concretepoem
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Posts posted by concretepoem
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Yes, that would be interesting. And right now, I don't think Fiat has a presence anywhere in the U.S.. Not even a tech center. However, Chrysler has a big building in Auburn Hills that is probably 1/2 empty right now.
Fiat actually has a huge presence in America. It owns Case New Holland, the maker of farm and heavy equipment with its HQ in suburban Chicago and factories all over the country. Fiat's CEO Sergio Marchionne is Chairman of CNH, and says he plans to take over as CEO of Chrysler when in exists bankruptcy court in a month or two. Also, I believe that Cerburus, the private equity firm that bought 80% of Daimler's stake in Chrysler, retained ownership of the Auburn Hills HQ. So Chrysler may have no reason, or right, to stay in future years. I could see a scenario in which Marchionne ends up move Chrysler's executive offices to Chicago.
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I almost thought it was new construction, but apparently not:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source...,152.16,,0,3.68
I think it looks pretty good.
Expect to see more popping up around town. From the company's May 6, 2009 Press Release announcing the expansion into GR:
New Unlimited, Flat-rate, No Signed Contract Calling Plans are Most Affordable in the Market
DETROIT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 6, 2009-- Residents of Grand Rapids, Mich. now have a new alternative to costly traditional wireless service plans. MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS), the nation
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I can't remember if anyone has posted this yet, but the City of GR has a survey regarding regional transit on their site:
http://www.grcity.us/index.pl?page_id=7515...;article_id=482
If you're interested in intra-city transit, now's a good time to make your thoughts known.
I just got an email with the subject heading 'Moving beyond the shovel-ready'. It's from a Washington D.C.-based 0rganization called 'Transportation for America' that today unveiled an ambitious campaign, the details of which are available in a pdf on their website, t4america.org
The email announces a 'big, bold, transformational' platform for a "21st Century transportation system were cyclists and pedestrians are safer, trains are faster and cleaner, public transportation widely available and efficient, roads and bridges are in god repair and Americans everywhere reap the rewards of a world-class infrastructure."
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The Shop Hop tonight is going to be a great event. I hope to see Planeteer's shop hopping around!
All of us in Uptown are looking forward to seeing you and your friends at the Shop Hop tonight. The event runs from 4-9pm with three trolleys looping the area all night. Trolley rides are free! The tree lighting ceremony will be at 7pm in front of ICCF, 920 Cherry SE.
Best wishes to you and all the merchants for a great turnout tonight. Someday they'll erect a statue of you, GRGridGirl.
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Yeah, I noticed that too. Ah well. Some things are better left unsaid (for a USA Today article).
What's the bit about the Stokes house having been built in 1916, but relocated to the present site? That seems unlikely...parts of the addition done by the Stokes included using materials salvaged from Europe and imported here, but it's not as if the house was moved to Bonnell from somewhere else...perhaps they got their facts mixed up...
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I'm not sure what this article in today's New York Times about 4 young Grand Rapids natives living together in Manhattan infers about Grand Rapids...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/realesta...3habi.html?8dpc
I took it as a positive and a point of pride...but would be nice to imagine them coming back to GR someday and doing great things here....
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It sounds like this decision will be announced on Friday in Dayton, unfortunately not in Grand Rapids this weekend. Doing this in Ohio makes as much sense as doing it here since both states have a high number of electoral votes and both have polls showing these states are still a toss-up. (Obama up slightly in Mich, McCain up slightly in Ohio)
Wired Maagzine's web site mentions' GR today in context of Hybrids and Harleys rally that rolled into town during McCain visit.
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Another school year begins and not enough parking. Seriously, the solution would be for GRCC to buy up some HH homes and tear them down for surface parking. Obviously some kind of shuttle bus system or light rail is fool-hearty.
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Great photos, Dad. In knew GRCC was a commuter school, but your photos really underscore the downside of that. The student count, 28,000, is a surprisingly large figure, and begs the question of where most of these students are coming from. My guess: still living at home with Mom and Dad in the 'Burbs, so they've got to drive into the city. Imagine if even a third of them where living within walking distance, in Belknap Hill for example. I went to the University of Texas at Austin (student pop: 49,500), which is right in the center of town, we either walked or biked or took the free bus system that ran all over town, or at least the major arteries. Getting a pass to park on campus was almost impossible.
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Yes, but to put things into perspective, I believe the I-196 expansion to 3 lanes from East Beltline to downtown is supposed to cost something like $400 million. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.)
There's a feature story in this morning's New York Times that gives both sides to the debate on the impact of urban streetcar, the politics, the costs, etc. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/us/14streetcar.html
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GR was featured on ABC or NBC world news tonight last week, can't remember which...about pharmacies not carrying birth control or condoms. They featured Kay Pharmacy and he won't carry either. Saw it down here in Miami.
Well, that's the flip side of having a local, family-owned pharmacy instead of corporate-owned drug store. The owners of Kay don't have to sacrifice their fundamental beliefs for a few dollars of profit. They are actually able to run their business based on personal convictions. (How refreshing.) As devout Catholics they won't promote the practice of birth control. If that makes GR seem like a national joke to the swells in Miami and New York, so be it.
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So much is going on this weekend in Uptown! The free Trolley rides around the Uptown shopping districts starts on Saturday from 10am-3pm. Wealthy Street Spring Fling, Farmer's Market, Heritage Hill garage sales, and more.....
A wonderful weekend to spend in the neighborhood! TripleG
AND....Just a bit further up town.....Holmdene, the old (and legend has it haunted) manor house hidden in woods of the Aquinas campus celebrates the 100th anniversary of its construction with the occassion with an Open House at Holmdene on Saturday, May 17 from 12 noon until 4:00pm.
Light refreshments will be served and Holmdene's first, second and basement levels will be open to self-guided tours. In addtion, a DVD on the history of the estate was developed and will be shown continuously throughout the day.
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Mlive had a nice article about Uptown in yesterday's Travel section.
What, no mention of the convenient auto repair facilities? ....seriously, this is nice pub that hopefully went Booth-chain wide...only thing nicer would've been if the writer had linked what's happening on the commercial side with some sense of the neighborhood's residential appeal...walkable scale...tree-lined streets...affordable family homes...maybe it was in the initial draft but got cut for space.
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Sarcasm aside, Lynch's lumping GR in with Lansing, Detroit, Flint as cities suffering from "Michigan
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One the biggest things GR needs to do is sever its ties to a floundering state by establishing it own identity. All this good PR is exactly what GR needs to make that happen. So I say keep the good press coming.
I've got to believe the writer of this piece, from the Op-Ed page of today's New York Times, is using sarcasism to make his point about fixing our economy...but maybe he's serious ...in any event he's gone ahead and done the dis-service of linking GR to Flint, Detroit, and Lansing.
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New in the hood:
West side of Diamond, south of Fulton, where Pepperberry used to be. I had noticed something going on, but today is the first I've seen a sign up for Patina Antiques and they are open for business.
http://grandrapidscity.com/eyellowdir/deta...tina%20Antiques
Should be a nice addition to Blue Door, East Fulton Antiques, etc. One more reason to come into town to live/shop/eat/educate.
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Keith Schneider is writing about Grand Rapids in the NY Times again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/business...ml?ref=business
Authorities on urban policy say that Salt Lake and other cities in the West, big Eastern ones like Boston and New York and smaller ones, too, likeGrand Rapids, Mich., and Charleston, S.C., have become incubators of environmental ideas and programs, with tangible results. Jobs and income are increasing. Central city populations are stabilizing or growing. Businesses are cropping up.Gotta love it!
That is a nice mention for GR in the NYT. I guess being in the Eastern Time Zone qualifies GR as an 'Eastern city'.
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Not necessarily a bad thing, if a bunch of that money ends up buying goods and services provided by West Michigan-based suppliers.
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The Choice is there and many are making it. For instance ITP posted the addition of 1,000,000 riderships in FY06 then FY05.
That's great. Do you know what the total system capacity is, assuming current routes, schedules and buses? In other words, what's the vacancy rate of the Rapid?
Unfortunately, at the same time, many other metro Grand Rapidians have made choices that exacerbate the issues GR Dad identified regarding highway traffic, adding more lanes, downtown parking, etc.
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We're trying to take pressure off of the existing roads, greatly postpone or eliminate the need to add additional lanes on our highways, and alleviate downtown parking demands.
Not sure which assertion of mine you don't agree with, GRDad, perhaps all of them, but if you were in Portland than you likely saw that I-5 running through the middle of town is during is a bumper-to-bumper parking lot most of the day. That's the kind of obvious dis-incentive to drive I'm talking about. Portland, and Oregon in general, also have a collective community spirit it's carried over from the 1960s counter-culture that allows its political process to embrace intelligent alternatives to the status quo, like mass transit.
But it seems to me that a lot of the goals you state could be accomplished if the collective mentality of GR shifted to a rejection of spawl in favor of living, shopping and establishing more businesses throughout all city neighborhoods, including downtown. As tamias6 notes on another post, the Rapid works, at least for those who choose to live and work and shop near its many routes throughout the city. That choice is there. More need to make it.
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If retail downtown is so dependent on abundant parking, where is the retail? (Not something I am asking of you, not putting you on the spot.) I think its all about accessibility. Accessibility via an attractive, clean, and new transit mode.
It's a huge challenge to get people to think about using any mode of transportation for individual trips other than the car, no matter how clean and attractive. Cars and the mobility they afford to go anwhere we want, at anytime we want, define status and sucess in our society. We're not good at waiting patiently for anything, sharing our space, giving up our individual wants and needs for the common good. That has to change before mass transit will gain broad support from politicians, taxpayers, and end users.
Like most fundamental change in consumer behavior, it'll only occur through obvious economic disincentive, when the costs of using a private car--registering it, insuring it, parking it, fueling it--becomes prohibitively expensive.
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GRDAD: Sorry this has gone so far off topic...but thanks to Raildudes for sharing your considerable knowledge on the rail service infrastructure. Imagine passenger rail service someday between Lowell and GR, with a station near College to serve the Medical facilities.
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The Mid-Michigan Railroad (formerly the Grand Rapids Eastern) used to go east everyday to Ada, Lowell, Ionia and / or Greenville. Their major customers to the east included Amway, King Milling, Michigan Wire, American Bumper (now Meridian) and Electrolux.
Raildude...Did any railroads using that track ever offer passenger service between those cities?
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The November 27th issue of Forbes, which came in the mail today, lists America's Largest Private companies.
For the second year in a row Meijer is #10, right behind Betchel.
Forbes lists estimated revenues in 2005 of 13.2 Billion, up 5.6%. 65,000 employees.
Other locals:
Alticor just misses the Top 25, slipping to 27th with 7.2B in revenue, up 13.9%.
Dropping out of the Top 50 is Gordon Food Service, which was 49th last year and 62nd this year, although revenue was up 8% at 3.9Billion. Forbes says GFS employs 7050.
Haworth was at 272, off slightly compared to last year, but again 2005 evenues were estimated to be up 11%. 7,500 employees.
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Wait, so MSU would build an new tower on this development or just occupy one of the towers set to be built? When I look at the layout I don't see to much space to work with unless they plan to occupy one of the towers on the plan. I mean, 70 to 80 million can buy you a lot of building...
I would think that a facility of this sort would need to be clean slate. Not just to meet MSU's high symbolic expectations, but also the demands of the particular nature of a scientific research facility regarding temperature control, lighting control, NVH, clean rooms, and high security issues. I would think they'd have a very demanding specification for their building, and need to start from scratch.
People talking about Grand Rapids
in Grand Rapids
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Correction to my last post...Cerberus is handing over the keys...for $1..... to the new entity that will constitute Chrysler once it exits bankruptcy court. That's $1 for what's said to be the 2nd largest office building in America, beat out only by The Pentagon.