LANSING, Mich. — For the third time in his current term, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor delivered his State of the City address.
He spoke Wednesday night at The Abigail, the former school for the blind.
After thanking his family and many members of the community, Mayor Schor began his speech focusing on economic development in the City of Lansing.
Last year, Schor said his administration announced significant investments in the city including an increase of more than $200 million in construction.
"That is almost three times the investment of the year before, and shows that our economy is strong and people are putting their time and money into Lansing," Schor said. "Our economic development and planning staff work tirelessly to ensure projects are moving forward, and we are moving faster than the speed of business."
Mayor Schor said his administration has a lot planned for the south side of Lansing including reactivating the former Electronic Data Systems site, which stood vacant for a decade.
"As part of the project, we required the developer to make public improvements to the corner of Washington Avenue and Holmes Road. Not only are we bringing development to the corridor, but we are also making it a more attractive place by requiring public improvement to this very visible corner," Schor said.
Schor said his administration also wants to continue to help small businesses and focus on corridor redevelopment. He said two Corridor Improvement Authorities, located on South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and North Grand River Avenue, have been created. He said the city now has four redevelopment authorities created to help focus on revitalization in the city.
Next, Mayor Schor focused on art in the City of Lansing.
"One of our strengths is the talent of our artists and the creativity of our community," the mayor said.
He said this year the arts grant program is supporting organizations including the Lansing Art Gallery, Impression 5 and the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. In addition to that, each year there is an arts impact grant of $75,000. The mayor announced this year's winner, Alexandra Leonard, who will lead the production of a ceramic tile mural on the Shiawassee Street bridge.
Infrastructure was the next topic of Mayor Schor's address.
Mayor Schor said funding for roads "continues to be a challenge" as much of the funding comes from the state. Schor said nearly 15 miles of road were improved last year including East and West Mount Hope Avenue, Miller Road, Capitol Avenue and more.
Mayor Schor said pothole crews responded to 2,542 pothole complaints, which was a 24% increase from 2018.
'We strive to fill potholes within 24 hours of the report and frequently meet the goal," Schor said.
The mayor said the best way to report a pothole is through the Lansing Connect app or through Lansing Connect.
Mayor Schor said downtown streets will also look different later this summer.
"Last year we received funding from the State to convert six of our one-way downtown streets to two-way – Capitol Avenue, Grand Avenue, Ottawa Street, Allegan Street, Pine Street and Walnut Street. Two-way streets have been shown to slow traffic, make streets more pedestrian-friendly, safer for our residents and visitors, and more beneficial to local businesses by giving them more visibility," Schor said.
The mayor focused largely on the importance of making streets walkable for the Lansing community.
The condition of Lansing's neighborhoods was also a topic of discussion in Mayor Schor's address. He talked about the importance of creating events to allow neighborhoods to engage with the City such as the Love your Block work, which has been funded through the Cities of Service program, and has been recognized and honored internationally, the mayor said.
Mayor Schor said the city has focused on two neighborhoods specifically, the Baker Neighborhood and Southwest Lansing at Pleasant Grove and Holmes.
Schor said in the Baker neighborhood, his administration has worked with several organizations to help revitalize the area including the Potter Park Zoo, the Ingham County LAnd Bank, CATA, and Sycamore Creek Church. Schor said Habitat for Humanity has also given a three-year commitment to work on homes in the neighborhood.
Mayor Schor said he also wants to focus on mental health in his address, announcing the creation of a Mental Health task force. He said the task force will focus on creating solutions including a mental health organization inventory and a communication matrix, in addition to other necessary solutions.
The mayor said he will be appointing the task force soon.
Mayor Schor also announced the creation of BOLD Lansing, which stands for believe, optimize, learn, dream.
The mayor said Bold Lansing is a partnership made up of the city, the Lansing School District, MSUFCU, the Capital Area College Access Network, Lansing Promise and more.
"It will serve as a centralized resource where students and parents can get information about economic mobility services – from Lansing SAVE, to help with applying for financial aid or one-on-one financial counseling.
For more information on BOLD Lansing, click here.
Other highlights from Schor's speech included sustainability and financial stability.
In terms of sustainability, Mayor Schor said the city will be creating a Sustainability Manager and Coordinator for the spring, who will maintain, review and help to implement sustainability plans.
In closing his speech, Mayor Schor encouraged everyone to fill out the 2020 Census.
"The census impacts how much federal funding we receive for many of the services we provide. Approximately $1,800 per person per year will be allocated over the next 10 years," Schor said.
For more information on his initiative Be Counted Lansing, click here.
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