Photos De Jour - Grand Rapids and West Michigan Area

[dtown]

Great pics GRDad. That looks like a pretty nice park.

[GRDadof3]

Great pics GRDad. That looks like a pretty nice park.

It used to be a vacant weedy lot, so it is a nice addition to the Heartside area. It's a strange mix of homeless people and the local apartment residents who use it the most. There's also a Street Fair there in the Summer months.

[dtown]

do you have a pic of what it looked like before?

[GRDadof3]

do you have a pic of what it looked like before?

No, I wish I had pictures of a lot of the area there before the Arena and much of the redevelopment has gone in.

[dtown]

oh, well also, i like how the street (Ionia i think that one might be) is brick with trees along it. looks nice:)

[dbrok]

From underneath Select Bank & Ionia Ave/Monroe Center intersection:

[twoshort]

From underneath Select Bank & Ionia Ave/Monroe Center intersection:

I wanna go down there

[Greedo]

Just to compare, I wish I had pics of the Clear Channel bldg, that was some scary stuff. Rooms with no lights, flickering flourescents, dripping taps--like something out of Silent Hill.

[GRDadof3]

That does look pretty cool/creepy Josh!

Growing Healthcare Hill coming in from the East

That I-196 asphalt, she's a beaut!

[jayblogger]

not blurry enough!!! work on it

[dbrok]

That does look pretty cool/creepy Josh!

This one's definitely more disturbing:

[Rizzo]

And to think water goes past that thing... ewww.

Edited May 9, 2006 by Rizzo

[GRDadof3]

I missed this one before. Nice shot dbrok!

I'm so glad to see Ionia being rebuilt up to Michigan. It's always a very jarring ride. VAI - Phase II will look great in that picture!

[dbrok]

I'm so glad to see Ionia being rebuilt up to Michigan. It's always a very jarring ride.

Yeah, it will be nice when they're finished. Last week Ionia was closed, but it's back to one lane again.

Looking northeast from Select Bank:

[GRDadof3]

Check out this picture of Monroe Mall from the 60's

http://waterwinterwonderland.com/towns.asp

I wonder if it would work better with Monroe Center opened completely to Fulton again?

[twoshort]

dbrok: so are you working or living in the select bank building now?

[dbrok]

dbrok: so are you working or living in the select bank building now?

Good question. Feels more like living lately.

[snoogit]

hey a shot with the weatherball is there!

[LA Dave]

Check out this picture of Monroe Mall from the 60's

http://waterwinterwonderland.com/towns.asp

I wonder if it would work better with Monroe Center opened completely to Fulton again?

Wow! That shot really brought me back. The newest car that I could spot was a 1961 Chevy, but the picture might have been taken a year or two later. No weatherball -- that was about 1967, as I recall. Downtown (at least on Monroe Street) was really something in those days, but the handwriting (in the form of the suburban malls) was already on the wall. Rogers Plaza had already opened (don't laugh folks -- it was a real draw during the Kennedy Administration) and Woodland and East Brook malls were in the planning stages.

[grrwymg]

Wow! That shot really brought me back. The newest car that I could spot was a 1961 Chevy, but the picture might have been taken a year or two later. No weatherball -- that was about 1967, as I recall. Downtown (at least on Monroe Street) was really something in those days, but the handwriting (in the form of the suburban malls) was already on the wall. Rogers Plaza had already opened (don't laugh folks -- it was a real draw during the Kennedy Administration) and Woodland and East Brook malls were in the planning stages.

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't Rogers Plaza one of the first 'malls' in the greater GR area? My business teacher in highschool would always emphasize the 'acres and acres' of free parking @ malls. Drew customers out of DT and to the 'burbs...

[tony speller]

Thought I'd keep with the creepy building theme. Sorry, I spend a lot of time in the "creepier" parts of the city . I like the grittiness of this shot. (and the Korean banner.)

how funny that i know exactly where that is (behind Scavenger Hunt, Skelletones, etc on Division... right off the north side of Cherry). And that banner is totally NOT in Korean

[eagle]

And that banner is totally NOT in Korean

If ONE MORE person tells me that banner isn't Korean... (That's me getting ready to fight )

[LA Dave]

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't Rogers Plaza one of the first 'malls' in the greater GR area? My business teacher in highschool would always emphasize the 'acres and acres' of free parking @ malls. Drew customers out of DT and to the 'burbs...

Yes, Rogers Plaza was the first "mall," and the first major shopping center outside of the downtown area. It opened in 1961 and was a huge hit from the start, even though its anchor store, Montgomery Wards, wasn't one of the downtown Big 3 (Wurzburg, Herpolsheimer's or Steketee).

[wolverine]

I wasn't as fond of driving through this, but it kind of looks cool in this picture I took from an overpass\

[dtown]

uggh, im all too familliar with expressway construction (I-69)