radicaljoy

I'm pretty certain it is not. I believe that is primarily a residence and that the persons that live there "do" Tibet Michigan as a personal mission and have other employment. ('nuff said for privacy sake)

Arrgh! Rizzo took those handy-dandy transit meeting notices out of his sig. Dave Bulkowski sends out an email update called "Getting There Together Weekly" I had written him a while back and suggested that he post stuff here. I spoke to him at Monday's meeting and he said that he is a bit of a technophobe -- not likely to post here, but that he would welcome it being posted here and to pass along his eDress [[email protected]] for anyone that would like to get his emails directly. Here's the last one: Getting There Together Weekly from: David Bulkowski Executive Director of Disability Advocates of Kent County [email protected] Thursday, December 13-the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting at the Kent County Administration Building, 300 Monroe NW, 8:30am. This meeting is intended to be some good old-fashioned democracy in action. A group of us are “just showing up” to the county commission meeting (hence no “fancy flyer”). We are going to say thanks and request that they match the Rapid’s planning dollars in order to get the county-wide study off the ground. To get in control and get back on a roll, we need you to take some action! The action that we need is for you to select one or more of the following and have a go again: (A) Show up for one or both of these events. We really need a good showing, so “just showing up” is the hugest part! This will impact the elected officials in attendance by showing how many people care about the issue. This will impact the wider community via the news media coverage we garner for the events. Folks not there will see that a lot of people support public transportation. No need to worry about public speaking if that’s not in your comfort zone because we’ll have that covered! We simply need you there! (B) Mail or e-mail your state representative and senator to tell him/her you want him/her to support public transportation and to read the recommendations from Rep. Donigan’s subcommittee when they are released at the end of December. Their contact information is at: http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp or http://senate.michigan.gov/SenatorInfo/find-your-senator.htm. Send them your thoughts!

I was wondering the same thing.

Would someone please post a link to the particulars of the transit initiative event? I think that it's today at 10 AM, but I'd like to confirm before heading out. I've spend the last half hour looking for it, but it's gotten buried and the clock is ticking. (That'll teach me what happens when I don't grab my calendar as soon as something comes up.) Thanks in advance. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. edit: I found this in Rizzo's sig: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2226/203554...36f119fa4_o.jpg It's at 7 tonight. Now I have to figure out where I am/was supposed to be at 10. If it's not on the calendar, it doesn't exist.

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.

(referencing the business on the west side of Stray Dog -- north side of Wealthy St., east of Diamond) Just came back from running errands and stopped in for my first visit to Stray Dog. Surprise! -- The building next door looked EMPTY, where I'm sure there had been paintings on easels in the windows as recently as yesterday. Anyone want to jump at this vacancy? I hear that inquiries have already been made -- possibly as living quarters. I think this would be better used for commercial purposes.

It's the neighborhood north of Wealthy St. between Fuller and Diamond. 5 streets -- all dead end, except Culkins. Google: 'Wealthy Heights Land Trust' to see what's going on.

nevermind. t'will be what it will

What they sell, I don't buy. What I buy, they don't sell.

I'm always sad to see a business come and go so quickly -- I see someones dreams and savings lost, as well as what it says about the neighborhood (or perception of the neighborhood). This week, I've cruised the neighborhood at night and during the day. The neighborhood is shaping up nicely. I had never seen the inside of the building, so peeked in the windows to see what the layout is. I've been ruminating/fantasizing about what could go in there. I'd like to see something more basic/useful go in there, I don't think the times and demographic will support more boutique or art shops. So, I thought about what I leave the neighborhood for and one thing that stands out for me is office services. Every month or so, I take my saved up projects down to Staples on 28th. Stuff like large runs of copies, color copies, laminating. Nearby I can go to the Fulton Heights Family Fare for a few copies. Storr will do it and I like to support them, but it's not self serve -- an inconvenience for me (and them?). I've gone over to the UPS store in Gaslight Village -- unhelpful, unfriendly and unappealing. I like to have access to a work table and paper cutter like the big box office places provide. What other services might area folk, home businesses and local small businesses utilize? Maybe some design/layout services? The space could accommodate 2 or 3 small (compatible) service businesses. A tailor? Computer Whiz? Like the Apple store genius bar -- simple stuff like adding memory or "Why is my WP application displaying documents in 24 pt. characters?" kind of stuff. I could envision heading over there 2 or 3 times a week to hang out at Stray Dog and get odds and ends handled at the Biz Shoppe. Anyone else want to brainstorm on this and maybe plant seeds for an entrepreneur out there? Still wishing that Wealthy Market was a market that I could support. BTW - Bear Manor: Your houses look great. I'm looking forward to seeing how the plantings look next year. THEN -- next on my wish list will be the plaza east of there that has Jamaica Daves. Could he swing moving up front and putting in more dine-in space? Is the owner of that property community minded? (Willing and able to improve the property and attract new businesses.)

Isn't there a meeting tonight too?

It's gonna be a lively evening round here! From 5 to 8 PM that same evening, the businesses on the south side of Wealthy between Eastern and Charles are having an event. (Literary Life Bookstore & More, Inc., Wealthy at Charles and Kitchen Design Studio). See the post two back for more information.

Thursday, October 25, 5:00-8:00 PM An Evening of Celebration Literary Life Bookstore A Truly Independent Bookstore 758 Wealthy St. SE (at Eastern) www.literarylifebookstore.com Literary Life Bookstore & More, Inc., along with Wealthy at Charles and Kitchen Design Studio, will host an evening of celebration. LitLife will be happily celebrating their grand opening with drinks and desserts, along with prize drawings and extended shopping hours. Wealthy at Charles will be having their own 'Grand Open House', a combination of a belated grand opening party with wine and appetizers, along with an open house designed to introduce their style of urban home and garden decor to new fans of Wealthy Street. Kitchen Design Studio will be hosting an open house in appreciation of their loyal customers, and as an introduction to new customers, with a chance to meet a star chef, sample some amazing food and beverages, and tour the kitchen vignettes in the studio. The night will include music, conversation, food, drinks, and fun, all in one block on Wealthy Street between Charles and Eastern. Don't miss it!

event over

By now you've probably seen the other thread about Health Hutt. The answer to your question (" . . . will this be enough to keep downtown residents from having to drive out to Meijer?"), IMO, is no -- but it's a start. It will probably bring some folk from areas around downtown there too. I'll be checking it out as soon as they open. I'd like to have one here in Easttown/EastHills, but it will be another option to shopping at Harvest Health at Eastern & Burton. I'm a typical 'murcan -- I like choice.

Oh. Thanks for the warning. (I think it's good for GR, I'm just not a crowd person.)

Bear Manor -- thanks for the trees you planted in the front yards of the houses there on Wealthy this week. Any chance you'll add the house on the southeast corner of Barth & Wealthy -- just west of the media center annex, to your stable?

What is BOTM? BTW - I'll be there this evening with a friend. We'll walking in from our homes in Easttown/East Hills, so our faces will probably be glowing (sweaty) -- not so fresh.

Taking this further off topic . . . check out the spoof ads on the adbuster website. Maybe ya'll will like the Obsession ad. http://adbusters.org/spoofads/index.php

BTW -- please keep me posted on the task force meetings. I'm sorry I didn't make the last one. I wound up going to the Freethought lecture that night -- it was a topic I was very interested in. Early on, some folk suggested that I wouldn't find enough to do in GR (compared to Chicagoland). I find I've too much to choose from -- often difficult choices.

Until a few years ago, Chicago had The Great Ace, sort of an Ace Hardware superstore. In addition to the usual hardware store stuff, it had IKEAish furniture and other essentials -- all with an "urban" sensibility. It was appealing enough that I can see visitors to the city checking it out. What killed it was Target, Costco, etc. moving into the city. And of course Chicago has Crate & Barrel and many other retailers. Downtown GR and nearby neighborhoods don't have any of those types of businesses. I've always loved hardware stores and one of the appealing things about the neighborhood I live in (East Hills) is Rylee's. Here's the URL for an article about The Great Ace closing: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn41...208/ai_n9725460 Previously someone suggested a scooter/small car dealership. I sort of second that -- I think a scooter/moped business would do well. And a small grocery store. Chicago has a number of smallish, slightly upscale grocers, like Treasure Island. Was City Market ahead of its time? Did it have the basics? The last city/town I lived in in Illnois was St. Charles. Before that, I lived in it's sister city of Geneva -- both in the heart of the town. I preferred St. Charles because partly because of the grocery store in the heart of town (an independent). In Geneva I was only a block from a hardware store, but I use grocers more frequently than hardware stores. Geneva was more boutiqu-ey (like Ada?). It was popular for visitors, but St. Charles was more "real". I know GR doesn't have the population density of Chicago, but I'm familiar with it, so it's my frame of reference.

Me too. And I'm relatively new to GR. Sorry I'm posting a reply to something a month old. I lurked for awhile before even registering and am just digging through old posts as I have time and interest. Going off topic: UP is giving me more reasons to like GR -- and a way to pass stuff on to others who can't figure out why I'm so enamored with GR. (People who for the most part (of course) never been here -- or have only passed through.) I got/get that alot about Detroit and Cleveland, the cities I lived in growing up. They have "bad reputations" (partly earned) but people who have never KNOWN the cites love to dump on 'em. 18 years of my adult life were spent in living in the Chicagoland area, and I don't think it's "all that". Further off topic: I like to unashamedly say I'm from Detroit -- just to mess with people's presuppositions. And if the person knows Detroit neighborhoods -- to narrow it down and say that I'm from Highland Park -- that really messes with their minds. Of course, I'm old enough that it has gone through a lot of changes since. My experience here (in GR) is that some of the folk that least appreciate GR, are the one's that have "always" been here. (Except for the ones that get really defensive if you say anything that might be preceived as critical of it). GR has a second city mentality (Ann Arbor being THE cool city). I think Grand Rapids is VERY cool.

n/m

Tomorrow - Saturday, May 12, is the Wealthy Street Business Alliance 'Spring Fling' event, which supports the MLK Academy