A city, piece by piece
As its problems were addressed in the ’90s and early 2000s, E.L. began taking its current shape
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East Lansing once was a residential community for MSU faculty and staff, adjacent to the university. Starting 50 or 60 years ago, students began to trickle into rental houses in neighborhoods across from the university. But in the ’80s, resident-renter integration accelerated at a pace the city did not foresee, thrusting East Lansing into a period of change.
The downtown area is one of the most telling aspects of East Lansing that has changed with the times, said Jack Thompson, former president of the East Lansing Historical Society.
There used to be “banks, movie theaters, hardware stores, drug stores, grocery stores, camera shops, radio stores, flower shops, coal companies and car dealers,” to cater to the residential neighborhoods, Thompson said. But those shops since have transformed into mostly restaurants and clothing stores to cater to students now inhabiting the neighborhoods closest to downtown.
After problems plagued the city, newly elected and appointed city officials in the mid-’90s began altering the ordinances and policies to turn the city into what is known today and planned in the future.
Changing of the guard
In 1995, just as neighborhoods were finishing up the rapid transition to rental housing, three new councilmembers — including two future mayors — were elected.
Mark Meadows, Sam Singh and Doug Jester ran together with an objective to change the way East Lansing operated, said Meadows, a former mayor and now the Democratic state representative for the district that encompasses East Lansing.
“We wanted to change the way East Lansing operated as a government to be more customer friendly, so our citizens are treated as customers,” Meadows said, “but also to address some of the major issues we saw in the community. There was a lot of conflict that we had neglected.”
Included in the conflict was an attempt by neighborhoods on the east side of town to split back into Meridian Township, citing discrepancies with services offered by the city. The proposal was effectively stomped out by city officials.
The newly elected trio, as well as newly hired City Manager Ted Staton, began modernizing the city charter and fundamental laws of East Lansing. During the first two years in office, the group accomplished most of its goals with 23 different proposals on election ballots.
Many of the laws dealt with rental properties. Officials began limiting the number of people who can live in a house. They put stricter guidelines on how properties should look to prevent rundown housing. They created historic districts to preserve neighborhoods.
“They stopped the flow of property to rental properties because it made greater requirements for rental housing,” Meadows said. “A lot of the rental housing laws and building codes were so people could drive through neighborhoods, and other than a few students drinking on the porch or playing beer pong, the house itself would not stand out as, ‘Obviously, this must be a rental house.’”
A major recent addition — about five years ago — to stop further integration of rental properties into residential neighborhoods is the concept of overlay districts. The policy allows the residents of neighborhoods to come together — with about 60 percent approval necessary — to prohibit the addition of more rental properties.
The policy received some initial opposition from student groups such as ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, and rental companies who felt the overlay districts were restricting a natural flow of events.
“I can certainly see the student perspective, that ‘these people are signing petitions to zone us out.’ It’s not a ‘welcome to East Lansing’ feeling,” Staton said. “But it will never happen to traditional student neighborhoods.”
While the council was implementing the laws, the East Lansing Police Department and other city departments were focusing on how to adapt to them.
About 15 years ago, Parking and Code Enforcement became a 24-hour entity responsible for the enforcement of the new codes placed on the city and ensuring the city’s appearance was up to standard.
Although Meadows said rental companies originally were hesitant to jump on board with the new policies, Joe Goodsir, president of rental firm Community Resource Management Company, said the changes were for the better.
Goodsir said constructive dialogue throughout the years has helped buff up relations on all levels.
“Over the years, there (have) been drastic changes because of all the communication that came up,” Goodsir said. “Once in a while, we still get a call, but now most conflicts can be resolved with good dialogue between the two parties.”
With the city’s appearance improving and student-resident conflicts slowly fading, officials said the focus shifted to creating a more vibrant downtown, a philosophical shift still prominent in today’s city hall.
“Things started to change — and I mean dramatically change,” Meadows said. “We changed our attitude really toward development of our area.”
The new developments
Although downtown East Lansing 15 years ago might not have looked as it did in the ’60s, it still was vastly different than it stands today.
The city still had national retail stores such as Jacobson’s and Redwood & Ross, which were soon to go by way of “big box retailers,” Staton said.
A rapid increase in housing has dotted the streets of downtown East Lansing, such as the Albert Place Condominiums, 600 Albert Ave., and Stonehouse Village, above Taco Bell, 601 E. Grand River Ave. It is a trend that is likely to continue.
“We would hope there is a continuation of concentration in the downtown,” Staton said. “More student units and more non-student units so we can continue to diversify the kind of stores that are down here but the kind of people that will patronize them.”
As the ‘90s gave way to the new millenium, new developments were being built — for example, a series of dilapidated houses on Albert Avenue near Bailey Street were razed for a parking lot — to liven up the appearance of the city. The appearance was key to begin development that would attract a wide variety to downtown as a center for the city.
“We began, in the ’90s, to go after certain developments to attract the kinds of stores and retailers that would strengthen the retail base of downtown and would broaden the appeal to a more diverse market,” said Jim van Ravensway, former director of East Lansing’s Planning and Community Development Department. “So no matter who you are, you can find a reason to be in downtown; that wasn’t the case 20 years ago.”
In 2001, the most notable, comprehensive project began with City Center I on M.A.C. Avenue between Albert and Grand River avenues.
The project, which houses various businesses such as Omi Sushi, 210 M.A.C. Ave., Cosi, 301 E. Grand River Ave., and CVS Pharmacy, 240 M.A.C. Ave., effectively changed the thinking of future East Lansing developments in terms of diversity of use and size.
“You may never see the type of retailing in the downtown you saw maybe 40 to 50 years ago,” current East Lansing Mayor Vic Loomis said.
“But you will see neighborhood service types in the downtown; you will see a broader mix of people down here.”
With other developments in East Lansing, such as the West Village Redevelopment Project on Grand River Avenue between Hillcrest Avenue and Hillside Court, and several downtown projects that already are underway or being planned, the city continues to change dramatically.
On July 20, the East Lansing City Council approved a site plan for another project, an eight-story, mixed-use building at 200 Albert Ave.
Other developments include adding stories to buildings that house The Post Bar, 213 Ann St., and rebuilding 215 and 217 Ann St. for mixed and residential use.
The largest potential future development to the downtown area is the $116.4 million City Center II project, a planned mixed-use and residential facility.
These developments would change the skyline, but they also have raised more concerns from residents.
Too big a picture?
Because of all the focus on developments and the future, some residents are concerned city officials are neglecting their everyday duties.
Problems that were cut out of the budget this year, such as sidewalk repair, could have been handled in more prosperous times, said Eliot Singer, a former MSU professor and resident of East Lansing for more than 26 years.
“They could have dealt with it years ago, if they weren’t spending money to hire consultants to dream up fancy projects that are never going to get done,” Singer said.
“I think that chronic problems have gotten worse, not just in the city but across the country for financial reasons. East Lansing government goes beyond the normal bureaucratic complacency, because there is this strong PR approach, that they just don’t want to deal openly with this kind of thing and makes it worse.”
Some residents are worried major developments are not what need to be done to make the city a better place to live, Singer said.
“(City officials are) interested in long term development projects, these grandiose schemes,” Singer said. “But they really don’t care about things like the sidewalks need to be fixed; they don’t care, that’s not their priority. They’re too big-pictured.”
Commentary
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Michael
(07/27/10 8:56am)Report
I would agree with the later comments of former Prof. Singer regarding the grandiose developments people in the city have dreamed up. Anyone remember the ridiculous scheme they dreamed up in the “East Village” area where the renderings showed people kayaking along the Red Cedar in a big water-style-turnabout in front of a huge movie-theater-condo development? I think the city staff needs to keep their eyes on the prize (of sustainable realistic development) but instead they are still planning more boutique business spaces and another high end hotel downtown? I just don’t get it…
Michael
(07/27/10 8:58am)Report
Another thought… you want people downtown, PUT A MOVIE THEATER IN!!! you will get people attending movies who are not just going downtown to get wasted… and they will spend all night down there… if they can afford parking, that is.
Parking
(07/27/10 10:26am)Report
Why would i want to go to east lansing when I can park for free or far cheaper on Washington Square Downtown?
East Lansing has to understand that their outrageously high parking rates and stasi style parking police (even without adequate signs for no parking) is driving away customers and hurting their ability to create a downtown east lansing which draws people in as opposed to pushing them away.
lyle
(07/27/10 11:40am)Report
“There used to be “banks, movie theaters, hardware stores, drug stores, grocery stores, camera shops, radio stores, flower shops, coal companies and car dealers,” to cater to the residential neighborhoods, Thompson said. But those shops since have transformed into mostly restaurants and clothing stores”
****************
This can be said of most every “downtown”, has little to do with the fact that students are in the area.
Lexi
(07/27/10 2:08pm)Report
“Parking” hit the nail on the head. I refuse to shop in East Lansing because parking is such a bear. I’d rather go to a mall or Lansing/ DeWitt where there’s ample FREE parking.
Eliot Singer
(07/27/10 2:21pm)Report
Since Pat quoted me, and we now have the interactive means to respond, I want to clarify a couple of points (Pat did a lot better job of quoting me than has happened in years gone by with no way to respond).
When it comes to chronic problems that can be fixed or addressed at little or no cost, I contend the city has adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach (things like icy sidewalks or landlords letting their properties run down affecting neighbors’ property values far more than the occasional multi-keg party ever did). They never told us nobody from the city was keeping watch, even with something as obvious as a house a developer left to rot for three years two doors from a QD where cops hang out eating donuts. And when people do complain, the response is ineffectual, with no attempt at deterrence even with the most outrageous repeat offenders. And the worst thing, one of the biggest changes with East Lansing in recent years, is that city government has gone from being community-centered to completely self-centered, so instead of requests for policy changes to address problems being taken seriously, the current government responds with rudeness and hostility.
As to the broken sidewalks issue, unlike most chronic problems that does take money to fix. However, I am appalled at someone like Kevin Beard dismissing a real threat to public safety as “low lying fruit” when it comes to budget cutting (ever watch a jogger with a stroller forced into the street, because the sidewalks are so bad, with poor visibility and speeders coming around the corners?). Sidewalk repair could have been done more systematically during flush years and could be done with the current budget if public safety and public services were given priority over pursuing highly questionable development projects. Let’s not forget this is a city government that last year hired a consultant to tell it the future of the city is in the arts and which has been borrowing money supported by general fund dollars to engage in real estate speculation.
Finally, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Obviously, city officials are presenting a mythology of a city that has been much improved thanks to their heroic efforts. East Lansing was not some horror story 20 or 25 years ago—it had problems, some of which have been addressed, others allowed to get worse. We have never had a huge violent crime problem, despite the image presented of the past (violent crime correlates with demographics and economics much more than with enforcement policy). If the downtown business district has improved in some ways, this doesn’t have much relevance to most residents—it is still a place without a bakery and where most businesses are oriented to students, and heavy drinking 3-4 nights a week. Small businesses like Leon’s (Jeweler) and the wonderful International Bread Company (up Grand River from downtown) have been forced out or gone out of business. I’ve been around long enough to remember when Elderly Instruments was in downtown East Lansing, instead of a mainstay of Old Town in Lansing—great move on their part I suppose the sort of places a banker like Vic Loomis wants to see in a downtown and the sort of places an old hippie like me prefers are worlds apart. My sort of places won’t exist in a high-priced downtown.
Anyway, about that elephant in the room: East Lansing and its citizens (and much of the student population) are in much worst shape now than 20 or 25 years ago. This isn’t the fault of city government—it’s the economy stupid—13% unemployment, for sale signs, students in too much debt to buy a burger let alone a $30 steak at some fancy restaurant. What is the fault of city government is its attitude, its obsession with trying to ignore the elephant in the room while it tells everyone what a great job it is doing planning for a wonderful future (Michael, above, reminded us of the East Village delusion). I am waiting for some sign that Vic Loomis or Ted Staton actually give a $%#&* about the citizens who have been unable to sell their homes while they continue to celebrate the building of new residences. Actually, I’m not waiting.
@lyle
(07/27/10 4:34pm)Report
@lyle — you are 100% correct. The decline of the urban (if you can call EL that) had nothing to do with students being in the area. It is the classic urban to suburban mall phenomena that took place all over the U.S. It is the same thing we are seeing now as people are leaving those suburban areas and returning to the city centers, and along with them the businesses. It just happens that EL is poorly managed by the City Council and Manager, and they do anything they can to keep EL from coming back.
Phil Bellfy
(07/27/10 5:02pm)Report
What? No reporting on how many units are empty in those grandiose downtown development projects?
The truth is that virtually all of the units that were built in an attempt to attract non-students to live “downtown” are now student rentals. The “planing” the city supposedly did was obviously failed from the start.
I can’t believe city officials still have this “if you build it, they will come” mindset. Of course, reality sometimes does get in the way of that “field of dreams” —both the City Center II and the East Village projects are all but dead (and may they Rest in Peace).
bobby
(07/28/10 4:13am)Report
Downtown EL would be a much better place if it still had a movie theater and a grocery store and all of that other crap. As it is there are just a bunch of bars, coffee shops, fast food, and convenience stores. WTF.
bobby
(07/28/10 6:02am)Report
ps: Make overnight parking legal and free! What a pain in the ass our current parking situation is!
bobby
(07/28/10 6:18am)Report
pps: In agreement with Singer, how about a bakery and a deli for christ’s sake! Just one deli! Please!
Eliot Singer
(07/28/10 9:02am)Report
Bobby,
There are what claim to be delis, but I know what you mean. I think it is very telling that Zingerman’s, which now exports its overpriced bread to East Lansing, has not opened a branch here.
Not only do we not have a decent bakery downtown, but none of the coffee shops have their own baked goods and most of them sell stale, wrapped in plastic, junk. You have to go to Chapeleure in Hannah Plaza to find a coffee shop where there is anything to eat with your coffee, and I’m sure downtown commercial space is way too expensive for Chapeleure (or Zingerman’s, given its Ann Arbor choice of location).
Loomis, Staton, and their “planning” gang are really bad at it. One issue with MSU is that it is a spawling campus, and most faculty are not close enough to downtown to hang-out for lunch or sipping coffee with students. (Times have also changed from when I was an undergrad, making that kind of culture less possible in any college community.) I have no idea what kind of shopping they think they can put in that would cater to anyone but students, and no one from the local area is going to drive into downtown to eat at an expensive restaurant amidst the drunken Saturday night mob (we live walking distance and won’t go to Beggar’s, which has good food and wine, because it’s too much of a pain).
As Phil said, there is a complete disconnect between the vision these “planners” had and have for downtown catering to upscale adults and the real world. I remember being shocked when I heard about condos in City Center I being bought by parents for their college students, with sublets, because my elderly in-laws had almost taken one of the original CC I condos (thank god they backed out). As far as I can tell, what passes for “planning” in East Lansing is imagining what they would like to see without the slightest assessment of an actual market.
student
(07/28/10 9:48am)Report
First of all, I believe that East Lansing is moving in the right direction. EL has developed a good supply of space for business development. Such space can’t be developed overnight. The fact that the modern city development are not being fully used right now is not an indication of success and the time will come when those developments are entirely used.
Secondly, I do agree in that the city has reduced funding for everyday important issues, like repairing sidewalks. These are very important things, in terms of image and practicality, that can’t be neglected.
Third, some of you have stated various business opportunities. One said a movie theater and another one said a bakery. These are businesses that would help EL and, at the same time, make the owner of such businesses very very rich. My question is, then, what are you people waiting for? EL residents expect businesses to just show up. If you see an opportunity, take the step yourself.
SpartanRob
(07/28/10 10:18am)Report
East Lansing needs to focus on attracting creative type businesses (not retail or food service but actual companies) to downtown EL. They already missed the boat on locating the IBM project team downtown. The tech incubator will help a lot but more is needed to create a truly viable downtown/city. Once the city has jobs to offer “young professionals” then their grand developments may have some merit. These office jobs will help prop up business when the student leave in the summer as well. If nobody is working downtown, they will see no need to live downtown, unless they really like the convenience of 5 mexican rest, 4 sushi places, 5 pizza places all within a few blocks of one another.
Eliot Singer
(07/28/10 1:44pm)Report
Let’s not confuse East Lansing economic development with the Loomis-Staton focus on developing downtown East Lansing. Of course, we need quality jobs and economic growth and an influx of population to fill our empty houses and so on. But anyone with a sense for business (or anyone who has just plain common sense) knows the best way to succeed in business is to keep overhead to a minimum. Loomis comes out of an obsolete business world where you impress clients by having an expensive looking office rather than knowing what you are doing. If you want to start a high tech business today, or any other business, you need to focus on costs, and that means you had better have a pretty good reason for locating somewhere expensive. There is nothing in the way of high tech development or application that strictly needs office space (as opposed to labs, equipment, etc.) that can’t be done from a home office or, lacking that, from as cheap office space with a high speed connection as possible (or even a coffee shop). Nothing that does require lab, manufacturing, or equipment space will ever show up in downtown.
The so-called Technology Innovation Center is just a set of generic offices with a pretentious label (like calling East Lansing the City of the Arts with its mediocre arts scene). Most of its tenants aren’t doing anything that can seriously be called Technology Innovation, and the few that are serious preexisted the TIC and would or would not have made it anyway. If a case can be made for providing tiny offices for beginning businesses (no reason they have to be high tech), there are plenty of places this could have been done for far less cost to taxpayers or tenants than in an overpriced, cost-overrun, money-losing downtown renovation.
Compare MSU Technologies (which had no reason to locate in the TIC except to show solidarity at the cost of MSU dollars) with what the city is doing with the TIC. Whether MSU Technologies succeeds remains to be seen, but it makes common sense. The idea is to provide the business know-how and contacts with capital for MSU research on the premise that researchers are already working full time and lack the know-how and contacts. The TIC is just an office building with a meaningless goal of fostering “the culture of entrepreneurship.” Basically, they believe that having a building with a label will encourage people to start high tech businesses who would not have thought to do so otherwise. I can just imagine some engineering senior on his twelfth beer stumbling by and going: “Gee, what a great idea. I could become a technology innovator! Barf!”
Philip
(08/01/10 11:12pm)Report
The hypocrisy of the whiners and complainers here is staggering. First you complain about all the so called pie in the sky schemes of the city council and proclaim that they don’t realize the economy is bad. But, the REASON these big projects haven’t cone to fruition yet us precisely because the economy fell off a cliff. City Center II woukd probably be halfway completed by now but for the collapse on commercial real estate financing.
And I walk downtown to eat or attend live music all tge time during the Summer. if folks can’t be bothered with that because they are concerned about students then you are the problem not tge city council.
Sally Student
(08/02/10 6:10am)Report
I’m a student who has been living in downtown EL for three years now, and while I do enjoy going to the bars here sometimes, I have been growing increasingly frustrated at how little there is to do aside from drinking or going out to eat. I do love the summer with the festivals and free music, but once school starts at MSU that all stops. Most of the time I end up going out to the bar because that’s the only thing there really is to do.
Additionally, I would love a small grocery store or a bakery and a meat market around here. Not having a car for my first few years in East Lansing made it amazingly difficult to get to the grocery store (bags of food on the bus isn’t fun) and I have always hated that if I run out of milk or sour cream or something and need to run to the store I can’t just run down the street for it.