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New projects on the West Side


GRDadof3

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  • 4 weeks later...

There are townhomes going up at 937 and 945 W Fulton. The demolition of the old single-story Impact Screen Printing business is completed, and they were getting started on the house at 945 this morning. The other two houses on that block appear to be staying, but were mentioned in the application on Accela. Not a huge project, but could be nice infill. I haven't seen any renderings yet. 

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1 hour ago, demhem said:

There are townhomes going up at 937 and 945 W Fulton. The demolition of the old single-story Impact Screen Printing business is completed, and they were getting started on the house at 945 this morning. The other two houses on that block appear to be staying, but were mentioned in the application on Accela. Not a huge project, but could be nice infill. I haven't seen any renderings yet. 

Hmm, very interesting. I don't remember hearing/seeing anything about this project yet. I'll have to make it a point to walk on over and take a look. 

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24 minutes ago, thebeerqueer said:

Hmm, very interesting. I don't remember hearing/seeing anything about this project yet. I'll have to make it a point to walk on over and take a look. 

Good spot for infill. Wonder if they’ll build additional houses on Gunnison. The lot is pretty big. 

Joe

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On 8/19/2021 at 8:52 AM, demhem said:

There are townhomes going up at 937 and 945 W Fulton. The demolition of the old single-story Impact Screen Printing business is completed, and they were getting started on the house at 945 this morning. The other two houses on that block appear to be staying, but were mentioned in the application on Accela. Not a huge project, but could be nice infill. I haven't seen any renderings yet. 

That's weird, I just drove by there yesterday and noticed the demo. 

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Saw something interesting in the upcoming planning commission agenda:

"Designate the sign identifying the former “Red Lion” restaurant as a vintage sign to facilitate its installation on the subject property". 

Looks like Walt Gutkowski is looking to restore the sign and out it on 412 Bridge Street (the Swift Printing Building). Anyone know the plans? Can't imagine he'd put it on the front of the building. Maybe on the side as a piece of art? 

I love vintage signs, so looking forward to the plans. 

Joe

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Planning commission agenda packet has a lot more information on the Red Hot sign. Looks like they want to fully restore the sign and place it in the parking lot next to Swift print. Total height of the sign would be 24 feet. I really hope this goes through as I think it's a great nod to the past, and I'm a vintage neon sign nerd. I'd love to see other businesses ad some neon to the area. It just fits in this area (Anchor Bar has a fantastic neon sign). 

 

Screen Shot 2021-09-02 at 9.17.54 AM.png

Screen Shot 2021-09-02 at 9.18.39 AM.png

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4 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

The Planning commission agenda packet has a lot more information on the Red Hot sign. Looks like they want to fully restore the sign and place it in the parking lot next to Swift print. Total height of the sign would be 24 feet. I really hope this goes through as I think it's a great nod to the past, and I'm a vintage neon sign nerd. I'd love to see other businesses ad some neon to the area. It just fits in this area (Anchor Bar has a fantastic neon sign). 

 

Screen Shot 2021-09-02 at 9.17.54 AM.png

 

Just playing devil's advocate here, but couldn't that be kind of confusing to all the people who have no frame of reference for that sign?  That's an advertisement for a restaurant, but if you pulled over to check it out, there isn't one.  

 

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2 minutes ago, cstonesparty said:

Just playing devil's advocate here, but couldn't that be kind of confusing to all the people who have no frame of reference for that sign?  That's an advertisement for a restaurant, but if you pulled over to check it out, there isn't one.  

 

I would imagine they'd have some sort of plaque that explains what it is. And it isn't like they'd starve to death on that section of Bridge if they couldn't find a Red Lion... ;)

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Curious to know what this group thinks.....would it ever make sense to close off Bridge St to traffic?

Like between Mt Vernon and Seward?  Couldn't you divert the traffic into a giant half circle around from Seward to Second to Mt Vernon and just make that a 2 way throughway? I know right now the congestion is higher than normal (maybe?) due to the expressway closure, but it's gotta be a bummer trying to eat outside with all those cars out front.  Especially when someone heading East  on Bridge decides they want to left turn from Bridge onto Broadway..ugh.  It feels like the time is right for some good ole street reclamation.

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2 hours ago, grandrollerz said:

 It feels like the time is right for some good ole street reclamation.

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2015/03/bridge_street_grand_rapids_sha.html

I cannot see it happening anytime soon; city leaders don't seem to have any interest in big projects.

But the social zones are nice and provide a good excuse to squeeze traffic.

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5 hours ago, grandrollerz said:

Curious to know what this group thinks.....would it ever make sense to close off Bridge St to traffic?

Like between Mt Vernon and Seward?  Couldn't you divert the traffic into a giant half circle around from Seward to Second to Mt Vernon and just make that a 2 way throughway? I know right now the congestion is higher than normal (maybe?) due to the expressway closure, but it's gotta be a bummer trying to eat outside with all those cars out front.  Especially when someone heading East  on Bridge decides they want to left turn from Bridge onto Broadway..ugh.  It feels like the time is right for some good ole street reclamation.

Sorry, but I dislike this idea so much, I think I'd protest if the city presented it. LOL. I've seen VERY FEW pedestrian / "mall" conversions succeed, and most of them ultimately make the street worse. Maybe it's PTSD from Monroe Mall, but I hope they never, ever, ever try it again. .. :)

Joe

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Sorry, but I dislike this idea so much, I think I'd protest if the city presented it. LOL. I've seen VERY FEW pedestrian / "mall" conversions succeed, and most of them ultimately make the street worse. Maybe it's PTSD from Monroe Mall, but I hope they never, ever, ever try it again. .. [emoji4]
Joe
There are no streets that would be worse off than they are already with the current standard of unrestricted vehicle access. The Open Streets program in NYC has been very successful. At the very least that section of Bridge should be closed to vehicle traffic on Fridays and Saturdays. There are more than enough people walking through there to occupy the space and make it feel alive.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

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1 minute ago, 54equalsunity said:

There are no streets that would be worse off than they are already with the current standard of unrestricted vehicle access. The Open Streets program in NYC has been very successful. At the very least that section of Bridge should be closed to vehicle traffic on Fridays and Saturdays. There are more than enough people walking through there to occupy the space and make it feel alive.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
 

NYC is NYC, and GR is GR. We can't assume something like that would have an equivalent effect here for a multitude of reasons.

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13 hours ago, 54equalsunity said:

There are no streets that would be worse off than they are already with the current standard of unrestricted vehicle access. The Open Streets program in NYC has been very successful. At the very least that section of Bridge should be closed to vehicle traffic on Fridays and Saturdays. There are more than enough people walking through there to occupy the space and make it feel alive.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
 

That's not a bad idea. Have a gate like Monroe Center has so that they can close it off on weekends (afternoons/evenings).  If you've ever tried to cross Bridge after 6:30 in the evening, you have to actually do it when traffic is so backed up that they're stopped, and you sneak through the line of cars.

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1 hour ago, GRDadof3 said:

That's not a bad idea. Have a gate like Monroe Center has so that they can close it off on weekends (afternoons/evenings).  If you've ever tried to cross Bridge after 6:30 in the evening, you have to actually do it when traffic is so backed up that they're stopped, and you sneak through the line of cars.

I like the idea of temporary closures (like weekends, etc). I’d just hate to close it down for good, realize it did more harm than good, and put a road in 15 years later. 

Joe

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On 9/5/2021 at 11:11 AM, joeDowntown said:

I like the idea of temporary closures (like weekends, etc). I’d just hate to close it down for good, realize it did more harm than good, and put a road in 15 years later. 

Joe

Check out the Buffalo Main Street Mall for reference.  A pedestrian road that killed all the business on the street.  So now they are bringing back the cars to try and stimulate growth.  

 

And yes, they had an at-grade subway along that street, so rapid transit + no cars  did not equal success.

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44 minutes ago, cutlervillegr said:

Check out the Buffalo Main Street Mall for reference.  A pedestrian road that killed all the business on the street.  So now they are bringing back the cars to try and stimulate growth.  

 

And yes, they had an at-grade subway along that street, so rapid transit + no cars  did not equal success.

Buffalo, New York?

Yeah, that city is on the up and up as well. Canal Side is impressive.

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On 9/5/2021 at 9:33 AM, GRDadof3 said:

That's not a bad idea. Have a gate like Monroe Center has so that they can close it off on weekends (afternoons/evenings).  If you've ever tried to cross Bridge after 6:30 in the evening, you have to actually do it when traffic is so backed up that they're stopped, and you sneak through the line of cars.

Agree.  Gates and restricted throughput is better than closing.  There's really no upside to complete closures, IMNSHO. 

I see many potential areas for restricted access: Bridge St, Ionia (arena district), Ottawa (the plaza), Monroe Ctr.

I am a rabid transit & active transportation person, yet not Ban-The-Cars ; the problem with Motordom isn't the Cars it is the Privilege.   When it is appropriate - and it very often is - the cars can wait, they can go an alternative route, and their owners can pay to store them when they choose to use them.  Yet 5am on a Tuesday morning is still a time that exists, why not left them use a paved street?  Also poor delivery drivers and maintenance people who have actual reasons to be very close to somewhere.

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I think temporary closures make a ton of sense on a number of roads - Monroe Center, Ionia, Bridge, Cherry (in East Hills), Wealthy (at several different points), etc. Or some of the suburban downtowns (Gaslight, Ada, Grandville). Detroit does weekend closures with Monroe Street in Greektown and it has worked well.

I also think there may be opportunities to do a pedestrian-focused design like Monroe Center is now with one lane of traffic with parking and wide sidewalks - not closed to traffic, but through traffic is a distant third priority behind pedestrians and parking. That could potentially work for Bridge if there was a reasonable bypass (Second could work). I also think it could do wonders for Ionia between Cherry and Fulton - route the auto traffic and buses to Commerce or Ottawa instead. 

But I am firmly against full pedestrianization. The only place I have ever seen that work consistently in this country is New York City.  It works in Europe, I suppose.

 

Edited by Khorasaurus1
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That is so cool and will add to the area. Was dining on Bridge Street this evening. By far the best vibes in town.

also, the Gutkowski family spent $50,000 to restore the sign (porcelain finish with “real” neon glass tubes.  Looks like it’ll be installed in the next week or two. Love when people save some of the original character from the neighborhood.

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2021/09/historic-red-lion-sign-returning-to-bridge-street-in-grand-rapids-in-time-for-artprize.html

Joe

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