As MSU continues to grow as an internationally-recognized university, some feel it would be better for East Lansing to stay complacent and maintain the city as it stands today.

Others feel it is exponentially important the city continue to grow with its next-door university neighbor.

“Michigan State has come from a major university by number of students to a major university with a very high profile not just in the nation, but in the world,” East Lansing Mayor Vic Loomis said. “You have to think big, you have to have a vision, you have to look to the future — communities have to grow just like individuals.”

Although city officials want East Lansing to grow so they can continue harboring a rapidly growing university, they also know to keep — and attract — the residents and students, East Lansing must maintain aesthetics already in place.

“I think the challenge to the city is you have to do all of the above,” Loomis said. “You have to think macro, but not ignore the micro.”

Bringing students back to town

City officials said they hope additional housing options closer to downtown will attract students back from a seemingly mass exodus to affordable apartments outside city limits that contained a plethora of amenities in the past.

When Chandler Crossings was built in Bath Township in the ’90s, some felt an anti-student sentiment was present because many saw the complex’s location several miles north of the city as an attempt to push students out. The feeling is one the city wants to extinguish to bring renters — and their money — back into the downtown economy.

Past actions by the city might have contributed inadvertently to any sort of migration of students out of the city. For example, the developers who proposed the Chandler Crossings project initially had wanted to build the complex within East Lansing’s city limits.

The proposal was rejected by officials who said such a large-scale development was not desirable, said Jim van Ravensway, East Lansing’s former director of the Planning and Community Development Department.

“(Chandlers) created a vacuum or void in the center of the city of the student population; a lot of (students) moved out,” van Ravensway said. “I’ve talked to a lot of businesses in the downtown and find a lot of drops in sales. (Students) aren’t spending money here, they’re spending elsewhere.”

The city can’t help that large apartment complexes were built outside city limits, but officials would like to offer students better opportunities to live closer to campus, City Manager Ted Staton said.

Housing developments constructed in the mid-2000s such as Campus Village, 1151 Michigan Ave., Stonehouse Village, 605 E. Grand River Ave., and Louis Street Apartments, 215 Louis St., were aimed at moving students back to the center of the city.

“But you can’t deny there are apartments built out there, ergo, the city created it in some diabolical plot to get rid of students,” Staton said.

Some students might feel a sense of animosity, but marketing junior Ian Scime said he feels the city provides an adequate number of living opportunities next to campus.

“There are so many rental houses and apartment complexes next to the city,” Scime said. “I think it comes down to whether students want to live close to school or pay a whole lot less.”

If the students relocate, and — as city officials hope — revitalize the economy, a greater diversity of business will relocate to East Lansing, attracting a greater variety of residents.

“The mix and feel of the downtown has changed, absolutely,” Loomis said. “Will it continue to change? I certainly hope so, as we get additional development in the downtown.”

Housing is one thing, but without jobs, attracting residents other than students will prove difficult, East Lansing City Councilmember Nathan Triplett said. If East Lansing can offer a better selection of jobs, students who graduate from MSU will be more likely to stay after college and help the city thrive and gain permanence.

“It’s one thing to say we have housing options for a recent MSU grad, but if the diversity and quality of jobs in the area doesn’t cater to them, all the housing options in the world wouldn’t persuade them here,” Triplett said. “So you have to work to provide both when they choose to live here. Most of the developments are trying to fit those two needs.”

Future developments

Despite the recent economic decline, the city of East Lansing continues to dream up, approve and construct new developments.

The East Lansing Marriott at University Place, 300 M.A.C. Ave., set the stage more than two decades ago, followed by City Center I on M.A.C. Avenue between Grand River and Albert avenues in 2001. Now city officials are planning for bigger projects such as the $116.4 million City Center II mixed-use development on the corner of Grand River Avenue and Abbot Road, the West Village Redevelopment Project on Grand River Avenue between Hillcrest Avenue and Hillside Court, and the East Village project, a development planned for a large section of land between Stoddard Avenue and Bogue Street.

City officials said they hope large-scale projects such as these will ensure East Lansing remains a viable host for the university as it expands.

“MSU has gone through transitions and will continue to do so,” Loomis said. “They are doing things that are transforming the university and we have to do things that are transformations for our downtown, our community. To me, we have just tremendous potential (lying) ahead of us.”

There are some residents in the city who don’t agree with the plans East Lansing officials have in store for the future. The doubts might not come from what the city has planned, but rather how the city portrays such developments.

“We have to believe that virtually all of the city’s plans for the future, such as they are, are based on very rosy, ‘pie in the sky’ assumptions,” said Phil Bellfy, an MSU professor, East Lansing resident and former candidate for East Lansing City Council.

Although some residents are against the elevating skyline, about 93 percent polled by a hired contractor think it is the way the city should go, said Jack Thompson, former president of the East Lansing Historical Society and resident of East Lansing for more than 70 years.

“The newer (buildings) are moving up,” Thompson said. “Some people think that is not a good idea, but I believe that is the way to go, instead of having those fields of one- and two-story business buildings with their parking lots, instead of ramps, taking up way too much space.”

The city hopes as more people live downtown, more attractive businesses will open up, offering a wider variety of shopping and jobs for residents other than students.

Officials and residents said they hope to see the city return in at least some form to its past commercial structure, which included more retail offerings than restaurants and clothing stores.

Suburban sprawl and shopping malls took residents — and retail — out of downtown areas. Recent trends show shopping malls struggling, possibly allowing smaller businesses to thrive once again.

Thompson said he’s not sure the dreams will come true, but anything is plausible.

“It happened before. If there were a better variety of stores downtown, I can’t say what would happen,” he said. “I would like to be able to walk downtown and shop.”

Resident worries

Bellfy said the way the city treats residents is a concern moving to the future.

“The current city administration is completely out of touch with city residents — whether they be students or otherwise,” Bellfy said. “(The) city’s attitude toward residents is now to view the permanent residents as simply a source of revenue and an impediment to progress. In virtually every issue of late, the city has simply ignored the wishes of the people — East Village, City Center II, West Village, Avondale Square.”

Loomis said the city is always looking for recommendations on how to improve the city and new developments help improve the overall appearance of the city.

Although Loomis acknowledged all city residents do not see eye-to-eye, he said it is critically important for the city to evolve with time.

“When the community stops growing, the neighborhoods will start to deteriorate, they’ll move to other communities, the infrastructure will fall into ill repair,” Loomis said. “Communities have to grow just like individuals; when we quit growing, we die.”

To read the first story of the series, click here. To read the second story of the series, click here.