The East Lansing Neighborhood Partnerships Initiative began in the fall of 2012 as a way of providing East Lansing residents the opportunity to help enhance their neighborhood's character and quality of life through active community engagement. The goals are to support citizenship, foster two-way communication and build community by taking a new approach to neighborhood support and outreach. The philosophy is for the City of East Lansing to "partner with people" by providing tools for an engaged and active citizenry working together to enrich their community.
Many of East Lansing's 25 active neighborhoods have reinforced their community's character through a range of projects, including installation of new signs and planters, development of neighborhood pocket parks, creation of special community events and more. Many of these associations have also developed strong communication channels among neighbors and their local city government. The City values all of the hard work that numerous citizens have already put forth and wants to support and encourage additional neighborhood participation.
The goal of the Neighborhood Partnerships Initiative is to take on a neighborhood-focused philosophy, which puts the neighborhoods at the forefront. As a part of the initiative, the City will launch a new neighborhood association website and offer City Staff Liaisons to neighborhoods.
City-Sponsored, Community-Maintained Website In fall of 2012, the City will launch a new neighborhood association website. Neighborhood Associations will have the opportunity to maintain their own webpage on the City-hosted website at no cost to the neighborhood. The webpage will allow neighborhood associations to maintain information specific to their neighborhood, as well as gain easy access to streaming City news, council meetings and more.
City Staff Liaisons As part of a pilot program, the City will also provide City staff liaisons, who will work one-on-one with neighborhood associations to create important two-way dialogue. The City staff liaisons will provide support to neighborhoods by creating a personal link to City Hall and provide one point of contact for questions, concerns and ideas for their neighborhoods.