GRGridGirl

Thursday night is the annual Holiday Hop in East Hills and on Wealthy Street SE. It's the best time to experience urban holiday shopping.

On train heading to birmingham. Pubs here are social gathering places bringing in diverse crowds. During the work week, the pubs are slammed at 1pm, having a beer or two during lunch is common. In london, I've been going to pubs in the soho-holborn area. Thanks for the suggestions!

What if Division and Wealthy turned into this round-a-bout? I'll take lots of pictures of r.a.b's this week while in the UK. Note to self, look both ways before crossing the street! I'm going to the UK for R&D on English pubs in London, Oxford, and Birmingham. Does anyone have any favorites or suggestions? I need to come back to the States with a "wealth" of information... I'm planning on going to 30-40 pubs over four days.

I love MDOT's information site on how to navigate a Roundabout. How did MDOT manage to hire the Speak and Spell guy??? Folks might want to check out the City information page too. I fear a lot of close calls from out-of-town drivers....

Thanks, feel free to use it. I hope to see you soon Rumz! On another note, the event last night was great. Throughout the evening I would say 200+ people attended. Lot's of positive feedback on the new shops.

The following are for description use purposes for the 10 new/recent businesses in East Hills. Cheveux: 968 Cherry SE. New retail personal care storefront. A hair salon and full service spa. Formerly located in Eastown, owner Cody Wyland relocated his business to East Hills because

To not steal the light away from what's going on in Eastown and because I couldn't find a thread that was dedicated to East Hills, I started this one. Yes, the business district in East Hills is thriving. Currently the business district is at a 98% occupancy rate. I would have to say that is one of the highest occupancy rates in any of the urban business districts in GR. There is approx. one space available left. The competition to get in some of the vacant spaces has been fierce. The success of the district is from many people and organizations, past and present. The Historic Preservation tax credits have helped. The new brick street on Cherry, the reconstruction of Lake Drive, the ornamental lighting, the banners, the streetscape amenities and bike racks have all contributed too. The redevelopment of the vacant corner into the East Hills Center was an incredible boost to the district. Just a couple years ago people avoided walking by the EHC corner, now thousands of folks walk by this corner every week. ICCF, the Green Well, and the Fairmount Square project will enhance the district more. The density and walkable streets create a compact urban business district making it easy for patrons to shop from store to store. The private investment in the surrounding neighborhood and increase in owner-occupied housing helps. It's been a team effort and when there is no more space available in the EHBD, the success will trickle to neighboring business districts. I look forward to the day when all four of Uptown's business districts are close to a 90% occupancy rate. It will happen, it just takes time. To celebrate the re-opening of Cherry Street and to welcome all new businesses and nonprofits to the East Hills Business District, there is a street party in East Hills this Thursday, September 13th. There is a ribbon cutting ceremony at 4:30pm followed by the �Shop the Universe!� street party from 5-10pm which will include an evening of: Shopping and entertainment at your favorite East Hills businesses on Diamond, Lake Drive, and Cherry SE Store opening celebrations at seven new businesses in East Hills Free public tours from 5-6:30pm of the West Michigan Environmental Action Council�s office at 1007 Lake Drive Green ribbons and balloons will landmark participating locations. Here is a list of the new/recent businesses in East Hills: (I understand that some have been mentioned before) Cheveux: 968 Cherry SE. Opened August 2007. Clothing Matters: 141 Diamond SE. Opening September 13. David & Bathsheba: 958 Lake Drive SE. Opening September 13. Green Well: 924 Cherry SE. Opening September 19. Lamb: 949 Cherry SE. Opening September 13. PINK BLVD: 974 Cherry SE. Opening September 13. Pure Studio: 972 Cherry SE. Opened Summer 2007. Restaurant Bloom: 962 Cherry SE. Opened March 2007. Sweet Connections: 909 Cherry SE. Opening November 2007. The Yoga Studio: 955 Cherry SE. Opened May 2007. I would have posted this info earlier, but I've been gone.

It would be easier to go back and place brick, but I don't see public funds paying for it. Those darn City street engineers in the 70's decided not only to widen the street, but to take the brick out instead of placing asphalt over it, like so many other streets in GR. That pretty much eliminated brick going back in. We all know that when asphalt fades, the brick stays. With the narrowing of the street, it's a good idea to differentiate between the parking & driving lanes. We're talking about a reduction of 10-15 feet of street width. Where did all that space go? Street parking lanes at 9ft and the parkway is now 12ft between the curb to the zero setback buildings, an increase of 7-9 ft in some sections! Since Wealthy Street is TBD zoning, the added parkway allows for more sidewalk cafe seating & it's a lot more accessible too. The curb-bulb-out's that are on every opposite corner create safe crosswalks. By design, traffic will slow down which will increase business & it'll no longer be as scary to cross the street. I'm very excited for the ornamental lighting and other streetscape amenities to be installed. Whoop, whoop for Wealthy Street!

So nice to have Wealthy Street open between Eastern and Union! The asphalt driving lanes are 11ft wide with 9ft parking lanes.

Cherry Street SE between Hollister and Warren is back open. One almost-finished street construction project done, how many more to go? The streetscape improvements on this section of Cherry are beautiful. In the next couple of months, the ornamental lighting will be installed. Check out the new sidewalks and planter boxes, they're pretty.... Now, if we can only speed up the street construction on Wealthy Street.....

"GRYP Lunch Roundtable - Dr. Bernard Taylor on June 13th, 2007 12:00 PM - 01:20 PM Come join us for our June Lunch Rountable at Louis Benton featuring GRPS Superintendent Dr. Bernard Taylor. Dr. Taylor will be a speaking about the direction of the Grand Rapids Public School System, and how this will effect area professionals. Dr. Taylor's presentation will be followed by an open roundtable discussion to end the event. Registration: Event cost is $10 per person and includes a buffet style lunch. Checks must be payable to the Grand Rapids Young Professionals. Event: Lunch: 12:00-12:30 Presentation: 12:30 - 1:00 Open Forum: 1:00 - 1:20 Location Louis Benton 77 Monroe Center Grand Rapids, MI 49503"

Hmmm.. I must have deleted this instead of posting. Anyway, I recommend visiting the GRPL to see this exhibit at the Main Library: "Explore the evolution of Monroe Avenue from its rustic beginnings at Grab Corner to the glamour of DeVos Place. What started as a retail district with the dimestore block, department store windows, and parade of cars, now encompasses entertainment, restaurants, condos, government offices and more. Drawn from the Library

I'm so excited, I love the Farmer's Market! If you happen to be in the area, stop by the new shop at 954 E Fulton!

We already do this in Uptown. I've "borrowed" jewelry from a couple of boutiques to wear to parties & fundraisers. Since I'm a dedicated patron, the shop owners are happy to have me promote their product. I also love it when I can say that my "image" is all local first; from my purse, to my shoes, to my clothes.

Thanks for all the comments on the map. In a perfect world with unlimited funds, I would have a section-by-section map with a real time schedule. Like I said, the map's main function is to help navigate through the construction to the business districts. Having too many streets listed on a small map can be confusing; of course this does not apply to map-savvy Planeteers. When Union & College are cut-off on Wealthy due to construction: Union, north of Wealthy will be two-way to Evans. College, north of Wealthy will be two-way to Cherry. If you want to help, please let me know if you notice long traffic back-up's at the intersections between Fulton & Wealthy SE. from College to EGR. We're trying to keep the traffic flowing in the neighborhood and long waits to cross intersections usually divert folks to alternate routes away from the biz districts. Thanks! RL

John, I take issue with your comment, "The map is a little wrong." Do you think I would post the wrong map??? Joshleo, the map posted is to help navigate folks through the construction to the business districts. Union & College, south of Wealthy, will be two-way to Logan when that section of Wealthy is closed. All of the following Uptown projects will be FULL CLOSURE of the street section listed: (dates are subject to change) Cherry Street Project

Street construction starts Monday for Cherry & Wealthy Street:

I've always loved this building.... It would make a great Founder's & Oberon keg cooler!

I'm making the final move to the VOk this Saturday, but I would love to attend the next generation downtown task force or was it next generation GR??? BTW, Urban Mill has great online coupons.

Pardon, Monsieur... Noir is on Ionia SW.

Don't forget about this guy: "Ramp Closure: I-196 at COLLEGE AVE The on-ramp to eastbound I-196 from College Ave. will be CLOSED starting Saturday, March 31, through mid-July for bridge reconstruction work on eastbound I-196 over the railroad. Detour: The detour for the eastbound I-196 on-ramp from College Ave. is: College Ave. south to Michigan St., east on Michigan St. to Fuller Ave., north on Fuller Ave. to eastbound I-196."

Dude, don't forget that the motto of Parkour is to avoid short & long term injuries....

If anyone is interested in seeing photos of the new super jumbo Airbus A380 in Chicago, my Dad was there & took photos. You can view his photos at Abacus Software's website. Look for the Quick News & click on the Airbus A380..... Does anyone know what the air traffic controllers will say to call out this huge plane? They use "heavy" for larger airplanes.... Whenever I fly I like to listen to the pilots & air traffic controllers talk.

It's starting...... Fuller Ave is now under construction between Wealthy Street & Franklin SE. It'll be a couple of days before it's under full closure. The street construction planned for this spring/summer in the east end neighborhoods will spur a major transformation to the streetscapes on Cherry & Wealthy Street. My hopes are that we'll see an increase in pedestrian & nonmotorized transit activity, traffic calming, new third place gathering areas, new storefront businesses, and some facade improvements. I'm going to ring the doorbell to the Wild Bunch again....

Hey..... is anyone going to BB King tonight? or Does anyone have an extra ticket??? Please & thank you!