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Morris

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Posts posted by Morris

  1. On 12/22/2019 at 11:48 AM, GR_Urbanist said:

    Under The Vine is closing.

     

    Doing some last minute shopping and saw their sign today. Cant say I'm shocked. With Leon and Son opening, being far more geared towards serious wine people + being very affordable (plus being a beautiful space), a place geared towards the people that like wine puns, and just always had a "just barely open" look, was on borrowed time.

    The space could use a major renovation anyway, but it leaving puts the empty retail space count up to 5 now on Cherry St.. A bit of a bad look. The ICCF building has also had no takers.

     

    Wealthy St. and Eastown were jumping on Saturday, though. Several shops I went into were mall packed! Made me feel really good, but Cherry St. needs to up their game here.

    Just what new places Eastown  has?, a nail place and a piercing parlor! The owners outpriced the black owned shoe store, so he moved....And the new apartments, where the tattoo parlor is,  a great addition to the neighborhood, with $2000 apartments above....

     

  2. On 3/8/2019 at 8:50 AM, mpchicago said:

    Bissell is adding about 25,000 square feet of office space at it's Walker headquarters.  They expect to hire 100 new people.    EDIT: The Press says up to 150 employees could fill the space, with a weighted average salary of $75,000.  Not bad.

    https://mibiz.com/sections/manufacturing/bissell-to-invest-10-million-to-expand-hq-in-walker

    https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/03/grand-rapids-area-vacuum-manufacturer-adding-100-jobs-10m-expansion.html

    A side note,  I know Bissell is big into supporting pets, but you really don't hear their name much when it comes to philanthropy around town.  I'm I wrong?

    They fund a lot locally, with 

    and nationally, with sponsoring the Puppy Bowl,  before the Super Bowl, with  pet adoptions.....
    I guess they do that, than sponsoring a Sports Team, .....they have their niche...and a very nice one, in my opinion....It also works well with their product line....if you have a pet and go out and buy a vacuum, what brand are you going to buy?
  3. After the "Open House", I learned that they are going for Michigan State Housing Affordable money. They plan to rent to subsidized housing people at the 40% to 60% pay bracket. 

    They are planning on 14, 2 bedroom and 8, one bedroom units, varying between 600 to 900 square feet. They are also planning on an elevator, and some handicapped units.   They are planning on 19 parking spots, with no extra charge for them, with 9 or 10 in the basement, and bicycle parking. They are planning to be on the March 28th planning board meeting docket.

  4. b5828e98c16f0686f46ec01424e4607b200 Madison,  corner of Madison and Cherry.....Former Church. The new owners are proposing a 22 unit apartment conversion for the Church.

    They are planning on parking on the ground level of newer school side for 8 or 9 cars.  Out front, they are planning on a new parking lot, and parking in the back of the Church.  

    The new owners have a LLC called Madison Lofts.

    • Like 1
  5. I read where they want to have no parking at bus stops. This should increase the flow of traffic, because who wants to sit behind a bus? I had a car going into my lane the other day, on Wealthy Street, going around a bus.....The only problem, is if I didn't hit the brakes, it would have been a head on!  28th street needs bus pull over lanes at bus stops, while I am on this subject. It's too busy of a street not to have them!

    Now, if we could only train the bus drivers to not block the road, while stopped at a bus stop.....They tend to angle in and block the road, so they can pull out into traffic easily, but that is illegal, to block a traffic lane...

    I wonder if City Hall read this....

  6. 200 Madison up for auction December 4, 2018

    Church Building in Historic Heritage Hill, Grand Rapids, MI

    https://bid.lastbidrealestate.com/properties/1341029#YXVjdGlvbltpZF09MzMxMiZhdWN0aW9uW2xvY2F0aW9uXT1hbGwmYXVjdGlvbltzdGF0dXNdPXVwY29taW5nJmF1Y3Rpb25bdHlwZV09YWxsJmZpbHRlcj1mb3ItYXVjdGlvbiZmaXJzdD10cnVlJmZvcm1hdD1ncmlkJmlkPTEzNDEwMjkmbGltaXQ9MzAmbG90W2NhdGVnb3J5XT1hbGwmbG90W2xvY2F0aW9uXT1hbGwmbG90W21pbGVfcmFkaXVzXT0yNSZtaWxlX3JhZGl1cz0yNSZvZmZzZXQ9MiZwYWdlPTE.

  7. 20 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

    Haven't you figured it out? The city, in thinking about the carrot and the stick, has decided to use the stick to get people to give up their cars completely. 

    Yes, and they also have to get re-elected too. Don't want to rock the boat too much! Instead of the stick, they should encourage companies like Zip Car with a carrot to  come to GR, with free parking spaces, and maybe even no city taxes for a couple of years....

  8. These new meter locations, are mostly on the main streets, which people will park free on side streets, further making problems for resident parking. If you look at the Eastown location, it is deserted with car parking til 5 pm, when it is free, along Wealthy Street. When the rates were 25 cents per hour a couple of years ago, to one dollar an hour today, shoppers and bar goers, tend to find cheaper parking, in free private lots and side streets.... If they extend that time, like what they did in Downtown Detroit til 10pm, there will be bigger problems. 

    What I am thinking, the City Council is pushing for resident parking only, in certain areas where there is problems. But their enforcement times, are during the day, where the problem is at night, when residents come home after their 9-5 job. And who wants to pay $55 a year, and not guaranteed a parking space, when the city causes the problem, with meters and too little or costly parking space projects, like along Michigan Street....  

     

    • Like 1
  9. We need Zipcar, or another car rental service, in Grand Rapids, if you go carless, for those trips that are not on the bus line, or even a day at the beach.    I know several people that don't have cars, and ride around on scooters, motorcycles, and mopeds, which is another alternative, than a bicycle or bus.... In a ramp or parking lot, like at GRCC, there are spots where cars will not fit, like inside corner places, or odd spots, that could be utiliticised. If you look at other congested cities, like San Francisco, NYC,  and oversea's, they are a big part of the urban scene.  There are at least 4 places where scooters, motorcycles, and mopeds can park free in the downtown area.

  10. On 8/13/2018 at 2:23 PM, iK1NkY said:

    Studio $900 – 975 1 Bedroom $1,100 – 1,575 2 Bedrooms $2,575 – 3,050

    Don't forget the parking fees...     

    From Apartments.com.........

    Unassigned Covered Parking$125

     
  11. On 5/2/2018 at 7:40 AM, GRDadof3 said:

    Interesting read about the Q-Line in Detroit this morning:

    http://michiganradio.org/post/one-year-detroit-s-qline-falling-well-short-expectations

     

    The problem with the Q-Line, besides all the parking on the tracks, which all the parkers have to obey, or get towed, is the length of it, it only goes to New Town, and people like my daughter, who lives in Brush Park, across the street from the New Red Wings stadium,  it ends too short into downtown, so she just walks it.  Putting the tracks in the middle of Woodward would have been smarter, no parking problems, and could have had a Q-Line only lane. Also, bicyclist would not have to deal with the rails, which will crash a bike. 

    Ridership will increase, when the new/rehabbed apartment complexes in New Town get occupied and there is a one rate for the Q-Line and the connected People Mover, which they don't have now. Also, there needs to be a reasonable and safe parking lot at the end  of the Q-Line, so students and workers can park and ride, for a good price. Also, why do city busses use the same route. That cuts into the ridership in a big way.....

    The Q-line is expected to extend North to 8 mile, and when that happens, and when city busses don't use the same route, making a dedicated lane for the Q-line so there is less delays, it will get more ridership.  

     

  12. I am one of those Heritage Hill types! 

    And, if it wasn't for us, Heritage Hill would be a parking lot for the hospitals and downtown....Just look what happened to the near West side where the Y is and that parking lot next to it. Look what happened on the near north side. There used to be low income housing there, that the city tore down. Now, the city is screaming there is no low income housing....I wonder why???? 

    Now, for renters....They have NO vested interest for their neighborhood. If they they don't like it, they get a U-Haul, and move to a nicer area. They are the laziest people, they can't spread salt that is supplied, or shovel their walk for the old people living in the building. My 20 year old neighbor girl was beotching about shoveling snow around her car, while I shoveled the shared driveway all winter long, and they didn't do it once! Don't tell me about renters....blocking the driveway, parking in the driveway.....even caught one renter washing his car with my water in the driveway!

    This proposal  brings back the time after WW2, when a lot of the houses got split up, and ruined. Landlords came in and sucked the place dry,  with very little maintenance, and when renters got better paying jobs and married, had a family, they moved to the burbs, leaving the apartments to lower income people, yes, white people, then after the riots, they moved out to worse types that the slumlords were forced to rent to.......Get your history right....

    Then, young people like me, came in, and fixed up the houses, I fixed up three of them....Now, City Hall bought this report from outsiders to fix the housing problem.  They want a free ride to cover up their mistakes! It ain't going to happen, if they don't want a recall or want to be re-elected. 

    When a majority of the neighborhood goes from owners living there to just plain rentals, the area goes downhill fast!

    Learn from history, and don't make the same mistakes.....

  13. On 11/2/2017 at 7:22 AM, joeDowntown said:

    If you have nothing to contribute other than jumping into a bunch of topics and posting snark, you can stop. There’s a perfect place for your comments: mlive.com. 

    Thanks!

    Joe

    I am not anti-growth, I am for building quality housing, that blends with the surrounding neighborhood. Most of these rental projects tend to infill their property as much as possible, building up to the property lines, no green space, little parking, and have large buildings that look like sore thumbs in the surrounding area, with cheap looking outside designs, that make it look like  tenement housing. Do you think these infills with rental units help the neighborhoods? In my years of living with renters next door, they expect you to clean the joint driveway, clean around their cars with snow removal, clean their walk, too lazy to do anything, like picking up a piece of trash, and block your driveway, because there is no parking spots in front because of inadequate parking. I lived across the street from a flat roof older apartment house, was owned by a slumlord, with some of the tenants that were bad.  Did I mention about the rats and trash problems there?  I do not want this city peppered with apartment buildings that in 20 to 30 years, be like that building. I care what happens, and will crusade to build quality housing, that will stand up to time, with quality people that live there.  What do you think what will happen when there's another recession?  Some of these buildings will go back to the bank, and the new landlords that buy it in foreclosure , that could be worse. 

    Now I will get back down from my soapbox, and let all your cheerleaders have this forum!    You don't see the big picture!

     

  14. I have always found free parking right downtown!

    http://grcity.us/enterprise-services/Parking-Services/Pages/FREE-Scooter-Parking.aspx

    Europe has solved it's very tight parking problems with scooters, bicycles, mass transit, car parking outside city centers.....You can get at least 6 scooters in one car parking place! Also, not many people know, Grand Rapids traffic patterns with mainly 25 mph speed limits, is very conducive to scooters. Of course, with most city leaders think mass transit and bicycles are the way to go, because of their spending millions on buses, and bike lanes. Not too many people want to ride on a bus, wait for buses, slow bus rides that tend to stop at every corner, and the sharing of rides with others with nasty habits and smells! Of course, unless you are going or coming on a bus route, transfers are a pain, and riding the bus, sometimes takes hours, if it goes to where you want to go.  Bicycles are really not too traffic friendly, being too slow, takes very good health to peddle, (especially  uphill), city planning with extended street curbs, car parkers, not looking when opening car doors, and other hazards. 

    Yes, we can learn from other US cities, but we have to look at the rest of the world, also, with their solutions

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