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The future of Grand Rapids


NorthCoast

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ok.... i've been thinking about this for a while... a series of 4-8 story buildings in a row along the banks of the grand that would be mixed use having the first 2 floors be retail and the upper floors res. The row of buildings would then form a "bowl" creating a large plaza with a large fountain and the the calder in the middle. I have many more details and the such but I am too lazy to write them all out :P

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ok.... i've been thinking about this for a while... a series of 4-8 story buildings in a row along the banks of the grand that would be mixed use having the first 2 floors be retail and the upper floors res. The row of buildings would then form a "bowl" creating a large plaza with a large fountain and the the calder in the middle. I have many more details and the such but I am too lazy to write them all out :P

In-fill everything along Ionia from Fulton down to Cherry, with mixed-use 5-7 story buildings.

Revamp the Rowe Hotel.

build a mixed use tower (40 stories or more) were the parking lot next to fridays sits now

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Cool, we haven't done this in a while:

- Create an entire new neighborhood "district" on the West side of the River, North of I-196 along Front Street all the way up to Leonard, complete with open air markets, a school, entertainment venues, an amphitheater overlooking the river, a riverfront greenbelt with wide sidewalks, and a lot of housing options.

- Mixed use housing development along State Street East of Jefferson

- Mid-rise mixed use housing development along Michigan in the Medical Mile area

Those are just some of the ideas I have. ;)

Oh, and one more thing, Grand Rapids will never become a center-stage city until we get a better AIRPORT.

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"If you had the power and feasabilty aside,..."

1. No abandoned buildings.

2. More independent hardware stores.

3. Streetcars, in addition to regular busses.

4. A ban on chain restaurants inside the city limits.

5. Neighborhood bicycle repair shops every square mile.

6. Taxis you hail on the street, rather than call on the phone.

7. Strictly enforced leash and poop-scoop laws re: dog owners.

8. Ultra-strictly enforced curfews for school kids. And earlier curfews.

9. A Vespa dealership and a Mini Cooper dealership; both preferably located in Eastown.

10. Underground power lines, so GR doesn't have a power outtage every time someone coughs.

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"If you had the power and feasabilty aside,..."

1. No abandoned buildings.

2. More independent hardware stores.

3. Streetcars, in addition to regular busses.

4. A ban on chain restaurants inside the city limits.

5. Neighborhood bicycle repair shops every square mile.

6. Taxis you hail on the street, rather than call on the phone.

7. Strictly enforced leash and poop-scoop laws re: dog owners.

8. Ultra-strictly enforced curfews for school kids. And earlier curfews.

9. A Vespa dealership and a Mini Cooper dealership; both preferably located in Eastown.

10. Underground power lines, so GR doesn't have a power outtage every time someone coughs.

Beautiful pyramid zen! 9.9 10.0 9.9 10.0 9.9 :yahoo:

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"If you had the power and feasabilty aside,..."

1. No abandoned buildings.

2. More independent hardware stores.

3. Streetcars, in addition to regular busses.

4. A ban on chain restaurants inside the city limits.

5. Neighborhood bicycle repair shops every square mile.

6. Taxis you hail on the street, rather than call on the phone.

7. Strictly enforced leash and poop-scoop laws re: dog owners.

8. Ultra-strictly enforced curfews for school kids. And earlier curfews.

9. A Vespa dealership and a Mini Cooper dealership; both preferably located in Eastown.

10. Underground power lines, so GR doesn't have a power outtage every time someone coughs.

Fabulous!! :shades: I'm lovin all that. As for #1, I'll add get all these West side slum lords to clean up their properties and re-rent them out. Some lovely older homes are being destroyed due to neglect and renting to (this sounds worse than I mean but...) low class citizens. IMO

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Some lovely older homes are being destroyed due to neglect and renting to (this sounds worse than I mean but...) low class citizens. IMO

There is nothing wrong with that statement. You said low class, not low income. I know a lot of upper income people that definately would be classified as low class.

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1. Boston Square business gets demolished and rebuilt into a tight, mixed-use town center.

2. All parking must be behind buildings. No exceptions.

3. All buildings in the downtown area must be a minimum of 3 stories.

4. DASH bus service that runs to St. Mary's and past 6:00pm.

5. More strings attached to tax breaks to developers so that we dont end up with more MochDonalds blank walls.

6. Tax land in the Downtown area a 3X the normal rate for land owners who are just sitting on it. Yes Azzar, I'm talking about you.

7. Smart Traffic lights and a central traffic control center.

8. Stop construction on the GRAM and bring in a team that isnt clueless.

9. Encourage diffrent types of housing for diffrent incomes in reused buildings.

10. Bury US 131 from Wealthy to Ann St.

11. More dog parks.

12. Bring in EU or Japannese companies to manufactor "smart cars" in GR.

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6. Tax land in the Downtown area a 3X the normal rate for land owners who are just sitting on it. Yes Azzar, I'm talking about you.

Hey, this is great idea! Not that I am for more taxes, but why not have a "non-use" tax bracket for commercial buildings, similar to the "non-homestead" tax they have for seasonal homes. The commercial buildings would have to meet certain criteria to be exempt (and maybe not NECESSARILY be without a tenant).

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6. Tax land in the Downtown area a 3X the normal rate for land owners who are just sitting on it. Yes Azzar, I'm talking about you.

What if the value of the land, rather than the building, was taxed for landowners who aren't doing anything (or everybody)? It seems like that way, the landownwers would race to build the best building that would attract the most people, and hence be more profitable. Today, isn't a landowner rewarded with lower taxes by letting their building go to hell (or building a crappy one)?

Mochdonalds! Nice! :rofl:

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1. Boston Square business gets demolished and rebuilt into a tight, mixed-use town center.

2. All parking must be behind buildings. No exceptions.

3. All buildings in the downtown area must be a minimum of 3 stories.

4. DASH bus service that runs to St. Mary's and past 6:00pm.

5. More strings attached to tax breaks to developers so that we dont end up with more MochDonalds blank walls.

6. Tax land in the Downtown area a 3X the normal rate for land owners who are just sitting on it. Yes Azzar, I'm talking about you.

7. Smart Traffic lights and a central traffic control center.

8. Stop construction on the GRAM and bring in a team that isnt clueless.

9. Encourage diffrent types of housing for diffrent incomes in reused buildings.

10. Bury US 131 from Wealthy to Ann St.

11. More dog parks.

12. Bring in EU or Japannese companies to manufactor "smart cars" in GR.

Hows about widening neighborhood streets for those who have to park in front of houses, etc.

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One I just noticed today walking around downtown. I would make sure that there are no broken or missing trees along the sidewalks. It's especially bad on Ottawa in front of City Hall and on Monroe in front of Bull's Head.

Oh man, you are right on dbrok!. Also, the trees on Ottawa across from the arena are in rough shape. I would like to see lots of big, full trees like there are along Monroe Center. Some of our trees currently have the 'charlie brown christmas tree' look. Not good!

Speaking of streetscapes, I would make Monroe, Fulton, Michigan and Division boulevards with tree-planted medians, shelters in the middle for pedestrians crossing the street, and numerous crosswalks.

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I'd entice the massive corporate presence of the area, to downtown. then a ton of developement would be done with private money, and I think it would briing DT back to life.

This would be such a quick boost for downtown, a much quicker fix than the organic growth that is currently happening. Not that what is currently happening is bad. :thumbsup:

Think of the lineup of corporate office users that would help boost downtown:

Meijer

Steelcase

Herman Miller

Haworth

GFS

Spartan Stores

Wolverine World Wide

Perrigo

Zondervan Publishing

URS Corp.

Bissell

Earth Tech

Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber

Foremost Insurance

Gainey Transportation

Grand Valley Health Plan

Independent Bank

Priority Health

Universal Forest Products

USF Holland

X-Rite

That's quite a lineup. Land a few of these companies, and watch the vacancy rate drop, need for services increase, and clout from having bigger tenants increase.

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Just imagine in about five years, there will be probably at least 3000 - 4000 more people working downtown, a couple hundred more hotel guests every night at the Marriott, more college students at the expanded Ferris-Kendall campus (if their plans come to fruition) and expanded GVSU Kennedy Engineering School, more exhibitions and classes at the new Art Museum (and I read that they may project movies on the slanted wall near Rosa Parks Circle), maybe Med students from MSU, probably at least 1000 - 2000 more residents downtown, and an increased enclave of artists in Heartside. That's HUGE! That's quite the population increase, and from all walks of life.

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These are all great ideas! With the influx of residents GR is getting (will get), the idea of a streetcar or another type of DT transportation would be helpful for those wintry days / nights. I have thought before they should extend the walking corridor (from the Amway) up and around to cover the area by the theater and GRCC, etc.

Since I hope to soon be a DT resident myself, I would like to see more shops...especially food markets, hopefully like a health food or organic food market. (It's all about the food! :thumbsup: )

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