NorthCoast

I'd be interested to see how many of those lots are restricted lots....i.e. Dash Lots, GVSU lots, GRCC lots, Hospital lots, etc.

I completely understand what your saying and where your coming from but as far as the 'getting rid of the car' issue is concerned I tend to be a bit of a pessimist. Until GR has a full fledged running mass transit system like the metro in Washington that runs out into the burbs, cars will always be an issue. We want people to come into Grand Rapids to shop yet we don't want all of the cars. Under current circumstances we can't have it both ways. I know a lot of people are going to believe that lines out to the burbs will only promote living outside of the city however, I think that there is enough issues outside of transportation which is pushing growth inward. The real challenge is in designing the line so it only serves already populated areas and not running it out to the middle of nowhere for prospective growth.

The last thing this state needs is more taxes, especially $1,000! I like GRDad's plan. I've never thought parking to be a major issue in terms of downtown itself. In fact there's almost too much parking, especially surface lots. However, the west side leaves a little less than to be desired. In order to go to Monte's I had to park all the way over by GVSU. Even though there is a surface lot just down the street its owned by another (older clientel assume) bar and they sit out at night and make sure that only the people parking in the lot are customers of that particular bar. The other problem which needs solving is that much of the parking which does exist is very restrictive as to who can park there. During the day lots such as the Dash lots are full of GV and CC students but at night they are virtually empty. It may be 'okay' to park there but I'd rather park in place where I know 100% I'm not going to get towed/ticketed. The city just needs to eliminate surface lots all together and push for a consolidation of parking areas into a limited number of multi-level parking structures. These strucutures could easily be designed to blend in with the downtown fabric as well as be mixed use. In terms of sheer size the areas that most would walk downtown is not that large at all, throw in some more on the street parking and really only need probably 4 or 5 multi-level strucutres strategically placed to serve the entire central city district.

I would have to agree, granted, as far as Kirkhof is concerned there was a limit as to what they could probably do. They pretty much had to maintain the continuity of the existing architecture. While structures such as the downtown campus and some of the newer living centers were constructed in a classical meets modern style, these newer buildings seem to be completely of the modern almost suburban variety.

GVSU Approves Yet Another Expansion/Renovation of Kirkhof Center http://www.lanthorn.com/default.asp?intArt...rticleTypeID=NS

I know construction starts this year on the new Baldwin interchange but I have yet to have any official time table of road closures, projected deadlines, and such. If anyone is M-DOT savvy, please help me out. They have webpage about this on the M-DOT site but the most recent information I've been able to find on the project dates back to the Environmental Study which was completed a year or so ago.

The neglect the city has shown to the river in the past has been sad but I think things have come a long way. Fortunately I really don't think a project to the extent of something like Navy Pier or even San Antnoio's Boardwalk are necessary to save it. Tastefully designed flood walls with some river facing businesses and extended pathway would suffice. Perhaps some moderately designed public art just for flavor. I think the ultimate goal for the city and surrounding counties of the river would be to clean it up and one day have a summertime ferry which runs from GR to Grand Haven. Not only would this benefit these two communities but spur other communities to have an interest in taking care of their part of the river. No one would want to be the ugly spot on a cruise.

Even though I'm a Buckeye fan...this is a real shame, a well respected man on both sides of the state line.

That scenario in Orlando was really neat. A lot of neighborhoods have been sliced and growth stunted by rail freight lines. I think it would help a lot of communities if these lines were used in support of a LRT system. Unfortunately, the reality is I'm pretty certain that many of these freight lines are still used quite regularly. Good thing there is the streetcar alternative. Either way it sure is exciting.

Yep, in the old Mountain Jacks building. It was also nice to see in Grandville that the old vacant Flowerland building is now being occupied by Wiseman's; a small, local grocerer.

How about 'The Lane-Gainey'

Thats not just a Meijer thing either. Having worked for one of the local grocer competitors I can tell you it seems like there is a habit of doing things like this. Investing in high-profit/high-end stores and neglecting the rest. In my own humble and unresearched opinion I believe this was one of the things that ultimately lead to the demise of D&W.

I'm personally not a big fan of the Meijer style. I actually wouldn't mind it so much if it had remained local but now that they are looking to go Wal-Mart I find it less appeasing. They do have a few stores in need of work which have already been mentioned the one on 28th/Kalamazoo is the first one that comes to mind. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that store was the original of the 'supercenters.' The closest one to me is obviously the Jenison one, another one of the original supercenters. In the past few months Meijer has launched a major renovation at the Jenison store. Rumor has it that when they are done that it is going to be as nice and modern as the one in Grandville next to the mall. Its nice to see that the company is investing in the store especially with some of the new growth, albeit suburban, that has occured on the block yet it will be sad to lose some of the nostalgic history to it. I was actually wondering if anyone on this board can recall far enough back if they could provide some of us young'ns some Meijer development history. I've seen the little slide show on their website but it isn't that in depth. Obviously, the location I'm most interested in is the Jenison but with Meijer being such a huge factor in Grand Rapids I thought it would nice to discuss in general.

Great pictures LA Dave!

Wow this a really interesting idea. I look forward to seeing how things progress. I agree with the above comments regarding a worry of the 'cartoonish' or 'roofless mall' look. Townhouses would definitely be a plus. I was also happy to see that there is plans to include prominent, upscale retailers. I visited a place like this over in Rochester Hills and it was very nice. Now if only we could develop something over here on the west side of town that isn't Rivertown Mall.