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 Morning Everyone:

I hope you have all enjoyed a great week.

This week we continued our engagement efforts by meeting with our friends in West Grand, Roosevelt Park, and SWAN/JBAN. We had good participation at each of the meetings, and continue to receive constructive feedback on the draft vision statement and goals. As previously mentioned, if any of you have comments to share, but you are not able to attend a meeting, feel free to email me directly.

In addition to our neighborhood meetings, we also made presentations at the following organizations and shows:

  • Rockford Construction
  • Bliss for GR

Next week we have a break in our meetings schedule, before picking things back up on Tuesday, February 10 with our second meeting in Heritage Hill.

That week, on Thursday, February 12, we also welcome Peter Kageyama to town for the fourth installment of our GR Forward Thinking Speaker Series. Peter is the author of “For the Love of Cities” and “Love Where You Live”, and the title of his presentation is “Welcoming Civic Love through Open Engagement”. Below are links to some of his previous talks. As you can see, Peter is a dynamic speaker and is incredibly passionate about cities. I encourage all you to attend the free event, and to also spread the word to all our friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0QdmrK2CPM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K7OKw_rSz0

On a related note, for those of you that were not able to join us at our previous GR Forward Thinking Speaker Series events, below are links where you can view recordings of the presentations. The links will also be available on our website, http://grforward.org/, shortly.

Web Numbers

The latest web and social media numbers are below. We continue to see positive trends, and appreciate everyone’s assistance promoting the website and our social media outlets.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/grfwd

Twitter - https://twitter.com/grfwd

Instagram - http://instagram.com/grfwd#

Website Views

Facebook Likes

Instagram Followers

Twitter Followers

28,618 (+229)

930 (+21)

201 (+7)

213 (+9)

Resources

I appreciated this article from The Globe about how designers in Canada approach the challenge of getting people outside in the winter: http://m.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/architecture/how-urban-designers-are-getting-canadians-outside---even-in-the-deepest-freeze/article22676397/pic.twitter.com/AaYFVCtUqJ?service=mobile

This is a topic we have been talking about in great detail as part of GR Forward. Given our community’s desire to be active 365 days a year, we need to identify additional opportunities, especially in the winter, to get people outside. As the article outlines, cities across Canada are exploring ways to turn the winter months into an asset.

Montreal’s approach is to employ contemporary art and design as tools to encourage people to go outside. Interactive installations, chosen through an international design competition, draw people to public space, even in sub-zero temperatures. In Edmonton, they have developed a goal of becoming a “WinterCity”, and a department in the City is dedicated to creating strategies that accomplish the goal (http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/initiatives_innovation/wintercity-strategy.aspx). Other approaches include warming huts in Winnipeg, and a competition to re-design lifeguard stands in Toronto,

Obviously the greatest challenge lies in convincing people to brave the elements, either by creating events, or encouraging activities that give people a reason to be outside. That saide, there are things cities can do to create pleasant environments in the winter. They include:

1.Orienting buildings and city blocks to maintain exposure to direct sun, especially from the south.

2.Creating short blocks, with staggered corners and mid-block courtyards, to reduce the impact of wind.

3.Introducing awnings, canopies and colonnades to help create welcoming microclimates.

4.Using bright colors in architecture, as well as public art, to provide visual interest.

5.Introducing open fires – as in gas-fed fire pits – to psychologically and physically warm a place up.

I am always interested to see how other cities approach the challenges of winter, and would be curious to hear about any other strategies that resonate with you all.

As always, if you have any questions please let me know.

Otherwise, have a great weekend.