[Tiger Beer]

Capital city plus huge college population. What is it about East Lansing/Lansing that seemingly prevents it from becoming a potentially cool Austin-like or Madison-like city?

[michigan83]

Capital city plus huge college population. What is it about East Lansing/Lansing that seemingly prevents it from becoming a potentially cool Austin-like or Madison-like city?

You know, I just thought of this, but I wonder if US 127 is part of the problem? It runs north and south and divides the two cities, and it acts like a physical barrier between the two. If 127 was not there, it would be easier for students to rent houses in Lansing and then walk or ride bikes into East Lansing. There are lots of places where you would have to walk or ride your bike a mile out of your way to get from one city to the other. I don't think that helps. The cities would blend together more without the freeway going through.

I have some other theories too, but I don't feel like typing all of it right now.

[jkels]

If you go straight from East Lansing through Lansing down Grand River I think it's pretty cool. Frandor is pretty decent, LCC is the Capital area, and has Olds Park and I like it. (and I'm not afraid to walk the streets as a 5' tall petite woman.) Even further down you have the Lansing mall, Horrocks, and other cool shopping. Anything beyond that I'm not interested. Old town being an exception. I'm pro casino but that's for another discussion. I don't think there's much TO DO in Lansing...

[Sharks With Lasers]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Capital city plus huge college population. What is it about East Lansing/Lansing that seemingly prevents it from becoming a potentially cool Austin-like or Madison-like city?

I've posted about this before as I've kind of wondered the same thing. I don't have any definite answers, but here are some thoughts:

1. In Michigan, I think Ann Arbor represents this role already. I know they aren't a state capital, but they've got a lockdown on trendy college town in the area.

2. There's very much a lack of promotion in Lansing. There are a lot of transients not expecting to stay for a long time. A lot of the locals seem to be there because they work there.

3. The crime rate in Lansing, while not Detroit/Flint level or anything, is high enough to scare off a lot of the Madison/Austin types.

4. The stuff to do in the area is a bit hokey (yay let's go to the zoo again!) Then again, this stuff may also be taken for granted.

5. On some levels, the Lansing/East Lansing area does have a very similar feel to the coolness of Austin or Madison. The group that embraces this, however, is just a tad bit smaller and less influential.

[danielj72]

Lansing is a nice small city but its too dull downtown. While there are nice things in the Lansing area they are spread out all over the area. All nice trendy towns have a cool downtown, that is what Lansing needs. Nice river walk, bars and eateries, hotels, fancy landscaping etc. Some of those state buildings down there look like they could be in the Soviet Union, too bad they dont all look like our historic capitol building. Ann Arbor and Traverse City seem to have that trendy thing already locked down in this state. A drive through those cities will show anyone why Lansing does not have that "cool cities" vibe.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by cbmsu01

I've posted about this before as I've kind of wondered the same thing. I don't have any definite answers, but here are some thoughts:

1. In Michigan, I think Ann Arbor represents this role already. I know they aren't a state capital, but they've got a lockdown on trendy college town in the area.

2. There's very much a lack of promotion in Lansing. There are a lot of transients not expecting to stay for a long time. A lot of the locals seem to be there because they work there.

3. The crime rate in Lansing, while not Detroit/Flint level or anything, is high enough to scare off a lot of the Madison/Austin types.

4. The stuff to do in the area is a bit hokey (yay let's go to the zoo again!) Then again, this stuff may also be taken for granted.

5. On some levels, the Lansing/East Lansing area does have a very similar feel to the coolness of Austin or Madison. The group that embraces this, however, is just a tad bit smaller and less influential.

I wonder if it could be somewhat marketing. If there was 'critical mass' of people like on to Austin or Madison coming for completely different reasons than just to attend college. Than it seems like there would be a lot of great areas right on or off Michigan Avenue that could fill in nicely with some interesting entpreneurship.

It just seems like the ingredients are there...but without anyone there interested in Lansing or thinking of Lansing in that way, it'll remain just as strongly stagnant as it seems to be now.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by danielj72

Lansing is a nice small city but its too dull downtown. While there are nice things in the Lansing area they are spread out all over the area. All nice trendy towns have a cool downtown, that is what Lansing needs. Nice river walk, bars and eateries, hotels, fancy landscaping etc. Some of those state buildings down there look like they could be in the Soviet Union, too bad they dont all look like our historic capitol building. Ann Arbor and Traverse City seem to have that trendy thing already locked down in this state. A drive through those cities will show anyone why Lansing does not have that "cool cities" vibe.

Agree 100%. I think Grand Rapids (although no Austin) and Ann Arbor have the trendy urban lifestyle thing locked down in Michigan, although there's always room for more! We just have to get more people in Michigan to embrace city living (and not just young people), which will be tough. Of all of the cities in Michigan that I would like to become trendy and hip, Lansing is last on my list. It just doesn't have the impressive urban built environment that some of Michigan's other cities have (Jackson, for one).

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Agree 100%. I think Grand Rapids (although no Austin) and Ann Arbor have the trendy urban lifestyle thing locked down in Michigan, although there's always room for more! We just have to get more people in Michigan to embrace city living (and not just young people), which will be tough. Of all of the cities in Michigan that I would like to become trendy and hip, Lansing is last on my list. It just doesn't have the impressive urban built environment that some of Michigan's other cities have (Jackson, for one).

Something you said in this post really gets to the heart of the problem here with some of Michigans cities. The people of this state do not embrace city living much at all. I think it has to do with Detroits issues and Michiganders associating all city life with the things that have happened in Detroit. I have been to 46 states and in most of those states thier cities are something they are proud of. The downtowns are vibrant, people from all over visit those downtowns and enjoy the ammenities that the city offers. Something about Michigan that has always bothered me is the condition of some of the cities here. Just this spring I was in Tennessee and went to Chattanooga. What a cool downtown they have there, they have a world class aquarium, lots of food and shopping choices, beautiful riverfront you name it they got it. Here in Michigan we have allowed cities to decay because we took the easy way out and just moved to suburbs. Detroit for example could have been a cool place with all of that history and architecture. I have alot of doubts about that ever being reversed there, but in Lansing that town could be something much more than it is with some effort. How do you get people to change the way they think??? thats a tough one, but if I had a choice between living in a cheaply built bland suburban subdivision home or a historic old bungalow I would choose the old home. Now I say right up front that I dont live in a city or a suburb for that matter, im in a very small town in a rural part of the state but if I did live in one of the bigger metro areas I would choose the historic old neighborhoods myself. How do you attract investors to the downtown in a city like Lansing??? Once you have attractions downtown, then the property value goes up in surrounding neighborhoods and more money comes in. It becomes a positive feedback loop and the city improves, but the trick is how do you get it started? Lansing is our state capitol, it would be a nice reflection on our whole state if it did become trendy and fun to visit.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Agree 100%. I think Grand Rapids (although no Austin) and Ann Arbor have the trendy urban lifestyle thing locked down in Michigan, although there's always room for more! We just have to get more people in Michigan to embrace city living (and not just young people), which will be tough. Of all of the cities in Michigan that I would like to become trendy and hip, Lansing is last on my list. It just doesn't have the impressive urban built environment that some of Michigan's other cities have (Jackson, for one).

I finally, recently, visited Grand Rapids. I was very impressed with it's downtown. Not huge, but just dynamic enough, to certainly be interesting. However, I was there this Summer. Curious how it might change during the coldest months.

Lansing really has nothing like that. The only hope I'd see for Lansing is for Michigan Avenue between the Capital and MSU, to become something like Toronto's Yonge Street. Yonge Street is basically one long commercial street with everything you can imagine of high density walkability, but just off the street, is all residential housing. Which basically describes Michigan Avenue, however, there are very very few, if any, interesting shops on MIchigan Avenue that would make you want to walk down it.

It's interesting though, as I'm sure Yonge Street in Toronto was probably the same way at one time? Granted Lansing doesn't have anything or do anything to attract international immigration (particularly business-starting Asians), hipsters, wealth, or anything else that Toronto has. Lansing doesn't even try to attract it's immense population of college students just down the road.

All that being said, there is still something I like about Lansing. It just seems like the radio stations are much better, and a potential there for something better.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

All that being said, there is still something I like about Lansing. It just seems like the radio stations are much better, and a potential there for something better.

Same here. In spite of Lansing's essential blandness, there is something I like about it. Perhaps it's the combination of Olds Tower and the historic capital building. They have a nice effect on Lansing's small skyline. I also generally like Lansing's modest residential neighborhoods, with their cottages and small bungalows. But I will never get over the fact that the city tore down its historic, and functional, brick city market for a pole barn.