Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. Planning Manager Tim Kelly emails a weekly GR Forward update to the project Steering Committee. Here's this week's communication:

Good Afternoon Everyone:

I hope you are finishing up another great (and abbreviated) week. I know a lot of people are already enjoying their 4th of July holiday, so I will keep this week’s email brief.

Next week we are looking forward to kicking off the presentations of the draft GR Forward plan. As I mentioned last week, we have scheduled presentations to the Downtown Development Authority Board on Wednesday, July 8 at 8a, and the Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. Board of Advisors on July 9 at 1p. Both of those meetings are at the DGRI offices (29 Pearl Street, NW), and are open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Web Numbers

The latest web and social media numbers are below. Be sure to continue to share the links below in your network so everyone can stay up to date with GR Forward activities.

Resources

This article on Seattle’s efforts to reclaim their waterfront from an elevated freeway is interesting.

While this is something residents have talked about for decades, the conversations began to intensify on the heels of the City’s new waterfront plan. That plan, completed by the same landscape architect that designed New York’s Highline, created a three-pronged vision for the waterfront:

  1. See the Elliott Bay area as Seattle’s own personal Central Park, the core of a great chain of public space that rimmed the waterfront.
  2. Reconnect the waterfront with the downtown and other adjacent neighborhoods via a new local street grid friendly to pedestrians.
  3. Make the public spaces surrounding the waterfront true destinations—hence plans for Waterfront Park, an arts and culture spot that will house a performance venue, and Pier 62-63, an athletic area designed for recreation.

The first part of the plan to take shape is the replacement of the City’s failing seawall. The new wall is not only designed to withstand a serious earthquake but is supposed to enhance the waterfront’s marine life—especially the city’s beloved salmon. The new seawall sidewalk, which is cantilevered over the bay, incorporates glass panels so light can reach the young salmon that use the waterfront as a migration corridor.

While any project of this magnitude is subject to scrutiny and delay, Seattle is ahead of communities around the county because they are already taking actions to remove their elevated freeway. The project will open up 26 blocks of on the waterfront that the City was founded on, and the economic and quality of life benefits will further catalyze an already growing City.

As always if you have questions, let me know. Otherwise, have a great 4th of July weekend!