Neighborhoods
Neighborhood Revitalization has been a key component of my Administration, starting with the creation of the Department of Neighborhoods and Citizen Engagement. I also fought for and secured a Neighborhood Coordinator in my second budget. While there is work to be done, I’m proud of my administration’s progress; we greatly increased funding for lead-safe housing in our neighborhoods, we created a pilot program in Lansing to fix all the roads and sidewalks, and we increased funding for Neighborhood Advisory Board grants, helping neighborhood events, signs, bike racks, trash collection, and more.
We demonstrated versatility by adjusting these programs to meet citizens’ needs during COVID-19. We ensured that road dollars were going exclusively towards fixing roads, and we made significant fixes on playground equipment. We assisted with economic mobility and equity of resources in the two existing neighborhoods of focus while expanding the program to include another neighborhood. And we provided critical infrastructure to help residents with financial needs as well as our students in Lansing schools to save for the future. These are just a sample of the many efforts to invest in our neighborhoods.
Neighborhoods Department
As soon as I took office, I created the Department of Neighborhoods and Citizen Engagement (DNCE). This has been tremendously successful, strengthening and building neighborhoods, and creating citizen engagement. Many of the sections below detail the Departments’ work on behalf of the community.
Walking Wednesdays
The Walking Wednesdays program was created to highlight our neighborhoods throughout the city, and bring city leadership, partners, and neighbors together to discuss assets and opportunities in Lansing neighborhoods. In the first two years, we highlighted all areas of the City of Lansing, with great turnout. In the third year, due to COVID, these Walking Wednesdays were converted to smaller gatherings which were recorded by the Lansing Public Media Center and put online for all to see.
Citizens Academy
Many citizens want to know more about their government and how it works. We created the Citizen Academy to provide interested citizens a deep dive into city services - from going through parks to visiting the wastewater facility. The 11-week course helps residents understand how the city operates, the associated costs, and who the decision makers behind these operations are, equipping residents to understand and influence city decision making. After three years, many have completed this program and have become ambassadors of the many services provided by the City of Lansing
Neighborhood Summits, Roundtables, and News
Bringing neighbors together and presenting them with our plentiful city resources and non-profits is a key part of the new Neighborhoods Department. We’ve held quarterly neighborhood resource summits in each ward of the city since I first took office. These summits are well attended and provide information to the citizens of Lansing. We have also created a neighborhood newsletter that provides important information to residents and interested parties each week.
Public Safety
The police department, fire department, EMS, and emergency management are necessary for the safety and security of our neighborhoods. Community policing officers serve 12 areas of the city, and police forge relationships with neighbors and corridor businesses to promote community unity and prevent problems from happening. We added social workers to the police department to help those with substance abuse, homelessness, and mental health problems. I launched Operation Slowdown, providing a process so neighbors can request patrols, speed trailers, and traffic calming measures on their local streets (see Infrastructure and City Services for more information).
Crisis management has also been an ongoing need and I tasked the Lansing Emergency Operations Center to update and implement procedures. During the flood of 2018 I issued an emergency order before the floods arrived, allowing for proactive measures to be taken in many of the low spots of Lansing. I quickly and decisively ordered a barrier to be erected under the 127 bridge on the eastside, redirecting the waters back to the Red Cedar. This move saved hundreds of houses in the Urbandale neighborhood from being flooded. I also utilized the Emergency Operations Center to provide necessary resources for Lansing citizens once the COVID-19 epidemic became a reality in Michigan, implementing precautionary measures, safe outdoor activities, COVID testing, and vaccinations.
SERVE Lansing
After the big flood in 2018, many people showed an eagerness to help others in Lansing. In response, I created a new program called SERVE Lansing to offer a hub for volunteers, connecting them to those in need. Through SERVE Lansing, we can all make our neighborhoods safer, healthier, resilient, and more connected. SERVE Lansing connects citizens, organizations, partners, and the City of Lansing to increase citizen engagement, clean and beautify the community, and build community response and preparedness. This has been very successful, and will continue to be used and expanded in the future.
Housing
We’re proud to note that Lansing has been designated the most affordable city in the nation in the last two years. Lansing’s provision of housing for all incomes will remain a priority in the years to come. In my three years as Mayor, I’ve been able to create new housing throughout the city. We finalized new downtown units at the old Oliver Towers, developed the blighted old YMCA site, and attached new housing units to the new Meijer. This also creates more nighttime and weekend traffic for businesses. Our new housing in southeast Lansing, on the Eastside, and in Old Town/Northtown also will create vibrancy through affordable market rate housing.
We’ve offered rental and mortgage assistance to help keep struggling folks in their homes. And we’ve invested significant resources into sheltering the homeless. We utilize street outreach programs (PATH), emergency shelters, transitional housing, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and housing vouchers towards this end.
We also have significant subsidized housing through the Lansing Housing Commission. I am especially proud that the LHC has brought their apartment buildings up to code since I took office, and that they are converting these properties into even better places to live through the RAD process. Those in City housing deserve respect and to live in appropriate housing.
We also have significant affordable housing properties and workforce housing in Lansing. We work with entities like the Capital Area Housing Partnership to leverage federal tax credits to ensure affordable housing in Lansing such that those starting out their careers are drawn to the city and current residents of every income level can thrive.
Finally, we have market rate housing throughout the city, which is very affordable according to state and national standards. In my second term, we will focus our work on subsidized, affordable, workforce, and market rate housing to ensure that we have options for all to live and thrive in our city.
We also must ensure we have safe rentals. While many landlords follow the rules and provide safe rentals, properties that are not up to code remain a problem in our community. Poorly maintained rental housing is a threat to renters, and brings down property values for the rest of our neighbors. Lansing Code Enforcement will continue to work with these landlords, utilizing all tools available, to get these properties up to code.
Emergencies and Crisis
We must be vigilant when there are health threats to our residents. We have faced floods, ice storms, and even a pandemic. Our emergency management and response is second to none. During the flood, we took immediate and fast action to alert neighbors in low areas of the city, recommending evacuation and providing shelter at our community centers. We also constructed a barrier under US-127 which directed the flood water away from the houses in Urbandale. This fast action saved hundreds of houses and millions of dollars in damages, without redirecting water to other neighborhoods.
When COVID-19 hit, we took immediate action and continued our work throughout the year to help residents and keep them safe. We created the OneLansing program to raise money for rental and mortgage assistance as well as food assistance through the Food Bank and United Way. We helped small and microbusinesses with the Lansing Rescue Grants, and later with the Lansing CARES program. We helped nonprofits by partnering with the Community Foundation. We also created a Community Resource position which will continue to assist in raising money from national sources to assist those in Lansing. We put additional dollars into sheltering the unsheltered, and converted the closed Gier Community Center to assist the homeless. We worked with the Lansing Schools to open a learning lab so students could complete online school and parents could go back to work. We also worked with the Health Department, FEMA, Congresswoman Slotkin, and the Lansing Schools to get mass vaccination sites in the City of Lansing, and to disseminate information regarding how to get vaccinated. We will continue new and unique efforts to get Lansing through this COVID-19 pandemic!
Parks
An important part of our neighborhoods are our parks. We have 111 parks in Lansing, and every resident of Lansing has a park within a 10 minute walk. I am proud to have created two new parks – Rotary Park in the Stadium District (where there is a beach!) and Beacon Park in southwest Lansing. I am also excited for the success of Beacon Field Southwest where pickup soccer is played throughout the year, and for the new playground equipment and activities at Reutter Park downtown. I have also prioritized usage of the Parks millage to provide camps for children and maintenance on playground equipment. I am also excited for the destination parks that we have – disc golf, volleyball, horseshoes, and others – which draw folks from across the region. We have also done significant work on our river trail, ensuring that people have outdoor walking, jogging, running, and biking spaces. And we created a natural ice rink at Washington Park as well as an artificial ice rink on City Hall plaza (along with chess, ping pong, and other fun activities). Parks and recreation programs are an important amenity for our citizens, especially during COVID. Lansing has stepped up and will continue to be on the cutting edge of recreation and activities for our residents and visitors.
Lead Paint
Lead paint and lead dust in homes has been a problem for homes in the city of Lansing for many years. When taking office, I committed to aggressively pursuing grant dollars for the Lead Safe Lansing program, and I am proud that we were able to secure a $4 million grant that will allow the City to ensure that older homes are checked for lead and made lead free.
Neighborhood Assistance and Vibrancy
Neighborhoods with strong social infrastructure, where neighbors know and look out for one another, are critical to our success as a city. Our neighborhood groups serve critical functions and do terrific work internally on behalf of their residents, and the City will provide necessary resources for these groups to continue this work. The Neighborhood Advisory Board grants will be issued to neighborhood and civic organizations for new and continued work throughout each neighborhood. We will also assist and coordinate our neighborhood watch organizations. We need our city residents to know what crime is happening by working closely with the police, watching over each other, and reporting crime. Our police officers, especially our Community Policing Officers, do a great job working with our neighborhood organizations and watches. In my first term, we expanded this program by adding CPO’s in Old Town/Northtown and in Southeast Lansing, and will continue to focus on community policing moving forward.
The Neighborhoods Department has also utilized many beautification and neighborhood assistance programs to build neighborhoods, and we will continue this work for the next four years. Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, the Neighborhoods in Bloom flower planting and beautification program was successfully continued. In partnership with the Ingham County Land Bank, the program provided 213 flower kits to 30 Civic Organizations for neighborhood beautification. Our Neighborhood Cleanup program has kept our neighborhoods beautiful. We’ve provided bulk trash cleanup to neighborhoods, who work together to recruit volunteers and promote events with city staff. These programs sustain property values and keep our city looking vibrant.
Schools
Schools are a vital component of our communities, serving as critical civic anchors in our neighborhoods. I am proud of my relationship with the Lansing School District Superintendent and School Board, both as a father of two children in the district and as Mayor. We are working closely to help students save money and support Lansing families to plan for postsecondary education through the Lansing SAVE program, and are teaching them financial literacy through the Lansing BOLD program. We’re working with the Lansing School District to provide counseling, incentives, and coaching referrals to increase financial well-being among graduating high school seniors and recent graduates. We have also created a school liaison with the school district to ensure we have fast and necessary communication. This will continue as the City and the Lansing School District must work together for our youngest citizens to succeed and achieve their goals in life. This work also attracts expectant and young families to remain in Lansing Public Schools, helping our district thrive.
Business Corridors in Neighborhoods
As Mayor, I have made corridor business outside neighborhoods a high priority. We have re-invigorated the Michigan Avenue Corridor Improvement Authority as well as the Saginaw-Oakland Corridor Improvement Authority. We have also created new Corridor Improvement Authorities in southwest Lansing down MLK, and in northwest Lansing along Grand River. Revitalizing our commercial areas creates a new vitality and walkability for all our neighborhoods and provides places to shop near home.
Seniors
While we need to attract and retain talent, we also need to ensure comfortable retirement for our seniors. Lansing is a community that people should be able to live in through every stage of life. We have many housing options for our seniors and have taken efforts to make sure our city is walkable in those areas. Many are living in commercial corridors and our business districts to easily access the amenities they need. I am proud of our Lansing for a Lifetime plan, which will continue to pursue ways to invest in our seniors. We also created recreation options like the Fitlot outdoor recreation park in the Stadium district in conjunction with AARP, where seniors and others can exercise and spend time outdoors. I have proposed more such resources throughout the city for our seniors and residents to enjoy, and to make it easier for seniors to have access to the necessary needs. This plan will be implemented over the next few months and years and continue to be a priority for our elders.
Census and Resources for Lansing
Ensuring that as many residents as possible completed the 2020 Census was an important focus for the City of Lansing. Higher Census rates ensure more dollars from the federal government. The Department of Neighborhoods convened the City of Lansing 2020 Census Complete Count Committee in July 2019. This committee engaged community partners to coordinate efforts and ensure an accurate count in the census. The committee successfully secured a $50,000 grant from the State of Michigan to support census outreach activities. We were successful in surpassing the 2010 self response rate by making many thousands of calls to increase the response rate.