cutlervillegr

I wonder if the design is expandable for more seating later on? It doesn't appear so, with the roof/canopy over top. It seems like 3-5k now would be fine, but hopefully 8-10k is needed later on for a soccer team or GVSU football.

I think this is a great idea, and much more realistic than attracting a team from one of the Big 4 leagues (will not happen in GR). If you look at the other cities that have NLL teams, they are comparable to Grand Rapids. (Rochester, Hamilton, Albany, etc). The league does not have any teams in the MidWest, so GR would be a good location. And it's reasonably close to the teams around Lake Ontario, for some close-ish rivals. VAA would be decently sized for a lacrosse league. One thing that matters is youth lacrosse. I think it's much bigger on the East Coast than here. That helps for attendance...

As someone who drives that stretch of M-37 every weekday, I can confirm that this is badly needed. There was an accident just this afternoon north of 84th Street -- and that's a pretty common occurrence. I'd be curious to see the accident volumes on the stretch between 68th and 92nd. The stretch of M-37 between M6 and Hastings is growing rapidly. Even Patterson Ave has seen a big uptick in traffic at rush hour. Last summer, MDOT upgraded M37 from 92nd to Middleville, including some better turn lanes and a traffic light at Crane Rd. I'm guessing by the time the widening is complete between 76th and 92nd, we'll be discussing the need to expand this through Caledonia village to the county line. This isn't to say Wilson Ave doesn't need this, also...

I don't know much about the land (whether it is contaminated or not). Would this be a good candidate for some residential in-fill? Some high density housing could definitely fit in here; the area to the East and South is already the Godwin Heights neighborhood. I think the footprint is a little small for a Tesla factory, and it's been sitting for many years without any industrial development. Maybe a candidate for re-zoning?

Check out the Buffalo Main Street Mall for reference. A pedestrian road that killed all the business on the street. So now they are bringing back the cars to try and stimulate growth. And yes, they had an at-grade subway along that street, so rapid transit + no cars did not equal success.

Driving down M-37 at rush hour will tell you that there is a strong amount of Kent/Barry traffic occurring. The Middleville-Hastings corridor has definitely seen some strong population growth that should continue.

CSX is moving more towards interchanging with Short Lines (Tier 2 or 3 rail companies). Essentially, CSX doesn't want to switch out factories or individual businesses -- they want the short lines to do that -- but they will haul the freight from city to city. CSX Grand Rapids Subdivision is well set up for that. CSX can interchange with the G&W companies in GR and Holland, along with the shortline that comes up from Indiana and Kalamazoo (owned by Watco, I believe). CSX has some active customers by the airport, in Alto, and by the Wyoming Yard; along with Padnos on the West Side. I'm not aware of much additional traffic. They could let G&W switch those customers out and just work out of Wyoming and Holland yard. As someone already mentioned, CSX selling the track does not mean a more passenger rail-friendly operation would go in. It's fun to imagine what a commuter rail system would look like, but it would be a tough sled to get it going. Let's start by seeing 2x daily service to Chicago via Amtrak, or GR to Detroit service via Amtrak...

There's actually been a decent amount of Rochester-to-Grand Rapids migration the past decade. I personally know about a dozen or so. There's one college/university in the area that's responsible for the majority. Now getting the Western New Yorkers to root for the Lions or Tigers is a whole different beast. Those sports allegiances die hard...

Technically, M-37 doesn't pass through Gaines Township (NE boundary is 60th and Patterson). So, is this an expansion of the infrastructure around M-37 & M-6 for the new industrial/warehouse growth occurring around that area? Some additional lanes for 60th, 68th, Patterson, could be useful. M-6 clogs every afternoon at the M-37 interchange, so there is some opportunity there, too. If money or time or forward thinking weren't issues, I would suggest quite a few highway expansions: Re-build and expand I-196 from the Beltline to Hudsonville (I know I-196 is getting rebuilt from Grandville to Hudsonville right now, but why not add an additional lane for future growth in Ottawa County)? Expand I-96 from 28th Street to I-196 exit? Expand US-131 from I-96 to 10 Mile Rd? Shoot, why let Wilson become the "West Beltline"? The East Beltline is a mess during rush hours. Why not make it a limited access freeway connecting 28th Street @ I-196 to I-96? And lest we get too crazy with adding only highway lane miles, why not keep moving forward with the commuter rail option from Holland to downtown GR?

https://www.mlive.com/news/2020/01/see-which-roads-in-your-area-gov-whitmers-borrowing-plan-would-fix.html Mlive did an article about this a couple of weeks ago. Only widening project I saw was M-37 (Broadmoor/Beltline Ave) from 76th to 92nd Streets in Caledonia. Very much needed widening project. Of course, that's not until 2024.

Not just lately.... Neither political party is particularly interested in balancing the budget or reducing the debt.

I think what tends to happen in situations like this is stagnation for Founders in GR. Instead of seeing growth for Founders GR operations, instead you see further growth opportunities move elsewhere. Let's say Founders needs to expand capacity in 2022 (hypothetically). Before this, it probably would have involved purchasing or building in GR. Now, new operations may crop up somewhere else in the country. The corporate PR machine will say that opening a plant in Texas helps cater to the large population there, that this isn't replacing GR operations, this is a good thing for Founders, etc. Then, in 2025, a bottling line is shifted from GR to Texas. This continues until not much is left in GR. I hope I'm wrong. But there are innumerable examples of this occurring in many industries across the country. Time will tell, but while it may be a positive for Founders and their investors, it probably won't be the optimal development for GR and West Michigan. The other problem is that profits won't be filtering into GR. Profits go to the corporate headquarters and philanthropy, investment, etc. stay there and not in GR.

Does anybody know how well this building is leasing? I drove by Sunday for the first time in months, and it looked like there were quite a few cars parked outside.

My critiques tend to be related to the following: 1) When MDOT repairs a road, they tend not to future proof it. Examples being the twin I-196 projects in GR and Hudsonville. If you're going to take the time and money to do a major rebuild/reconstruct, why not prepare for future growth, too? MDOT seems to do projects for the present, or even for the traffic levels of 5-10 years ago. 2) Too often, I hear that Michigan roads are poor due to the weather conditions. Having grown up in an area of the country with twice the snow and similar temperatures, you can plow and salt the roads, and repair potholes. Somehow, Michigan hasn't looked to other states in the Northeast and Midwest to figure out what they already know about dealing with snow and freeze/thaw. Taxes and fees (also taxes) can be slushed around and make it difficult to tell state vs. state who is investing more or less in infrastructure. I don't know truly where Michigan stands, but I do know that Michigan taxes are not so low that under-investment can be the sole explanation for Michigan's infrastructure. I have to think that poor management, bad decision making, and poor engineering (see M-6 west of 131) have contributed collectively to the state of the roads.

I know Mdot isn't forward-thinking, but this is a stretch of highway that should be EXPANDED while it is reconstructed. The GR-Holland corridor isn't going to stop growing, so why not move the area around M-6 to 3 lanes in each direction now? Oh, yeah, because the gas tax isn't high enough yet...