Lansing’s
Planning and Neighborhood Development Department is working on 36-pages worth
of request for proposals for projects that will change the city’s image. The
proposal includes plans to make Lansing
a regional and global stronghold.
According to excerpts from the article:
The current plan is 30 years old, with only partial
updates. The plan’s “data and assumptions are now obsolete … it lacks a
city-wide focus and does not provide the guidance needed to address current
issues and guide future growth.” It does not meet the city’s needs, the
Planning Department statement says.
The document goes on to cite good things happening here,
such as the River Trail and the effort to focus attention on the river, a
project dubbed Grand Vision. And it mentions among others the mayor’s Go Green,
Go Lansing campaign, to “transform the Lansing
community into a model of energy efficiency and environmental responsibility.”
But Lansing
has challenges: an auto-dominated transportation system with a preponderance of
one-way streets; low-density commercial strips, including those along state
trunk lines; and the “looming presence of obsolete industrial sites in close
proximity to our neighborhoods.”
The new plan should coordinate approaches, whatever the
issues, as one affects another, the document says. A poor transportation plan
can drive development to exacerbate urban sprawl and result in wasteful energy
use. A poor housing supply plan can further segregate income groups, creating
unhealthy pockets. A poor park plan can limit recreational opportunities and
negatively affect neighborhoods. The new plan would address cross-cutting
issues and serve as the framework to guide decision-making into the future.
Read the entire article here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.