Baker-Donora Neighborhood Focuses On Homeownership With Local Makeover

Fifteen houses in the Baker-Donora Neighborhood in Lansing are being repainted and rehabbed as part of a local effort to clean up neighborhoods.

According to excerpts from the article:

The makeover, thought of six years ago by Lansing code compliance officer Dave Vincent and Lansing Neighborhood Council President Bill Houghtaling, is being sponsored by the Ingham County Land Bank, plus a mass of churches, private companies and individual donors. Most of the work began Monday, and is scheduled be complete by Saturday.

This block of Ray Street—parts of Lynvall and Pontiac streets have had makeovers in the past—was chosen for the makeover by the Baker-Donora Center. The neighborhood, which is roughly bordered by Baker Street, Mt. Hope Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue and Cedar Street, has had the reputation of being one of the roughest in the city. Neighbors still complain of drug dealing and fly-by-night landlords who rent to seedy tenants, but Anita Moneypenny, director of the Baker-Donora Center, says it has come a long way since the 1990s.

“At one time, it was 70 percent rental,” Moneypenny said. “It’s a lot less now, and we’re making this a homeowners’ neighborhood again.”

Read the entire article here.