SUSTAINABLE MIXED USE
This plan advocates for the transformation of Eastwood to East Towne Village: from a standalone destination shopping area into the nucleus of a real village center that includes housing, employment, and civic uses. The concept of economic sustainability through carefully integrated, high-quality, mixed-use development, forms the basis for the key objectives of this plan.

ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
The success of Eastwood Towne Center created a robust market for additional retail in the DDA district. With its promise of an even wider assortment of stores, restaurants, and additional tax base, this success is naturally perceived as an exciting outcome. However, a greater variety of land uses and activities will be needed to transform Eastwood into a true urban neighborhood and prevent the area from becoming a fleeting “one trick pony”. Much of the remaining developable land should be reserved for new employment, housing, and public uses to balance and complement the lifestyle center. A key objective of this plan is to diversify the land uses within the district to avoid over-reliance on one economic sector. A further objective is to make the area fiscally sustainable, and able to support a richer public domain. The more compact and ordered arrangement of land uses and infrastructure shown in this plan will pay long-term dividends for the Township and taxing bodies.

MESHING NEW WITH NEWER
Eastwood Towne Center blends conventional site planning with contemporary design. A key design objective of this plan is to create strong connections between this inward-oriented development and the rest of the district. The plan seeks to fuse the lifestyle center to the rest of the community by placing complementary activities and visual cues at key portals to the center and employing complementary urban design and architecture throughout the district. A related goal is to expand the number of street and pedestrian connections throughout the district to create the opportunity for activities to spillover between areas and to encourage walking, and to minimize auto use.

MAKING THE MOST EFFICIENT USE OF LIMITED RESOURCES
Resources in this context relate primarily to land and infrastructure although the definition could easily be expanded to include environmental assets as well. A greater mix of land uses helps even out the temporal aspects of retail centers (such as traffic peaks), and allows for more optimal and consistent use of expensive public infrastructure. By favoring development of housing that is geared toward singles, couples without children, and retirees, public service needs and, in some cases, traffic impacts can be minimized.

A STRONGER IDENTITY & SENSE OF PLACE
The design of the lifestyle center has established a new standard for commercial development in the Lansing area. However, without a greater balance of uses and activities, the district will continue to lack many of the essential ingredients of neighborhood, community, and place. This plan seeks to add the missing ingredients and organize them in such a way to create a richer, more interesting, and more complete experience for future visitors and residents.

CREATE A PUBLIC DOMAIN
An integral component of a rich place is the provision of unique public spaces. The DDA district must have places where people can congregate without having to make a purchase, or walk across the street without fear of being mowed down by passing traffic. Streets, sidewalks, trails, parks, and civic institutions must all be a part of the land use mix, and be woven into the tableau.