Rick and Scott - WOOD am 1300

[mgreven]

Hey, I only caught about 30 min of their hour-long discussion on downtown. They were asking "What does downtown need to bring people down there?" Good question, right?

It amounted to all the callers saying basically that downtown was so hard to get to and park at that it was hopeless. Nobody would ever want to go down there.

Rick and/or Scott (who work down there, I believe) said that they might as well board it up and quit trying to save it. They said it is more dead down there than it has ever been.

They even said that if they built something cool at Division and Fulton that people wanted to go to that they were worried that it would take people out of "the main downtown area" (?!?!?!?!?!)

I thought maybe they were doing this to rile people up and get angry calls (like I wanted to make), but everyone agreed with them.

Did anyone else hear this this morning?

Any thoughts...maybe I missed part of it. This thinking will really help our city, eh? =(

[GRDadof3]

Hey, I only caught about 30 min of their hour-long discussion on downtown.  They were asking "What does downtown need to bring people down there?"  Good question, right?

It amounted to all the callers saying basically that downtown was so hard to get to and park at that it was hopeless.  Nobody would ever want to go down there.

Rick and/or Scott (who work down there, I believe) said that they might as well board it up and quit trying to save it.  They said it is more dead down there than it has ever been. 

They even said that if they built something cool at Division and Fulton that people wanted to go to that they were worried that it would take people out of "the main downtown area" (?!?!?!?!?!)

I thought maybe they were doing this to rile people up and get angry calls (like I wanted to make), but everyone agreed with them. 

Did anyone else hear this this morning?

Any thoughts...maybe I missed part of it.  This thinking will really help our city, eh?  =(

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have been thinking lately that there is a poor piss-ass job being done marketing downtown. The callers are only giving their perceptions, which is probably not that far off of what suburbanites think of downtown. I have NO problem finding a parking spot downtown, and I would say that downtown is busier than I can remember. Rick and Scott are not even close to being urban planning/ economic development experts (or anything experts ) though. If we "boarded up" downtown, the rest of Kent County would "board up" as well.

[zenstyle]

"Down there, down there, down there..."

What is this "down there" business?

I've heard others (suburbanites) refer to downtown as if it were some undesirable planet. "No parking"....oh, please. Take the bus, honey; it probably runs right by your house.

I don't know who "Rick" and "Scott" are, but the fact that they work for A.M. radio negates their credibility on any topic., I should think.

[allbusiness]

Those two have pretty much proven their uselessness as radio personalities. I missed their show today, but they rarely produce anything that approaches stimulating conversation. Generally they just adopt a "good cop, bad cop" approach to each issue and try to generate phone calls -- usually from the same 10 or 20 people.

[mgreven]

Those two have pretty much proven their uselessness as radio personalities. I missed their show today, but they rarely produce anything that approaches stimulating conversation. Generally they just adopt a "good cop, bad cop" approach to each issue and try to generate phone calls -- usually from the same 10 or 20 people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, I rarely listen to them and enjoy it because they usually haven't done any research on what they're talking about (they are just a couple rock DJ's thrown onto talk radio afterall), but I do like a show that talks about local issues from time to time. Obviously, today's discussion got me excited at first. Too bad they let me down so much. They should have the urbanplanet bunch on as guests...now that would be interesting radio! =)

[snoogit]

I don't know who "Rick" and "Scott" are, but the fact that they work for A.M. radio negates their credibility on any topic., I should think.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And that right there should end the conversation.

On that note, I have never had a problem with parking downtown. Only time I did ws when I was looking for a parking space at GRCC during the year for my classes at Ferris.

[torgo]

And that right there should end the conversation.

On that note, I have never had a problem with parking downtown. Only time I did ws when I was looking for a parking space at GRCC during the year for my classes at Ferris.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It amuses me to no end that people's chief complaint of downtown is parking, parking, parking. I have never had a problem find a place to park, ever. Yes, sometimes I had to walk for a whopping five minutes (probably no farther than the distance across a meijer parking lot). Apparently, if they cannot park directly in front of the store into which they are going, then there is a parking problem. Ridiculous.

Thats interesting that they say downtown is "dead"...I can't imagine that they are that stupid, but I suppose its always a possibility. I think downtown is probably more lively now than it has been in the last 30 years or more. (Any long-time GR dweller care to weigh in here?) I have never listened to "Rick and Scott" before...and now I never will.

On a related note, a long time ago, when I worked out in the 'burbs, I mentioned to a co-worker my favorite mexican restaurant in the stockbridge area, and he replied with something about getting mugged, or getting my car stolen or something to that effect. I proceeded to ask him if he had ever been there, which he had not (of course). I think people assume that just because its not a white-bread shopping mall or snout-house housing subdivion then it must be a ghetto. It matters not if they have ever been there. That's probably typical thinking though, at least among the shopping mall and wal-mart zombies.

[d59]

I

[joeDowntown]

My two answers to people who say there is no parking downtown:

1) They are clueless

2) A 2-3 block walk is not "far away" from a destination.

If you are reading this and you believe number 2 to be true, join a gym now. Your life may depend on it.

Joe

[joeDowntown]

Rick and Scott have always been very narrow minded. I'm not saying they are not intelligent people (although Scott sounds like the Howdy Doody sidekick most of the time) but they have always been pretty harsh on downtown. I'm sure they hate walking a couple of blocks too.

Joe

[MJLO]

I heard the show, I was on hold to talk to them, I however had to go because I was at work and duty called. The people who called the show made some good points. But noone addressed the fact that housing is being build all over downtown. That in itself will create it's own little niche market down there. What downtown is lacking, is residents alot of them. I have a feeling this will change. Also there is more investment going on downtown than at any point previous. These were points I would have made, had I not a pesky little thing called a Job. In my opinion, and It could be a wrong opinion, downtown has started to come to life, in the past ten years. It looks completely different than when I first came to West Michigan. What worries me, is that both Rick and Scott have worked downtown Grand Rapids for decades. So maybe they are right! someone give me some hope.

[Prankster]

But noone addressed the fact that housing is being build all over downtown.  That in itself will create it's own little niche market down there.  What downtown is lacking, is residents alot of them.  I have a feeling this will change.  Also there is more investment going on downtown than at any point previous.  In my opinion,  and It could be a wrong opinion,  downtown has started to come to life, in the past ten years.  It looks completely different than when I first came to West Michigan.  What worries me, is that both  Rick and Scott have worked downtown Grand Rapids for decades.  So maybe they are right!  someone give me some hope.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. We still have a long way to go to catch up to other cities our size, but we are well on our way. The cities that I would put us in the same catagory would be Providence RI, Madison WI, Louisville KY and Salt Lake City UT.

The past 10 years here have had phenominal growth, and the next 10 will make it almost unrecognizable.

That's my $.02 worth.

[torgo]

I heard a little piece of what I assume was yesterday's show last night, and a caller said that all you can do downtown is "get a turkey sandwich, a diamond ring, or a pair of shoes." This probably indicates how much he pays attention to goings-on downtown, considering the new activity, museums, the arena, and restaurants serving everything from hot dogs to foods I can't pronounce. While "Rick and Scott" are dumbass morning talk show guys, you'd think they would try to balance their broadcast with people with different opinions to keep the debate alive, but it doesn't sound like they did that.

[GRDadof3]

I heard the show,  I was on hold to talk to them,  I however had to go because I was at work and duty called.  The people who called the show made some good points.  But noone addressed the fact that housing is being build all over downtown.  That in itself will create it's own little niche market down there.  What downtown is lacking, is residents alot of them.  I have a feeling this will change.  Also there is more investment going on downtown than at any point previous.  These were points I would have made, had I not a pesky little thing called a Job.  In my opinion,  and It could be a wrong opinion,  downtown has started to come to life, in the past ten years.  It looks completely different than when I first came to West Michigan.  What worries me, is that both  Rick and Scott have worked downtown Grand Rapids for decades.  So maybe they are right!  someone give me some hope.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The problem is is that there are a lot of naysayers and pessimists around. They probably don't know about all of the condo conversions going on, or the thousands of new residential units downtown because they are existing buildings being re-used. They read the articles in the Press and see big buildings planned, but shake their heads and laugh (like they will ever get built, hah!). And what is the obsession with having to "do" something or spend money all the time (only things to do are buy a turkey sandwich or jewelry). Why can't people just "be" once in a while. Walk around, enjoy the sights, chat with friends, hang out, sit and enjoy the sunshine. Oh well...

[torgo]

The problem is is that there are a lot of naysayers and pessimists around.