Michigan City Zoning Maps

[RustTown]

Hey,

This is a place to post the zoning maps of your cities if your city has them online. I pieced together Lansing's map. These can tell you many things such as where a city may have started, where it's more densely population and where it's more sprawled...

Lansing, MI

Some notes or points:

- There is no official designation for parkland so it shows up, all, as A Residential - Single, the least dense of the residential designation.

- The very large blocks/areas on the southeast side (south of 496, east of Pennslvania Avenue) are mostly golf courses, huge natural areas, cemetaries, a zoo, and parkland with minimal housing. It can actually feel kind of rural despite being right in the middle of the metro.

[dtown]

hmm, it appears that Lansing has a good street grid. thanks for posting.

[RustTown]

It's nowhere near as densley packed and grided as Flint, though. I'd be interested to see that zoning map.

[GRDadof3]

Here's Grand Rapids Future Land Use Master Plan that was put together a couple of years ago:

[RustTown]

Great map, GRdad!

I've always wondered, Division divides the city east to west, right? Whata is the dividing street between north and south? Michigan?

[GaryP]

Great map, GRdad!

I've always wondered, Division divides the city east to west, right? Whata is the dividing street between north and south? Michigan?

Fulton

[MJLO]

Division doesn't just divide the city, It divides Kent County East/West

Fulton Divides North/South. IF you are on 13 mile, you are 13 miles North of Fulton. If you are on 28th st, you are 28 blocks south of it.

[GRDadof3]

Division doesn't just divide the city, It divides Kent County East/West

Fulton Divides North/South. IF you are on 13 mile, you are 13 miles North of Fulton. If you are on 28th st, you are 28 blocks south of it.

It's also equal to a furlong. And every "8th" furlong is a mile (28th, 36th, 44th, etc.).

[RustTown]

Speaking of street layouts, Lansing has some interesting facts about the central city (old city) layout.

1. Most all of the north-to-south streets in greater downtown are named after trees (i.e. Larch, Cedar, Sycamore, Pine, Chestnut, Walnut, Beech, and Cherry.) The exceptions are Grand (named because it runs directly parallel to the Grand River, Washington Square, Seymour (a Lansing pioneer, founder), Townsend, and River.

2. The east-west streets are named after random Michigan counties (i.e. Lapeer, Genesee, Shiawaseee, Ionia, Ottawa, Allegan, Washtenaw, Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Oakland, Lenawee, Hillsdale, and St. Joseph). Michigan Avenue is the only exception.

3. Another intersting fact is that Lansing has only one "numbered" street, and that is 8th Street right in between Larch and Pennsylvania in greater downtown. I've never understood why it was there.

4. Grand River Avenue through the city takes many different twists and turns, and a branch of it actually terminates. You have East Grand River Avenue, West Grand River Avenue, and North Grand River Avenue all at once. lol

5. The city is divided between north and south by Michigan Avenue making for a very large "southside" and a relatively small "northside." The city is divided between east and west by Washington Avenue through the entire city, even where it ceases to exist. Even when it vears off to go southwest the invisible line still divides the city right down the middle making it so that you can "magically" drive down a street not dissected by any streets and go from west-to-east and east-to-west without realizing it.

I'd like to know some other interesting facts about city layouts in major Michigan cities if there are any other cities with reasons for their madness.

[grrwymg]

I'd like to know some other interesting facts about city layouts in major Michigan cities if there are any other cities with reasons for their madness.

I think civitas had a good explanation of why Grand Rapids had the layout it did/does:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...st&p=433262

Of course, it was a feud!

[Ka3kab]

3. Another intersting fact is that Lansing has only one "numbered" street, and that is 8th Street right in between Larch and Pennsylvania in greater downtown. I've never understood why it was there.

I have always hated numbered streets. It seems like city leaders were just lazy and didn't feel like coming up with names. I mean, for god's sake, name them after trees or people. With the exeption of places like NYC, I think numbered streets are stupid. Traverse City, for example, has streets numbered 2nd through 19th. Come on, give me an afternoon and I'll come up with 18 names.

[RustTown]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the gridded number streets either. Though, very helpful, they really are unoriginal.

[Jasoncw]

Numbered streets are more practical, but numbers are just as bad as some of the other names. "Washington" (and other presidents) "State" "Division" "Pearl" "Fulton" Tree-related, and some other names seem to be in every city in the US.

Does anyone know where Pearl Street comes from? The first place I noticed one was in Grand Rapids, and since then I've found more and more of them. Was it just something trendy from that time period?

What about State? That presumably has something to do with the government, but I don't reall know.

Wall and Fort Streets are from when cities were originaly forts which I think is interesting.