CNN Money article on Grand Rapids and how Detroit can learn from their success

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/11/auto...tune/index.htm

I've been to GR several times the past couple years and downtown definitely has changed for the better.

Ha! Downtown GR has less shopping than Detroit does. These cities don't even really compare too well. Wow GR built an arena several year back. How is this better than Ford Field, Comerica, Joe Louis and Cobo? How is a GVSU satalite campus better than U of D law or WSU? Sure it has yuppie bars and eateries, but so does Downtown Detroit.

I think there are too many differences between Detroit and GR for a comparison to provide much useful help for Detroit. Still, the sarcastic response is unwarranted. The big difference between the two cities is that while Detroit is tearing down buildings downtown, the GR skyline is dominated by new buildings recently finished or under construction. Also, GR is doing a great job at getting people downtown with events like ArtPrize and the Rob Bliss events.

Also, I think that quite a bit of the improvement to downtown does have to do with GVSU, who receives large endowments from DeVos and VanAndel. I haven't been downtown in a while, but I went to GVSU back in the late 60's. The residential area of the city then was not that great, just like Detroit. I volunteer with a mentoring group in the City there and it was just as scary to go downtown GR at night as it was to go to downtown Detroit at night. Most of the affluent folks in the GR area live outside the City, just like here.

The major difference between the two IMHO is the fact that the leaders of the city actually CARE about the residents and actively work to improve their living situations, and not just lining their own pockets. Maybe we can get there someday!

My father lives in the NE quadrant of the city and I visit there regularly. We frequent restaurants, museums and such often when visiting, but again, I have not been to the downtown area in a while.

Crack the lawyer jokes if you want, but many of the Chicago firms have satellites in Grand Rapids and the law firms in Grand Rapids recruit heavily from Wayne State. These are professional, well-paid people, many of whom live in the city proper, though the suburbs are booming as well. A good number of the better students graduating from Wayne State L.S. were recruited to the west side of the State [[at least several years ago), and I assume this is ongoing. Grand Rapids is too small to be my thing, but we visit that side at least once a year and it is a great city in Michigan.