Mark F. Miller is an architect and urban designer at Nederveld, the former chairman of the Grand Rapids Historic Preservation Commission and a past president of the Grand Valley chapter of the American Institute of Architects. As a committed urbanist, he enjoys walking to work from his home in Heritage Hill to his office downtown.
In many of former President Ronald Reagan’s speeches, the theme of America as a “shining city on a hill” remained a constant. In his farewell address to the nation, Reagan described this place as “a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans” with “ports that hummed with commerce and creativity”. His vision of America as a city that showed boundless promise was a compelling rallying cry of solidarity and optimism.
This vision can easily describe Grand Rapids - a shining city on a hill that hums with commerce, creativity, vibrancy... and urgency. To take the next steps toward fulfilling this complete vision, to capitalize on previous investments, and to unlock the full potential of commerce and vitality, we must now address the urgency. This urgency -- the planning, investment and civic enrichment required to connect our people and places -- is the continued enhancement of our transit system. The building of a broad meaningful network of mobility that connects the experiences of living, working, shopping, recreating and learning while also stimulating economic growth.
The deep, robust and diverse mobility that transit can enable builds commerce, economic stability and flourishing urbanism. Through consistent, dedicated, and precise strategic investment our transit network can get even better and ultimately usher in an era of economic renaissance and boundless promise for our city and region. Today, our transit authority, The Rapid, is continuing its strategic investment toward the goal of better connections, shorter waits and longer hours of service. This investment is in response to both an unprecedented demand for service and the goal of building a more dynamic 21st century city.
The Rapid has experienced constant ridership increases nearly every month, which have resulted in an impressive 10.8 million rides in 2011, up from 4.5 million in 2000. This increased demand is reinforced by total monthly ridership statistics which indicate a 12.2% increase from January 2011 to January 2012 and a 20.3% total ridership increase from February 2011 to February 2012. To keep up with this demand, The Rapid invested in 12 new buses in January 2012 to upgrade their fleet and has ordered an additional 23 new buses to accommodate service enhancements.
These demand increases parallel national trends and effectively refute the notion that our transit system is simply a bunch of empty buses. More importantly, the people riding transit have more spending money to stimulate the economy based on monthly transit savings reports from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). These reports calculate the cost savings that residents in 20 different cities (with the highest transit ridership) would realize if they dumped their cars and relied on public transit. The March 2012 report indicates that individuals who switch from driving to transit could save an annual average of $10,120, or $843 per month. This is real money that can flow into the local Grand Rapids economy, stimulating more opportunities for local commerce while having the additional benefit of building a robust transit network.
The Rapid is also making further investments toward city building. These strategic investments include the construction of a new Amtrak train station adjacent to the Central Station on Grandville Avenue that will effectively enhance an already vibrant transit hub and connect regional rail in a more pragmatic way to the central city. They also include the Silver Line, a planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that will serve Medical Mile, downtown Grand Rapids and Division Avenue -- connecting the significant investments made in these areas to a regional framework.
These strategic transit investments fuels economic development. It is no coincidence that the most transit rich regions of our nation are also some of the most economically prosperous, with steady job growth, high property values and sustained economic development. The initial investment of $200 million in a BRT line along Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio has catalyzed over $4 billion in economic development and 13.5 million square feet of new development along the four mile strip since 2008. While these numbers paint an optimistic scenario, especially given the fact that Cleveland included a massive street rebuild in their transit project, the Rapid’s proposed BRT line is fully expected to stimulate economic development and verdant urbanism.
Even today, the southeast corner of Wealthy Street and Division Avenue is being recast, as two new three-story mixed use buildings rise on what only 12 months ago was an empty lifeless block. The realization of these buildings is, in part, stimulated by the proposed Silver Line, which will include a stop adjacent to this new node. Similarly, nodes such as this -- mixed use, compact and connected -- are expected to be activated as the Silver Line is implemented. One such node, Fisher’s Station, near the southern reach of the BRT at 54th Street and Division Avenue is projected by the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council to potentially include over 1,400 new dwelling units and an increase of 1,700 retail and office jobs.
As these transportation and mobility investments continue, further redevelopment will be catalyzed, connecting existing assets and building on past expenditures. The new train station, increased bus service and the BRT is the commencement of this journey toward fulfilling the boundless promise of our city and region. These investments are building blocks for the ongoing transformation of Grand Rapids into a hub of commerce, creativity and vibrancy -- a livable 21st century metropolis that anchors a region and a state.
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