Urban Grand Rapids

The Grand Rapids Planning Commission is hosting a community discussion about possible changes to the zoning code related to Accessory Dwelling Units (aka: ADUs). This conversation is the result of a report of possible policy changes created by the Housing Advisory Committee.

The related documents from Housing Advisory Committee are:

• link: Official agenda for this meeting, Accela Meeting Portal.
• link: Official minutes for this meeting, Accela Meeting Portal.
• Sponsorship of the Hispanic Festival.
  • An outreach effort at the Hispanic Festival will be used to improve the results of the transit stop survey.

So, that happened. What to do now? This should always be the question asked in response to terrible public policy decisions. In this case the response is obvious. Consider the fact that the transportation systems alone of the United States produce more greenhouse gasses than any other economy in the world except for China. That is an astonishing data point.

• There will be three upcoming events with mobility integration & promotion: rock the block, GR's first Asian Festival, and Festival of the Arts.
  • Of the three - Rock The Block (10K estimated participants), Asian Festival (20K), and Festival (200K) - Rock The Block is the first event not downtown. The guidelines for event sponsorship are Downtown specific if read verbatim, these guidelines need to be revisited after the expanded commission is seated

The north-east neighborhoods will have a variety of Rummage/Garage sales this weekend, see the list below. The sales line up for a nice 3 mile-tour - a ~12 minute drive or only an hours total walk. All sites are located near the route of the RAPID#15 bus route.

Update 2016-08-17: We also now have a sale in the Creston neighborhood @ 2132 Edgewood Avenue NE (see below).

Update 2016-08-18: Another new sale! This one is in Midtown @ 1036 Fountain St NE (see below).

The news is official: "Partners shelve plans for small grocery store at 38 Commerce in downtown Grand Rapids". This in conjunction with the closing of award winning Propaganda Donuts ... it has not been a good month for retail in Grand Rapids.

There are a variety of upcoming events related to downtown, the Michigan St Corridor, and intra-city transit: