Business & Economy

Creative energy in Old Town is fueling growth for community

By |

By Emily Elconin
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

From the beginning, the neighborhood of Old Town has been a creative, kooky, and eccentric place that vibrates with a colorful and inviting energy. From the moment you walk down Turner Street, it is evident there is a new chapter being written here in Old Town. There is a story to be shared on every corner. As Old Town continues to grow, so do the people who are helping Old Town come back stronger than ever before. Old Town is in the process of planning exciting summer festivals and a new event called Arts Night Out, where four neighborhoods in Lansing including Old Town, East Lansing,REO Town, and Downtown Lansing will feature all different kinds of art to draw in the younger community and help the arts community thrive all over Lansing, beginning in Old Town.

Community News

Old Town reliant on volunteering to stay afloat

By |

By Zachary Barnes
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

Volunteers have allowed Old Town to become what it is today, and are also the reason it remains such a vibrant community. Whether it be the upcoming Taste and Tour of Old Town event where guests can sample food from various restaurants in the Old Town area while touring Old Town property or Oktoberfest where visitors can dance to their favorite polka song, Old Town is known for its festivals. Festivals continue to be the heart and soul of the community. But with only one and half employees working for the Old Town Commercial Association, people dedicated to the growth of Old Town are a necessity to put on these events. Without volunteers, there are no festivals, without any festivals there is no money for the neighborhood, without any money Old Town is back to a red light district.

Business & Economy

Wake Up Old Town brings businesses together in more ways than one

By |

By Zachary Barnes
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

Networking and collaboration is vital to the growth of Old Town. To accomplish this, the Old Town Commercial Association has been putting on an event called Wake Up Old Town. “Wake Up Old Town first and foremost is a networking event for people to come together, both Old Town and people that can serve Old Town businesses,” said Old Town Commercial Association Executive Director, Austin Ashley. “It’s a great time for us to collaborate and come together as a community.” During the event that takes place the first Friday of every month, it looks like a family reunion.

Arts & Entertainment

Festivals bring in fundraising and new people to Old Town

By |

By Sakiya Duncan
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

Old Town host an assortment of events and festival. These festivals are part of the reason Old Town is staying on the map. The biggest festivals Old Town host are Scrapfest, Oktoberfest and Festival of the Moon and Sun. Austin Ashley, executive director at the Old Town Commercial Association gave insight on exactly what goes into these festivals. “We actually work really closely with  a lot of  the design shops down here to get the initial art work and designs for our festival posters and our interns take that and produce the collateral work from that,” said Ashley.

Business & Economy

Vacant buildings turning into an anomaly for Old Town

By |

Zachary Barnes
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

The vacant commercial buildings in Old Town aren’t set to be empty for much longer. One may notice when walking down the few streets that make up the Old Town neighborhood that there are a noticeable number of vacant buildings for such a small area. For the part of Lansing that prides itself so much on growth, it can be seen as a sad sight. But by no means are vacancies or trying to fill these buildings a problem for Old Town. “We are pretty much at capacity in terms of our commercial spaces at this point,” said Austin Ashley, Executive Director of the Old Town Commercial Association.

Business & Economy

Waiting for a bus at Old Town? Don't expect your wait to get shorter anytime soon

By |

By Zachary Barnes
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

Old Town Lansing is not slated to see public bus service become more frequent in the near future. That’s bad news for Old Town bus riders. Currently, during evening and weekend hours CATA will only pass through the Old Town area roughly every 45 minutes. This does not include the time it takes to get to the downtown Lansing CATA bus station where one must connect to the specific bus that will take him or her to Old Town. One must connect again when leaving Old Town to get on the right bus that will take them home.

Business & Economy

Keeping money in Old Town: the 4-3-50 program

By |

By Sakiya Duncan
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

Keeping money within Old Town, shopping locally, supporting local businesses and the community are the goals of the 4-3-50 program in Old Town. The 4-3-50 program is a frequent shopper program in which shoppers who visit three participating businesses and spend up to $50 over the span of four months can turn in a 4-3-50 card to the Old Town Commercial Association when done and be entered into a drawing for a prize, said Austin Ashley, the executive director for the association. This is a way to promote different businesses. If the shopper spends money in one business, it will most likely promote them to visit other businesses nearby, said Ashley. “There are definitely ways that we can continue to improve the program and promote it and make sure that people know about it,” Ashely said.

Old Town Lansing

Old Town: Now a thriving community despite a rough past

By |

By Sergio Martínez-Beltrán
Old Town Lansing Times reporter

When Aura Ozbourne decided she was going to open a shop in Old Town, she knew it was a risk. Everyone knew. “When I first opened up, (Old Town) was extremely dilapidated and unloved for the most part,” Ozburn said. “Many people were afraid of the neighborhood.”

When Ozbourne opened her store October Moon in 119 E Grand River Ave. 14 years ago, the situation was not the best one, however, it was not the worst.

Old Town Lansing

As temperatures drop, so do sales in Old Town

By |

By Sergio Martínez-Beltrán
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

Winters in Michigan can be rough and unbearable, and not residents but businesses are affected during the season. Old Town Lansing is not the exception. Lambs’ Gate Antiques owner Carol Lamb said she sees a decrease in sales during the colder months. “We are still pretty good in January, towards the end of January it slows down,” Lamb said. “People are tired of shopping.”

The store, located at 1219 Turner St., specializes in all sorts of antiques from across Michigan.

Old Town Lansing

Washington Avenue redevelopment project on its way. Someday.

By |

By Sergio Martínez-Beltrán
Old Town Lansing Times Staff Reporter

A project that would make Old Town Lansing greener and more accessible has been on hold for years. Just the fact there’s a project — albeit a paused one — is news to some. According to the website of the Old Town Commercial Association, “the City of Lansing is planning to redevelop Old Town’s section of Washington Avenue… (the) redevelopment will allow for bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly enhancements.”

The project will create bike lanes to Washington Avenue, add rain gardens and implement historic lighting that would match the ones on Grand River Avenue. The project also seeks to add back-in angled parking. However, Old Town Commercial Association Executive Director Austin Ashley said he is not aware of any updates to the project that was put on hold by the City of Lansing.