Downtown Lansing is the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

Lansing Lansing () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. It is the sixth-most populous city in Michigan with a popul ...

, the capital of the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Located in the west-central part of the city along the banks of the Grand River, downtown Lansing is the primary home of the state's government and three

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s, and also contains sports facilities, museums, entertainment and retail, and a growing residential population.

History

The area that would become downtown was part of the original

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

of Lansing. When the city was chosen as the capital of Michigan in 1847, this area – known as Middle Town – was chosen as the site of the state capitol building, but the city's primary and older business district of

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

– then known as Lower Town – would remain the dominant business district for another decade or so. The building of the first Michigan Avenue Bridge in 1848 and the relocation of the area's post office in 1851 expedited the growth of Middle Town.

Overview

The boundaries of downtown Lansing are formally defined by one organization and one neighborhood association. Downtown Lansing Inc., a

business improvement district A business improvement district (BID) is a defined area within whichever businesses elect to pay an additional fee (or assessment) in order to fund projects within the district's boundaries. A BID is not a tax, as taxes fund the government. BID f ...

, is the most narrow definition of the district, and only includes the office core of the downtown. Its boundaries are Larch Street on the east, St. Joseph Street to the south, Capitol Avenue to the west, and Shiawassee Street to the north. A 16-block portion of this area was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as the Lansing Downtown Historic District on July 31, 2009. The Downtown Lansing Neighborhood Association defines the district as being bounded by the Grand River to the east, I-496 to the south, MLK Boulevard to the west, and Oakland Avenue to the north. This neighborhood association actually overlaps and includes in full other neighborhood association boundaries. It overlaps parts of the Walnut and Old Forest neighborhoods to the north, and includes the neighborhoods of Cherry Hill in the southeast corner of the neighborhood, Renaissance in the southwest corner, and Genesee in the northwest corner.

Government & infrastructure

The offices of the city's government are located in Lansing City Hall at the corner of West Michigan Avenue and Capitol Avenue across the street from the

Michigan State Capitol The Michigan State Capitol is the building that houses the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the portion of the List of U.S. state capitals, state capital of Lansing, Michigan, Lansing which lies in In ...

, which is the seat of the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

. Despite not being the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, downtown Lansing is home to some

Ingham County Ingham County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 284,900. The county seat is Mason. Lansing, the state capital of Michigan, is largely located within the county. Lansing is the onl ...

offices.

Transportation

Downtown is one of two hubs for the Capital Area Transportation Authority. The CATA Transportation Center (CTC) is the central and western hub of the system, and also

intercity bus An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public t ...

companies including

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

and Indian Trails.

Education

There are no existing primary or secondary education facilities located in downtown.

Colleges & universities

Downtown is home to three institutions of

higher learning Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

. The largest is Lansing Community College, which reported an enrollment of 14,739 students for the 2020-21 academic year.

Cooley Law School Cooley Law School (Cooley) is a private law school in Lansing, Michigan, and Riverview, Florida. It was established in 1972. At its peak in 2010, Cooley had over 3,900 students and was the largest US law school by enrollment; as of the spring o ...

, the largest

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

in the nation by enrollment, is located just south of the capitol. The Lansing campus of

Davenport University Davenport University is a private university with campuses throughout Michigan and online. It was founded in 1866 by Conrad Swensburg and currently offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees; diplomas; and post-grad certification prog ...

, a private, non-profit university, is located in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of downtown, but is currently renovating a facility along East Allegan Avenue two blocks east of the capitol to relocate to.

Libraries

The headquarters and main library of the Capital Area District Library are located along Kalamazoo Street and Capitol Avenue.

Library of Michigan The Library of Michigan is the state library of the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the state capital, Lansing. It is housed in the 5-story Michigan Library and Historical Center building. The library's purpose is to collect and preserve M ...

& Historical Center is located along Kalamazoo Street in the west end of downtown. The library also includes the Archives of Michigan and State Law Library. Thomas E. Brennan Law Library, a part of Cooley Law School, sits at the corner of Kalamazoo and Washington Square in the central business district. It is one of the largest law libraries in the country.

References

External links

Downtown Lansing Inc.Lansing Downtown Neighborhood Association
{{Lansing-East Lansing, state=collapsed

Geography of Lansing, Michigan