East Lansing exists because of MSU. Without the university, the downtown area as we know it wouldn't exist. The housing we live in wouldn't exist and the businesses that have been in business for years because of student spending would have folded years ago.
MSU students dictate the climate of this city. With us goes the town. So why do we continue to be treated as second-class citizens?
Earlier this spring, the East Lansing City Council introduced an ordinance that allowed community members - families - to limit how many houses in their neighborhood could be leased to renters - students. If enough permanent residents band together, their collective voice is enough to keep their neighborhoods free of as many students as possible.
It's not a secret that many MSU students would prefer to not live next to a family or retiree. Concurrently, a family with young children would probably benefit from living clear of students' late hours or noisy gatherings. We're not all Bluto from "Animal House," but they're not all strange shut-ins who call the police the minute they hear rap, either. It's evolved into a symbiotic relationship between neighbors who sometimes need to make the most of who they'd rather not live next to. It's how East Lansing has lived for years.
Except that now, people considered permanent residents are able to make sure they'll only have to share a fence with residents just like them. If two-thirds of a "neighborhood" - a unit of area actually designated on official city maps - petition enough, renters never have a chance to move in. They don't have to live next to us, and we don't have to live next to them. Everyone's happy, right?
Wrong. For too long - and especially in recent years more than ever - MSU students are made to feel like second-class citizens in the community they're responsible for building. We aren't allowed to throw parties, we aren't allowed to keep couches on our lawns and now we'll be barred from neighborhoods without even knowing it. Pursuing a degree finally characterizes you as a nuisance to the real "community members" in East Lansing.
To the City Council, we wish you good luck in seeing this ordinance complete its mission statement, if only for the sole reason that we believe it incapable of doing so. Anyone who believes in extremist generalizations of how a "student" behaves or what a "resident" thinks of it actually knows nothing about East Lansing. For every letter to the editor we get about noise, we get a thank-you note commending a helpful student.
We hope this ordinance brings in families, which brings in students, which brings in money to local schools. If permanent residents are believed to be the only ones in East Lansing fostering community prosperity, why don't we see them with the late night crowd at Panchero's? It's insulting that the presumption tagged on our heads implies we add nothing to this community.
Unfortunately, we are this community. Students need to be worked with, not against, to get East Lansing where non-students would like it to be. We're not going anywhere - we suggest you get used to it.
