Grand Rapids: We need to bolster ties!

[Hypestyles]

does the Amway headquarters in Ada give tours? Heh..
how much have they genuinely contributed to the local economy there?
as loathesome as I find their 'independent sales outfits', I can only presume they have some sort of community reinvestment ties..

[Newdetroit]

1)A bullet train from GR to Detroit
2)More Detroit artists involved in the GR Art festivals
3)A bike tour or race between the two cities
4)More schools in Metro Detroit organizing field trips to Lansing and GR
5)Joint community seminars on economic and cultural advancement for MI

[Blueidone]

Those are all great ideas, NewDetroit!

[fryar]

I've heard Grand Rapids is supposed to be nice, and that that's partially the result of major investments by some folks like those mentioned above. Which I'm sure is true. But a superiority complex vis-a-vis SE Mich? They're a glorified Manchester NH. Which is also a nice town, but has a lower population.

I don't think the bullet train makes sense unless we have a total go-go economy just super-humming along. I think you can justify subsidizing a coach service as a measure that is ultimately beneficial to both cities. You'd have to subsidize it because it would be in place already if the economics made sense without subsidies. Not a lot of people would ride it, because Detroit is pretty car-centric, and I can imagine GR is as well.

I think points 2-5 are a good idea, but it's a whole big set of initiatives, you realize.

[Russix]

1)A bullet train from GR to Detroit

In lieu of a Bullet train, maybe some progress in reducing the travel time from 10 hours between Detroit and Grand Rapids, 7 hours between Detroit and Lansing. This would be a good place to start[[It only takes 4 hours between Grand Rapids and Chicago and thats 30 more miles away).

[Zimm]

what does Detroit have to offer people in GR that they can't get there?

my short list:
access to major sports teams-it's a long drive, tickets, hotel rooms and gas aren't cheap. lions and pistons stink. tigers are meh. nhl hockey is not as big over there as it is here. also, except the pistons, all of the detroit teams play in the middle of an urban wasteland that few outsiders want to visit. if you're basically equidistant from chicago and detroit, unless you have a major pro-detroit team rooting interest, the chicago teams offer a better experience. there are lots of chicago team fans in SW MI [[not the gr area though).

cultural institutions-GR has some very nice museums that often get big exhibits that detroit does not get, or gets them well before detroit [[i have gone to gr to see an egyptian mummy exhibit that gr got first in the US and a divinci exhibit that was only in gr.) the only one of detroit's museums i've ever know grand rapidians to want to trek to visit is the DIA. again, the cost of visit and urban wasteland location problem

high end shopping-shopping in GR is fine, but limited on the high end. Sommerset draws some people from GR, but i'd bet 10x more grand rapidians would rather spend a day shopping on michigan ave in chicago than drive to troy. ikea in suburban chicago is 1 hour farther away than ikea in canton.

concerts-gr has the venues to lure big acts that it did not have a decade or 2 ago. more and more acts that always skipped gr are now skipping detroit as well. i can see where some people will come here for a show or 2, but it's just not a big deal.

ait travel hub-gone are the days when grand rapidians would trek to metro for cheaper, more convenient flights. gr now has a lot of cheap direct flight options to places like florida, and southwest's hub at chicago-midway has pretty much eliminated any reason for folks to make the drive to metro.

[5speedz34]

My dad is originally from Benton Harbor and after finishing undergrad at MSU in '73 lived in Muskegon for 8 years. He then moved to Detroit for law school. I too have relatives on the West Side of the state and although I don't agree with their religious beliefs or political leanings I still feel like they have a very "backwards" thinking of Detroit and SE MI.

It's true that the highest growth in the state over the past ten years has been in GR. Although I haven't visited downtown I know they have a very pro urban agenda. The fact of the matter is that GR is still a pretty relatively small city whereas Detroit is the stereotypically "big city." Manufacturing is still huge over there with numerous auto parts suppliers. From the young people I've met [[18-24 yo) most people don't have anything out of the norm to say about Detroit. The West Side is gorgeous but will always just be a nice place to visit in my eyes.

PS: Has anyone ever heard a Westsider rant/hate on Muskegon? It's like their little Detroit! LOL!

[belleislerunner]

Let's not dismiss the west side so quickly. From Fobes richest 400 Americans list...

West Side
4.9 Billion – Fred Meijer
4.3 Billion – Dick DeVos
2.1 Billion – Ronda Stryker

East Side
2.0 Billion – Al Taubman
1.7 Billion – Mile Illitch
1.6 Billion – Matty Moroun

Learn to appreciate both. Appreciate the beauty of Western Michigan [[sand dunes, sunsets on Lake Michigan, ordchards/windmills) while others can appreciate the auto industry, major league sports, good suburbs and musuems of Detroit.

[Farrer]

My dad is originally from Benton Harbor and after finishing undergrad at MSU in '73 lived in Muskegon for 8 years. He then moved to Detroit for law school. I too have relatives on the West Side of the state and although I don't agree with their religious beliefs or political leanings I still feel like they have a very "backwards" thinking of Detroit and SE MI.

It's true that the highest growth in the state over the past ten years has been in GR. Although I haven't visited downtown I know they have a very pro urban agenda. The fact of the matter is that GR is still a pretty relatively small city whereas Detroit is the stereotypically "big city." Manufacturing is still huge over there with numerous auto parts suppliers. From the young people I've met [[18-24 yo) most people don't have anything out of the norm to say about Detroit. The West Side is gorgeous but will always just be a nice place to visit in my eyes.

PS: Has anyone ever heard a Westsider rant/hate on Muskegon? It's like their little Detroit! LOL!

More fairly accurate observations. Muskegon is another de-industrialized small town. Hardscrabble and owning a huge inferiority complex, but has a lot of upside, too. My father's side of the family is from there. Like GR, it's ghetto/blight-Lite compared to Detroit. I think one of the things that has kept the western shore "small" is the lake. There simply is no commerce there coming from the west, unless you were to count charter fishing or some shipping. GR, however, draws from the coast and points east. Another thing observed over the years is that Detroit blacks consider outstate blacks from say, Muskegon, as slightly backward and unsophisticated in comparison to themselves, probably due to the larger minority middle class and their political control in Detroit.

[skyl4rk]

There have been young people moving into downtown GR [[mainly east of downtown along the Fulton/Lake St corridor) over the last 10 or so years that have really changed GR. Where once bulletproof glass party stores stood, now are trendy restaurants.

This group of people has a lot in common with the young people who are living in the City in neighborhoods such as Woodbridge, Downtown and Midtown. In fact, I don't believe that there is any other city in Michigan with a comparable re-urbanization going on. Kalamazoo, maybe, but the Zoo never really lost its Vine neighborhood, it has maintained even during the tough times [[like now).

I wonder whether Grand Rapids or Detroit has more young people who have moved into the city.

Suburbanites in both places are going to have anti-urban tendencies, but the young people rediscovering the old city neighborhoods will have a lot in common.