RegalTDP

Whoa, whoa, I wouldn't characterize it that way. I agree with the ^^^others that Des Moines benefits from its status as a capitol and largest city in Iowa, while GR has to compete with other cities taking up the oxygen in our state. But it's also worth pointing out that Michigan and Iowa do not have equal tourism industries. Michigan has the Great Lakes and a robust network of natural inland lakes and streams. We already have a well-established outdoor recreation scene that draws vacationers from out of state. GR White Water's project is limited to Downtown GR and would complement all of this. Iowa as a state has far less inland water, and much of what they do have was formed by dams. They have a bigger project because they are trying to bring more outdoor recreation to the region as a whole. It costs more because it will take a lot more engineering to do it. They are playing catch-up. More power to them; I don't think it's anything for us to be insecure about. Iowa Tourism (2017): Visitor spending: $8.5 Billion Travel-related jobs: 69,570 State Revenue: $507.1 Million Michigan Tourism (2017): Visitor spending: $24.7 Billion Travel-related jobs: 224,476 State Revenue: $2.7 Billion Does GRWW need to be a bigger project? If so, let's talk about what it's missing. We shouldn't necessarily be jealous that other regions are trying to do something bigger - Michigan is blessed with a lot already!

I think it'll be this:

"Doug Meijer Place Where Lotsa Medical Stuff Happens"

^^^ Words I posted a few weeks ago. So, yeah... Starting to rethink that a little... For one of them anyway.

Plus if I understand correctly this will bring in employees throughout the region for training, right? I feel like the Embassy Suites could not have wished for better news within their first year of opening. As for the building itself, I'm not expecting much. Just a larger version of Heart of the City with it's own ramp. Let's see if I'm wrong...

Might be more of a historical curiosity at this point, but the Harrison Park area has also been called Lithuanian Town. Not sure if the moniker was truly commonplace back in its day, but it became more well-known after a local author wrote a book about it. The Vytautas Aid Society is still on Hamilton Ave. Overlapping neighborhoods and names are signs of a healthy city. It means multiple placemakers and communities have placed their stakes in the same spots at different points in history as the larger city continued to evolve.

The ground floor of 20 Fulton E looks like it was built for a CVS or Walgreens. Downtown GR needs 2 of these, really. One for both ends of Monroe Center.

Ottawa County-based Pux Cider is opening up a tasting room on Fuller, next to The Cheese Lady: https://mibiz.com/sections/food-agribusiness/pux-cider-plans-grand-rapids-tasting-room

I missed this story a couple weeks ago, but the blighted structure at 1414 Madison was struck by lightning and is coming down. It's the small red ( ⌝ )-shaped parcel in the middle on the map above. https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/neighbors-want-action-after-abandoned-building-damaged-in-storm/69-152c7f7b-976f-4e2f-b01b-6d6124b6c35f Seems like this building was destined to come down anyway but this will expedite things. Jekel Moving has some historic photos of this building on their site: http://jekelmoving.com/historical_photos

I'm glad you gave me a chance to clarify I realized when I saw your reply how inarticulate my statement was and was like "Oh crap! Not what I intended"

What I meant was that the "vision" articulated is just an effort at coordination between associations - it's not a concrete plan and from the way I read the article I felt concerns about displacement were premature. At least as of yet. It wasn't a comment on the neighborhood itself. Sorry that wasn't clear.

Um, a lot of what you listed is exactly why they make plans... There isn't one person who gets to decide what's "in good shape," what counts as "cheap" or "derelict," or whether NA concerns should be deemed reasonable or "stonewalling." I'm not, like, a huge fanboy of they city's planning process or anything, but I get the utility of these exercises. And plans can be a problem when they are used as a weapon to stop development (like the old SWAN used to do). They're not meant to be binding, but should be used as a guide for the neighborhood stakeholders, who are going to be involved for better or for worse, to state their vision and compromise where they can. And yeah, of course some people are just going to oppose everything anyway. All that being said, this Southtown effort, honestly, doesn't seem to be really much of a plan so far - it's just an effort to coordinate between the different associations that are on South Division and identify focuses of effort. If the "Development without Displacement" headline is what set you off, I get it. But I also think they have to say that because anytime the city talks about developing a low-income neighborhood that's the first thing people ask about. I don't think there's enough here to worry about displacement in the first place, but people are still gonna ask.

That must be part of Walkerview. Might be Falk North America's project - they announced a 78,000 sq. ft. building last December: https://mibiz.com/sections/real-estate-development/walkerview-continues-growth-spurt-as-industrial-vacancy-remains-low

Yeah, and Dogfish Head's merger valuation was reported as $300 million, so wouldn't that make Founders a slightly higher value?

^^^Agree with @organsnyder and I don't really understand the negativity on this thread. All this story is really saying is that a corridor that stretches over multiple business and neighborhood associations is going to come under a single plan, which kind of sounded to me like an ASP process (wonder if they're going to create one?). And I actually found the plan (or at least what they've described so far) to be quite a bit measured and limited - really they're just focusing on some empty lots overlooking several heavily-trafficked intersections and they freely express that it'll be a long effort. Yes there's some pie-in-the-sky language that glosses over obvious obstacles but what do you expect them to say. It's not like they're trying to build SoDoSoPa on Division (or maybe I should say SoDoGeeRap). It's pretty amazing that someone's pouring in so much money into saving the 4-Star - I have a soft spot for all the old theaters and hope one day they all get rescued. IIRC that building was ID'd for demo before he stepped in.

Oh, sorry if I overstated - only really similar in that they're both artificial indentations in the ground. At Pinewood it's more of a rectangle and it's easy to miss if you didn't know it was there. It's a depression about 1-2 feet lower than the rest of the park, which is mostly a flat field. My memory is hazy on when they stopped flooding the area at Pinewood, but it would have been 30-35 years ago. Come to think about it, that's around the time the Kentwood Ice Arena was built. I have no idea if they would have done this at Wilcox Park too, it's just my theory. I figure it would have been done many years earlier, and the features would be more deliberate.

Yes, it was the scale of the building. It's just a few pages back in this thread. It was an informal advisory session, and all that was reported said: ...Which I still think is silly. Especially when you have Wealthy & Diamond like a 1/4 mile over. They didn't mention parking though. Does HPC even consider parking?

I think it used to be a skating rink. That's my guess because Pinewood Park in Kentwood has a similar bowl in the corner of the field. They used to fill it with water in Wintertime and let it freeze. I'm not sure why they stopped doing that - maybe it wasn't safe or maybe nobody used it.

...Or a 1-story Arby's.

That's funny, because I feel like there's been growing antipathy lately toward Stone among the San Diego locals. Maybe they're just getting too big, and too internationally-focused. There's kind of a "I-liked-______-beer-before-it-was-cool" mentality down there anyways IMO. Fair enough, but if it adds any perspective from this side of the country, Founders and Bells are the only two Michigan beers I can get from the supermarkets in my neighborhood. They carry only a few other brands from east of the Rockies. Two beers from Michigan out here and both from the West Side. I ain't ashamed to tell people about them.

I agree that there might be changes to the business model that could hurt GR, but I also think Mahou has an interest in keeping the Founders legacy close to its roots. Founders is a much more visible business than other manufacturers, and isn't going to just wither away from the local consciousness. I don't agree with the sentiment that "most Founders drinkers don't care where it's from." Most beer drinkers just don't drink craft beer period, but those who do care enough to drink craft beer tend to be curious about where the beer is made - I think that's a unique aspect of craft beer culture. But that's beside the point. Mahou stated explicitly they want to grow these brands, and beer brand marketing is all about the narrative. I know more about Jim Koch, the Busch family, and the Lienenkugels than I ever cared to, and I have their ad agencies to thank for that. In the same vein, I think we'll see campaigns centered around Mike and Dave's story: "Two guys from Michigan who had a dream [cue the heartwarming music]," coupled with images of salt-of-the-earth workers with tattoos and beards walking proudly between silver fermenting tanks. Founders isn't just a beer - it's 'Murica. Mahou will want the story to be part of the brand, and keeping the local operation alive will be essential to telling the story. To give an example, even after being acquired by Duvel, Boulevard's Kansas City brewery is still kicking, and is a tourist draw. They're still putting out beers with KC-centric themes, including one where they collaborated with a local rapper. Same with Golden Road (bought by InBev) here in LA. I believe ultimately that is what Mahou wants for Founders. I could be wrong, but I'd be surprised if they tried to have it any other way. So, regardless of what they do to the top brass and/or the current operation, I don't think they're "leaving" GR as a brand. If Mahou succeeds, Founders will be forevermore attached to GR. If they fail, then Founders will go away, everything will close, and 20 years later we'll see the beer resurrected as a cheap watery pilsner after Pabst acquires the name. So let's hope it succeeds.

Ah! That makes sense.

That is dumb, especially since the census updates their data after redrawing the lines. The 2010 census with the old MSA (that excluded Ottawa County) had about 774,000 people. After the new MSA (w/Ottawa) came out in 2013, they updated the previous years' figures: All they had to do was check census.gov.

Heck, Myrtle Beach has a lot of high-rises for a town of only 32,000. I guess beach resort towns tend to be like that.