Firms contracted for Brikyaat Development

Maybe someone here can expound on this a little. East Fulton and the Farmer's Market make for a great neighborhood center. I'd especially like to see Gilmore put some plans together (or sell the lot).

edit: Gilmore's lot is outside of this area. (IMG:http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

Yo, Ted! (IMG:http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/grin.png)

Yeah (IMG:http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

I'd imagine to be chosen there must have been a couple doodles on some paper of what they might do? (IMG:http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/hysterical.gif)

my friend Mario owns Beat Goes On, Music store, out at Fulton and Diamond. I'll ask him if he knows anything.

ARGHHHHHH!!!!!! Tell him to repaint that POS. What an obnoxious color scheme. It really detracts from the business district.

I hate looking at that building every day.

Paint it red, green, and blue, and play this all day:

The song in question

I'll wait for Ted's response first.

-Vice President of the 1000 Block of the FSB

I went to one of the planning sessions for this. The architects and planners submitted options that were a result of a charrette. The plans were way over reaching in their scope (i.e.: lets plow down 3-4 streets of houses so we can re-align some streets and we don't really like the lot sizes etc.). Verbal and mental masturbation. They want to increase retail on Fulton and possibly buy a street or two of houses adjacent to the market to expand it. What I did not get was why would you destroy streets of small, urban houses and replace them with a New Urbanist themed development? Huh? What the heck are they thinking?

The adjacent streets (i.e. Stormzand) would make a great small retail, quaint walking neighborhood and could use existing structures instead of filling landfills with debris. A wrong headed development, if you ask me, and the archs & planners got a ton of money to do this process as well. I would have done it for free and come up with a more viable, realistic plan.

Was this study the result of the Zimmerman Volk report? I'll play devil's advocate and say that if the density is going to be increased in some of the neighborhood centers (as the report mentioned is possible), wouldn't it require demolition of at least some of the current housing stock? I'm not one for demolistion per se, but look at the Lighthouse property on Wealthy and some of those homes. I'd say it's worth it to take out those few for Lighthouse's project.

It is unfortunate that Mr. GRguy has chosen not to participate more fully in the planning process - including the neighborhood charrette. We have been working closely with the neighborhood stakeholders since September and the plan has and will continue to evolve - we believe - for the better. Additionally, we believe that the success of this planning process depends on gleaning as much input as we can from the neighborhood stakeholders - especially the constructively critical voices. Of course, we all know that it is much easier to write posts like this than to participate in a community planning effort.

It is also unfortunate that if Mr. GRguy felt that he could do the project better and cheaper than our team that he did not submit a proposal for the neighborhood's open RFP process. I'm certain that his proposal would have been fairly considered.

As I understand it, the initiative for commissioning this work came from the quick purchase and demolition of the land near the intersection of College and Michigan. The Neighborhood felt that it was unprepared for such an intervention and decided that they wanted their condsidered planning intentions to be public and known for the Brikyaat. We were awarded the job in a public RFP process in August of last year and have been working very hard since then to justify the Neighborhood's choice.

The demolition and density issues are real and difficult and are constantly being weighed by all involved. Ultimately, the Neighborhood is committed to maintaining a diverse and affordable housing stock. We believe that our plan will help them live up to that committment.

We are working towards a completion of the first phase of the planning process in the next few weeks. I will be happy to share the plan with the Planeteers after we present it to the Neighborhood.

Grid Girl, you have the floor.

What is a brikyaat?

I'm told it's Dutch for Brickyard...

The Brikyaat
This Quarter is one of two that bear a
name that honors Midtown’s history
as a brickyard. Between the 1860s
and the 1880s, a number of enterpris-
ing businessmen established a num-
ber of brickyards on the eastern
boundary of the City, in the clay-rich
deposits found in an area roughly bor-
dered by Fulton, Fuller, Crescent and
Diamond. An enclave of Dutch immi-
grants sprang up in the area roughly
bordered by the Fulton Street Ceme-
tery, Fulton Street, Fuller Avenue and
Fountain Street after the Civil War
and its residents worked in the brick-
yards. The neighbors in the Brikyaat
section of Midtown chose to resurrect
the original moniker given their Quar-
ter, that being “The Brikyaat.” The
Brikyaat area was incorporated into
the City’s boundaries in 1891

Impressed, aren't you (IMG:http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

Actually I grabbed it from Midtown's newsletter.

To add to what Ted posted, this process is the result of neighborhood input and certainly not a group of architects and planners "theming" a development. The plan, as it is currently conceived, is the result of a process that began at the neighborhood input session / charrette in October. At this charrette, stakeholders created four different visions for what this area could become. They ranged from very grandiose schemes, in which much of the urban fabric was wiped out, to more realistic schemes that did incremental infill at select locations. There were many elements that were consistent in ALL four schemes. These included expansion of the farmer's market, increased mixed-use along Fulton, more green space and the preservation of single family residential within the Brikyatt neighborhood.

Upon completion of this charrette and these plans, the design team created the first of FOUR concept plans. Each time a plan was created it was presented to stakeholders for comments. Each subsequent plan took into account these comments and refinement of the plan took place. The design team has spent much time meeting with stakeholders in the process and each meeting garnered public input.

Every new iteration of the plan has been refined and has taken into account more of the existing stock of fabric. In fact, the most recent iteration refined the retail along Fulton, to more realistically reflect some buildings which were deemed important to the existing fabric. All this has been done, without doing an inventory of existing stock. The next phase of the project will include a detailed inventory of every building within the study area and the plan WILL be refined again to take these findings into account.

Contrary to what is inferred above, this has not been created in a vaccuum.

Up until now, there has been very little negative feedback. We have had an open public process from the very beginning and anyone who is interested in giving feedback is always welcome to. Although I know it is easier to sit back and ridicule from behind some remote computer station in safe anonymity.

As a card carrying New Urbanist, I find the remarks both somewhat offensive and certainly naive to both the process and the result. Have you even seen the plan? Have you really looked carefully at it? Do you understand it? This has nothing to do with New Urbanism and everything to do with neighborhoods. And neighborhoods, I should remind you, are the building blocks of urbanism.

Finally, the city of Grand Rapids has also provided input into this process and plan, and their feedback has been taken into account. Many of the things that are on the plan are the result of their positive feedback and suggestions.

One last thing, the RFP was a public invite. Mr. GRGuy, you could have submitted a proposal to do the work for free and maybe you really could have created a plan that was more realistic and viable. The design team is confident that they have done a very good job so far and we are also sure that our client and the neighborhood has gotten a product that they can be proud of. I am also quite confident, that our team is one of the best locally at what we are talking about here.

Ted and GRTownPlanner, we'd love to see plans once you have them finalized (IMG:http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)

I am very excited to see the final design for this neighborhood. I know that the creative team behind this project not only believes in urban renewal, they live it. They are all stewards for revitalizing the city and lets not forget, that is the goal of this forum.

Welcome to my neighborhood. I am proud to serve as the VP of the 1000 block of the Fountain Street beotches, otherwise known as the FSB’s.

I live in this neighborhood; therefore my comments are from my everyday life for the past five years. I am excited about these plans & I look forward to hearing from all sides of the Yard. In an effort to address connectivity issues, housing issues, traffic safety issues, etc.. this PROCESS was born. The process the neighborhood is undergoing, (which started with neighborhood input/concern, then to an open RFP, and to where we are now, developing a plan) is a proactive one. Instead of the “sit back and let’s see what happens” attitude, the Midtown neighborhood has done what every neighborhood should do, which is to plan for the future today by involving the stakeholders in the community. This plan will provide a map for the future for this area by strengthening and revitalizing what we have today and by identifying opportunities for tomorrow.

In an area where the majority of homes are owned by absentee landlords, where the width of a street is at most 10 ft, where three highly used public places call home (Houseman Field, Farmer’s Market, and the Fulton Street Cemetery), where a heavy traffic street & park borders one side (Fuller) and a vibrant business district on the other (East Fulton), where Michigan Street’s Health Science development is barreling east, wouldn’t it benefit the neighborhood, the Uptown District, and the community as a whole to have a plan?

I love where I live and I will continue to do my best to:
promote my neighborhood’s multiple amenities,
foster community and local economic development,
engage myself as a stakeholder,
and I will always work to improve my neighborhood, the Uptown District, and the greater community.

-FSB