Lansing Off Topic

[hood]

If they had both the classic acts and the new names, that would be the best to make money, also lengthening it if they do land big acts would help.

[RustTown]

Seven days isn't enough?! I agree, a nice mix of classic and contemporary would be great. As it is now, it's heavily weighted to the classic pop acts.

[hood]

WILX has a pole on their website asking "Do you favor a casino in downtown Lansing?", so far about 67% of people said yes. I have always liked the idea of a downtown Lansing casino and I think it would be immensly successful if someone wanted to go through all the red tape to build one. Or the indians could buy some downtown property and do it with relative ease.

[RustTown]

Well, it would almost have to be a Native American casino, because the state passed that ballot initiative a few years back (the one sponsered by the Native Americans and out-of-state Detroit casino owners that wanted to create a monopoly on gaming in Michigan) to severly limiting the amont of casinos in the state by forcing non-Native Americans to go to the voters every time they want to start a casino.

[hood]

Do they force it to go up for a statewide vote or simply a local vote?

[RustTown]

I'm pretty sure it's a local vote, but you'd be surprised at how stigmatized gambling still is in most parts of the state.

[statedude3]

I could see Soaring Eagle going nuts at the idea of such a casino. Anyone know how much Soaring Eagle business comes from the Lansing/Mid Michigan area? I would guess probably as high as 25-30%.

[hood]

I'd bet more than that, GR is served by plenty of casinos up that way as is all the other cities in the state, Soaring Eagle primarily serves Lansing I think. That would be just to bad if they didn't like it, if it were a tribe who decided to build a Lansing Casino or if voters gave approval to a private one theres nothing they could do.

[LanCity]

How long would it take to go through the approval process of a Casino?

The reason I ask is because it seems to me (and I know nothing about this) that to put a casino in an urban area would be a rather lengthy process. I'm sure the public would be pretty split on this one too, with all the religious groups coming out fiercely against it.

Edited July 13, 2006 by LanCity

[egostatistical]

I'm pretty sure it's a local vote, but you'd be surprised at how stigmatized gambling still is in most parts of the state.

From what I understand, a municipality would have to pass an ordinance allowing casino gaming, and the owners of the casino would have to apply to the state Gaming Control Board for a license, and the owners would have to meet a very strict set of criteria. I read the entire law from the mid-1990s a while back, and I don't recall it actually mentioning the Detroit casinos, even though it was passed specifically for them.

That being said, I believe the law has been enterpreted to mean just Detroit. So a new non-Indian casino in Lansing would very likely have to go to Michigan voters, just to survive legal challenges that would surround the issues of implied law.

Edited July 13, 2006 by egostatistical

[fisher191]

I say, ' go for it', anything worth having is work and time. The amount of momentum that would pump into Lansing. Problem is finding an elected official brave enough to stick their neck out there. Personallly I think Virg is strong enough to do it.

Besides, there are enough casinos out there, that most voters will back them. I'm from Mt. Pleasant, and yes they do bring some unsavory elements, but the good more than outweighs the bad.

[hood]

Yeah, a casino can pump millions into the local economy very quickly. And if it is proven that the State intendened its law to give special treatment to the Detroit casinos, it could probably be struck down by the courts. I think that a casino in Lansing would be hugely successful, and what better location than Downtown.

[fisher191]

Besides, want to solve the city's budget problems, fill space, create jobs........it would accomplish all of those.

[RustTown]

I personally wouldn't mind one, though, I think their ardent supporters sometimes overplays their importance to an economy. And, from an urban planning perspective, casinos are "black-hole" developments in that they have no windows, don't encourage walkability (only internal circulation), and often have no context to the neighborhoods around them. Instead of trying to fit into the downtown entertainment scenes in their perspective cities (when they are built in downtown areas), they seek to BECOME the downtown entertainment scene, sort of like the failed city-within-a-city that was once the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. I'd support a casino, but only if the city worked as hard as they could to make it fit into the downtown scene instead of simply becoming the downtown scene.

All that said, whether you or I like the idea, or not, it ultimately comes down to all of the red-tape the proposal would have to go through, and that would take years. I have a bad feeling it would never see the light of day, and that we'd have wasted all our energies while ignoring other and more meaningful projects, residential, office, retail, entertainment, and the like.

But, who knows?

[hood]

The only way it could happen without an extreme amount of effort is either it be an Indian casino or be built by someone with plenty of money and power who can afford to make the process go quicker and easier.

[hood]

The Temple Club is up for sale:Temple Club

I wonder how long it will take to sell...

[RustTown]

It's been up for sale for quite some time as the last owner (one of the old timers that began to bring Old Town back in the Mid-to-late 90's) moved, and sold off her assessts, here, earlier this year.

[hood]

I heard about her selling it awhile ago, but it was just listed in the past couple days.

[RustTown]

Well, probably because she switched real estate agents, or actually got one for the first time for this property.

[hood]

As far as I'm concerned these Council rule changes can't come soon enough, I'm gonna love hearing the regulars react...

City Council may soon clamp down on 'regulars'

[RustTown]

I was happy to read that. In fact, Councilwoman Dunbar asked my opinion on this some weeks ago why they were still crafting the change around. As I said in the other thread, I can't remember the last time the regulars have ever been so nasty. They are getting completely out of hand. Again, most of them have gone beyond the point of simply being watchdogs for the city, and have turned into people that don't give a damn about Lansing, rather how good they look on the camera, and how loud they can talk without screaming. If they aren't grandstanding, than someone needs to give me a new defintion for the word. lol

[fisher191]

Vanity killed them. Councilmembers have been quietly floating the idea of curtailing the regulars for a while now. I think they all want to make sure that there will not be a backlash. I'm almost certain that Dunbar, Bauer and Jeffries will vote to curtail them. From the City Pulse article, apparently Allen will to.

Simply moving the public comment to, after the council business, won't fully do the trick, but will take some of the wind out of their sails. I would find it quite funny if they do that, and if the regulars start showing up later to get their 3 minutes of fame, if the council finished their business, then just left. Then being council president would be a position that no one would want, as I believe that person would have to stay.

[fisher191]

Has everyone seen the new bridge in Old Town? It's beautiful, the district is starting to have that Grand Haven/ Saugatuck/ downtown Howell feel.

Personally I think streetscapes are one of the most important things that a city can do to remake its image, and the developers will do the rest.

[statedude3]

Has everyone seen the new bridge in Old Town? It's beautiful, the district is starting to have that Grand Haven/ Saugatuck/ downtown Howell feel.

Personally I think streetscapes are one of the most important things that a city can do to remake its image, and the developers will do the rest.

I saw it for the first time today. It looks great. I dont think we could have asked for more.

[RustTown]

I was VERY surprised by how nice it turned out. I also like what they did at the approaches in adding elevation to the sidewalks in front of the stores directly lining the bridge, and the iron fences. I haven't had a chance to walk it, yet, but supposedly there is a sprial staircase down to the river trail. It used to be an old rickety wooden staircase.

I completely agree about the streetscapes, and it's good to see Lansing finally making changes. But, there are still many ugly streetscapes to go.

BTW, it looks like they are linning Michigan all the way to East Lansing, now, with the new historic lighting. It brings so much more light to Michigan Avenue, at night, and a cool vibe. The old, but modern, overhead lights really made the whole avenue feel dark an unwelcoming.