Good to Grand?

[Allison Slater]

Oh yes, I just love how one day I only listened to the radio for about an hour total and heard that 'promiscuous' song about 4-5 times. I haven't listened to the radio for a week after that. And then when it comes to GRD and KLQ, I listen to those for about an hour and turn them off in boredom because every song they played I heard 8 years ago on the same station.

I should look into getting a portable XM radio.

[michaelskis]

I agree, the radio needs help.

For me it's not THAT bad, because I've only lived here for a little over a year (moved here from the U.P. where it's wAaaaaay worse)

Anyway, I like the type of music WSNX plays (rap, r&b, pop) but the problem with them is they have like 10 songs that they play over and over and over!!! There needs to be more variety. I hate hearing a song, going into the grocery store for a half hour, and then hearing the same song when I get back into the car.

I too am from the Upper Peninsula... and no they do not have anything like WSNX. However some stations are exactly what the population who pays for advertising is looking for.

But I don’t think that a particular type of radio station will have a phenomenal influence on the a particular place to live.

[Veloise]

Oh yes, I just love how one day I only listened to the radio for about an hour total and heard that 'promiscuous' song about 4-5 times. I haven't listened to the radio for a week after that. And then when it comes to GRD and KLQ, I listen to those for about an hour and turn them off in boredom because every song they played I heard 8 years ago on the same station.

I should look into getting a portable XM radio.

What Nitro said: WYCE 88.1. There have been times I've called to request a tune (sometimes having to ID the genre or an artist for them) and it's played within 5 minutes. No other place in town to hear "Le Danse de Mardi Gras," and one day a year ya don't even have to ask.

It's also the only place I've ever heard the weird techno piece whose lyrics are "tour de france, tour de france, tour de france, tour de france." (That might be the title.) Last July the DJ du jour decided to play a bunch of cool music related to the starting day of a certain big-time multi-week overseas sporting event, so it was that one and snippets from "Triplets of Bellvue" and Queen and maybe even the "Fuji Blues."

[my own personal playlist]

[suydam]

The trend, nationwide, is for less radio diversity not more.

Does anyone over the age of 25 really believe radio has a tangible affect on quality of life though?

Maybe I'm an old geezer (at age 31) but as long as I have public radio (WYCE and Michigan Radio...plus WMUK from Kalamazoo on good days) I'm happy. Anything else I need can be stored in my ipod just fine.

[tamias6]

Some one said that GR can't support Big league sports such as basball or NFL football. We have 1 and a half million people living in the greater metro area. So does the greater Nashville area, which does host an NFL team, the Tennessee Titans. The only difference between GR and Nashville besides location is that the City of Nashville itself is home to some 500,000 people verse GR's 190,000 people. But both greater metro areas are the same size in population.

[superNOVA]

Football without a problem. Most sports leagues use the magic 60 minute drive time population base - which puts us closer to 2 - 2.5 million. But, baseball requires a bit more than we could offer. Too many games.

Essentially, this region could support two NBA or NHL teams, or one NFL team. Not having a large college presence taking away from this, I think it would be easy to pull off.

[jimthurber]

I too am from the Upper Peninsula... and no they do not have anything like WSNX. However some stations are exactly what the population who pays for advertising is looking for.

But I don

[egrguy]

Where from?

I am from Escanaba. Just moved here last May.

And to the post above mine, I'd LOOOOOVE to have an NBA team here. That's what Duane Faust should do as part of his project. Build a damn arena and move a team that gets no love where they're currently at here. *cough* Hawks *cough*

what about the charlotte/new orleans/oklahoma city hornets -- that franchise is screaming to find a home, but what about fans that support the pistons, lions, wings, and tigers but don't want to split loyalties. i think that could be a reason why the metro GR market doesn't have a major league team yet.

[jimthurber]

what about the charlotte/new orleans/oklahoma city hornets -- that franchise is screaming to find a home, but what about fans that support the pistons, lions, wings, and tigers but don't want to split loyalties. i think that could be a reason why the metro GR market doesn't have a major league team yet.

If New Orleans doesn't work out, it's basiclaly Oklahoma City's team for the taking.

They've got a tremendous amount of support in OK City and the NBA recognizes the potential for a team there. If they don't move there for good, there will be another team there sometime soon.

About the fans that support the Detroit teams..... I'd imagine some would dump the Detroit team and then support the GR team, some would support both, and some would remain loyal to Detroit.

Personally, I can't stand the Pistons or Lions...... and I know a lot of other people who aren't fans of some Michigan teams too. There are also loads of fans who just love the sport and aren't necessarily super attatched to one team. They'd easily be part of the new fan base.

I think no matter what.... Even if say I was a hardcore Los Angeles Laker fan and GR got a NBA team, I'd still buy season tickets to this team's games because I love the sport of basketball. The true fans of any sport don't need to watch their team every game they watch. If I'm home and NBA basketball is on, I watch whatever game is on TV regardless of who's playing.

I have talked to plenty of people who have season tickets because they're a fan of the game and not necessarily the team they see every night.

There's one guy I know from Indiana. He's not a Pacer fan, but a huge NBA fan. His season tix are by the area where the visiting teams come out of and go into the locker room. He tries to get all their autographs and meet them and whatnot. Sounds fun to me

[Rizzo]

There's a very dedicated and driven sport talent base leaving Metro GR for cities that recruit this very talent for the bigs. Think of some of the names and faces that could be playing for The Grand Rapids Furniture Makers.

[GRDadof3]

Nancy Crawley says our local college campuses are our keys to success

And I tend to agree. Continued collaborations between schools and college/private partnerships will all be economic drivers in the future.

Some interesting feedback from Google after they checked out GR last year (via Bob Israel of Israels Furniture):

He said Google representatives checked out a site he was offering -- the former Widdicomb furniture factory on the West Side.

They were interested in its central location, the century-old building in the city's no-tax Renaissance Zone, but most important, the quality work force coming out of its colleges, he said.

Google's representatives even spent time to research the area, he said. "The colleges here were a big draw, particularly the engineering school at GVSU," he said. "They are real resources, producing a huge pool of good, high-quality intellectual people ready and willing to work."

[Michi]

The Grand Rapids Furniture Makers.

LoL