Lansing 2026 Proposed Budget: Money In, Money Out

 

Information comes from the FY26-27 Budget Recommendation on the City of Lansing Accounting page. There, you can read more about the city's stated priorities and vision.

Neighborhood Pharmacies: Lansing's Health Care Walkshed

Community pharmacies play a crucial role in a comprehensive health system. In addition to dispensing medication, they can be sources of medical advice, consultations, harm-reduction services, health screenings, medication management, vaccine schedules, and more. 

Where we place pharmacies can impact which communities have reliable access to medications, screening, advice, etc. Many of Lansing's pharmacies are on busy commercial corridors like MLK and Cedar. We have experienced our share of neighborhood pharmacy closures, which is associated with a decline in adherence. So: how many people can easily access a neighborhood pharmacy and who can walk to their local pharmacy?

On a related note: the Allen Neighborhood Center recently opened a pharmacy on the East Side, which closed a large gap in pharmacy coverage for those nearby.

In this map, red buildings have a 15-minute walk (or less) to their local pharmacy. (I've written about the walkability of Lansing in general before.) You can see the coverage gap closed by the ANC in pink.

How Was This Visualization Created?

If you are curious about the methodology for this viz:

Walkshed was determined by paths, sidewalks and all roads with speed limits of 45 or less.

A lot of information came from OpenStreetMap. Do you see an error? Maybe you want to become a contributor and make it better for the next person.

Where Are The Pączki in Lansing? 2025 Edition

Ah, pączki day is almost here. This year, in 2024, Pączki Day is Tuesday, February 13. Looking for a pączek? (That's the singular form of the pastries we call pązcki.) Lansing has a large number of locations where you can acquire these tasty treats. Major props to Quality Dairy for not only preparing a passable pączek but also owning the landscape! I'm a fan of their raspberry pączki. Yum! Last year they added pineapple upside down pączki. Thoughts?

Our family makes 'em but if you gotta get 'em from the store, where do you go? Here are some suggestions! Smacznego! (Bon appetit!)

Two years ago, I also calculated the catchment area of pączki in Lansing, if you are curious. Still hoping to get a walkable pączki neighborhood in Forest View and St. Joseph Park—maybe someday!

Lansing 2025 Proposed Budget: Money In, Money Out

City planner Brent Toderian said: “The truth about a city’s aspirations isn’t found in its vision. It’s found in its budget.”

City of Lansing Government is asking citizens to learn, ask questions, and be part of the conversation on the city’s financial priorities. What does the budget look like as proposed? Here's an overview of the money (truncated to the thousand dollar) that comes into Lansing and goes out to the various services provided to residents.

Information comes from the FY25 Executive Budget Recommendation on the City of Lansing Accounting page. There, you can read more about the city's stated priorities and vision.

Lansing Hits Decade-Long Low In Permitting Housing

Lansing just hit a decade-long low in permitting housing. Demand is constant and market analysis suggests we need upward of 1,000 units built per year. 

Notably, the City of Lansing does not permit accessory dwelling units, which can ease the housing demands gently without requiring huge changes in nearby infrastructure. Lansing also has a strong preference for either single family units or very large apartment buildings. There are very few so-called "missing middle" units being built. In Lansing, zoning currently prohibits building most kinds of missing middle housing, such as cottage courts (several small units on a single property), rooming and boarding houses, co-ops. It's also unlawful under zoning to have more than 3 non-related people living on the same property in most of Lansing.

Both ADUs and other missing middle housing have been working their way through council since last year. ADUs will likely appear February 12th in front of Development and Planning. Missing middle is stalled in Development and Planning.

To ease rent increases and housing pressure, we should be permitting more, including those missing 2-4 unit buildings.

data: US Census Building Permits Survey, viz: housingdata.app

MLK's One-way to Two-way Conversion: 6 Lanes or 5?

Lansing's Martin Luther King Jr Blvd has been the subject of much discussion recently, with the City's planned one-way to two-way conversion of downtown. In order to convert the downtown streets to two-way streets, MLK will need to be reconfigured. As part of the reconfiguration, a proposal includes changing MLK from a 6- and 7-lane road with a median, to a 4- and 5-lane road with medians along about half of its length.

The city sent a public notice to nearby neighbors with some description of what this could look like. Here is Lansingography's adaptation based on the diagrams and text in the letter (text below):

Option 1: 6 Lane Roadway with Modifications

Maintain the existing roadway, which consists of 6 travel lanes, median crossovers and left and right turn lanes.

Modifications needed to accommodate two-way traffic at Ottawa Street and Allegan Street would be:

1. Construct a southbound left turn lane at Ottawa Street.

2. Increase the size of the curb radii at the corners of northbound Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Ottawa Street and Allegan Street to accommodate right turns. With this configuration, westbound Allegan Street traffic would need to use the crossover at Michigan Avenue to turn left onto southbound Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

This design accommodates current (2024) traffic volumes.

Option 2: 5 Lane Roadway with Medians and Pathway

Reconfigure the roadway to two lanes in each direction with a center turn lane and medians. Modifications needed to accommodate two-way traffic at Ottawa Street and Allegan Street would be:

1. Move the east curb line of the southbound roadway to the east between Kalamazoo and Ionia Streets to accommodate two lanes in each direction with a center turn lane.

2. Modify median between Ionia and Ottawa.

3. Add medians between Michigan Avenue and Ottawa Street and between Chelsea Avenue and south of Kinsley [sic] Court.

4. Add a push button activated flashing beacon for Michigan Avenue pedestrian crossing.

This configuration would enable direct turns at Kalamazoo, Allegan and Ottawa Streets and would result in the addition of 1 1⁄2 acres of green space on the east side of the roadway. A 10-foot wide pathway would also be constructed on the east side of the roadway.

This design would accommodate current (2024) traffic volumes and increased volumes resulting from a return to in person employment in downtown to pre-pandemic levels plus additional growth.

The city is still collecting feedback on these designs at the MLK website (look for "Electronic Comment Form").

2024 Primaries: Trump vs Haley, Biden vs Uncommitted

Last week's primary: of the motivated folks who showed up, who was on team Haley vs team Trump? Who was on team Biden vs team Uncommitted? Here are four maps that show the proportion of votes going to each candidate. A darker color means more votes (of total votes cast in that primary) went to that candidate.

Election results from the Ingham County Clerk's office. Water, streets, and greenspace © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Lansing's Martin Luther King Jr Blvd: How a Street Swallowed a Neighborhood

MLK Blvd: From Neighborhood to Street

It might be hard to imagine now, but Martin Luther King Jr Blvd used to be a regular neighborhood street, lined with single family homes, apartments, and storefronts. Now, downtown, it is a city highway that spans almost a full city block in certain areas with its six to eight lanes and a wide median for grass and trees.

For a long time in Lansing history, Martin Luther King Jr Blvd was named Logan Street. Like many downtown city streets, it had houses, flats, mixed use, and shops along its length. And like many cities in North America, there was a movement to extend highways through their downtowns in the mid-1900s. The State Highway Department (which would become today's Department of Transportation) proposed and successfully enacted widening of Logan, part of M-99, several times since the 1960s. In 1961, the city and the state were weighing three proposals to route car traffic through Lansing. Here's a diagram from the Lansing State Journal, in 1961.

Three plans for a highway through Lansing. Lansing State Journal archives (19 Nov 1961)

The plans were contentious, and some people in the city of Lansing voiced concerns and opposition. There are letters to the editor in the LSJ going years back from people in Pattengill and the West Side neighborhood asking the state not to bulldoze their neighbors' homes. (Lansingography has discussed other neighborhoods being demolished to build highways, I-496 is another)

Eventually, a variation on Plan 3 above went forward. Logan had been widened several times over the years already. In the 1980s, the Logan Corridor was wrapped into the Capitol Loop project, and in 1988, MDOT began interviews with homeowners for appraisal, purchase, and relocation services. An early estimate of 60 homes would need to be demolished (the number was closer to 150 homes and 300 total buildings). In 1989, the LSJ reported that MDOT would start construction in the summer of 1991, which they did.

According to Lansing City Council minutes, 1989 was the same year that Logan was "codesignated" as MLK. In 1994, the signs saying Logan were officially dropped and Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard served as a throughfare through our city.

Bye, Bye, Busy Bee Market

The local homes and businesses were closed, and some were relocated. A doctor's office, the Busy Bee Market, Calhoun's Takeout, Hazel's Salon, and Frank's Grocery store all closed, to be replaced with a street for people to drive through Lansing.

There are letters to the editor in the LSJ from residents of the West side neighborhood who were concerned about being disconnected from the rest of Lansing and from the amenities downtown. In addition to the commercial areas on Logan and Butler being demolished, there was a raised crosswalk over Logan that was being taken down. Pedestrians would now need to cross the street at car level.

Lansing Looks Back to Move Forward

The City of Lansing now owns the strip of land that was Logan/Martin Luther King Jr, the State of Michigan owns the blocks that were demolished. The City has proposed restoring MLK to approximate what it was in the 1950s: a car thoroughfare with sidewalks along its length. Instead of six to eight lanes that curve through the Butler blocks, it would be straight through downtown from Ionia to Kalamazoo. The plan is online on the City's website. Lansing Public Service is holding a community meeting Thursday, February 29, 2024, from 4-6 pm at Letts Community Center, to cover both this and the sewer separation project.

Here is what the 1950s map looks like superimposed on our current road layout, with the Lansing proposal below it (areas in neon green will be returned to the State of Michigan).

The following numbered diagrams are from the community meeting; each intersection will be configured with slipways or pedestrian medians.

When there is no longer a highway running through our downtown, what could we use that space for? Will we make downtown whole?

Lansing's Downtown Parking By Use

I've written about parking in Lansing before (and our ignoble award), but in this map (created by Lanstronaut Cedar500) of the Capitol Complex's parking divided by use and restriction is currently being discussed on Lansing's subreddit.

Even though Lansing has a lot of land reserved for parking downtown, a lot of the parking is not available to the average patron or visitor. In Lansing, parking lots are considered undeveloped and therefore do not generate  taxes for the city. They also have the effect of making amenities further apart from each other, making an area less walkable. A lot that is reserved 24/7 for AF or the State of Michigan sits empty in the evenings and weekends when patrons might want to use it to go to a show at Grewal, visit a restaurant, do a pub quiz and some shopping downtown.

Where Are The Pączki in Lansing, 2024 edition

Ah, pączki day is almost here. This year, in 2024, Pączki Day is Tuesday, February 13. Looking for a pączek? (That's the singular form of the pastries we call pązcki.) Lansing has a large number of locations where you can acquire these tasty treats. Major props to Quality Dairy for not only preparing a passable pączek but also owning the landscape! I'm a fan of their raspberry pączki. Yum! This year they added pineapple upside down pączki. Thoughts?

Our family makes 'em but if you gotta get 'em from the store, where do you go? Here are some suggestions! Smacznego! (Bon appetit!)

Last year, I also calculated the catchment area of pączki in Lansing, if you are curious. Still hoping to get a walkable pączki neighborhood in Forest View and St. Joseph Park—maybe someday!

How Old Are Lanstonauts?

How old is the typical Lanstronaut? The census has the median age or a citizen here at 33.9; when you include the Lansing Metropolitain Area, that number is in the 40s.

When mapped across our neighborhoods however, patters emerge. younger folks take up the most space at MSU, obviously. Gen Z and Millennials can also be seen in the apartments near Forest View, as well as many places downtown. And like many cities, the further from the urban core, the older the demographic.

What patterns do you see?

Data from the ACS (ages) as well as OpenStreetMap contributors (streets, water and greenspace). See an error? Maybe you want to become a contributor and make it better for the next person.

Most Valuable Land in Lansing: Taxable Value by Area

 In Lansing, 33% of our city's budget is made up of property taxes. Where does that money come from?

City infrastructure is expensive: roads, pipes, wires, and lines cost by distance, so suburbs with far apart houses often rely on medium- or high-density corridors or a downtown to offset the cost of building infrastructure to reach them. 

Where are the areas that are the most valuable to our city per sq/m? The Michigan corridor is very apparent when taxable value per acre is mapped. You can also see the new developments South of Frandor as well as Washington Square.

Property tax "holes" are visible as well: things that do not generate property taxes such as state buildings, schools, and surface parking lots.

These data came from the City of Lansing open data portal. Thanks!

Housing: Duplexes Forbidden in Most of Lansing

Many North American cities have a lack of middle-density housing (aka the "missing middle") and Lansing is a perfect example.

Lanstronaut Cedar500 created this visualization of where it is legal (black) and illegal (red) to build /convert a residence to a duplex. 

Lansing's form-based code (which is a zoning code) divides parcels into around 23 types: 10 residential types, 2 commercial types, 3 mixed-use, 3 urban style, 3 industrial, and 2 institutional. Of these 10 residential types, Cedar has mapped those that are zoned permissive of duplexes. It's worth noting that merely being zoned to allow duplexes is not enough to build one legally, as each duplex must have certain other features such as required setbacks, yard sizes, maximum lot coverage, and parking.

In Cedar's words:

"New duplexes are not allowed in 80% of Lansing, and 88% of areas with single family homes. A duplex is a way to add affordable unites to an existing area, both adding homes and lowering housing costs. Historically, multi-family homes such as duplexes were banned with the intent of excluding lower income, often minority families from neighborhoods."

 

Important to note that Lansing does have duplexes operating in areas not zoned for them.

"If we were to change code to allow [duplexes], we could basically put anything we want in there. Zoning code allows for all sorts of rules like 'must be owner occupied', 'an individual can not own more than 6 units in this zone type' etc.

"Also many of Lansing's existing duplexes are actually entirely owner occupied, meaning there is no tenant at all. Both people living in the property own their half, but co-own the entire structure, paying together for repairs and being able to sell their halves at their own leisure. Historically this was a huge way people built their initial equity; making small mortgage payments on a small property instead of permanently kissing the money goodbye via rent, or not being able to afford a starter home at all.

"While clearly the strictest method, the 'duplex must be owner occupied' virtually makes slumlording impossible by limiting someone to a single property, that while they still could let [their property] become dilapidated, they need to live in it too."

 

This map's data comes from Lansing's open data portal. You can read more about Lansing's zoning codes in their form-based code document.

Lansing River Trail Flood Map

One of Lansing's coolest features is the Lansing River Trail, which, true to its name, hugs the various rivers. For this reason it tends to flood during times of rain.

The United States Geological Survey monitors river levels all over the United States and publishes that data. There are three depth monitoring stations in the Lansing area—one in Sycamore Creek to the south, one in the Red Cedar at MSU, and on in the Grand River in Lady Hill.

Using the heights of the water levels and comparing it to the river trail, we can try to predict which areas are at or under the water level. The image below was algorithmically generated from USGS data. You can see an automatically updating image at this site. If you see an error or omission, please reach out to Lansingography and we will try to update that location.

For the up to date version of this map click here.

The map information came from OpenStreetMap. Do you see an error? Maybe you want to become a contributor and make it better for the next person.

Air Quality and Citizen Science

 Yikes! In the last few weeks, heat, wildfires from Canada, and some fires in Northern Michigan have created some very poor air quality across Michigan. Lansing is seeing AQI (Air Quality Indices) in the 200s this week.

Inset above is an illustration of Michigan as a whole (viewable at the EPA's website), but Michigan EGLE and two Lanstronauts also publicly report air quality in the Lansing area, as seen here (and online, live).

Typically, an AQI over 100 can cause health problems for sensitive people. An AQI over 150 can cause problems for the general public with 24 hours of exposure. An AQI over 200 means the risk of health effects are increased for everyone with 24 hours of exposure. 300 is considered an emergency.

Stay safe out there and check on your neighbors and animals!

Lansing's 15-Minute Neighborhoods

Not just sidewalks but also Places to go

Let's talk about 15-minute walkable cities, shall we? Picture this: cities where you have the option to reach all your daily needs within a leisurely 15-minute stroll. These cities are all about making life easier and more convenient for their residents. They're designed with a focus on walkability; to be walkable doesn't only mean being able to walk down a street safely, but includes having a place to go. As Joan Nelson said in the City Pulse, "it is certainly nice to have sidewalks, it’s even better to have sidewalks that take you somewhere."

In these neighborhoods and cities, you can bid farewell to long commutes and traffic nightmares. Want to grab a some pączki from that QD or Strange Matter down the street? No problem! Need to pick up groceries or grab a bite to eat? Just a short walk or roll away. The idea is to create vibrant neighborhoods where you have easy access to essentials like shops, schools, parks, and even entertainment venues—that are not locked behind a several thousand dollar paywall that requires a parking spot (ie, a personal vehicle).

Why am I driving to the corner store?

I grew up in an area where it was commonplace for my parent to give me a few bucks and empower me to walk to the grocery store to pick up eggs and Fresca (don't judge). I also walked to school and was able to take the bus to community college. I realize that where I live now, I wouldn't trust my child to do the same, because we live on a busy road without sidewalks.

Some areas of the world are very impressive: for example, researchers found that 100% of the citizens in Utrecht, the Netherlands can access nine basic needs—such as food, health care, education and sports within 15 minutes. 

I was curious if Lansing had any 15-minute neighborhoods. In Lansing, we have a patchwork of sidewalks and safe pedestrian paths throughout the city. For example, the awesome Lansing River Trail is getting longer and longer but due to the fact that it lacks a network, one bridge shutdown can cut the city in half for people on foot. We also have several highways cutting through the city (a couple highways which were purposely placed to provide access to white commuters while displacing Black and other minority residents) which interrupt the ability to otherwise reach destinations, creating car-dependency.

You can see that the city of Lansing has put a lot of effort into making downtown a walkable destination: with the addition of the new Meijer City Market, you can reach almost everything you'd want living downtown. That connectivity even extends into the Hosmer neighborhood due to sidewalks and safe roads.

Groesbeck and the northern Foster neighborhood also have a variety of amenities within walking range. (Notably, the part of Groesbeck that is in Lansing township is a 15-minute neighborhood, but only because residents can reach amenities inside Lansing proper.)

Meridian township has also done some work making a few parts of Okemos walkable.

West of MLK lacked walkable destinations. Edgemont Park used to have access to all the amenities in this algorithm, but in the last few years there have been several commercial closures, leaving residents dependent on a personal vehicle to access personal needs.

There were some surprises for me: for example there is one little street (Belaire Ave) on the south side that has access to a bunch of amenities. There's also one building in Delta Charter Township that has access to all of the amenities (it was an auto shop).

Some cities around the world are embracing this concept, transforming themselves into urban havens where you can truly live, work, and play without the hassle of long journeys. They understand that adding walkability as an option fosters a sense of belonging and encourages a more sustainable way of living. Lansing is at a turning point. We recently redid Pennsylvania Ave (removing crosswalks) and Downtown Lansing, (removing bike lanes). Ann Arbor, a city of comparable size, has been consistently near the top of walkability lists and recently added a whole slew of protected bike paths for residents. Which way will we go?

How Was This Visualization Created?

If you are curious about the methodology for this viz:

"Groceries" counted markets (like Don Pablos or Apple Market) and supermarkets (like Meijer or Aldi) but not corner stores or dollar stores.

"Parks" included green spaces that are officially parks (Hawk Island, Ferris) but also green space that was open to the public (Fenner, golf courses).

"Schools" included all elementary, secondary and post-sec schools, colleges and universities (such as LCC).

"Clinics" also included hospitals.

Walkshed was determined by paths, sidewalks and all roads with speed limits of 45 or less. 

A lot of information came from OpenStreetMap. Do you see an error? Maybe you want to become a contributor and make it better for the next person.

Unsafe housing in Lansing: Red tags

Red tagged housing has made the news several times recently, from people's homes burning down, to the City of Lansing suing a property owner who moved his tenants from a red-tagged property into a pink tagged building that he owned. Council member Ryan Kost has been working on reforms to how red tagging is handled. Additionally, the head of code enforcement resigned abruptly last week.

The City Council is planning to hold special sessions to deal with this housing crisis. (Update: this meeting is available online)

So, where are the areas of Lansing that have been red tagged? Documents provided by Ryan Kost of City Council indicate that there are over 700 red tags currently being monitored, for 655 buildings. The vast majority (~460) of these red tags are by people who own only one single building. It's also true that the vast majority of rental homes inspected by the city pass safety tests.

Last year, the staff of the City Pulse wondered if the red tags were mostly the results of a few bad actors. There are a few repeat offenders. Around a dozen property owners have multiple properties, many of which are red tagged. Some of these have made the news recently. The City of Lansing's Lansing's code enforcement department has already fined these property owners, in some cases thousands of dollars.

For example, according to publicly available data, each of the top three owners of red tagged properties individually own at least 15 properties each, they have at least 5 red tagged properties, and their fines are also each over $9,000.

The neighborhoods with the highest rates of red tagging per building (around 3% red tagged/building) are Willoughby, Old Town/Stadium District, Holmes/Potter-Walsh, Old Forest, and North Town. 

The neighborhoods that with the lowest rates of red tagging per building (less than half a percent of buildings have red tags) are Groesbeck, Moores River Drive, River Forest, Eastern High School, Lady Hill/Creston, North Colonial Village, Benjamin Davis, Scott Woods/Sycamore Park, Sagamore Hills (love that name), and Lewton-Rich.

Below is a map of locations of red tagged buildings. A red tag might mean "tagged Unsafe" or "NEAT unsafe" (properties that have been tagged unsafe for 90 days or more can be referred to the Neighborhood Enforcement Action Team). The darker red means more red tags in a bin; key is in the upper right. Red tags on this map are only safety related: they do not include enforcements about trash, grass, failure to register, construction without a permit, etc. 

Lansingography would like to thank Ryan Kost for providing this data.

Single- vs Multifamily Housing: Lansing Housing Rules

Did you catch Joan Nelson's piece in the City Pulse about "granny flats"? 

The article describes Lansing's "demographic mismatch", that is, our large amount of land dedicated to detached single family housing. As it turns out, single-family zoning covers 83% of Lansing’s residential districts (and 90% of our residential land!) while only 40% of households consist of single families, i.e., parents and their children under 18 years of age.

A detached house is probably what you'd think of as a typical "suburban" home, that is, something that is freestanding (ie, not a duplex), has a yard on a lot of at least 4,000 sqft, and historically houses one family. However, that doesn't really describe most of Lansing; many of us live here temporarily due to jobs or school or because we want to go somewhere else eventually. Others do not want the responsibility of a home yet, or maybe ever. Some live alone and so might purchase a single family home to share with a roommate or to cover all the bill themselves.

Detached family housing zoning restrictions also have their roots in the racist practices used to prevent people of color from owning in all white neighborhoods. 

The Missing Middle

There are a variety of types of multifamily housing types that can be built in theory; much ink has been spilled in recent years about the "missing middle": this is the medium density housing that exists between a single family house and a large apartment building like Fountain Place or the Motor Wheel Lofts.

This multifamily housing could be a condo, duplex, a few cottages with a shared courtyard, a rowhouse, or another type of multiplex. Medium density zones can also have low density housing (a single family home) as well, but the reverse is not true (you cannot build a rowhouse on land zoned for low density, for example.)

Lansing's Zoning/Form Based Code was decided in 2022 (updated from an older zoning plan which has fewer multifamily housing zones) and is publicly available online. Here's where we stand in terms of housing. You can see there are some red areas designated as "downtown" districts, which are typically encouraged to be mixed use and can consist of housing (but also commercial). The blue areas are designated as single or multifamily of various types. The yellow areas are single family detached only.

Lansing Area Free Stands: February 2023

Neighbors helping neighbors

Little free stands: no questions asked groceries and items donated by our neighbors. Here's a map of some of them by size and capacity. Some of the free stands are large cabinets, and some of them even have refrigeration.

If you need something, grab it. If you have extra, leave it.

Where Are The Pączki in Lansing?

Ah, pączki day (aka Fat Tuesday) has come and gone, but if you're planning for next year, here is some help. Lansing has a large number of locations where you can acquire these tasty treats. Major props to Quality Dairy for not only preparing a passable pączek but also owning the landscape! I'm a fan of their raspberry paczki. Yum!

Our family makes 'em but if you gotta get 'em from the store, where do you go? Here are some suggestions! Smacznego! (Bon appetit!)

Also fun fact: almost everyone in Lansing lives within a mile of a place that'll sell you the pastry. Let's see if we can do better next year!