MICHIGAN
City officials, students and local residents said a peaceful relationship among the three groups is being hindered by a lack of communication and city ordinances.
Students and residents negatively stereotype each other, East Lansing's Deputy City Manager Jean Golden said, adding that once students and residents start socially interacting, those stereotypes will be broken down.
"If I know you as an individual, I'm going to be much less likely to stereotype you when I see you on the street," Golden said.
However, family community services senior Sara Johnson said it's hard for students and residents to be cordial.
"The student population changes from year to year, so it's not the same students that are doing bad things," she said.
But East Lansing residents aren't the problem, "it's the city," interdisciplinary studies in social sciences junior Starr Jones said.
City officials are making it hard for students to have financial stability with charges such as paying a monthly fee to have a trash can, Jones said.
"City Council is only interested with getting our parents' money," she said.
East Lansing resident Jayme Theis, 27, agreed with Jones, and said the general vibe from residents is that they're trying to push students out of the neighborhoods.
Theis said city leaders are aiding the residents by relocating students to the northern part of the city and by not allowing additional rental home licenses in the area.
But City Manager Ted Staton said students and residents are misinformed.
The city recently approved a rental-home license and hundreds of new apartment licenses for East Lansing, he said.
Staton also said it is not true that East Lansing officials want students to move away from the city.
"It couldn't be further from the truth," he said.
