Greedo

I work downtown, but live in Holland. I was excited about GR getting a BRT line, even though I'd probably never use it. But I have to say, I don't think the line was sold very well at all. I read the materials from ITP, I follow Friends of Transit on Twitter, I've driven the corridor in question and I've seen first-hand in Chicago how public transit can improve development in a community. I also watched the Cleveland video! I thought the messaging for development was completely understated. I don't know who said it previously, but if a group of developers had been interviewed for the commercials explaining how rapid transit could bring their projects to Division, or if there was greater explanation of how people could use it, ie. Park & Ride, or specifically listed its convenience to multiple destinations (which is Cleveland BRT's selling point), I think you probably could've sold more people. And I never saw anything about the Salvation Army's Kroc Center which is being built at Division/Alger. Look at the SilverLine website. Everything is written in generic terms. Even the result in development--all abstract percentages. More specificity and you would've pulled more votes. Even the Cleveland video was short on specifics and weak on messaging. There was construction on the video, but what was the construction? Who was building it? Where were the testimonials from Cleveland developers? It also didn't help that The Silver Line was perceived as going nowhere. It went from downtown to.... 60th? (meh). Rapid Transit planners need to think about anchor destinations. Look at Chicago. The northwest stretch of the Blue Line is the second most popular L line. It is anchored by downtown and O'Hare Airport. The Red Line (arguably the most heavily used route in the CTA) is anchored by Evanston/Northwestern University and downtown. It also serves both baseball stadiums and Soldier Field in between. The Green line serves IIT, and UofC. Specific destinations! There's a trend here. Anchor the Silver line on BOTH ends. Showcase the destinations. Talk candidly with developers. Give people specifics to vote for, and they'll support your cause. Hope this helps. (BTW, a BRT line btw Holland and GR would be golden. I can't handle carpooling--forced to talk to people--but create regular, consistent bus service, and I'll be all over it)

You are absolutely wrong about this. I've worked with numerous, internationally renowned artists and dozens of art journalists, and ALL of them are unequivocally impressed with Grand Rapids and our open embrace of art--more specifically public sculpture. What I've found most satisfying is to hear the shock and amazement that these people, who hail from NYC, Seattle, London and Paris, have when they see the flowing prominence of La Grande Vitesse, set against the lines of the City and County buildings--AND THEN their remarks when they realize that our city flag and the logo used on all of our city vehicles (even the garbage trucks) include this beautiful sculpture. They see it and immediately know that Grand Rapids is a city that defines itself by it's public art. If this IS an art competition, I say bring it. But bring it AWESOME, not like the lame excuse for a social network that Spout has become.

Mergers mean consolidated routes, which means fewer flights and therefore less selection on departure times and less competition on prices. This has the potential to go from bad to worse. Although, we will all have a $25,000 parking spot to park our cars for the non-existant flights.

Well, they did change the name and focus of the building to the Lemmon-Holton Care of Giant-People Pavilion. What, you guys didn't hear about that? It was all over the fake news.

Man, should've been here three years ago when we had a major ice jam on the river. The ice came within 2 or 3 feet of the arches on the Pearl Ave. bridge. Totally awesome.

There are people in the scientific community who would rather see all dollars go to funding research rather than to the aesthetics of their workplace. I've heard several people say about the VAI Chihuly, for example, "do you know how much research that would buy?" Yes, yes I do. But I also know that appearance is a huge part of the fundraising process.

Agreed. As long as parking downtown remains as cheap as it is today people are still going to drive cars downtown. The key issue is getting people to leave their cars parked and trust a streetcar to take them to where they want to go in the downtown area. Also, the streetcar needs to be faster than it would be to walk to your destination. Example: DeVos Place to Van Andel Arena, AGP to GRCivic, etc.

Sorry my comment was confusing. I was complementing MMPark:Chicago as infinitely better than Navy Pier. The mee-too remark referred to someone's earlier post who said those types of projects are never successful. As the most successful public/private civic partnership in recent history, it's a point MMPark clearly proves wrong. If you've never sat on the Great Lawn at the Pritzker Pavilion, or even Butler Field, you're missing one of the most fantastic views in the country. Reengineering the river to a "natural" state is probably not economically possible. I would rather we focus efforts on improving water quality than restoring any "rapids."

ugh... I mega-loathe Navy Pier. Thank Geebus for Millennium Park (Chicago's Gehry mee-too project BTW) which is quickly becoming the most popular tourist destination in Chicago.

^It'll be a shame if they have to chop down that white pine tree. It's a nice tree.

YES!!!

That's an old story about Hank. He married Liesel almost four years ago. He and his brothers are all great guys if you ever have the chance to meet them.

The City Hall detail and Calder Plaza are both outstanding. It makes me appreciate that area even more. I hope it's never torn down. You should send some of these to Michigan in Pictures photoblog.

I realize it's probably heresy, but I really want a McD's on Monroe. The BK Lounge near GVSU is too far away for that lunchtime craving. I would also like a Chipotle, Moe's or Potbelly. or an Apple Store.

Those are the same trains and passenger cars the Metra in Chicago are running. The balcony seats are highly uncomfortable.

yeah, sunday's downtown suck. all the closed businesses are just plain unfriendly. if I were a business owner, I would recognize the opportunity of having at least my shop open to grab those sunday afternoon dollars.

Wrong. The artistic integrity of this area would be lost if either of those buildings are destroyed. I still don't understand why we haven't learn from the mistakes of the past.

Instead of the County Bldg, why not the Federal Bldg? It's even more hideous and doesn't have a priceless Calder mural on top to destroy. Better yet, tear down the snoozerville Frey Building across the street. Even more better, why not used the vacant lot next to the 5/3 Building? Crap, even bestest everest idea, put it out in the flippin' boondocks nextdoor to the ballet's new building. YEAH!

The son formed the GAC, not the father, who donated the $$ for DeVos Hall. When the convention center was renovated, DeVos Hall was officially renamed DeVos Symphony Hall. I'm all for a new PAC, I'm just saying moving the Symphony isn't as easy as it sounds.

Most of the money for projects like this come from smaller donors, but cripes, $15-20 is a significant lead gift.

DeVos Hall was built explicitly for the GRSymphony. The BTG came online later. For the GRS to build a new Symphony Centre they would have to rewrite the stated purpose for DH and risk offending the lead donor.

Why would the last stop be the top of Michigan Hill? Why wouldn't this thing extend into the core?

I know everyone is going hate me for saying this, but I really like that rendering, especially the top, the way it arches, and the two-story main floor, with the frame looking like enormous tree trunks extending up the side of the building. Its so 60's... so cool. Pardon my use of harsh letters, but what the F happened?

My understanding is the corner of Michigan and Bostwick will house a safe and secure ambulance drop-off for the children's hospital. I'm not sure a curtain wall as schizophrenic as designed is necessary. It's not functional and it's not art, so scrap the ugly mess. I like the building overall, but it needs an Eye of Sauron on top to really make it complete.

The underlying point of urban renewal was to effectively leverage the value of the land. The 5/3 Building alone was worth as much as all of the buildings that were removed on that block combined. That single building more accurately reflected the value of the downtown property and as a result, increased the city's tax revenue from that property. More revenues means lower taxes for individual property owners elsewhere in the city.