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Residents from East Lansing and surrounding communities are invited to an upcoming open house to provide feedback for a potential housing/workspace project that would target artists and other creatives.

Because college towns tend to have higher rents, it can be difficult to attract talent that needs more affordable rents. To remedy that, the City of East Lansing has hired consultants from a national non-profit firm called Artspace to assess whether the community is ready to provide attainable housing and workspaces for creatives. Artspace has provided its expertise to communities across the nation, including Dearborn and Mount Clemens.

The consultants will visit East Lansing Sept. 14-16 to look at the space needs of artists and arts organizations plus the challenges and opportunities. The public can learn more and provide feedback at an open house taking place from 5-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15 at Patriarche Park, 960 Alton Road. The consultants want to hear community members' thoughts regarding the type of attainable housing, workspaces and facilities needed to build a thriving arts scene.

This meeting is open to the public. Those who are unable to attend can feel free to email their thoughts to artspace@cityofeastlansing.com.