downtown, but its still on Michigan Ave. I do like the area near the Peanut Barrel though and how thats all set up. As for benches I just thought I'd mention that several new benches have been installed since the start of the year. Granted they're all at bus stops but they're still new (they're green and mesh), even in places that already had benches so that now there are two. I personally always wished that the street looked more like downtown East Lansing on Grand River; a combination of old and new buildings, each business being part of one or tightly built together and maybe with lofts above some, kind of like your first picture woodsstephene. Or like Washington in Lansing is now, especially since all of the improvements that have been made to that. Parts of it are already, such as near Rum Runners and near Emils, but most isn't. But that's a whole other issue and not one I'd expect the corridor improvement to itself directly address of course. There is a small closed gas station (not talking about the one being fixed currently) that something should be done with. Eh, I'll write more later...
The first one is the fencing I was talking about, with the sculptures...
Anyway..
I'd like to see some creative streetscape sculptures like decorative arches or like the Avenue of Fashion in Detroit on key parts of the street.
Source: GE Ecomagination: LEDS - Transportation Signals
Here's another related link: http://www.lumination.com/category_products.php?cat_id=21&id=42
On the UA (Urban Area) size (no, I'm not going to let this go as I think it's important to make this distinction), I'm not sure where you're getting the 68 mile number for in terms of the distance from the center to the ends of the area. Within the 136 square mile area it stretches only from Meridian Township/Okemos on the east to Grand Ledge on the west, DeWitt to the north and Mason to the South, pretty much the end points of any improved, comprehensive transit system. When we're talking about "Lansing" in a regional sense, we should be talking about this urban area, its population, its density, its demographics, etc.
Map of Lansing UA