demhem

John Ball Park and West Fulton

I recently talked to someone who works at a hotel downtown and this is one of the most frequent questions she receives from visitors: "where is the nearest pharmacy/Walgreens/etc."

Phew, let's hope not.

I don't think its retention. GVSU has the third highest retention rate (85% this year) in Michigan for first to second year students (behind only UM and MSU).

It is parking for County employees. This property was part of a series of land-swaps in this area between the City, County, and MSU. The County lost a parking lot along the river so this property was traded and subsequently torn down. Not the best use for this lot but better than parking being along the river. Hopefully it won't stay parking for long.

I can almost guarantee that the city will not just let it sit there unfinished and exposed. You would have to look at the requirements and conditions of the approval, but something will have to be done.

The renderings look impressive:

That is wild. That place was regularly busy, especially while GVSU is in session.

The vintage clothing store is in the small retail building just to the east. From what I understand, they wanted more space and couldn't expand at their original location. This location also offers them improved ADA and some of their own parking. Hopefully it works better for them and their old location gets occupied by another long-term use. The block with Frank's and Bitter End has long been active and occupied. In the meantime, this is a HUGE improvement to the old UAW building (new brick facade, window transparency, improved lighting, and an active use at the sidewalk). Not sure on exact timeline. Their announcement indicated a fall opening.

I live within walking distance of Rise/Squibb and the place is pretty consistently busy. There is also a new vintage clothing store next door and Frank's Market is moving toward that end of West Fulton into the old UAW building which they are currently renovating/expanding:

It sounds like i'm the odd-man out here but I liked the walk-up style of JP. It was similar to Founders and that is what i've come to expect from places I go to looking for craft beer and casual food. I also think that their pizza is fantastic. Having said all of that, the back area is absolute dead space.

I know, and my comment was more or less to poke at that narrative as I see it far too often and I don't necessarily agree.

Bad signs are exclusive to West Michigan. Who knew?

Looking GR Building Eye, they are at least still progressing with permits. Electrical was pulled on July 8th with rough-in progress inspection on July 26th.

According to the GVSU 2020 Capital Outlay that was submitted to the state for funding, the "Computer Information Systems Classroom Building" is being proposed for the Allendale campus: https://www.gvsu.edu/cms4/asset/83D77566-0FCE-1482-0E85CB93ACE30B91/capital_outlay_project_request_2020.pdf I would assume this would house their computer information systems and computer science programs, but I could be wrong.

According to the GR permit map it is going to be an indian restaurant called Pind Indian Cuisine .

https://www.woodtv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2019/06/van-andel-arena-redesign-proposal.pdf Released.

I second the Transit app. I use it in every city I visit where I'm using transit. I would imagine that The Rapid won't create their own when there are perfectly capable third party developers creating great apps already.

I mean, this is likely true, but I work near the hill and stand in line or sit near people with Spectrum Health badges almost every time I go somewhere to eat. I also see them walking along the river. It is definitely not uncommon.

Maybe this is the millennial in me, but the biggest recruiting and retention issue for me would be working downtown vs. working in a corporate office park in the burbs. Why work for a company or organization where I have to drive to Wendy's for lunch when I can walk through a bustling downtown for 30-45 minutes and grab a sandwich, food truck tacos, or eat in a park along the river? It's a no-brainer for me and part of the reason why I am so happy working for my company downtown. If I was moved to the suburbs and had no cool places to walk to or had to eat in a company lunch room every day I would be miserable and quickly look for another job.

This infographic is from Fall 2016: https://www.gvsu.edu/cms4/asset/6B065790-A2AE-2B1E-88DF36DD5F665A68/route_50_by_the_numbers_infographic_-_w17(2).pdf

Do you mean commuting between campuses? At least when I attended a decade ago it was not heavily reliant on commuters (unless you count those living immediately off-campus as commuters). It seems to me that it is largely a residential campus and has been for quite some time now. Something like 90% of freshman lived on-campus when I attended. The amount of student housing that they have out there both university and private is pretty wild.

The only way I could support this is if it is a dedicated bus lane. Adding lanes to trunk-line such as this doesn't solve congestion problems, it just induces demand and fills the lanes with cars again.

You are correct. A new arena is identified in their 2018 Campus Master Plan on the Allendale Campus: https://www.gvsu.edu/facilitiesplanning/gvsu-campus-master-plan-32.htm

Looking at Malamiah from a different angle... isn't it kind of cool that the DT Market could be acting as an incubator space for small businesses to become successful enough to obtain their own storefront? Not sure exactly why they are moving, but what I described could be a scenario.