RustTown

BTW, the Greenhouse Bistro either officially reopened today, or will open tomorrow at their new home across from the Arbaugh Building. This business moved down from Michigan Avenue, where they shared a building with a florist shop. BTW, the lofts at the new building have been rented out, I think. http://www.greenhousebistro.net/

A little news update, with some good and not so good news, and since it's just a news blurb I can post the whole thing: Niowave may buy Walnut Elementary School building Published June 22, 2006 Niowave - the high-tech new company run by scientists from MSU's Cyclotron lab - may buy the old Walnut Elementary School. Lansing school board Vice President Hugh Clarke said today the school board voted to sell the building to Niowave during a meeting this week. A deal with Douglas Patino, who was going to buy Walnut, has apparently fallen through, he said. Meanwhile, the high-bid buyer for Lansing schools' Verlinden property may be considering backing out of the deal, Clarke said . He said Mark Rodberg, a Florida businessman who offered $750,000, raised concerns during the inspection process, but it's still unclear whether they can be resolved. For more on this story read Friday's State Journal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I said it in the beginning that the Rodberg guy was flakey. Fortunately, Niowave still seems committed with bringing high-tech jobs to Lansing, and it's good they are looking at the vacant schools. Walnut will be a perfect fit for them. I'm very excited to see these schools not sitting empty too long, as I feared they would sit and rot and become eyesores. So far, of the what, dozen or so schools that have been closed over the past decade or so, most are occupied by businesses, and good businesses, at that.

Actually, the 1999 projection was actually a gain of about couple of hundred people, or so. I'll try and find it, but they predict no loss. I don't doubt Lansing lost over the 90's, but IMO, it was nowhere near the 8,000+ the census said it was. That kind of loss in a city this small would have yielded large scale abandonment, which just isn't the case.

You are very wrong, on this, and particularly on the estimates. The estimates don't take into account immigration, and they don't actually count for them. Just to show you how bad the estimates can be, they predicted Chicago to lose 100,000 people over the 1990's, but the city had been saying the complete opposite. When they did the numbers, they actually found an increase of 100,000 or so, and it was probably higher than that. The census is notorious for undercounts, and have been challeneged by quite a few cities (i.e. NYC, St. Louis,...) who all won and got their population upped to more accurately reflect the change. The census routinely undercounts most places, and no one knows an area better than the local agencies. Problem is, the Lansing area doesn't have any firm tracking the local population change, so we have to trust the census.

With all of that I said above, I still don't believe Lansing lost as many people as the census said over the 90's, and I fault the mayor for not challenging the numbers like other cities did. In fact, looking back at the estimates from 1990 to 1999, the census actually projected the city had stagnanted at 127,000 (+.5% or something like that). Then, they went an released numbers showing a -6% loss. I think this current mayor should challenge the numbers. Maybe, I'll even email him about it.

Just about every older city in the United States, and, at least their inner-city cores if they are those that annexed their suburbs, are still losing people, and many since 1950. It's not some new trend, so it shouldn't be surprising. The key here is that Lansing is finally starting to level out on its population loss, which unlike some other cities only began after the 1980's. And, while these new urban living options will bolster downtown, it's not those people that Lansing are losing. It's a middle class with kids disllusioned (and sometimes uninformed) about the school district. It is the last wall that needs to be broken through before we can verse the trend. Lansing is definitely making strides with the magnet program and slowly but surely coming to grip with some of the other real problems, and the last thing that has to be torn down in the negative perception that keeps people out. The economy has something to do with it, too, but Lansing's largest jobs loss days are behind it, IMO, as there isn't much left in the city proper in terms of manufacturing that will be leaving anytime soon.

Well, 2005 census estimates have just been released, and, again it shows the continuing trend of shrinking urban cities and the continued growth of the sunbelt sprawlers. This trend looks to be sticking true for Lansing, which has posted another loss over last year of roughly 1,000 more residents coming to 115,518. Here is the change since 2000 to 2005: 119,128 118,700 (-428, -.35%) 118,271 (-429, -.36%) 117,469 (-802, -.67%) 116,862 (-607, -.51%) 115,518 (-1,344, -1.1%) Overall loss since 2000: 3,160 (-3.0%) Good sign is that is appears that if trends continue it will be a much smaller loss than the loss from 1990 to 2000. Heck, even Flint is posting a much smaller loss of only about 5% since 2000, and is slowing. So, something is going on. Other estimates for key cities from 2000 to 2005: Grand Rapids: -2.0% Detroit: -6.8% Livonia: (no number as it's dropped out of the 100,000 dividing mark) Warren: -2.1% Sterling Heights: +2.8% Ann Arbor: -.7% Hopefully, they release cities under 100,000 soon.

In the thread for Abrams Landing, I think it is explained that the ground floor is disguised to look like two separate floors. They are both 4-story structures.

Great comparison.

lol, it may have been better just to tear them down. I swear, you could shoot a horror movie in this lot. Maybe, I'll look on the assessor website to see their ownership.

That is so creepy every time I drive by. lol I never got the history behind why there are like that. They are directly northwest of the Turner Dodge property hidden behind a tiny group of occupied houses. It's just so odd.

Men's Fitness Fattest City polls are "infotainment" at best. The reason the rankings keep changing so drastically is that every year they take out and add different categories.

MSU really is hard to photograph. Here are some pics I got last year, though, that may give you some ideas on some views: BTW, the City Center Parking Structure, downtown, offers some great views of "downtown" MSU. Another good place to photograph is the Beal Gardens that run behind the library, and anything along the trails on the Red Cedar. South campus is pretty hard to photograph, and there isn't much worth to photograph down there, anyway, though there is an interesting vistas along Wilson and some along Shaw.

The Hollister Building has it's own thread, and has been posted in quite a few times in the over yesterday. Now, I finally understand exactly what you were saying about the Allegan/Washtenaw alley, and you made it make sense, finally.

Yeah, and like some Michigan cities, shrinking household sizes have a lot to do with it, as well. Michigan is aging, and the brain drain is really taking its toll even in the college towns in the state, though to a lesser degree, leaving older folks behind living one and two to a house with the families that are forming forming in the suburbs.

LanCity, I too am confused. There are MANY and BETTER ways to make the downtown more attractive. That particular alley was hardly and eyesore, and serves its purpose. Are you just guessing this is what they are doing? I've heard nothing of this, and it makes no sense whatsoever to me. The only time trash collection is ever moved outside of an alley is when allies are used as retail malls, otherwise, it just doesn't make sense as trash has to be collected from somewhere other than the street. Again, you have me thoroughly confused, LanCity, and I'm not sure you know what you're talking about on this one. It's not a matter of disagreeing with you rather moving dumpsters onto city parking spaces doesn't make sense, and doesn't even sound legal.

Thanks. Though, there wasn't much unattractive about the alley before. They were always relatively clean and clear for allies. Unless they are seeking to make them pedestrian ways, I really see no reason to move the dumpsters out.

Does anyone know what's going on at the Knapps Centre? I saw 4-5 industrial-sized dumpsters lined in front of the building along its Washtenaw frontage.

I agreed with the mayor, too, and even his strong language. IMO, it is charter townships that prevent regionalism. If your currently a charter township there is currently NO incentive for you to cooperate with the other municipalities in your area. What the new Michigan Constitution basically did, mid-century, was to put into law anti-regionalism measures. Now, I'm not saying annexation could solve all our problems, or that we even should do it on a large scale, but Lansing Township, for instance, has no reason to exist any longer, IMO.

I was by there again, today, to get a closer look, and the signage has been removed on the front of the building.

BTW, I just noticed on Saturday while coming up Grand, that the Rosenbaum Law Center at the corner of Washtenaw and Grand (1-story building built in 1910 directly across from Grand Tower) looked to be being cleaned out. Has anyone heard about them moving? I always imagined these key corners of Grand (at Kalamazoo, Washtenaw, Allegan, and Michigan) becoming residential towers as they'd have great views in almost all directions as the skyline currently "steps down" at to Grand which is inhabited by a lot of one and two story buildings.

Has anyone else heard anything concerning the RFP for the Ottawa Street Station? It seems like we heard they were preparing one, but never heard if they submitted it.

Yeah, I don't know why, but this usually aware and adaptable driver (if I do say so myself ) always makes that mistake somewhere in the city. Last time it was eastbound on Larned. But, It usually happens on the Eastside (Westsider, here), so I have an excuse for not knowing the particular streets.

Hopefully not to jinx anything, but it was revealed on the news tonight, halfway through the year, that Lansing has only reported 2 murders, thus far. This is the lowest rate in many, many years. The murder rate has always been significantly low for Lansing for a city its size, but this is unusually low. Hopefully, this is not a fluke. They say if the trend continues (and who knows), we're only on schedule for 5 numbers. I hate to reduce it to numbers, personally, but it's an intersting piece of information, nonetheless. They said that Lansing peaked sometime in the 80's, I think it was, with 22 murders.

Since we're talking about roads, though I probably should have noticed this before, I'm always surprised when I go to Detroit, and on some streets you have the far right lane as parking, but it's not marked like a parking lane leaving anyone driving in these lanes in trouble when they come up on a parked car. It just seems like something that could be easily remdied.