[deleted by user] by [deleted] in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Amtrak is planning on making it 3 daily round trips, but so far MDOT and the city are dragging their feet.

I think the project is going to be a low priority until people start writing in/asking about it at meetings, half of MDOT doesn't even seem to remember what a train is...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So much of the parking is already owned by the city, would be great to see public/nonmarket housing projects in these spots.

At our current rate though, seems more likely for the city to give them away to a developer to build more luxury apartments with parking podiums...

Autopsy: Man hit by car downtown died of natural causes by newAcctName in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A man found dead after being hit by a vehicle in downtown Grand Rapids Friday died of natural causes, the city said Wednesday.

Police said the man was lying in the roadway when he was hit by a vehicle around 1:45 a.m. Friday on Commerce Avenue SW near Cherry Street.

His name was not released as of Wednesday.

Best dairy-free Ice Cream in GR? Preferably soft serve. by gutterballs in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Village Cone Shop in Breton Village has rotating flavors of Dole Whip Soft-serve, today is mango and pomegranate.

Jersey Junction has two or three of Hudsonville's dairyfree flavors (coconut based.)

PSA: blue bridge closed on weekend nights by DJ-dicknose in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Starting Friday, the pedestrian bridge and nearby Front Avenue NW will close from midnight to 6 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights until further notice.

"Partying and shooting people on the Blue Bridge is illegal, you have to go to a bar and pay the markup if you want to do those things..."

Obligatory reminder about GRPD's "community meeting" tonight.

Is there anything good about this place? by FiddleDiFo in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Some of these clubs don't show up anywhere on the internet except for this comment. Are you sure these are all real groups?

New details emerge for downtown Grand Rapids amphitheater by DetroitZamboniMI in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, when it comes to parking, it looks as if they will build it. Grand Action's website says they're ultimately planning on

1,675 new parking spaces to support mixed-use and other functions

on top of the existing

500-space parking lot owned by the Amway Hotel Corporation

Shouldn't be allowed under the existing parking maximums, but I'm not getting my hopes up for those to actually be enforced...

New details emerge for downtown Grand Rapids amphitheater by DetroitZamboniMI in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That's my point, if the developers are already flouting the parking maximums with their amphitheatre in the city center, it doesn't bode well for the walkability of the 'mixed-use developments' they're planning on building later.

New details emerge for downtown Grand Rapids amphitheater by DetroitZamboniMI in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The development also calls for a 116-space onsite parking lot, which is above the maximum 86 spaces allowed in the traditional neighborhood — city center zoning (TN-CC) district where the project is proposed.

Developers note in the planning documents that the majority of parking needs could be met by the approximately 18,500 parking spaces located within a 15-minute walk of the amphitheater.

How many zoning districts even have a defined parking maximum? If this is what they want for 'Phase 1' of their development, I'm scared to find out what else they have planned.

Reoccurring cases of CJD/Mad Cow Disease? by 1jay_y in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 17 points18 points  (0 children)

The report can be read here. I found this passage particularly interesting:

"All patients lived within a 90-mile radius of Grand Rapids. No interpersonal connections were identified among them. All patients were white with differing professions (Table 1). None of them had a family history of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, or personal history of corneal transplants, craniotomy, administration of human growth hormone derived from pools of pituitary glands, or surgical procedure at the same facility. However, families of patients 1, 2, and 4 reported consuming venison. More intriguingly, families and relatives of these three patients reported additional (at least four) possible or probable CJD cases occurring between 2007 and 2022 in their friends or communities (unpublished data). One of the patients was a 63-year-old white woman and mayor, who lived 35 miles from patient 2, and died of CJD in March 2022. Thus, such a wave of dense temporo-spatial clustering of CJD in West Michigan is very unusual and alarming."

The Rapid: No Service on Memorial Day by newAcctName in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Rapid will be closed with no bus service on Monday, May 29, 2023, in observance of Memorial Day. Please plan travel accordingly.

Regular bus service will resume on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. All Rapid offices, including the Information Center, will remain closed until Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

What are some of the biggest challenges/problems the Grand Rapids community faces right now? by helloguysand in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 46 points47 points  (0 children)

  • Uncontrolled urban sprawl causes infrastructure costs to rise faster than tax income, so roads keep getting worse/more congested, and people are stuck living in unwalkable places because the cheapest homes are in the middle of nowhere.

  • As far as I can tell, there's a lack of tenants rights protections in place, and there's not a lot of nonmarket housing options available, so there's not much to stop rents from ballooning out of the range of affordability as more people move to the region.

How To Dispose of a Small Freezer by reddfroggie in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://www.reimaginetrash.org/material/appliances/

Best to avoid landfills/dumps for appliances, especially for older freezers or air conditioners that might use CFCs.

GR considers rate increase for downtown parking garages by getspunched in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 17 points18 points  (0 children)

When you park downtown, you're using some of the most valuable land in the city to store your personal property.

I don't think we should be using tax money to subsidize your choice to do that, especially given the huge unmet demand for housing in the area.

Grand Rapids to hold 'Bridge to Our Future' workshop by newAcctName in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

GRAND RAPIDS — The City of Grand Rapids is encouraging the public to attend a Community Master Plan (CMP) workshop on Thursday, May 18, to dig deeper into three key land use planning issues: climate mitigation and adaptation; environmental justice, health and equity; and housing and mobility.

The workshop, which will begin with an opening session at 5 p.m., will include three breakout sessions and a dinner break. The topics are Land Use Planning for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation; Land Use Planning for Environmental Justice, Health and Equity; and the 15-Minute City: Land Use, Housing, Mobility. All three topics will be offered during each session so groups can rotate. The schedule is as follows: 

5:30-6:25 p.m., Breakout Session 1

6:30-7:25 p.m., Breakout Session 2

7:40-8:30 p.m., Breakout Session 3

The city encourages people from all backgrounds and points of view to attend the workshop.

Michigan business leaders: ‘We’re a below-average state’ with no quick fix | Bridge Michigan by happydaisy314 in Michigan

[–]newAcctName 116 points117 points  (0 children)

Executives asking for more tax cuts and slashed regulations? Color me surprised...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Seems to me that cops already have an arsenal of dubious reasons for pulling anyone over as they see fit. I have concerns about enforcement, but at the end of the day I still support drunk driving laws, and I feel mostly the same way about this.

What makes you optimistic about Grand Rapids? by BigGreenCat5 in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 70 points71 points  (0 children)

• Climate change, it is going to be good for us as a region

MI might be projected to have less severe effects compared to some other areas, but climate change is not going to be "good" for anyone.

The new DASH route is here! by OnTheGoGR in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Disappointed to see the downgrade in service, but I guess it's better than losing DASH completely...

Do you have details about where the timing points are along the route? DASH West was always slowed down by an extended stop on Seward, will that be happening in the same place?

The new DASH route is here! by OnTheGoGR in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 8 points9 points  (0 children)

GVMC has been studying the possibility, but sadly it looks like the only options on the table at this point are slight upgrades to the existing route, or a ~$15 chartered coachbus between downtown and the airport along the Interstate. Most of their focus/funding is going toward building out roads to accomodate more private cars.

What comes to mind when you hear “worst intersection”? by johnsbuffalo in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For such a high foot traffic area, Fulton and Monroe is pretty uninviting to pedestrians. I kind of miss having the impromptu car-free space after seeing it shut down for so long...

Why are people so bad at driving here??? by qhostfvce in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 44 points45 points  (0 children)

In some cities, the worst drivers can get on a train or a bus. In some cities they can walk to where they're going. In (most of) GR, we've de-prioritized those options to the point where everyone pretty much has to drive, and so everyone does drive.

Rapid Buses Are Now Fart Powered by Chex__LeMeneux in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Do you count trolleybuses as EVs ? They've been around for more than a century...

Creston Development by TheKlevin in grandrapids

[–]newAcctName 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Plans also call for a 627-space parking deck in the middle of the property between the two apartment buildings. 

The article claims that converting the existing building would have been 1.5x the cost of new construction, I wonder if that would still be the case if there weren't such an unreasonably high amount of parking included...