d8alterego

That's why I believe such a "downtown GR to airport" line could work. A new rail line that travels through undeveloped land serves no one once it is opened (ie the Denver airport line). The difference is that this line would travel through existing neighborhoods along an existing rail line. Feeder bus routes could collect riders and drop them off at stations along the route adding more local riders besides flying travelers. GR has never had that level of transit interconnectivity with rail and bus systems. Plus high density redevelopment potential is there in warehouse and commercial districts toward the airport. Can we imagine a 28th street corridor with 5 over 1 residential structures (or greater density) and walkable neighborhoods? While future ridership and development projections should of course be studied, I've seen the success of transit oriented development first hand. Also, I believe this would be a 10 mile rail line compared to a 18+ mile line from Detroit to DTW. Thus I would think it would be cheaper and more attractive for Lansing to support it.

A BRT line with that many station stops and traffic signals (even if given signal priority) would probably not entice the flying public who want an express mode of transit to and from the airport (Rail = 5 or 7 stops to BRT = 22 stops).

You make a good point regarding the ridership of the Q line, but the Q line does not terminate at the airport nor would this airport line interact with street traffic. I can see locals and flying travelers using this line more frequently. Also, has any transit line in America been self sustaining? High ridership successes? Yes. Cost effective? I don't believe any are. Return on investment? Depends on studies and planning.

I agree that there are large industrial areas now but I can see a lot of redevelopment into residential and commercial uses in future decades. The moment a station on an airport light rail line opens, developers take notice. I can see the line having anywhere between 5-7 stops total which should make it attractive to ride and quick enough to get from city center to the airport.

Since I no longer live in Grand Rapids, nor Michigan, I'm not sure I'm the one to do so. However I still love GR so much that I follow this UP channel.

According to Bloomberg it costs, on average for light rail, above $100 million per mile. The potential 10 mile rail line I drew, even though it utilizes an existing rail corridor, would cost somewhere around $1 billion. But this line would not travel through rural areas waiting to be developed. The density is already there to immediately benefit those areas. The redevelopment potential, in my opinion, would bring in far more than $1 billion in residential and commercial property taxes over the years.

As much of a fantasy as this may be, how about a rail system? I could see a lot of development/growth at stations along the route; especially along the 28th Street corridor.

Tyson's Corner will soon be home to the tallest tower in the DC region. BISNOW

"The Boro" phase 1 in Tyson's is complete. BISNOW

"The Corner" development is now open. Curbed Detroit

New renderings of Amazon HQ2. Link is here: Curbed DC

If it was torn down, I wish the city would buy it and turn it into a park. While I am sure that option would not be cheap, more people would be able to enjoy that view.

Silver Spring Purple Line construction:

Do we know if the theater will have eye popping signage or does the billboard law (mentioned earlier) also effect the front of the theater? For instance, a version of this:

Hello West Michiganians. It has been a very long time since I last commented on the GR UP forum but I have stopped by on occasion to catch up on new developments. I am very proud of GR and I miss living there. However I recently read an article by CityLab that confused me: "To provide context, we do a rough comparison of these 50 cities to America’s 53 large metros (with more than 1 million people). We exclude two metros, Charlotte and Grand Rapids, Michigan, because they experienced significant boundary changes that would have affected their results; that leaves a comparison group of 51." CityLab I'm curious as to how the Grand Rapid's city boundary changed. Was land annexed recently by the city?