Yankee Fan

Dude, I get the point of the idea. Just seems a little expensive to me. Whatever, though. It is obvious that my opinion is a dumb opinion to the "young professionals" as you seem to have it all figured out and I am just a dumb, uneducated guy who is apparently killing the environment because I drive to work in a car and I am asking questions. My bad.

Okay, and that is great IF it doubles, but $9.13 is still an expensive ride. I am not a math major, but at $9.13 isn't that a 600% increase in cost over the $1.50 you said it currently costs?! So then: 1. If ridership increases, will they need more vehicles (which will be additional an additional cost) 2. Will they need to increase the number of stops at each "station" which would add additional costs 3. Are we really convinced that this will double ridership in 5 years? 4. In five years, if this is still at 1,600 riders per day, do they shut it down? Again, I like the theory of this, but this really seem expensive for what it actually provides. Seems like there is a lot of speculation and hope involved at a very high cost.

WHOA! If these numbers are correct, what you are telling me is that we are going to pay 68 bucks per rider per day for this thing! Yeah, that does not seem like such a wise thing when I look at it from that perspective. 68 bucks?! Maybe a carpool lane would be a better idea. I understand that this is a great idea in theory and I agree with the theory. But the demand does not seem to be there. How much do we charge per ride? That is just crazy. I may have to vote No now, unless someone has a good reason why 68 bucks per rider per day is a great idea. How about 68 bucks per student per day for our public schools? But for a bus line?!! I am not so sure about this.

Dude, I am the farthest from a PR plant, but I appreciate that I may sometimes get ahead of myself... I don't blog, either. However, apparently there were people out east who were sent invitations? Looking at an article on line, looks like they sent over 1000 invitations to artists coinciding with their announcement.

Let me say that this is a BIIIIGGGG deal! How big? Not sure, yet. But it is big!!! How fast does news travel these days? Well, I have two buddies that live in NYC who have artists in their families. I have received 3 emails already about where to stay in Grand Rapids WHEN THEY COME HERE!!!! They have never been to Michigan, much less the midwest! They told me that the artist community in NYC is absolutely buzzing about this thing. And I quote his email:"...the blogs are blowing up out here! Are you serious: 250K for first place?!" It is 9:23 am as I write this and already it has made it to the East Coast. I am not by any means connected to the arts community. The fact that I am receiving emails about this is just crazy... and, for that matter, pretty cool! Yeah, this is an awesome thing! If you work downtown, this is going to be a great thing to get involved in! I am sure that there are some that wanted some bricks and mortar. But this is so much cooler! Way to go, Rick. And good luck! You actually surprised me today!

I am excited to hear this announcement for what it actually is, not what it appears to be. Should be a moment to remember...

FYI: For anyone with kids in grade school, the Delta Plex has an event all week for them called Kids Expo. It is an indoor "amusement park" with things like Gladiator matches, riding mechanical bull, belly surfing, and bungy jumping. There is a lot more than that, but those are the ones that come to mind. It is 10 bucks for the whole day. We were wondering if it would be any good; judging by the flood of pictures I am receiving they are having a good time. It goes through the weekend.

You know that the terminal/building looks bad when the new parking ramp is viewed as an upgrade to the aesthetics...

They have left the inside in tact. I got a tour of it last week. If you want to snap the shot of all shots of the downtown skyline, you need to go in to the men's bathroom (yes, in the bathroom) on the fifth floor. You will never get a better shot of downtown than the one that you can get from that vantage point.

I just decided that the Masonic Temple on Fulton is my favorite building downtown. For some reason, it blends in when you drive past it, yet it is full of cool architecture (should be). Cool Fact: What I did not know is that they lease space in the building to companies. Does anyone have exterior pictures of this place?

But the building is still a go, right?! This is not going to be another "Division and Franklin" with a half built structure, correct? Just kidding.

I thought that they were increasing the height of the crane; it did not look any taller this morning on my way in to the office.

The aerial shots are great! Thanks for sharing!

My wife is actively involved with the UICA, the Women's Resource Center, and on the board of two non-profits, and she is voting for McCain/Palin. So there is one person who will be there today who will also be attending the McCain/Palin town hall meeting. Personally, I am still making up my mind...

My contacts at Spectrum said October or November.

We most definitely will be missing the boat as a community if we do not see this revolution through. This is so much bigger than just the streetcars. This study proves that it can be done, how it can be done, and why it should be done. Count me as one vote who was on the fence before but is now solidly behind this entire concept. I really hope that Grand Rapids steps up and shows everyone that we are more than ready for big things. I am so excited by this that I could ramble on and on! Let's all get on the horn and push those that we know to get behind this. This is one of those moments, those defining moments. We cannot let this slip past. We need to ensure that this happens.

I heard that the New Indiana Jones movie is about somebody not keeping the secret about Grand Rapids. Apparently they find us!

Watched that show "New Amsterdam" last night and one of the main women characters (apparently from his flashbacks) said a couple of times that she was from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Not sure that this is exposure on the level of other things in this thread, but how often do you hear GR referenced prominently in a TV show?!

Re-bid this. Let Cummings bid, too. I think that at this point everyone should have another shot at this. I get the funding aspect with the banks. But, I also get that different people will propose different uses and will get funding from different places. It would not hurt to send this back out. If Sam's idea is still the preferred bid, then great. But the City should not single thread this any longer. I do not know of a single company that would operate this way after this much time. Open it back up. See what we get back.

Spectrum Health partnered with IBM to build a state of the art data center out on 60th street connected to the old Steelcase Workstage building, which is now where 99% of Spectrum's IT personnel are located. They are controlling a lot (read:most) of the data for the various entities on Pill Hill. They are also in talks with the new medical school about doing the same for them. Spectrum is also building out a second big data center as part of the Blodgett campus expansion.

I am very disappointed in the floor reduction of this project.

Never been a State fan. However, being that they are investing in our area, maybe I need to invest in some of their gear to show appreciation. From their website: For high-resolution renderings of the Secchia Center, visit: http://special.newsroom.msu.edu/newsroom_i...SECCHIA_Day.jpg, http://special.newsroom.msu.edu/newsroom_i...CCHIA_Entry.jpg, http://special.newsroom.msu.edu/newsroom_i...CCHIA_night.jpg

Looks like we will see renderings... http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7269409

If that is the case and they did get their extension approved, then that conversation is done. Now they need to make sure that they get this thing done and that it will be a gem that was worth the wait. Make this a "cornerstone" of the revitalization DT.

Maybe they should be looking for a different tenant to anchor this thing. Just a thought. Judging by the new proposed project next to the Plaza Towers, there are companies ready to make a move at this level.