People talking about Grand Rapids

[GR_Urbanist]

I think we are just still considered a little too "out of the way" to a lot of people. Those cities are places you pass through on the way from, or on the way to, other big metropolitan areas. People going there still feel like they are connected to those places, I suppose.

GR is the biggest city you will pass through if you were heading due north straight to the North Pole, and that means there arent many people to come from the other direction either. So we are the last stop, basically. That, and a lot of people see W. And N.W Michigan as the "rural wilderness". 

You come here, you are living in a nook. Special for us natives, but maybe a bit too isolated to transplants.

[Raildude's dad]

1 hour ago, GR_Urbanist said:

I think we are just still considered a little too "out of the way" to a lot of people. Those cities are places you pass through on the way from, or on the way to, other big metropolitan areas. People going there still feel like they are connected to those places, I suppose.

GR is the biggest city you will pass through if you were heading due north straight to the North Pole, and that means there arent many people to come from the other direction either. So we are the last stop, basically. That, and a lot of people see W. And N.W Michigan as the "rural wilderness". 

You come here, you are living in a nook. Special for us natives, but maybe a bit too isolated to transplants.

I believe it's the other way.  My daughter works for one of the biggest AE companies in the US. When she talks with some of her co-workers nationwide, they assume GR is near near Detroit.  When they hear Michigan, they think Detroit. She says no we are 3 hrs west and about 3 hrs NE from Chicago.

[RegalTDP]

15 hours ago, Raildude's dad said:

I believe it's the other way.  My daughter works for one of the biggest AE companies in the US. When she talks with some of her co-workers nationwide, they assume GR is near near Detroit.  When they hear Michigan, they think Detroit. She says no we are 3 hrs west and about 3 hrs NE from Chicago.

As one who lives on the West Coast, I can attest to this.  Many people have difficulty separating the rest of Michigan from Detroit.  But keep in mind outside of Urban Planet forums most people don't really have a good sense of geography or find comparing cities as fascinating as we do.

That being said I don't think there's anything to read into here.  GR's had its share of positive stories already so I don't think it's a big deal it missed one.  There's a lot of cities poised to recover quickly so WSJ had a lot to choose from.  They clearly intentionally wanted three areas in disparate regions, so only one would be representing the Midwest.  I'm sure there's people from other mid-sized metros out West reading this and saying "Really, Provo?"

[WMrapids]

On 5/11/2021 at 9:52 AM, joeDowntown said:

This falls in the category of People NOT Talking about Grand Rapids. WSJ did an article about Greenville SC, Provo UT, and Des Moines IO as the darling cities of post-COVID recovery. I wonder how Grand Rapids fared based on their metrics. They talked about a mix of "affordable (but steeply increasing)" housing, manufacturing bouncing back early, diversification, proximity to nature (not Des Moines). I was actually surprised to NOT see Grand Rapids in this article:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-breakout-cities-on-the-forefront-of-americas-economic-recovery-11620584178?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1

Joe

In a similar vein, here’s an article about the top 50 cities in the US. Ann Arbor is the only city in Michigan listed while California, Florida and Texas have multiple.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/best-places-live-united-states-america/

[RegalTDP]

2 hours ago, WMrapids said:

In a similar vein, here’s an article about the top 50 cities in the US. Ann Arbor is the only city in Michigan listed while California, Florida and Texas have multiple.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/best-places-live-united-states-america/

This picture of "Atlanta, Georgia" (#42 on the list) didn't look right to me.  Turns out it's a picture of this restaurant in Havana, Cuba.

Just an observation about how rigorously they compile these listicles.

[Prankster]

2 hours ago, WMrapids said:

In a similar vein, here’s an article about the top 50 cities in the US. Ann Arbor is the only city in Michigan listed while California, Florida and Texas have multiple.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/best-places-live-united-states-america/

They love those Texas suburbs, don’t they?

[MJLO]

I'm still trying to figure out why for the last couple weeks folks keep posting articles about people NOT talking about Grand Rapids, in a thread that's about "People talking about Grand Rapids". 

[wingbert]

Rosies Diner is a story in the Detroit Free Press.  Not exactly Grand Rapids, but close…

A west Michigan classic, Rosie's Diner is looking for a new owner after permanently closing in 2011.

Edited July 23, 2021 by wingbert

[joeDowntown]

1 hour ago, wingbert said:

Rosies Diner is a story in the Detroit Free Press.  Not exactly Grand Rapids, but close…

A west Michigan classic, Rosie's Diner is looking for a new owner after permanently closing in 2011.

I wish someone would move Rosies Diner downtown. That little nook between the boardwalk’s parking ramp and Monroe would be a perfect spot (I’ve thought about this for a long time  ).

Joe

[GRLaker]

On 5/11/2021 at 9:52 AM, joeDowntown said:

This falls in the category of People NOT Talking about Grand Rapids. WSJ did an article about Greenville SC, Provo UT, and Des Moines IO as the darling cities of post-COVID recovery. I wonder how Grand Rapids fared based on their metrics. They talked about a mix of "affordable (but steeply increasing)" housing, manufacturing bouncing back early, diversification, proximity to nature (not Des Moines). I was actually surprised to NOT see Grand Rapids in this article:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-breakout-cities-on-the-forefront-of-americas-economic-recovery-11620584178?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1

Joe

Provo won't last long since the west is becoming uninhabitable. It won't be long before we start seeing Grand Rapids on the list of best climate refuge cities.

[GR8scott]

6 hours ago, GRLaker said:

Provo won't last long since the west is becoming uninhabitable. It won't be long before we start seeing Grand Rapids on the list of best climate refuge cities.

I wouldnt say uninhabitable, phoenix didnt boom until ACs were everywhere but yes easy access to fresh water here will be more and more important 

[GRDadof3]

Sorry Chicago. Sorry not sorry. 

 

https://www.bridgemi.com/business-watch/west-michigan-reverses-chicago-exodus-gaining-residents-state-stagnates

[GR_Urbanist]

22 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Sorry Chicago. Sorry not sorry. 

 

https://www.bridgemi.com/business-watch/west-michigan-reverses-chicago-exodus-gaining-residents-state-stagnates

The sheer amount of out-of-state plates you see in GR these days is astonishing! For those of us above 40, it was suprising years ago if you saw anyone with non-Michigan plates here. 

Feels like a real point of pride that people recognize how great a place this is to live, especially when it used to be the thing for people to want to get away ASAP as soon as they could.

[GRDadof3]

11 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

The sheer amount of out-of-state plates you see in GR these days is astonishing! For those of us above 40, it was suprising years ago if you saw anyone with non-Michigan plates here. 

Feels like a real point of pride that people recognize how great a place this is to live, especially when it used to be the thing for people to want to get away ASAP as soon as they could.

I've noticed that too recently. With covid and remote work, people definitely have more flexibility as to where they want to live. And I think people want to be closer to family. In my line of work (real estate), I talk to quite a few people moving here to be closer to family. 

[walker]

Garrison Keillor, who for years was the big star at NPR but who is now persona non grata, apparently was in Holland last week and put on a show for a thousand or so old people in a basketball gym.  He says some nice things about the experience.  He gets around to it starting in the fifth paragraph of this link.  The first four paragraphs are mostly a satire about why we should bad-mouth Canadians.  The Holland comments on the other hand are sincere, at least I think they probably are:

   A very old person leads a sing-along of other old persons who can remember the words.

[joeDowntown]

9 hours ago, walker said:

Garrison Keillor, who for years was the big star at NPR but who is now persona non grata, apparently was in Holland last week and put on a show for a thousand or so old people in a basketball gym.  He says some nice things about the experience.  He gets around to it starting in the fifth paragraph of this link.  The first four paragraphs are mostly a satire about why we should bad-mouth Canadians.  The Holland comments on the other hand are sincere, at least I think they probably are:

   A very old person leads a sing-along of other old persons who can remember the words.

If he had only kept his hand to himself, imagine the things he could have done. LOL

i was never a big fan of prairie home companion (I couldn’t get into the old school radio hour format; I still listened a decent amount). He seems to be waxing for the past, when slapping the secretaries ass was just good clean fun.
 

Sorry, but his nostalgia reminds me of why he, and many others of the era, are persona non grata.

Joe

[GVSUChris]

31 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

If he had only kept his hand to himself, imagine the things he could have done. LOL

i was never a big fan of prairie home companion (I couldn’t get into the old school radio hour format; I still listened a decent amount). He seems to be waxing for the past, when slapping the secretaries ass was just good clean fun.
 

Sorry, but his nostalgia reminds me of why he, and many others of the era, are persona non grata.

Joe

Couldn’t agree more. 

[GRDadof3]

On 12/17/2021 at 10:06 AM, walker said:

Garrison Keillor, who for years was the big star at NPR but who is now persona non grata, apparently was in Holland last week and put on a show for a thousand or so old people in a basketball gym.  He says some nice things about the experience.  He gets around to it starting in the fifth paragraph of this link.  The first four paragraphs are mostly a satire about why we should bad-mouth Canadians.  The Holland comments on the other hand are sincere, at least I think they probably are:

   A very old person leads a sing-along of other old persons who can remember the words.

Wow, what a bunch of hoo ha. 

[mgreven]

Not Grand Rapids, but Lakeshore. Have you all seen the “Google Search 2021” ad? There’s a clip of a worker at Norm’s Ice Cream in Fruitport in the ad. So random and cool.  Here’s the whole ad…

 

[GRDadof3]

Huh, interesting:

https://livability.com/topics/love-where-you-live/the-7-best-cities-for-soul-searchers/

[walker]

The cover story of this month’s Smithsonian Magazine tells the story of bacteriologists Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering and their lab assistant Loney Clinton, discovering, testing, and developing the first effective whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine back in the thirties and forties with only a small staff and little financial support.  Their lab was a small old former administration building on the grounds of what was then the Sunshine Tuberculosis Sanitarium at 750 Fuller ne.  Whopping Cough is little thought of today but back then it was a widespread and deadly disease, particularly for infants and small children.  It’s a great story of something very important that happened in Grand Rapids:

SMITHSONIAN: unsung-heroes-ended-deadly-plague

Edited March 13, 2022 by walker
to fix typo

[metrogrkid]

When folk STILL living in the mid-20th Century write opinions in "Best Communities To Live In" and it makes my TEETH ITCH with maximum irritation (see screen clip from niche.com <places-to-live/east-grand-rapids-kent-mi>) 

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by metrogrkid

[joeDowntown]

4 minutes ago, metrogrkid said:

When folk STILL living in the mid-20th Century write opinions in "Best Communities To Live In" and it makes my TEETH ITCH with maximum irritation (see screen clip from niche.com <places-to-live/east-grand-rapids-kent-mi>) 

 

Funny that they wrote EGR has a “rural feel”?

Joe

[metrogrkid]

Just now, joeDowntown said:

Funny that they wrote EGR has a “rural feel”?

Joe

Can you feel your teeth itching now too?  We come so far and then we're reminded of how far we still have to go. 

[Khorasaurus1]

Not to mention "conservative voters" in a town that votes for Democrats by 25 points.

But at least that one is only dated by a decade or so, not 80 years like the rural thing.

Was that even written by a person? It sounds like an algorithm or even a mail merge.