Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. (DGRI) now is hosting a six-week Open House welcoming the public to review and share ideas to improve GR Forward, a community plan and investment strategy to fully restore the Grand River and support the next generation of growth in Grand Rapids’ urban core – which sits at the heart of Michigan’s fastest growing metro area.

DGRI converted its front office lobby located at 29 Pearl Street NW into an exhibition space publicly displaying GR Forward’s proposed goals, strategies and recommendations. The Open House is designed as a casual come-and-go opportunity with no formal presentation. Interested citizens are invited to stop in as they’re able, review the draft documents, discuss the GR Forward initiative with project planners, and provide feedback.

The space will remain open Monday-Friday from 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM through September 25, 2015.

The Open House is one of many ways citizens are invited to participate in the formal public review of the GR Forward draft. Additional ways to learn more and share comments and ideas include:

  • Respond to the Online Survey. The four-question survey is an easy way to electronically submit comments and ideas tagged specifically to each GR Forward goal. Consider typing out your responses before taking the survey for quick cut-and-paste comment.
  • Attend a Community Meeting. The GR Forward team is working with community organizations and neighborhood groups to produce a series of live presentations and feedback sessions throughout the city. View currently scheduled events in the "Public Review Schedule" section on the GR Forward project page.
  • Meet the Planners. Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. currently is scheduling specific times each week at the Open House where citizens can meet and speak with a representative of DGRI or the City to discuss the GR Forward strategy in detail.
  • Go to a Neighborhood Library. Copies of the GR Forward executive summary and full plan are available for public reading at all nine public library branches. Comment cards also are available to provide comments and additional ideas.
  • Go to City Hall. Copies of the GR Forward draft and comment cards are available in the City Hall lobby located at 300 Monroe Avenue and in the Development Center located at 1120 Monroe Avenue NW.

The project partners will receive public comments on the GR Forward draft until September 25, 2015. Additional ways to gain a deeper understanding the draft proposed vision, goals and strategies include:

  • This 2-minute video provide a high-level overview of GR Forward.
  • This public engagement summary provides an overview of citizen participation activities to date. This is a 4-minute read.
  • This article in the Rapidian summarizes the current public review period. This is a 5-minute read.
  • This announcement provides more context and deeper summary explanation of strategy sets. This is a 6-minute read.
  • The GR Forward Executive Summary is a 15-minute read. It is not exhaustive of the detail included in the full plan. But readers will find most of the high-level strategies proposed to implement the goals and realize the vision.
  • This 50-minute video is a GR Forward presentation by our two consulting team leads. This was recorded at the July 9 DGRI Board of Advisors meeting.
  • The project page on DGRI’s website includes links to all of the chapters of the full DRAFT plan. It is an estimated 3-hour read cover-to-cover.