City's green transformation well underway even as Green Grand Rapids seeks final approvals

The ink hadn't even been placed on the page, let alone had time to dry, before Grand Rapids organizations and individual residents started the "green" transformation of different aspects of the city. And now, four years after planning began, Green Grand Rapids, an environmental and sustainable update to the city's 2002 Master Plan, has been approved by the Grand Rapids Planning Commission and moved to the City Commission for review at its March 22 meeting.

Green Grand Rapids wrapped up by mid-2009, says Planning Director Suzanne Schulz, but there was a lag getting it compiled into a comprehensive document because "we were busy implementing the plan. We wanted to continue the momentum that was underway."

Schulz cites several projects that are part of that momentum:
• Expansion of Joe Taylor Park spearheaded by Friends of Grand Rapids Parks.
• Proposed transformation of an unused parking lot into Pleasant Park at the corner of Madison Avenue SE and Pleasant St. SE.
• Grand Rapids White Water's proposed creation of a white water kayak course on the Grand River through downtown.
• Investigation of possible new stormwater management processes headed up by the West Michigan Environmental Action Council.
• A proposed Complete Streets plan being studied and developed in conjunction with the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition.

"If we're looking to attract the creative class, they choose where they want to live first, then worry about finding a job," Schulz says. "So the quality of life items are critically important to us, and include retention of what we already have so people who are already here want to stay here. The questions arise: where do we make the changes, when, and how? The Master Plan is the how."

Schulz says 1,800 residents participated in developing the plan, with a 30-member steering committee that kept the focus on five areas: natural systems, greening, connections, the Grand River and local food.

She expects city commissioners to approve distribution of the plan document to city and Kent County stakeholders for a final approval process that will wrap up in about five months.

Source: Suzanne Schulz, City of Grand Rapids Planning Director
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

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