In the future, MSU could be a very different place. According to the university's 2020 Vision plan for MSU's near future, there might be a near absence of student cars on campus, green space that would abound and parking police thankfully out of work ticketing student cars.
These goals - to be initiated by 2020 - will most likely not be seen, even by MSU's youngest students. Any idea that the lawn in front of the International Center was once a series of parking lots would be lost on students. The old parking lots could only be researched on faded pages in The State News archives or historical Web sites.
The 2020 Vision Plan mandates that the parking lot between Shaw Lanes be turned into green space and walkways. Shaw Lane itself would be reduced in size and diagonally slanted parking spaces - like those lining West Circle - would be removed entirely. Student parking on campus outside of the commuter lot would be effectively decimated.
Right now, everyone in Michigan is very used to the idea of driving their car everywhere they want to go and finding a parking space when they get there. But sometimes the most memorable and unique places, like major metropolitan areas or expansive college campuses, are mostly navigated without an automobile. What seems like an inconvenience to students right now could make MSU a truly unique, beautiful and safer campus in the future.
Obviously, there'll be some problems to iron out before the campus and the city are ready for a move like this. Off-campus student housing would, if current trends hold, be emphasized in the Northern Tier and students would need to get into campus by bus or carpool. Capital Area Transportation Authority bus services would have to be tightened and expanded to accommodate the increased student flow, should student parking spaces be severely limited.
The administration would need to have already fixed the problems that plague housing on campus today. Ideally, overbooking of dorms would have been taken care of much, much before 2020. As the university grows, the freshly built dorm in the Brody Complex would help with booking concerns.
Furthermore, MSU doesn't have a truly central place for students to gather. A park between what is now North and South Shaw Lane, would make the campus more student friendly. The University of Michigan has the Diag, The Ohio State University has the Oval. It is a place the likes of which many wish we had now, given the options of aesthetic beauty or massive concrete parking lots.
It is an opportunity for all the infrastructure changes to match the tougher academic standards also outlined in the 2020 plan. A more intellectually challenging and more beautiful campus is something that MSU should have in the first place. A more beautiful, more traditional, open campus is a selling point to prospective students. It's important to keep in mind that what we would consider a headache today, might very well mean a strong MSU in the near future.
