Allison Slater

I just hope there was no mail in them when it happened.

There's also my site, tsukigawa.net which you can upload to. I've got a section devoted to GR there.

Shinkies! =o (Scooby doo when I woke up. Now I can't stop saying shinkies <<)

The original skin wasn't up for very long at all from what I remember. I think it was only up for about a year? I think I remember something about the building having leaking problems of some sort around the walls, and had to be re-skinned. I don't know what prompted the colour change, though. But that's all a very, very faint memory.. I could even be wrong... I think I was about 11-12 at the time. Plaza Towers have been up for a while.. at least 10 years I believe.

As has been in my signature for a while now, my dj'ing premiere is this weekend. I'm pretty pumped for it... been practising like crazy as well.

Mmm that would be a nice resturaunt to have... I've never really had cambodian or burmese food.

Wow, do a google search on his name. That Chicago project of his will be really cool, I'd travel to Chicago to see that. And his other stuff... amazing. I agree one of his bridges right there would really be awesome. Not only would it bring a lot more focus onto the river, it could also serve as a bit of a centrepiece to downtown.

RAWR I HEAR LION! rawr. ^^

I actually have come up with plans (in my head) for such. The first step would be to demolish and relocate the post office.. possibly into a newer building where the GR Press Building is now. (Not sure if there's enough space there for it though.) There's a whole section of riverwalk wedged between the post office building and the river... seems to be a very popular spot for fishing. To handle retail along the walk, it would have to be extended inland some, enough to increase the width of the walk by about 2.5 times. That whole stretch could be lined with 3-4 storey buildings all built up against eachother, with breaks between the buildings every 4 or 5 shops. Walkways will run through these breaks towards buildings behind them as I will detail later. The upper floors of each of the buildings will feature penthouse condominiums, so people may live, work, shop, and be entertained all along the walk. Behind these buildings will be an office complex housing the City Hall, GR Press, and any other interests. The City Hall would sit in two buildings really, with public information and services in a small building reminiscent of the old city hall, placed right on the corner of Monroe and Bridge. Behind it, and connected to it, will be a modest mid/high rise glass building, with a sort of waving shape taking up the rest of the space unused by the rest of the complex. A Parking garage will take up the first 2 floors, all behind the glass facade of the building. The glass would be similar in nature to that of the National City building, so that from the southeast it will reflect the city's skyline and the city hall, and from across the river on the west it will reflect the river, with curving shape of the building representing the river itself. The said walkways leading back to the complex from the riverwalk will access the parking garage and the glass building, with small grass courtyards hidden amongst trees in the spaces between the buildings and the glass buildings. Small locally-made sculptures can reside in each of the small courtyards, with a sidewalk running around the building and near the courtyards. Thus this design can cater to many kinds of people: People who want to enjoy the river can eat and shop on the river, while those who want privacy and peace can shop along the river, and then go into the small courtyards and relax. Although I would imagine this is likely a driving idea behind at least one of the river grand proposals, and if it were so, having two such setups on both ends of downtown may be too much until further into the future.

When I was down there taking pictures last week, they were working on the lightbulbs of the blue bridge.

I think a riverfront boardwalk, with specialty retail along said boardwalk, would be an excellent use of the riverfront. Although, it seems as though this is supposedly a part of all the river grand proposals?

Great shots... makes me want to take more, but my car is completely shot =[ I'll be confined to Wayland until I can get a new job and car.

I'm suddenly reminded of the Urban Planet bib in the UP Store..

More shots from yesterday (I filled my dad's camera.. not going to post them all, just the good ones) "Beyond" "In Gulliver's Eyes" I can't wait to take that shot next year! "Opposites" Notice how there's a missing piece of masonry there on the Pantlind? I would have hated to be on the sidewalk when that happened. "Reaching" "Reflections" "Waterfall" "Shriveled" "Stalking" That last reminds me of a spider's legs peeking out beyond an object, stalking its prey.

Well, my problem right now is I still don't know if I can afford it. I want to get into college, and I can barely even afford to live at my parents' with the money I'm making now, so I need to find a new job.

Seems like a nice place to be living. I wonder if any homeowners there are renting out parts of their homes =p

Probably. It's hidden behind some shrubbery past a guard rail on the east side of Division just NE of Icon on Bond. The concrete steps near the bottom and top have completely deteriorated and lie in chunks, with the steel reinforcing bars bent, twisted, and sticking out... leaving holes from where there was hollow area between the steps and ground. Near the bottom it looked like it was a makeshift home for a homeless guy for a while, with some trash and a coat lying around. The rest of the way up the steps was mostly trash and broken glass. It was fun going up though, dodging the branches, and being rewarded with an excellent view near the top. There's another stairway like this further south that is still in use, though I had never notised it until I looked right at it.

Some photos from today: "A Flashback" "A Picture Frame" (I was nearly standing on the railing of the topmost level of a parking ramp just to get that shot. And conflabbit it would be perfect if I were a few inches higher. Maybe next time I'll bring a ladder with me <<) "Blue Bridge" "Curves & Lines" "Discovery" This was one of my favourite shots out of the day. The other one I really liked is: The way the sun reflects off that building... amazing. "Freedom From the Grid" Harris "Hidden Stairway" I wonder who here even knows where that's from? =p Lastly, WTF?

Holy Crap, Life Sized Bobble Heads!!!!

There's also JAFAX, the Japanese Animation, Film, and Art eXpo. Not exactly downtown, I think it's growing big enough to warrant a mention. They've actually got some radio ads this year too =o Never would have imagined that 4 years ago. Saturday, June 24th from 10 AM to 7:30 Sunday, June 25th from 10 AM to 6 Everything Free (except the vendors, of course -- probably one of the biggest free Japanese/Anime cons in the world, I'd imagine.) Located at the Main GVSU Campus in the Kirkhoff Center and Henry Hall (I think that's right) I'll likely be there both days, all day. I also get paid the day before. THIS IS A BAD THING! (Last year I spent almost $100 there...)

Awesomeness. So what did the current master plan seem to show, or did it even show anything?

I'd hope so. This is the best GR Forum I've found and deserves its mention. (Heck, it's one of the better forums I've found in general) Or maybe we should just Keep it a Secret

It's a perception that seems to be held by a lot of older people, and those who have lived in urban areas when you and have lived in suburbs almost their whole adult life, methinks. One of my co-workers at 54th & Division also thought downtown was a very unsafe area. On MLive the few times I've taken a peek into the grand rapids forum, there's usually comments by 'eGrandma' showing more stereotyping of the downtown area as filled with gangs. Whilst it may not be ideas held by the majority, there's still enough of this misperception going around to not be unnotised.

It's amazing how much the area has changed in such short time. My mom still thinks that walking around anywhere downtown = dangerous. I keep telling her that if it was so dangerous, then why on earth would people be spending all that money to stay at the amway if there was a high risk of being shot at if you walked out the front door? It's hard for people's perceptions to change, and I'm amazed the city has come this far already considering that.

I hope this isn't in violation of any forum rules or anything regarding soliciting/advertising (I make absolutely no money off of this anyways) but I've got a website that serves as an online image gallery. Well, I just added a section to it dedicated to Grand Rapids, but I have no photos yet (that I've taken, anyways.) So if anybody doesn't mind sharing their photos onto the site, it's at http://www.tsukigawa.net/categories.php?cat_id=137 I hope to take some photos on Monday with my dad's digital and add them both there and here.