Urban Grand Rapids

This morning's (2024-04-23) meeting of the Community Development Committee approved the easement for 150 Ann St NW - the Members First Credit Union - for the construction of segment #4 of the Grand River Edge Trail East which will connect Ann St and Leonard St. This trail will close the gap between Monroe North / Canal Park and the White Pine Trail.

Approximately four more easements need to be concluded, with the city currently engaging in negotiations with property owners. Bidding for construction contracts for the trail could begin in fall of this year (2024).

In response to the currently proposed zoning reforms the city has assembled 👉an extensive FAQ👈; I used data from that document as the basis for the 👉"The Myth Of The Out-Of-State Housing Hoover"👈 post. That post lays out the data making it clear that the phenomenon of out-of-state developers collecting housing en masse has not happened here. Beyond laying that NIMBY trope to rest this document contains some particularly interesting nuggets which are worth calling out.

There is a common myth that "out of state" developers, generally from "Wall Street", are hoovering up Single Family Units (SFU). And in the era of free-money-for-those-with-money [interest rates sub-3%] this phenomenon did occur in some places where various other economic factors were in play. That's not in dispute. But, did it happen in Grand Rapids? And is it happening in Grand Rapids? To the data!

The municipal agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on 2024-04-25 is 👉here👈

2037 S Division Ave

On the fourth Tuesday of this month (2024-04-23) the City Commission will be voting on the suite of zoning reforms which have been in development since the joint meeting of the Planning Commission and the City Commission in July of last year (2023).

The 2024-04-11 meeting of the City Planning Commission was an update of the current Master Plan process, this being a recap of phase#3. There is one more phase (phase#4) to go.

A key result so far from the process is that the citizens of Grand Rapids understand the need for housing, and are ready for it. In many ways the citizens of this city are out ahead of their leadership, by a considerable distance.

The Rapid's fixed-route ridership increased by 18.1% in February 2024 relative to February 2023. Evening ridership (+19%) continues to lead the recovery; although this may be slightly influenced by some reduced service in the AM schedule due to under-funding by the Democratic trifecta in Lansing. So far it looks like LBO (local bus operating) funding from the state of Michigan to urban transit operators will hit a record low in 2025.