Marketing A Cultured Community

By: Mary Cavanagh Published: December 08, 2009

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Inside the City Limit

Several people in Lansing only enter the city limits to either attend work or take a field trip to see our state’s capitol. As they make their way past barren freeways, lifeless commercial buildings, polluted factories, and run down shopping outlets, they arrive at their destination.

Then, after a tour or a long day of work, they get in their cars, pass these unpleasant attractions once again and go back home, not thinking twice about spending a day in Lansing’s downtown area. Cars filled with friends, families or travelers just drive through the streets of Lansing, passing lights, passing pedestrians, passing a city that lacks some of the most significant attributes a city should have: connectivity, character, culture and identity. Farmers Markets and Flea Cafés create these features in a city and provide the citizens, tourists, Michigan State University’s students and MSU alumni with a place to have fun and enjoy an afternoon off.

Creating a Reason

The citizens and people of Michigan need to have a reason and an urge to go to Lansing to spend their day and make it a want rather than a requirement. It is not the government’s responsibility to create culture, diversity, excitement, and an identity for downtown Lansing. In this time of economic crisis, the government has barely any money to allot to the city or to the people to improve the corridor. Citizens, tourists, and even college students need to take action and create a downtown they envision for themselves.

Future Streets of Lansing

By incorporating Food Markets and Flea Cafés, it would create an environment that is filled with fantastic smells, diverse people, colors, lively music, culture, and community connectivity. Mexico and China is home to the largest food flea cafés and food markets. This allows Mexico and China to create cities and villages that has identity and culture; genuine homemade cooking, authentic fruits and vegetables, small community of producers, fresh foods, and a motive for tourists travel to these communities. In comparison, Lansing has facilitated a corridor that has none of these appealing attractions. Walking through these markets, you get a feeling of happiness and can identify its uniqueness that it brings to the city. To draw citizens and travelers to the city, the city must make drastic changes to its appearance. Creating a place of ethnicity, customs, delicious food and an enchanting atmosphere will allow the city to become more of a desired destination.