jonrapley

Free for all riders.

Considering I use that stop daily I would love that idea! I think the perk the Laker Line has is that SH employees coming from the westside can park their car at a lot close to a stop and take the bus in. It is better than having them drive past thier place of work to park at the Plymouth lot. You will be surprised how often I hear that complaint.

Spectrum employees are pretty much forced to ride the #19 from the plymouth lot to thier downtown campus, so those numbers are expected. As someone who lives along the Michigan corridor the changes to the #19 has made my life a lot easier.

The Whole Foods one was a shot in the dark. My thinking was that we are seeing a lot of new stores enter our market by woodland, that it's only a matter of time before others take notice. Regarding GRFC I know their relationship with 5/3rd isn't the best after the Detroit game there 2 seasons ago. The attendance was a lot less than anticipated and the field was not safe to play on. I know they are trying hard to find their own stadium though, so I would like to think it can happen.

I'll have a go at this. 1. The topic of parking continues to dominate any article regarding downtown development. 2. The 3 houses along Michigan street between, the third coast residential building and Jimmy John's are demolished and plans for another appartment building are released. 3. Initial plans are drawn up to relocate the USPS building downtown. However it will be a slow process, with the river restoration starting up and the redevelopment of the 196 bridge close by. 4. More construction along Brige street as developers eye up the current El Sombrero site for future infill. 5. GRFC unveil plans for a new 10,000 stadium somewhere on the outskirts of the downtown core. My guess is north of the city by the river or somewhere on the westside. 6. 201 Market site stalls with little news. 7. An increase of development on south division along the silver line route, including income restricted mixed use projects. 8. Project 1 turns out to be very underwhelming. 9. Talk of Whole Foods opening up in the area intensifies. 10. Ridership grows on the Rapid bus system and hours of service are extended past midnight.

It's such a good list to read through. Just when you think things are slowing down, you get reminded so much more is on the way.

Eye roll all you want but there is obviously a demand for the business that have opened up. It's a lot better than having old abandoned buildings.

I was there earlier this week. It's coming along nicely. Looks like it's mostly interior stuff left for the most part. It was dark outside though, so I could be wrong. Also saw what I think is going to be the REI building being worked on.

I thought Bosna Express was mentioned some time back as the replacement.

Leave Stella's alone!!!

This outlet mall is interesting because it's almost designed to feel like you are walking downtown in a city full of stores, whereas the reality couldn't be further from the truth.

I'm looking forward to the Laker Line to begin construction and to see what improvements it brings to our bus system. Obviously excited for all the major developments too downtown.

Yeah without balconies I can see it looking like the newer Third Coast Building on Michigan in-between Benson and Grand. My God that thing is ugly.

It's so much taller than I anticipated.

I am just excited to have more options in my neighborhood. The fact that it's walking distance from my house is always a plus.

The big issue i see isn't parking, it's traffic congestion. If the city was to add more spaces downtown it would encourage even more people to drive, rather than find an alternative mode of transport. I do like what the city has done with dash lot and new dash bus system, but it needs to be improved on. From the cities point of view, I can see how encouraging turnover is key to success.

I have heard a lot.of concern from business in the Monroe north neighborhood. The taking away of the parking lot, for movies in the park, and all the road closures due to construction has really hurt that area. The article states they are looking at encouraging people to park in ramps rather than meters for long term parking, but to my knowledge there is no ramp close by to that area. I am all for acting like GR is a big city when it comes to parking, but big cities also have a much better public transit system.

That's crazy, that's my blue team! I was the keeper you were shooting on in that pic!

I played Broomball last year in that league. The game is a lot of fun, but yes the ball kept on going through the railings.

On Downtown Grand Rapids Inc Facebook page they had mentioned the possibility of having broomball, hockey and other activities on the Monroe north ice rink.

It will be visible to everyone in the Amway opposite lol but a taller building is a taller building

I don't want to be negative but with so many projects in GR falling through or being downscaled it's hard to get excited about something that isn't scheduled to even start being developed for another few years.

I think the downtown core needs to grow before we can support a commuter train. I have to imagine the majority of people that live in this 196 corridor that work in GR do not work close to where the train will end.

So is the office building still being but then? (Sorry for the long link, not used to being on this site on my phone) https://www.grbj.com/articles/91932-franklin-pulls-out-of-studio-park?utm_source=MagnetMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=smiller%40geminipub.com&utm_content=3005%3A%20GRBJ%20Early%20Edition%3A%20Dredging%20would%20link%20down&utm_campaign=GRBJ%20Early%20Edition%3A%20Dredging%20would%20link%20downtown%2C%20Lake%20Michigan&fbclid=IwAR2k69POiK7gw5_9fyM5mgHJ0SojSPilKU9zqsWSaBen0u45oIa4KBdCrK4

In my opinion all this new river development is great, but I feel like it's missing the entertainment aspect. Many cities around the world have water side promenades filled with cafe's, bar's and restaurants. Why can't something similar be done here?