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Old Town and REO Town: Neighborhood District Investment

Updated 2026-07-12  ·  0 primary sources linked  ·  All sides presented

Old Town and REO Town: Neighborhood District Investment

Old Town (north of downtown along the Grand River) and REO Town (south of downtown, named for the Ransom E. Olds / REO Motor Car Company history) are Lansing's two most visible neighborhood commercial district revitalization stories. Both have drawn new small businesses and residential interest over the past decade, and both periodically come up when Council debates where to direct limited streetscape and infrastructure dollars.

Overview

Old Town (along the Grand River, north of downtown) and REO Town (named for the Ransom E. Olds / REO Motor Car Company history, south of downtown) are Lansing's two clearest neighborhood commercial revitalization stories, and a recurring reference point whenever Council debates where to direct streetscape dollars.

The Two Sides
For concentrating investment
  • Momentum compounds — proven districts attract more private investment per public dollar
For spreading it out
  • Other corridors need the investment more and risk being permanently overlooked

Where do you stand?

Should the city concentrate streetscape/infrastructure investment in Old Town and REO Town, or spread it more evenly across other commercial corridors?

2 Yes — concentrate where revitalization is already working  ·  3 No — other corridors need the investment more and are being ignored  ·  1 I would want to see the actual return-on-investment data before taking a side  · 6 total

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