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:

Hope have enjoyed the first days of October.

This week we continued our neighborhood engagement efforts, meeting with our friends in the Black Hills. We also held meetings with the GR Rowers, a delegation from the GRAM, the leadership at Amway, and participated on a panel on WGVU-TV’s “West Michigan Week”. Next week our neighborhood meetings continue with the Grandville Arts Academy and Roosevelt Park on Tuesday at 6p at the Cook Library (1100 Grandville Ave SW).

A reminder, you can find an updated list of our meetings, as well as the draft plan, on the Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. website (scroll halfway down the page). Please continue to promote these meetings within your networks to ensure we get as many participants as possible. Also, if anyone has additional ideas for partners that we can meet with, please let me know.

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

As the end of the year approaches (sorry for the reminder), a number of organizations are starting to produce their “best of” lists. Two that came out this week are the American Planning Association’s Great Places in America, and the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Professional Awards. Both offer great examples of best practices from around the country for public spaces, streets, and neighborhood design.

Also, it would not be a Friday in October if we did not find a way to talk about everyone’s favorite subject, parking. This article talks about how Washington, D.C., Cleveland, and Denver are tackling their growing parking issues, mainly through the use of technology and pilot of programs. Among their approaches are performance-based pricing for on street spaces, area management plans, and transit. While there is no silver bullet to address the mobility issues of a growing city, it is always helpful to see how other cities are addressing their challenges.

If you have any questions please let me know. Otherwise, have a great weekend!