Budget Friendly is one of the six artistic bike racks/functional public art pieces installed in downtown East Lansing in 2014 designed to enhance bike parking options and the urban landscape. Bill Mansfield, Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Chair explained why the DDA supported this project by saying, “This is an initiative the DDA undertook to support East Lansing’s arts culture. While we are supportive of the artistic side of this project, it serves a functional goal as well. Many of the bike racks and loops downtown are in disrepair. I think there’s also an opinion that there aren’t enough bike racks, period.”
All of the racks were made possible by the LEAP Public Art for Communities Initiative and the East Lansing Arts Commission and Art Selection Panel. They were dedicated to the city on October 22, 2014.