AlexPKeaton

Yep, Reagan Marketing is moving from 820 Monroe. The building is losing tenants quickly as Delta Management has pretty well run the place into the ground. My most recent employer is also looking to leave 820 as well.

Hah, I work in that area and saw them filming that a month or two ago as I left my office. I recognized Bell, but I didn't know exactly what they were shooting. Now I know.

What, the vehicles and RV with expensive custom paint jobs were free? Their $500,000 building renovation? It really does just sound like they were blowing too much money trying to be a cool place to work. Nothing wrong with that so long as you can afford it. I have no idea how busy or not they were, or what they charged clients. As I said above, they've done some nice work, and despite their owner's lack of technical experience they seemed pretty competent. But even with a good product you still have to run the business side of things.

I don't think that's a fair assessment at all. It looks like their website uses a fixed width, so if your window is small of course there will be a scroll bar. As a web developer myself I can tell you their work is actually pretty good. Of course my company is better.

This is a particularly interesting case though. It's mind-boggling how a company could be so mis-managed.

I love the idea. It's a clever way of getting around the problems of making 28th a "downtown" street: on-street parking and walkability. Whether it will happen and be successful is another matter.

This might be blatant advertising, but it pretty well sums up the nickel and diming airlines have resorted to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyEX25bJYBo

Chipotle? There's nothing inherently wrong with chains. They have their place. I go to chains when I want to cheap out, local places when I want something really good. Side note: As a free-market libertarian, it bothers me when people advocate for local because it keeps money in the local economy. If that's the reason you eat and shop locally--not because it's better--then you're actually doing the economy a disservice. The reason I eat at local places that use local produce is because the food is actually much better. It's like night and day.

I'm surprised they're still in business. I went there once and I wouldn't go again. It was like $100 for two people and we had to cook our own mediocre food. I don't mind spending a lot of money if it's actually worth it. Hah, yes! I like PF Chang's for americanized Chinese food, and it's a step above most of the other americanized Chinese dives, but it's certainly not fine dining or authentic Chinese in the least.

That's right up there with the Supermercado! Just put some garish paint on there and you couldn't tell them apart.

I believe it's because they only sell direct and therefore don't feel a need to put all their data into the same systems as the major carriers. I guess if you can cut out the middle men you can eek out a little more margin. It's also probably differentiates their brand a little bit not being seen as a cheap commodity.

It looks like a mishmash of about three different styles. It sort of works, and I don't hate it, but I also don't love it. FTFY. Both Secchia and Winter Halls are really cheap, shoddy construction. DeVos Center is quite nice, however.

Well, there is something to be said for familiarity. That's why McDonald's is so popular. Go to any city and you'll get the same food. There's nothing wrong with chains per se, and I actually like a number of chains. But good food is an experience, and if what you value most is cheapness and familiarity, then it would seem eating is simply a utilitarian task for you. A means to end your hunger. I get that you're not interested in fast food chains. But what do you want? Applebee's? They microwave everything but the meat and fries. And I'd be about 99% sure any fish they get is frozen. Cheap or not, I wouldn't pay money for that. I reiterate my suggestions: try Green Well, Winchester (surprisingly inexpensive!), Electric Cheetah, Marie Catrib's, or Brick Road Pizza. None are dives, all are quite good. Go the other way on Wealthy into East Grand Rapids and there is even more great selection. (I love Ostas!)

I can't believe you're serious. Jimmy John's, Subway, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, and Domino's are all chains in Eastown. Maybe you mean non-pizza/fast food places, but then you have the Winchester and Electric Cheetah, which aren't chains, but certainly don't have a slightly upscale, non-hippieish atmosphere. They're both consistently very good. I don't think I'd really consider any of the other local joints hippieish either, unless by "hippieish" you mean "non-homogenous."

In theory, a church would ideally compliment other users of parking since a church needs the most parking on a Sunday when many businesses are closed. It is ridiculous that they would wall off their lot like that. A number of years ago, when I was a starving student living in Heritage Hill, a neighboring church would sell parking passes to residents which certainly eased parking on the tiny street I lived on (Portsmouth). The only caveat was that you couldn't use the church lot on Sundays, but it was a nice tradeoff. Shared parking is, of course, one of the reasons mixed-use developments are such more efficient users of land: smaller parking requirements, and having the ability to walk or bike rather than drive. Your point about parking passes for on-street parking a couple posts back makes sense if overspill into the neighborhood becomes a real issue. I don't think it is yet, but it could be in the future. I've seen this strategy used in some residential neighborhoods in Washington that are immediately adjacent to much more dense high-rise developments. Typically those developments have parking, but it isn't free. A pass system for residents kept things manageable during certain hours.

Link to GRDad's post with site plan: Note that there appears to be plenty of parking. And, again, keeping parking to a minimum in the neighborhood is actual desirable; having too much is worse than too little. See downtown as an example where too much parking ruins an otherwise walkable area. Maybe further discussion should go in the linked thread.

In this case we're talking about a walkable urban neighborhood. I'm sure most residents will still want a car, and this development would have accommodated them. But to require more more parking than necessary only serves to suburbanify the city. If we want to move toward a more dense, transit-oriented city, we have to stop building acres of empty parking lots (which are usually required by regulations, not from free-market demand).

I disagree. Parking costs money, and you're not entitled to a parking space, though you're free to pay for one. You can choose to live somewhere with more/cheaper parking if it's important to you. Also, it would be silly to require a space for every bedroom. If you assume 2 and 3 bedroom apartments will contain children who don't drive then the extra spaces just aren't needed.

Who says "adequate" parking is a good thing? All the best urban neighborhoods have a severe lack of it, and they're better for it.

The ironic thing is that it's for the business school. The first thing you learn is to "buy high, sell low," right?

I flew GRR to BWI and back for $162. Talk about dirt cheap.

I thought there was something like an 18% vacancy rate? I still think the market for condos could be good if there were more affordable options. Perhaps developers just can't make a profit at lower price points? If that's true, then maybe the land is overpriced. For the odd-shaped lot in question, I think it's precisely the odd shape that makes redevelopment interesting. A drive-through is not appropriate not because of it causing traffic back-ups, but because it's downtown where that sort of suburban style development ruins the place. (See: parking lots) It's also an important lot as a connecting piece between from Ionia south of Fulton, which is nicely developed, to Monroe Center north of Fulton. I agree that the police station is a horrific waste space. The new GRAM as well. (I think the GRAM looks great, but it has problems fitting into the urban environment.)

While that's true, and there certainly isn't sufficient demand downtown for much new construction right now, the pro-development view is that more density is required to make downtown a vibrant area. Monroe Center and a couple blocks in either direction from it are exactly where the densest development should go. Not that parks detract from the neighborhood, but there probably more appropriate areas for parks. That said, the biggest challenge to density downtown is not having too many parks, it's having too many parking lots.

I also don't understand why US-31 would be widened to three lanes each way. If this bypass alleviates congestion, shouldn't that be unnecessary? For this particular bypass I can see its function. As as way to keep through traffic moving efficiently past Grand Haven it makes sense. I don't really mind building highways to connect cities, it's when highways cut through cities and destroy urban environments that I get upset. Adding more lanes in congested areas only works until more people drive and fill up the additional capacity. Congestion serves as a "cost" to driving. If there's too much of it, maybe more of us would choose to travel by other means. Ever increasing road capacity results in ever increasing traffic.

Well, then I'll say it: drug and alcohol addicts have made poor life choices. If that's discrimination then I don't care.