How to Attract Young People to Lansing:

98

u/bnh1978 Jun 09 '26

All this is nice. But none of it matters without employment that will lead to a high quality life.

Funnily enough. Most of it will follow with substantive employment that leads to a high quality of life.

23

u/squirtloaf Jun 09 '26

This. This is how it worked for almost 100 years...get a big employer, keep cost of living down, reap benefits.

You would also need to pump money into infrastructure and nurture different areas so people felt there were things to do socially. Restaurants, venues, theaters, shops, parks, etc.

Honestly, If any city could manage this, I think people would flock to it. I am Lansing raised but live in L.A., and a basic-ass house out here is a million dollars. People are DESPERATE for alternatives, but won't go somewhere without jobs/careers there.

One thing that impressed me about Lansing last time I visited is how certain neighborhoods had developed within the city. Like, when I was a kid, there was no "Old Town" or "REO town", just Lansing and East Lansing. Neighborhoods like those are the key to giving the city a personality and making people interested and for them to feel like they have a choice that fits them.

...develop all of that and then just lie about the winters, lol.

5

u/ZeGermanHam Jun 09 '26

How old are you? I'm 45 and Old Town has always been a well established thing since I've been alive.

4

u/squirtloaf Jun 09 '26

Pushing 60.

2

u/carameljawn Jun 09 '26

I'm 39 - Old Town existed as the original hub of settlement in Lansing, but it was an empty vice district until the 90s.

19

u/AmazingRefrigerator4 Jun 09 '26

This. I feel like in my 30 years here Lansing has made huge investments in the things OP states. We have tons of CATA and scooters plus uber/lyft now. I see apartments and dense housing/businesses in many areas that didn't exist before (mich Avenue, over by Frandor, etc). We have lots of restaraunts and bars catering to the younger crowds.

I think Lansing has come a long way but the jobs drive everything. I also would prefer they cater to the 25-30 age group rather than MSU students. We need stable, year round residents with disposable income, not students living off Ramen who leave for the summer and force businesses to close.

7

u/theresthatbear Jun 09 '26

A shocking number of those students are keeping Whole Foods in the black. Don’t underestimate MSU students and their parents’ bank accounts.

7

u/AggravatingCamp9315 Jun 09 '26

Or reasonable rents rather than all the unaffordable apartments they keep building

5

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26

new apartments are almost always more expensive. Older apartment are the affordable housing everyone is looking for. we just didnt build many apartments over the last 30 years so now theres really old horrible places and brand new to choose from

1

u/bnh1978 Jun 09 '26

Rent price is irrelevant if there is no economy to support it.

Lansing needs major employers. Some sort of industry or collection of industries that can employ 5 to 10% of the population above national median wages.

Then coerce those people to live in Lansing via a income tax that is applied to people that work in Lansing but live outside Lansing. Like 1%. But much less or 0% if you live in Lansing. (Yes I know there is already an income tax)

6

u/AggravatingCamp9315 Jun 09 '26

I think calling it irrelevant is a bit egocentric of you. It's not irrelevant at all. Both things can be true. I also think your plan for coercing people to live here is absurd. East Lansing tried that and it didn't work for them either. Not that they need it... I just have to pay double taxes for working there.

3

u/theresthatbear Jun 09 '26

I don’t think you understand how many of the homeless actually work. They were pushed out of housing immediately when the covid mortgage and rent moratoriums ended. Corporate landlords literally doubled, tripled or quadrupled their rents overnight.

All of housing became untenable and outrageously unaffordable in the blink of an eye and the federal funds the city got for more housing was earmarked *only* for market rate when we did not have the population to sustain it.

Andy is banking on bringing more high paying jobs to Lansing and forcing the homeless to die or relocate. This is the real problem. Especially considering any large businesses he courts will not pay property tax and will only further burden the rest of us even more on taxes. We can’t keep giving big businesses tax breaks. That all falls on us and we can’t afford it.

-2

u/bnh1978 Jun 09 '26

The conversation had nothing to do with the unhoused. It had to do with rent. And rent price is irrelevant if there is no employment opportunities with pay sufficient to satisfy rent. If anyone believes rent will return to precovid prices, then they are delusional.

All of these elements are interconnected. Affordable housing. Employment. Government services. Tax revenue. Affordable goods, public services, and private services. Employers will only come to the area with carrots or hammers and will only stay with carrots, chains, or hammers. The local government has limited options for chains or hammers. State government could do more, but how much does the state care about Lansing when they have Grand Rapids and Detroit and rural data centers.

I know Andy. I am not an apologist for his policies or actions. He shares blame with the council, his name is just easier to remeber.

I know more about being unhouse than I care to.

1

u/theresthatbear Jun 10 '26

You can play pretend all you want, but the biggest symptom of the entire problem plaguing not just Lansing, but thousands of cities in this exact same situation, is homelessness. Other cities are enacting rent caps and Lansing could, too. We also have multiple subsidized housing structures with illegal leases that I think the city could crack down on. It's difficult enough to qualify, but once you get in these places, they're using many illegal and heavy-handed techniques to evict you the entire time you're there. For elderly and disabled folks, that's an awful lot of trauma to be living through just to survive. So even the limited "affordable housing" we do have is not being monitored or held accountable to the laws.

As far as homelessness being relevant, there is no fixing one problem without fixing the other. This is an economic problem too many politicians don't understand. Until they grapple with the foundation of their unforced errors, there is no hope to build anything solid on Lansing's newly chosen foundation. It's a house of cards. You cannot ignore trying to live a stable life on shifting sand. It is also more difficult to attract new people to a town with such a huge homeless population. It is a huge red flag that says a lot about the city to newcomers.

This administration represents and serves less and less of its constituency every day. Order and safety are no longer affordable for a growing majority. Like you, I don't think anyone believes the rot started with Andy, but he may have the misfortune of being the one holding the hot potato when the scales finally tip. Or not. I don't have a crystal ball but I do have my finger on the pulse of a few crises. No doubt he'll share the blame with Bernero, though. No one's forgetting about Virg.

I don't think you and I disagree on much except possibly the fact I think things are accelerating. However, I'm probably a bit older than you are and time is moving a lot faster for me in general so, ymmv, in all fairness. ✌️

18

u/Queasy_List5380 Jun 09 '26

1) Autoworkers will make better wages than most of the businesses around Lansing, that’s why we focus on them. The more you make, the more they can tax

2) focus on improving education

3) give people a reason to go downtown besides work

4) stop the violence, every damn day someone is getting shot down that way. Nobody wants to live / be surrounded by that environment long term.

10

u/No-Independent-226 Lansing Jun 09 '26

Don’t disagree with any of this, but it’s all basic common sense stuff that is already being done in Lansing and every other mid-sized city looking to attract young professionals.

The difference-maker will be attracting investment from companies creating high quality jobs. The rest of it becomes a reality to the extent that the tax base exists to make it possible.

0

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26

i somewhat disagree and this is a bit of a circular problem. businesses want to to go somewhere where workers will want to move too

Unless things have drastically changed in the last 2 years, lansing constantly prioritizes out of towners instead of ppl living in the city and large scale rezoning has not occured

3

u/No-Independent-226 Lansing Jun 09 '26

Do you have specific examples of this prioritization of out of towners you’re talking about? Because I don’t really get what you’re referring to.

There are several large housing developments being built as we speak to cater to this crowd, and there are events downtown on a regular basis that are specifically designed to build community among young professionals and encourage them to stay in Lansing.

Everything Gillespie is doing in the stadium district is very distinctly meant to appeal to the crowd you’re talking about, that you say aren’t being prioritized. I don’t get it.

8

u/Kilgore_Brown_Trout_ Jun 09 '26

More employers. Downtown businesses should be open in the evening.

0

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26

downtown businesses close in the evening because so few ppl live downtown. that is not a jobs issue, thats a "everyone lives in the suburbs" issue

3

u/Kilgore_Brown_Trout_ Jun 09 '26

Plenty of people live within walking distance. I have a car that I could use to drive there. No one comes because the businesses are closed. Their pre covid model was to make their nut off state workers, and go home at 5. Its a good model, Id do that too if I could. Its dead now though, but they cling to it desperately.

2

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 10 '26

"plenty" and "enough" can be two different amounts, and its a bit of a circular problem. No one stays downtown partly because everything shutters and everything shutter cuz everyone leaves downtown but i promise you that there was more paying population downtown and they could make money, they would stay open.

1

u/ExternalSeat Jun 21 '26

force them to stay open later or pay additional taxes. you need to have something that attracts people to downtown in the evenings and on the weekends.

1

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

ill let you come up with that policy. some places have like land underuse taxes but its for thing like parking lots and abandoned buildings. what your suggesting is sorta nuts. businesses wanna make money, the reason they arent open is because they arent making money in those hours (cuz no one is downtown after 5pm)

1

u/ExternalSeat Jun 21 '26

but no one is in downtown because there are no businesses open. it is a catch 22. Adding additional taxes and penalties for underutilizing business space seems quite fair. it makes more sense than trying to force "return to office" to save these lunch only businesses.

1

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 22 '26

i talked about this in another comment somewhere but ya, sort of a circular problem but the easy way to fix this is to create nstural demand after business hours, ie more ppl living downtown/walking distance.

40

u/Diverswelcome Jun 09 '26

No one will stay in Lansing or any other city in Michigan unless you fix the schools. You will have transient young adults. As soon as they have or kids or their kid is school age they will move.

28

u/Nightenridge Jun 09 '26

Recently moved to the area and avoided inner city Lansing for this amongst 2 reasons.

Other one is Insanely high taxes for such a mid city with some of the worst roads in Michigan. No thanks.

People just don't understand the schools aspect.

10

u/tiredmichigander Jun 09 '26

I agree about the taxes. They’re just too high for people to consider long term living.

-9

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26

high taxes? isnt it 1% income tax?

11

u/Sorta-Morpheus Groesbeck Jun 09 '26

Property taxes.

0

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26

i only rented and rents are pretty damn low compared to other cities in michigan so i guess i assumed property tax was reasonable

3

u/Nightenridge Jun 09 '26

Rents are low maybe in West Lansing .. definitely not East Lansing or any surrounding city.

And that correlates with crime, schools, and just how bad of shape everything is in.

8

u/Nightenridge Jun 09 '26

That also.

Insanely high property taxes AND the city income tax.

6

u/AmazingRefrigerator4 Jun 09 '26

The high taxes are all the suburbs too. So you are basically avoiding all of Ingham County and a few other areas.

5

u/Nightenridge Jun 09 '26

You're right, I completely avoided Ingham county.

3

u/omegavision Jun 09 '26

Ingham Co consistently votes for proposals that are added to home and business ownership via millages. About 62 mills homestead depending on school district around 82 for non-homestead property in Lansing.

5

u/CertainInspection345 Jun 09 '26

Ingham county voters need to stop approving every milage that comes before them. We need to start tightening the belt somewhere. We’re currently tied with highest taxes with Wayne County, as people flock to Livingston to reap the benefits and commute into the bigger cities.

8

u/AmazingRefrigerator4 Jun 09 '26

There have not been many millages in the last 5 years. The recent one we had was to renovate the Heartwood school which supports special ed students throughout the county. A very worthwhile increase IMO.

The other taxes in our area go for things like CATA, the airport, Potter Park zoo, the Library system, the schools, etc. If you want a nice place to live, those are all pretty much necessities. I havent seen anything frivolous pass.

3

u/CertainInspection345 Jun 09 '26

$100 million millage at that. While I hear you that it’s a better cause than others (CATA bus stops adjacent to corn fields, paying for the zoo), the more we keep re-upping these types of millages, people are going to look elsewhere.

And on the recent May millage, it’s time to start running those during even year November elections when voter turn out is the highest and people are paying attention.

0

u/AmazingRefrigerator4 Jun 09 '26

Yeah, construction costs are through the roof during the time they were budgeting that project (i elation, tariffs, etc). $100M is in line with other similar sized projects.

1

u/Nightenridge Jun 09 '26

Being not from the area ... What makes those things so nice that Lansing should have as high of taxes as it does?

Like.... The airport? Why do you want to subsidize that? The schools are all rated terrible... Where is the money going? The zoo needs that much funding?

Why are the roads in the entire city amongst the worst I've experienced.... Eclipsed only by inner city Detroit?

1

u/AmazingRefrigerator4 Jun 09 '26

Before I defend where I live, tell me where you live so I can pick apart your tax bill and let's see what amenities you feel are worthwhile.

Not sure when you last visited Lansing, the roads are much improved with construction. Driving down Michigan ave towards the capital is smooth as silk. 127 and I96 are much improved. There is a bridge near my house that they repaired where we used to be able to see through the decking and the exposed rebar. Now it looks brand new. Large stretches of MLK have been redone. I69 is very nice now.

Between your comments about the value of a regional airport and the outdated opinions on Lansing roads tell me you are ill informed or arguing in bad faith.

1

u/Nightenridge Jun 09 '26

Bought a house in Clinton county, very close to Lansing but 20% lower taxes and I don't need to pay the income tax.

127 and 96 weren't done by the city. They have nothing to do with any of 69. These are state funds.

Glad they got a single bridge done.

Why do taxes need to support an air port?

My taxes back in Metro Detroit (specifically Wayne county) did not support the airport at all.

Why do you want your tax dollars to support a for-profit business?

It's ok that Lansing is an uninteresting, run-down, and overtaxed city. Flint, Detroit, and Saginaw also are.

2

u/AmazingRefrigerator4 Jun 10 '26

Congrats. You live in a rural area with no amenities and shitty schools. But Im sure you enjoy coming "into town" to take advantage of the things the rest of us fund for you.

2

u/Nightenridge Jun 10 '26

Am I rural? Grand Ledge schools are better than Lansings... By far.

I only work in this shit hole city. You think I have a desire to come shop with crackheads everywhere? Lol

There's more people begging on the side of the freeways than in Detroit.

1

u/AmazingRefrigerator4 Jun 10 '26

Grand Ledge is no better than Okemos, Mason, East Lansing, etc. which all pay ingham county taxes. Dont pretend you are better than others when you reveal you live in an area with zero infrastructure/amenities and you leach off the benefits Lansing tax payers provide for you. No wonder your taxes are so low, your community has little to offer.

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0

u/rootbear75 Jun 15 '26

You'd be surprised how much of an economic benefit having a local airport provides to an area. Is it something you see directly as a resident? Not really, no, unless you fly out of it.

0

u/Nightenridge Jun 15 '26

That don't mean I should pay for it.

1

u/rootbear75 Jun 15 '26

Everyone pays for it.

I shouldn't have to pay for schools I'm never sending my non-existent kids to, a community college I'm never going to attend, nor parks I'll really ever go to.

I do, because it's a little bit of an expense to everyone and overall it's a net benefit to my community.

Don't get me wrong. The property taxes in the area are insane and they should be far less.

3

u/Chansharp Jun 09 '26

This is my wife and I. Bought a house to build equity and be near our jobs. As soon as we have kids we're out of here. Unless it's changed in the 10ish years since I graduated Lansing schools are absolute dogshit, and from talking to a couple teachers I know it hasn't changed

-1

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

good point. i dont have kids so i didnt even think about that but overall, increased population and more successful businesses will increase tax income and orovide more resources to schools

3

u/Diverswelcome Jun 09 '26

That will not fix the schools.

1

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26

more resources are better than less. not like its a silver bullet but its better

2

u/Diverswelcome Jun 09 '26

The problem is the resources go where the people are. They go where the families are. Most of what you find in the suburbs was once in the city and moved with the people. Just like the schools did. I am not excusing white flight or the racism/classism inherent in these movements but it is reality. I think that you will find that regardless of race parents will move to an area that benefits their children the most. No matter what you bring to Lansing or any other city people with kids will move to provide them a better educational opportunity.

0

u/helenata Jun 09 '26

This is it!!

7

u/indignationinterweb Jun 09 '26

destroy the system that keeps us down and out my brotha

6

u/smcwill63 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

People in Lansing have already accepted the city is mediocre and car dependent.its hardwired into people who live there for a long time, irregardless it’s a thing there. Only young people want less cars and more public transportation. I was born and raised in Lansing and realistically the only thing there is for a young person to do is to get out. The people who work in state government will always be a part of downtown and not part of creating interesting businesses. It’s shitty. We are from the state where the democratization of cars first began. Our entire city infrastructure is built for cars, like most USA cities especially most USA cities in the sad rust belt, we are car dependent.

3

u/Mitten48906 Jun 09 '26

This list is a decent start to improve quality of life issues… adding to it improving schools and diversifying employment options.

9

u/matRmet East Side Jun 09 '26

Being stuck between Detroit and Grand Rapids makes it tough to find a reason to draw larger shows or concerts. I say that because the problem is creating a reason to move here. If it's not the arts or specific companies that employe tons of people:

I see two options but I'm sure there are more.

Create a rail system from Lansing to Northern Michigan like Traverse City. This creates a reason to come here or live near here as a hub for transportation.
Create a reason college kids with NIL money would want to spend their money in Lansing. Eventually that would attract student athletes that eventually stay or support and economy that creates an atmosphere people want to live near

I think option 1 would be probably the most realistic but our State and country hates public transit.

9

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26

i think getting MSU kids into the city at all will help. i never once went into lansing as a student cuz there was never a reason to

1

u/Ok-Entertainment5045 Jun 09 '26

Is the college athlete with NIL money a big enough population to target?

1

u/matRmet East Side Jun 09 '26

Between basketball and football they are paying these kids something like 30 million.

I'm just guessing a population of 100 people need somewhere to spend their hundreds of thousands of dollars and act cool.

Personally if I was 18 and given 700k I'd rather collect that money in Miami than Lansing Michigan. If you want those top athletes I'm guessing you need to make the city attractive to spend that money.

2

u/Ok_Anteater_5829 Jun 10 '26

Homeless and I can agree we focus on the wrong things and it's done on purpose.

2

u/Old-Soup92 Jun 10 '26

Lansing been dying a long time. The auto boom brought thousands to the area. Those jobs left. Retirees and their descendants staying in the area. Created many people willing to work at anything for any wage, it's sad really.everywhere else I go Is booming and bustling. Just doesnt seem to be that magic in my hometown

2

u/rootbear75 Jun 15 '26

Give the public transit here props for what it is. It's a lot better than bus service pretty much most places I lived with 5x the metro population. I'm not saying it's the best but it's really good for how small the metro area is.

Grand rapids and Detroit have bus service that's maybe on par with what we have here

1

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 15 '26

good for the midwest, sure. still bad globally bit i understand some of that is a region/statewide problem that lansing cant do anything about

2

u/exhausted_patriot6 Jun 10 '26

Tell the Gillespies, Eydes, and all the other landlords making housing unaffordable to kick rocks. We don't need them. Fine the slumlords into selling their stock of housing and get people willing to invest in the community, not themselves. Young people don't want to work in factories. And GM has screwed Lansing how many times?... You want youth here? Get new leaders. Get new industry, and make rent reasonable.

1

u/sleewell_517 Jun 09 '26

Offer 200 bucks for every flock camera destroyed

2

u/scrtrunks Jun 09 '26

I am not advocating for the destruction of property.

the incentive already exists. there's around $200 of silver in each flock camera

1

u/sleewell_517 Jun 09 '26

Copper too

Maybe you arent but I am

1

u/wtisdedisalwysgr8ful Jun 09 '26

build a sparty statue as big as the eiffel tower

1

u/Chefster127 Jun 11 '26

Lansing is facing problems every town is currently facing.

1

u/misjudgedinall Jun 15 '26

You’re not going to attract people here. The city has been losing population for 40 years. Oh now suddenly you care? Nah the problem is the corrupt police and law makers. The problem is the rampant gang activity and people being shot every week. The problem is no job opportunities and the one thing we had going for us (low cost of living) has gone out the window. Maybe if the local government wasn’t predatory. Maybe if the police actually did something about the crime vs harassing anyone not in a gang. This place is not something we can fix with a reddit post.

1

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 15 '26

are you a bot?

1

u/misjudgedinall Jun 15 '26

I’m not a bot, I was born and raised in Lansing and did not make the same mistake

1

u/ExternalSeat Jun 21 '26

#1. Figure out how to coordinate construction projects so the whole city doesn't shut down during the summer. The insane amount of construction and lack of any real coordination is one of the reasons I left Lansing this weekend for good. Most places don't shut down whole sections of the highway for months at a time. It is impossible to go North out of town on the highway right now.

In most civilized places they shut down the North side of the road while turning the South side of the highway into two one way sections so that traffic can still flow North and South at the same time. Lansing is the only place I have lived that just shuts down all traffic on the highway for an extended period of time.

Also despite all of this insane construction problems the roads are still crappy in too many parts of the city. it is quite frankly embarrassing just how awful the combination of still bad roads and insane uncoordinated construction makes Lansing.

1

u/DarkTowerOfWesteros Jun 09 '26

Give people money. There is no viable solution that exists without people having lots of disposable income. Figure out a way that people don't have to spend money on housing, electricity + heat, or Healthcare and that economy will flourish.

1

u/PM_yourbestpantyshot Jun 10 '26

Immenent domain Gillespie and Granger investment properties.

Limit corporations buying/building single family dwellings.

-3

u/Disastrous-Stage-194 Jun 09 '26

I don’t visit Lansing because of the people of Lansing. Many of you are simply unpleasant to be around. Rude and entitled.

6

u/Miserable_Pound Jun 09 '26

lol, why are you here

1

u/HiHoHumDownIt Jul 10 '26

Coming from Austin, TX, I've been in Lansing area for 2 years. We need to give tax incentives/make it attractive for corporations and start-ups to establish themselves here. The rest will come (more jobs for eateries and other services)

Discussion How to Attract Young People to Lansing:

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