People talking about Grand Rapids

[grandrollerz]

I volunteered at the Spectrum Health Irish jig this past weekend and have to admit that I was so surprised and not surprised that EGR just simply thinks it’s a better place to live which it might be but it still feels like a direct jab. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, grandrollerz said:

I volunteered at the Spectrum Health Irish jig this past weekend and have to admit that I was so surprised and not surprised that EGR just simply thinks it’s a better place to live which it might be but it still feels like a direct jab. 

Not if you go by road quality!  Especially driving down Hall, you can tell when you hit East!  Maybe not a fair comparison, since GR just finished that project.

[joeDowntown]

14 hours ago, grandrollerz said:

I volunteered at the Spectrum Health Irish jig this past weekend and have to admit that I was so surprised and not surprised that EGR just simply thinks it’s a better place to live which it might be but it still feels like a direct jab. 

I don’t think a city slogan is indicative of anything. They are ALL cringeworthy and copy written by committee.

Joe

[walker]

16 hours ago, grandrollerz said:

I thought maybe they meant living in a storm sewer was a better place to live.  But it turns out that the same slogan is on their city seal, so that's probably not what they meant:

 

[Khorasaurus1]

EGR's had that slogan for at least 30 years, if not longer. 

Given the steps EGR has taken to  remove the superficial trappings of a being a closed-off priviledged enclave (renaming Franklin/MLK, repealing their panhandling ordinance), I wouldn't be surprised if that slogan gets removed at some point. 

Obviously, the steps to not actually being a closed-off priviledged enclave are much more fraught. And I say that as a resident and EGRHS grad.

[GR_Urbanist]

Is it any different than GR calling itself "a city that works", though?  I think almost all cities have slogans like that.

I suppose I dont have an issue with EGR being proud of themselves, and crowing about it. It honestly is in a lot of ways a great little town to the point where they rank high in comparison to other Michigan cities on lists that measure that sort of thing, has a school system people dream of sending their kids to, and isnt just described as a suburb of GR. Heck, they even have their own large body of water you can sail on.

They just need to work on their downtown area. It's a bit meh, EGR!

Edited March 22, 2022 by GR_Urbanist

[wmrharris]

On 3/21/2022 at 6:48 PM, Floyd_Z said:

Not if you go by road quality!  Especially driving down Hall, you can tell when you hit East!  Maybe not a fair comparison, since GR just finished that project.

That stretch (Sylvan to Plymouth) is scheduled for a major repair this summer. But for now? the road is just awful.

[GRLaker]

Jamestown Township has sure put the area into the national spotlight for all of the wrong reasons.

[joeDowntown]

2 minutes ago, GRLaker said:

Jamestown Township has sure put the area into the national spotlight for all of the wrong reasons.

Nothing says winning more than shutting a library down because some people didn't like some of the books...

Joe

[RegalTDP]

6 hours ago, GRLaker said:

Jamestown Township has sure put the area into the national spotlight for all of the wrong reasons.

I saw the headline out here and thought “please don’t be west MI… please don’t be west MI… dammit.”

[gvsusean]

6 hours ago, GRLaker said:

Jamestown Township has sure put the area into the national spotlight for all of the wrong reasons.

The library shouldve compromised by adding a few copies of Mein Kampf just to make that group feel more represented

[joeDowntown]

11 hours ago, gvsusean said:

The library shouldve compromised by adding a few copies of Mein Kampf just to make that group feel more represented

Actually, if I’m not mistaken, you can get Mein Kampf at the library. There aren’t many books that are truly banned. If libraries were meant to not carry books that offended anyone, there wouldn’t be a whole lot of books available…

Joe

[GRLaker]

Update to the news above: The Jamestown library board has voted to put forward another millage request. There’s still hope the residents can see the error of their ways and reverse course.

It also came out that the vehicles of some library workers have been keyed and they still continue to receive hateful messages.

[GRDadof3]

12 hours ago, GRLaker said:

Update to the news above: The Jamestown library board has voted to put forward another millage request. There’s still hope the residents can see the error of their ways and reverse course.

It also came out that the vehicles of some library workers have been keyed and they still continue to receive hateful messages.

Dang, nice christians out there. I also read that over $50,000 was raised on a gofundme page for the library. 

[LaMas]

I'm interested in the source of the statement that the worker's cars have been keyed and they've receives hateful messages. I hadn't heard that. Unfortunately I only workin the area and can't vote, but I know lots of people who do. I'm very sad if this behavior is truly being pushed as a Christian thing (I see it more as a political culture war issue that has hijacked the Christian name). Is "Christian In Name Only" a thing - Chino?

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, LaMas said:

I'm interested in the source of the statement that the worker's cars have been keyed and they've receives hateful messages. I hadn't heard that. Unfortunately I only workin the area and can't vote, but I know lots of people who do. I'm very sad if this behavior is truly being pushed as a Christian thing (I see it more as a political culture war issue that has hijacked the Christian name). Is "Christian In Name Only" a thing - Chino?

How can you say it's not a Christian thing? If you had never picked up or read or been taught the bible, you would have no reason to be against same sex consenting adults being together. And you wouldn't be against young people struggling with their sexuality and looking for resources to turn to. That's what this is about: a small group of parents protesting the LGBTQ materials in the library. I didn't see the ring-leader of this protest mention anything about books about straight couples and straight people.  It has only become tainted with politics because politicians and pundits have chosen to do so. 

Having worked in the Jamestown area over the last 2 years, it's pretty sad because the library is one of the only redeeming structures in the little "downtown" area there.  It's meant to resemble the train station that served the Interurban that ran through there back in the old days. 

*Also, there are facebook pages now in support of the library plus super-long reddit threads about it. Rumors fly in those places.

[LaMas]

I actually agree with you here. But to respond to your question - in my opinion its less about what does the Bible literally say and more about how do we understand and interpret what it says. That is a much more nuanced discussion. There is not a single settled opinion on same sex marriage. That's why there are so many different churches having various positions on same sex marriage. 

Jesus himself said to judge a tree by its fruit. He held those who claimed to follow God to a very high moral and ethical standard. At the same time he was incredibly gracious toward those whom religious people judged unclean or sinners. I'd argue that those trying to close a valuable community resource over a few books they don't like are neither living up to Jesus' own high standards (especially in the area of love), nor are they being gracious. They fail in both cases and therefore are not really being Christian. They're fighting a culture war God never wanted them to fight and with a method the Bible never endorses. We might call them a Christian group because it's an easy label and that's what they think they are, but I think if you dig a little deeper you'll realize they're not really doing anything very christian. That's what I mean by it.

[GRDadof3]

25 minutes ago, LaMas said:

I actually agree with you here. But to respond to your question - in my opinion its less about what does the Bible literally say and more about how do we understand and interpret what it says. That is a much more nuanced discussion. There is not a single settled opinion on same sex marriage. That's why there are so many different churches having various positions on same sex marriage. 

Jesus himself said to judge a tree by its fruit. He held those who claimed to follow God to a very high moral and ethical standard. At the same time he was incredibly gracious toward those whom religious people judged unclean or sinners. I'd argue that those trying to close a valuable community resource over a few books they don't like are neither living up to Jesus' own high standards (especially in the area of love), nor are they being gracious. They fail in both cases and therefore are not really being Christian. They're fighting a culture war God never wanted them to fight and with a method the Bible never endorses. We might call them a Christian group because it's an easy label and that's what they think they are, but I think if you dig a little deeper you'll realize they're not really doing anything very christian. That's what I mean by it.

I don't disagree with your sentiment that they're not acting like real "Christians", but again, you're approaching this discussion from a purely religious perspective. Try re-wording your argument and take all references to God out of it. Because God and no religion have any business deciding what content should go in a public library. If you took any and all religious beliefs out of this discussion, the library millage would have passed. Of course it would have. As evidenced by a meeting at the library the other night after the vote, apparently many people expressed confusion that the library would close without funding, lol. 

[GRLaker]

3 hours ago, LaMas said:

I'm interested in the source of the statement that the worker's cars have been keyed and they've receives hateful messages. I hadn't heard that. Unfortunately I only workin the area and can't vote, but I know lots of people who do. I'm very sad if this behavior is truly being pushed as a Christian thing (I see it more as a political culture war issue that has hijacked the Christian name). Is "Christian In Name Only" a thing - Chino?

To answer the question relating to the source: It was mentioned in the community meeting this week that there were staff safety issues. Someone had spoken separately with a board member for clarification and they were informed about what had taken place. So assuming the secondary source wasn't lying, it comes from a primary source.

[GRLaker]

28 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

I don't disagree with your sentiment that they're not acting like real "Christians", but again, you're approaching this discussion from a purely religious perspective. Try re-wording your argument and take all references to God out of it. Because God and no religion have any business deciding what content should go in a public library. If you took any and all religious beliefs out of this discussion, the library millage would have passed. Of course it would have. As evidenced by a meeting at the library the other night after the vote, apparently many people expressed confusion that the library would close without funding, lol. 

Without getting too in-depth, I agree whole heartedly with both of you . Two separate discussions come from this story: Is the group acting like true stewards of their faith? Simple answer is absolutely not. Second discussion is should people be able to determine content of a library (let alone existence of a library) based on said faith? Absolutely not.

[LaMas]

Thanks for the source info. That's very sad. And good summary of the discussion. I think we're all on the same page.

[GRDadof3]

20 hours ago, LaMas said:

Thanks for the source info. That's very sad. And good summary of the discussion. I think we're all on the same page.

Yep. Moving on. 

[GR8scott]

Caught thus and thought it was funny how Toledo thinks this new downtown Hilton Garden/Homewood Suites "puts it above other similar sized midwestern cities like GR" https://www.toledoblade.com/business/development/2022/03/27/park-inn-hotel-rebranded-hilton-opening-date-downtown-toledo/stories/20220323112 

[MJLO]

13 hours ago, GR8scott said:

Caught thus and thought it was funny how Toledo thinks this new downtown Hilton Garden/Homewood Suites "puts it above other similar sized midwestern cities like GR" https://www.toledoblade.com/business/development/2022/03/27/park-inn-hotel-rebranded-hilton-opening-date-downtown-toledo/stories/20220323112 

Do you subscribe to the Toledo Blade lol?  Sits behind a paywall for me.   

[RegalTDP]

17 hours ago, GR8scott said:

Caught thus and thought it was funny how Toledo thinks this new downtown Hilton Garden/Homewood Suites "puts it above other similar sized midwestern cities like GR" https://www.toledoblade.com/business/development/2022/03/27/park-inn-hotel-rebranded-hilton-opening-date-downtown-toledo/stories/20220323112 

The sky's the limit when you've got an AAA ball team!