Editor's note: This is the first in The State News' coverage of East Lansing's Centennial Celebration.
Without MSU, East Lansing wouldn't be here.
At least, not in the sense it is today.
In the late 1800s, the neighboring state capital was a manufacturing hub, the Michigan Agricultural College was drawing students to the east and a new city was in the making.
When 1907 brought the founding of East Lansing, the city's first mayor, Clinton D. Smith, described it as "a place to live," whereas Lansing was the place to work.
And as MSU grew through the years, so did the city.
Now, 100 years later, East Lansing is a city itself and a place more than 46,000 people call home.
A college and a home
Long before the city was established, faculty members of the Michigan Agricultural College and their families began living north of Grand River and Michigan avenues, as the community's first residents.
Since that time, East Lansing and MSU have expanded tnerations.
"We're truly a town-and-gown community — the north side is the city and the south side is the college," said community development analyst Ron Springer, who also is a member of the East Lansing Historical Society and Historic District Commission. "That makes us unique. We have grown up together, yet distinctly separate."
English senior Megan Thomas said she always thought of East Lansing as a college town.
"I don't think saying it's a college town is a bad stigma … the fact that we have a big community makes it nice," Thomas said. "If it weren't for the students and the growing college, East Lansing wouldn't be the way it is today."
And for others, such as Mayor Sam Singh, East Lansing represents a homey, suburban city.
"Part of our community is the reaction of wanting to live in a quality community," said Singh, who has lived in East Lansing since 1989. "We're a city, but at the same time, if you go into our neighborhoods, it's your traditional suburban neighborhood."
A growing suburb
The first boundaries of the city were as far north as Burcham Drive and as far east as Gunson Street, with farmlands surrounding the community on all sides.
But in the past 100 years, the city multiplied north to Clinton County and west against neighboring Okemos.
"We had more construction in the last five years than any time I can remember," said East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert, who has lived in the East Lansing area all his life.
"When I started working here, the northern most part of the city was Lake Lansing (Road). Since then, it's almost doubled in size."
Wibert said he still sees the same community spirit.
"It's still the same people, even with the student turnover," he said. "The same folks, the same hometown feel, the same neighbors — there's a sense of permanence."
One of the city's greatest qualities is its emphasis on remembering its original purpose — as a place to live, Springer said.
"We are a bedroom community, and that's still very high on citizens' concern," he said. "Our commercial development has evolved and has been very carefully scrutinized by city officials and citizens as it continues to grow.
"Business ventures aren't a slam dunk. The public is very concerned about their neighborhoods."
For better or worse
Students living off campus initially resided only a few blocks north of Grand River Avenue, but with the expansion of East Lansing came the expansion of students' reach across the city.
Historical Society President Jack Thompson, 75, has lived in East Lansing most of his life and said he's seen a good relationship between permanent residents and students.
But that interaction hasn't always been smooth.
During the 1970s and 1980s, a biannual block party called Cedar Fest was held in Cedar Village, but in 1986, one such party culminated into a riot involving 5,000 people and $11,000 in property damage.
More recently, the defeat of the MSU men's basketball team in NCAA Tournament games has coincided with problems in East Lansing streets.
In 1999, 2003 and 2005, riots and disturbances involved a combined 15,000 people and a total of about $296,000 in damages.
Fred Bauries, co-chairperson of the Avondale Neighborhood Association — which includes Hagadorn Road, Gunson and Beech streets and Burcham Drive — described his neighborhood relations as "cordial."
"At the start of the school year, students seem to have more exuberance than any other time of year," he said. "By and large, everyone pretty much accommodates everyone else. Both students and everyone else is troubled by the reputation of the city and the university."
No-preference freshman John Grimston said he enjoys East Lansing for the parties, but he doesn't venture out too far for his fun.
"I don't go more than three blocks north of (East Grand River Avenue), because the permanent residents don't like it, and they all live up there," Grimston said.
Springer said the relationship between students and permanent residents is constantly evolving.
"That's an area that needs constant attention, in terms of watching and nurturing and trying to shape relationships between the various age groups and the diversity of groups that live here," he said.
