RustTown

Funny you should ask, because I also emailed the owner/developer of the Miller Center Garage. He told me that the garage is in "ecellent condition" and he has no plans to demo or refurbish/renovate it. As for Beaubien Place, I was talking saying that there is vacancy in parking, not the retail.

That's incredibly sad news about Mr. McIntosh. I'd often contacted their firm seeking information, and they were usually pretty good on getting back to me. In fact, I was in email correspondance with Mr. Poris, not too long ago. BTW, for DetroitYes, I was doing some research concerning parking at the Renaissance Center (too much or too little?), and thought I'd share some of my information. According to the Parking Director of the Renaissance Center, they currently have quite an excess of parking with the completion of the Beaubien Place/Asian Village Garage. In fact, they point to the discounted rates at many of the surrounding garages and early arrival specials as proof. They say they regularly do supply and demand studies for parking for the center, so there is some rhyme and reason to the madness. They also said that the Beaubien Place has a high vacancy rate, but that's in anticipation of the development of the E1 and E2 parcels expected to start next spring. Though, if they decided to include their own parking (under and/or beneath the developments), that there may still be an excess, though not as much. I'm writing back to see if they can give me some concrete numbers on the number of parking spaces, and the number used, and will report back if I get that.

I personally wouldn't mind one, though, I think their ardent supporters sometimes overplays their importance to an economy. And, from an urban planning perspective, casinos are "black-hole" developments in that they have no windows, don't encourage walkability (only internal circulation), and often have no context to the neighborhoods around them. Instead of trying to fit into the downtown entertainment scenes in their perspective cities (when they are built in downtown areas), they seek to BECOME the downtown entertainment scene, sort of like the failed city-within-a-city that was once the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. I'd support a casino, but only if the city worked as hard as they could to make it fit into the downtown scene instead of simply becoming the downtown scene. All that said, whether you or I like the idea, or not, it ultimately comes down to all of the red-tape the proposal would have to go through, and that would take years. I have a bad feeling it would never see the light of day, and that we'd have wasted all our energies while ignoring other and more meaningful projects, residential, office, retail, entertainment, and the like. But, who knows?

I'm pretty sure it's a local vote, but you'd be surprised at how stigmatized gambling still is in most parts of the state.

Well, it would almost have to be a Native American casino, because the state passed that ballot initiative a few years back (the one sponsered by the Native Americans and out-of-state Detroit casino owners that wanted to create a monopoly on gaming in Michigan) to severly limiting the amont of casinos in the state by forcing non-Native Americans to go to the voters every time they want to start a casino.

Michi, that photo is AMAZING! The Fisher Building is easily one of the most underappreciated buildings in the country when discussing the best pre-war architecture. You always hear about the Tribune Tower in Chicago, but never about the Fisher Building.

Seven days isn't enough?! I agree, a nice mix of classic and contemporary would be great. As it is now, it's heavily weighted to the classic pop acts.

It's more than bad pricing. As has already been said, save for a few good acts, the majority of the acts seem like something you may find at a state fair, and many times worse. Making it a bit more contemporary would do a lot to justify the prices of the tickets. And, yes, the event has been making money the past few years (two, I think), but barely. Still, as has been said before, it takes quite a few years to make these kind of events profitable, and I don't see Common Ground going away, but it could be SO much better than it has been. Maybe, they'll be able to make enough money to pull in the really big names. I still miss RiverFest, though. It wasn't a music event, but something unique.

Sure is. Michi, you're becoming such a show-off.

GR8, That's the Cedar/Larch Viaduct where it turns into East Street. Anyway, I've tried getting the shot before, but my sucky camera doesn't have a good enough view to do it justice. It's particularly interesting at night. You can even see the spread all the way back to Lansing Towers on the west. Another great shot, if it was available to the public would have been on the roof of the Lansing Car Assembly Plant #1 where it goes over MLK. Statedude, you could get a good view of the fireworks from way out there? I know the land is higher up that way, but didn't realize you could get a good view. Yeah, it really was disappointing; the most disappointing in many years if you ask me. Jared, yeah, the whole thing seemed so incredibly uncoordinated and choppy. Like I said, the stadium fireworks the few days before the fourth were better than last night.

I was really disappointed by the fireworks this year. To tell you the truth, living where I do and seeing the Oldsmobile Park fireworks (for the past 3 or 4 nights in a row, now, lol), I find them far better. Great shot, BTW! It will be great in a few years (if everything goes right) to see the building, once again, all lit up, but this time with people and pedestrian activity! Thanks for reviving the thread. I haven't taken pictures in weeks.

Yeah, and again, back in January, Model D reported that they were aiming for an April opening of the building. Not a big deal, I was just thinking about it the other day, and was wondering if it had been completed.

I'm pretty sure the city gives incentives regardless of where they decide to build, so it's not that the city is encouraging them to build in the northern tier, but as you know, most companies want their own sprawled lands or campuses. The northern tier is growing so much around Lake Lansing because direct freeway access is a huge plus in modern business. Downtown East Lansing is out of the way in terms of freeway access, and banks and the like like huge frontage, personal parking... It's just a sign of the times, and every city struggles with it. America has been sprawling since at least the 50's, and it's not slowing down.

Does anyone know if One Kennedy Square has officially opened, yet? Model D said it was supposed to be opened back in April, but I've heard nothing since. It seems like it's taking them longer than expected, but I could be wrong.

Google Maps has FINALLY updated the Lansing area. Just a few weeks ago, the only part of the city visible on a zoom was the southwest side. Now, they have nearly the whole city as well as the eastern metro (to Meridian Township). They arae also some of the newest aerials of the area in years. Judging by the project on a particular project, I can tell they were taken in the fall of last year.

I'd love nothing more than to see massive infill in the Cass Corridor to complement these historic structures.

Wow! Great picture, which will look even better when RiverEast really starts going to cover up some of the garages, though they do offer a lot of light.

The city seems to have sporadic (if even nice when it happens) connections to the river, but I wouldn't consider it an example of what to do with a river/waterfront. The river in the city still has so much untapped potential. I'm really not trying to be down, but for a city built on the river like it was, I've always wondered why it is so underutilized. I mean, the city derives its name directly from the river its own, and that river's features.

And, I have a bad feeling REDICO is going to ask for an extension. Something would have been leaked by now, probably, if they had a deal.

Michi ^

It's supposed to come on Friday, I think.

Just an update, Mr. Green of the Lansing PSD told me the other day that 8 of the 9 condos at phase I of Printer's Row are sold out, and 2 units of phase II have already been pre-sold. I guess it proves location isn't everything, because Cherry Hill is definitely somewhere where I'd pass buy in its current shape.

That area has so much potential, Eric. I've only recently became more accustomed with the Near/Lower Eastside (as a Westsider), and some of it almost feels exotic. You can feel how much older it is.

I've been posting this in other forums, but I recently came across a list of maps of Michigan's Urbanized Areas. Urbanized Areas, as defined by the census, try to show the "built-up" area of a metropolitan area. Flint's is the third largest (in population) in Michigan,: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CGI_Flint_70678_7.pdf And, here are Saginaw's and Bay City's http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CGI_Saginaw_70691_7.pdf http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CGI_Bay_City_70674_7.pdf

Just thought I'd show you guys a map of Ann Arbors "Urbanized Area" population. Census designated urban areas, more of less, describe the "built-up" area of a metropolitan aea: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CGI_Ann_Arbor_70672_7.pdf