dodgeboy11

This may not be directly related to development, but gun saftey and crime do affect peoples perceptions of our city, so I found this interesting...many of you probably already saw it, but: http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ss....xml&coll=6

Yeah, "Geoff" comments...but, well like most media quotes, we don't ever get context so they can make it sound as good or bad as they want. And yeah, the % was just my interpretation on it...it doesn't really give any numbers or anything...just that there were a LOT of foreclosures... We have some, but we're also #8 for best home market (apparently!) so the article just seemed a little unfair or biased or well, just not the kind of press we like to get.

Ughhh...this isn't exactly the kinda press I thought we'd get after last night. And I don't know what he's smokin' either.....GR is NOT the epicenter of the imploding economy...we may be caught on the edges, but... And where the heck did he find 80-90% abandon homes as he seems to imply? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7401771.stm

Yeah, it probably was more the "I don't want to pay" thing. They were also from Dallas/Ft. Worth which when I was there seemed to be a HORRIBLE town...everybody drives everywhere and everything is so big/far (Texas....sheesh.) And yeah, I did feel bad about not givin' them the guided tour and dinner, but when you have hours of work/prep for the next day, your ambition is pretty low to entertain and then go back to work all night... Still should have, though.

So, I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but.... Grand Rapids does have a parking problem. I had customers in from out of state and they went downtown one night to eat. They said the next morning: "Yeah, it looked like a nice downtown. We couldn't find any place to park, though, so we ended up just eating on 28th street instead." So, there you have it, a problem b/c people didn't spend $ in the core. Because we don't have enough spaces? No, but b/c people either aren't willing to pay 6.50 for parking or because they don't know where the ramps and lots are. Would buses help? Doubt it for out-of-towners b/c they probably have the same aversion to mass transit that most GR people seem to have. However, I think trolleys/street cars/light rail would work...it's that whole "tourist" type feel to them that just attracts people, I believe. In my perfect world, there would be lots a few miles out of downtown and trolleys/streetcars/light rail would run from them FOR FREE (parking would cost, but the rail would be free.) This would encourage people to move into the core b/c they could ride for free, people would be able to pay for parking at the same rate since it cost less outside downtown (and the savings would pay for the light rail/streetcars.) Even bussing would see an increase, I bet, because we'd have more public transportation which results in more convenience/flexability. I'd also encourage MUCH more on-street parking....those spaces are more visible and if there are enough, you can just park on the street right in front of the place you are headed. We don't need 2 lanes of traffic on every road in downtown...traffic isn't that bad. Ok, flame away!

True, GRDad, but I don't really care if they did do a backdoor deal with developers..... Oh no, the properties they have are now worth more -> more $ for them. Well that also means more investiment in downtown on underutilized properties and it means higher property tax. If the streetcar system adds say 50,000,000 to property values, then 25 million with a 30 mil rate = 750,000 a year in increased tax revenue. If it causes building on underutilized properties, you might see a whole lot more in growth...'specially condos where now you get the added bonus of more income tax. I have to believe it would generate 1-2 million in extra taxes...this means it pays for itself in what...30-40 years at most? That means it is effectivly FREE.....like to see M6 pay its 750 million that easily or other highways (oh wait, since M6 went through my house hasn't even kept up with inflation...hmmmm....no value there!)