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:

Happy Friday Everyone:

Hope you are all finishing up a great week.

Another milestone for GR Forward this week. On Tuesday, the City Commission unanimously approved a resolution to move GR Forward into the official comment / review period. We are looking forward to the conversations and input we will receive to further improve the plan.

Speaking of conversations and additional input, as I mentioned last week we are creating a variety of opportunities for people to provide comments during the review period. Those opportunities will include, but are not limited to:

  • An Open House located at DGRI (starting Monday, 8/17) where people can drop in at their convenience to review copies of the plan or executive summary and submit comments. The Open House will be open during regularly scheduled DGRI business hours (M-F 8:30a – 5p);
  • “Meet the Planners” sessions that will provide scheduled times each week at the Open House where people can meet with a representative of DGRI or the City to discuss the plan in detail;
  • Copies of the full plan and executive summary at all nine public library branches with comment cards;
  • The DGRI website, which will be updated to include a virtual option for interested parties to provide comments;
  • Approximately 10 additional meetings where we will be partnering with organizations and neighborhood associations to produce events throughout the City that provide a forum for large groups to hear a presentation on GR Forward and provide feedback.

If anyone has any suggestions for additional outreach activities, or organizations that we can partner with please let me know. Additionally, for those of you that have not had a chance to review the plan, a reminder that you can find it on the project page for the DGRI website.

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 our GR Forward activities.

Resources

I really enjoyed this article from The Economist about the opportunities for Midwestern cities to reinvent themselves using water as a focal point.

Our connection to water is inescapable, and in most, if not all cases, access to water was the foundation that cities were founded on. And while most of us understand the legacy of using water as a tool for industry and the harm it caused, it is exciting to read about the work happening around the Midwest to reclaim and restore water resources as a different kind economic engine.

We know this especially well in Grand Rapids, and have talked regularly about the idea of re-establishing ourselves as a waterfront city to maximize the access and amenities along the Grand River. The combination of the thinking around the Whitewater project, as well as the opportunity sites along the River edges present us with an exciting chance to be a leader not only in the Midwest, but throughout the country on how to maximize the benefits of one of our most valuable resources.

As always, let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, have a great weekend.