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:

This week we continued with our engagement efforts, providing an overview of GR Forward at the Heartside Breakfast Club to business owners and residents.

We are still building out the schedule for the remainder of the engagement events during the comment period, which is scheduled to go until October 23rd. While that is a month beyond what is required, we want to be sure we allow enough time for people to review the draft and let us know how to improve it. Below is a tentative list of the additional meetings and organizations we are working to partner with. If anyone has suggestions for other groups we can work with please let me know.

October

  • October 23, 2015: 73 Day Comment Period Ends
  • TBD: Downtown and River Corridor Steering Committees meet to recommend the plan with edits incorporated from public comment

November

  • TBD: GRPS
  • November 12, 2015: Planning Commission
  • November 18, 2015: DDA
  • November 18, 2015: TIFA
  • TBD :DGRI Board of Advisors

December

  • December 15, 2015: City Commission

Additional Outreach We're Working to Schedule

  • Chamber of Commerce
  • Community Inclusion Group
  • BLEND
  • GRPS
  • LINC
  • Urban League
  • Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
  • Disability Advocates of Kent County
  • Experience GR
  • Neighborhood Meetings:
    • Belknap Lookout
    • Black Hills
    • Creston
    • Grandville Arts Academy/Cook Library
    • Heritage Hill
    • JBAN-SWAN
    • Roosevelt Park
    • West Grand

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

Some of you may have already seen this article from If The River Swells, which offers a critique of GR Forward and the process we have gone through to develop the draft plan and the vision, goals, and strategies therein.

While I disagree with some of the points in the article, I think it is important to recognize there are different perspectives in our community about what our shared goals for the future of Downtown and the River should be. That is why, as mentioned above, we are embarking on this 10-week public review period where we are actively seeking conversations with anyone that has ideas to improve GR Forward. If there is something we missed, or that you strongly disagree with, now is the time to voice it. And better yet, provide an idea that can be used to enhance the Plan or process .

We recognize the importance of this effort on the future of our community and want to make sure we get it right. Now is the time for us to have these conversations, and I encourage all of you to reach out to me or anyone else on the GR Forward project team if you wish to provide any input.

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