suydam

\ Is this a franchise/chain operation, or are they the same Sweet Yo's that opened in EGR this summer?

M.E. Davenport, the man for which Davenport Unviersity is named actually started University of Grand Rapids too. That school folded and sold to Aquinas College in 1945. So it was very similar to Davenport, good observation. You can see some of the University of Grand Rapids buildings still at Aquinas today in fact, though I have no idea which.

Stonesthrow is great! We bought most of our new furniture there. It's a one-of-a-kind-in-GR furniture shop too... huge asset for that neighborhood (and a great excuse to have dinner at Red Jet after shopping).

I believe their main facility is technically at Knapp and the Beltline, not out on 68th. Their corporate offices are at the Knapp location for sure and that theater has IMAX (though I have no idea if 68th might as well, never been).

This was my main question really.... The sushi joint is to go in the now-dirt lot in front of Vivant. I thought the next article hinted that the lot next to vivant would go too for a building altogether different than the sushi shop. In terms of nearby, urbanized destination shopping/dining districts, EGR has a parking deck. Even with that, we have people complaining about lack of parking on-street. It's the nature of our auto-centric culture whether you agree with it or not. I would imagine losing a parking lot, even one marked for customers of Vivant only, is going to cause consternation among business owners (justified or otherwise).

Am I reading this correctly that Vivant's parking lot will go away and a building will go up in its place? That's a substantial loss of parking, surprised that's moving ahead. Don't jump on me. I'm not arguing necessarily, but you'd think the other businesses would want there to be some parking in the area and that seems like a nice, newly surfaced lot prime for use by visitors and brewery customers. Has there been any movement on this?

I think you'd lose a lot of ridership that currently originates in GR as they'd drive to Kalamazoo and catch the train there. Certainly Hollanders might do that (or just skip the train altogether). For me, the greatest strength of the Pere Marquette is its simplicity... I park, I climb on the train and when I get off the train I'm already in Chicago.

I heard a restaurant... Bonefish Grill maybe?

.... over the course of 30 agonizing minutes at 10mph. I agree with the need for the station to be downtown, but it eliminates much of the benefit of rail travel when the first hour occurs at such slow speeds.

Newsweeks's using census data. Oh well. Fortune Magazine named us a Michigan success story a few months ago after sending actual reporters to visit. I refuse to be too worried about this Newsweek piece.

If you look at the other 9 cities in the nobody even cares. So what does that say? They agree (likely not) or are they less sensitive than we are (maybe)? The article accuses Rochester of suffering because "some of the major corporations based there, like Kodak, have gone out of business or simply moved elsewhere." Kodak may have gone through bankruptcy but they're still located on Rochester and very much in business. What a poorly researched article.

Proof of the further decline of UP. Twitter, GRNow.com, Facebook both "scopped" the forum on the closure of Bloom and Corez. It's kinda sad actually... there was a time in the very recent past I could check here to learn things about GR before they ever got posted elsewhere. Twitter serves that purpose much more effectively now.

Yes, splitting hairs... but technically Breton Village isn't EGR and the new Anthropolgie store will not be EGR either: http://www.eastgr.org/files/EGRStreetMap.jpg

I fully agree.... big displays in public places were the engine of ArtPrize attendance. I suspect they will be again this year. Also, pre-party tonight at The Factory, 7pm. Details on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=139651806078017

Speaking of ArtPrize are there any open pre-parties other than the one I list/link below? Art Prize Pre-Party at The Factory Sep 15th, 7pm-9pm (please RSVP) http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=139651806078017&ref=ts

Yikes. I would say the last thing we need is more chains (Subway, Pizza Hut, Domino's are already there, right?) I'm not sure what "hippieish" means but I assume you find Bombay Cuisine, Brandywine and Wolfgang's hippiesh? Just down the street is Sandmann's, Wealthy St. Station, Winchester each of which is wildly different from each other. What would a chain restaurant add to that mix? What kind of chain restaurant are you after?

I recall that as well now that you mention it. My response was primarily addressed at the guy who wanted a downtown/GRR loop. I wasn't clear if he was after rail or bus, but bus sure seems easier in this situation.

An express bus route with in-terminal boarding (or at least fully covered and climate controlled) would be easy to put in place and serve this need.

I cannot believe, after checking out their profile, nobody brought up the "Hotel Cheyenne, Walt Disney Company"

I'd love to have a store at Mich/Fuller too... but to say they missed the boat by putting their new store smack-dab in the middle of the most affluent shoppers in metro GR is probably stretching it. They are going to make good money at that store and I'm fairly certain the buying power of people within 3 miles of that store trumps the buying power of people within 3 miles of the Mich/Fuller lot. That said, I wish they'd honor their original plans and plant some city roots near pill hill.

I completely agree with your analysis. Often, it seems, people who are either "against" sustainability (how can you be?) or more specifically against the sustainability movement, seek to devalue or discredit accomplishments showing their faults. The key takeaway from LEED in general is that if you give people a framework, show them the value in adhering to the framework, and get them some positive PR for their efforts, they will do the right thing. Sure they could always do more, but sometimes "great is the enemy of better than nothing." :-)

In terms of perception, busses are still running on gasoline, spewing diesel fumes, etc. I'm not saying streetcars don't have that, but people imagine trains as something that pollute less. Even your attached video includes the guy saying "if money was no object, all things being equal, I would chosen rail." Don't get me wrong, I understand BRT and what it could bring, but at the end of the day I also understand why people struggle to see the difference between BRT and regular buses.

Paster - one who applies paste. Pastor - church leader. :-)

I'm a little surprised the bike shop hasn't put up a bike rack at Celebration. That always surprises me when I go there (and it's a nice bike shop, so I actually visit from time to time).

Very good point. In general I really like the concept, but I agree... gimmick architecture would cheapen the space, and if (god forbid) it fails, you've got something that's much harder to repurpose.