NorthCoast

That actually looks fairly accurate to me. However, was this one of those list that all you have to do is just sign-up to be on it?

I've been out of town (in GR ironically) but I'm glad someone posted a picture of North Market in Columbus. It's a great place. Not only is the market itself vibrant but it's in an ideal location. It is situated directly between the Arena District and Short North, two of the cities premier re-developed entertainment and residential quarters.

Agreed. Maybe I'm just too simple-minded to appreciate something of such high culture but art, especially modern art, just doesn't do it for me.

Here in Ohio I was listening to 700 WLW out of Cincinnati and heard the tail end of them talking about this story. They said something about the ballpark being 5/3rd but I hadn't realized they were talking about the Whitecaps. I thought they were talking about the minor league team in Dayton or Toledo b/c they also play at fields of which 5/3rd owns the naming rights to. What I do know is that it made me hungry!

John E., I've been known to raise a political stink on these boards here as a minority conservative/republican supporter, however, I really can't back your argument here. I didn't vote for Obama and I personally think he IS overglorified, considering the man hasn't done anything but be elected, but I don't blame him for it. I certainly don't think he was overshadowing MLK Day. In fact, I think he is the perfect poster child of a modern day MLK (although King himself did favor some conservative principles). I agree the integrity of the media, no matter what major network you watch, is pathetic but alternative news sources have their agenda just like everyone else. Once you just learn to accept the spin, take it with a grain of salt, and use your own intelligence to digest it and come to your own conclusions, it isn't so bad.

Thanks for the insight. Sounds like despite what we here would like to see, Rogers Plaza doesn't really need a new building...just some new management.

Heck, since Studio 28 is gone, raze that entire commercial strip on the south side of the road from Burlingame all the way to Clyde Park. Then they'd have a ton of room to build something neat.

They'd be better bulldozing it down and starting from scartch there, as is the case with a lot of 28th Street. At this point in time I don't think it would be viable enough to construct any sort of significant commercial enterprise there. Maybe they could gut it and turn it into some sort of working class lifestyle center. Ever since Spartan failed to close the Burlingame Family Fare a block away from their Rogers Plaza store after acquiring D&W, I've been under the impression that the mall's future existence was in question.

Mostly true...especially of stores that already of a presence somewhere else in the area, mainly Rivertown. I know at one point, before the economic roof caved in and these 2 projects were announced, there were a couple stores at Woodland basically waiting on their leases to end so that theycould jump ship across town to Grandville.

The freight transportation industry as a whole is down right now just like everyone else. My brother works for FedEx Freight and while they are actually doing quite well he is constantly telling me of smaller, regional carriers who are either being bought up by bigger fish or going under.

Digging the GR love but how can Granholm tout Michigan as a forerunner in TOD development when they don't even really have any...let alone a vialbe mass transit system. Meanwhile Portland has a fully functioning street car and Boston has loads of TOD development. At this point such projects anymore are just merely keeping up with the times. If we wanna be a progressive leader lets construct that bullet train from Detroit to Chicago!

Maybe its just my west side bias or the sports fan in me but when comparing CMU, WMU, and EMU...I've always thought that Eastern came in third as far as success and just over appeal. But that is just me and to be honest that opinion doesn't mean much b/c I know nothing of EMU in terms of academics.

The new living centers will replace the Grand Valley Apartments which are on 42nd Avenue just south of Pierce on the east side of the road. Definitely very dated. Probably only a matter of time until some of the other older, living units and apartments start to come down or at least renovated to keep up with the times. They are also going to be building a Kleiner-like commons area on Lot P (must only be part of it b/c lot P is pretty big) to feed the masses that now live on the south end which will alleviate the congestion at Kirkhof. I do like to see the University growing but I do wish they'd put some more money into renovating and updating some of their existing structures like they have done with Kirkhof. The PAC, the original living centers, the Lakes buildings, Zumberge, and to a lesser extend the Fieldhouse (just the basketball court really) all could use some work. They also need to just turn DT campus into a huge grad school and let the undergrads play out in Allendale (except for the nursing students over at Cook-Devos).

Organic and natural foods are a tricky issue for grocers. Organics spoil quicker and natural foods overall are more expensive. If stuff doesn't get bought and goes bad...you are losing more money than you would just stocking the regular goods. Given the tight economic times, people likely will not be willing to pay the extra money for these type of items. Businesses will also be a lot more shy about taking any unneccessary risks. They are a lot more likely to go with more conventional offerings that prove to bring in customers including; coupons, Starbucks/Seattles Best, fuel centers, and drive-thru pharmacies. If they knew it would help to make them more money, trust me, they'd be doing it. Having worked at a D&W/Family Fare in the past...I can tell you I often spent more time dusting the product than selling it.There is just still too much of the old West Michigan thrift mentality still around (not necessarily a bad thing...just bad for high end grocery). However, it is changing somewhat with the new generation.

Aww man White Castle! There is nothing like a slider and onion petals at 2am. Seriously...

I also know of one but it may be the same firm that GRDad is aware of. As he stated since the confidentiality of this entire process isn't known...can't really say much more than what I already have.

Just for clarification that sample rendering GRDad posted is a lot more detailed than the sketches I saw for this project. I highly doubt $10,000 was spent on it. I'm sure the firm paid their designers for the time it took to come up with the renderings.

That's what I thought as well. I saw a glimpse of one AE firm's brainstorming session results and what I saw look mostly conceptual.

Yep that is just the nature of the business. The RFP goes out or in some cases is sent to a select few businesses and the results come in. Working on proposals can be costly in time and money and they don't always pay off but in order to keep competitive and expand your business it is just the game you have to play.

I thought they looked pretty neat

High fuel costs affecting local mass transit budget... http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8712152

The stretch of 28th that probably needs the most work is between Clyde Park and Breton. There are parts west of Clyde Park that aren't exactly pretty but that area around 131 and Division definitely is in the worst shape. I miss Splash

^Let me preface what I'm going to suggest by first saying I realize that this is a streetcar and not a el/subway and that the idea is cost prohibitive anyway but... Wouldn't it be neat if through there it could be elevated to a point where a ped bridge could stretch out from the hill to a station? Anyway...back to reality. That corridor does really need some improvement in there. Hopefully some of the west side river development will hop over. I wonder if there has been any talk of discontinuing Ionia as a public ROW north of Michigan and extend any needed drives up to Division. Right now is nothing but a vertical parking lot.

No biggie man.

FYI - There are Christians, who are Republicans, and are against taxes on everything that are for this project. Me being one of them. Can we please leave religion and personal politics out of this? I'm not trying to start something and I don't want an argument. I just want to ensure that the discussion is enjoyable for everyone. Thanks. Anyway...why have none of the major news medias picked this up?