A frontier fur-trading town that continues to evolve as a hub of innovation and can-do spirit, the Center City district of Grand Rapids is the financial and cultural anchor of Michigan's West Coast. Rising on the eastern shore of the Grand River, Center City features numerous attractions. The Civic Theatre is Michigan's oldest community theatre. The GRAM holds more than 5,000 works in its permanent collection. The Monroe Center walking mall offers a wide selection of coffee houses, restaurants, and boutique shops. Rosa Parks Circle, the district's public park and amphitheatre, hosts weekly blues concerts in the summer and ice skating in the winter. Another unique highlight is La Grande Vitesse, a large outdoor sculpture at the center of government square, which is distinguished as America's first publicly-funded art installation. The district's major festivals include a three-day arts celebration in June, as well as distinct Polish, Irish, Italian, Native American, Latino, Mexican, German, and African American celebrations of cultural heritage throughout the summer. Incorporated as a city in 1850 with a population of 2,686, Center City now is the heart of Michigan's second largest city. Once known as the Furniture Capitol of the World, this also is the epicenter of Grand Rapids effort to redefine its identity as a leader of modern medical research and sustainable design.
In partnership with local businesses, organizations and library patrons, Kent District Library (KDL) offers KDL Free Libraries scattered throughout the community. The boxes or shelves featured in airports, buses, local businesses and residential neighborhoods offer free, ready-to-grab books to anyone.
The Grand Rapids chapter of Latino Outdoors is an organization that provides outdoor activities for those identifying as Latinx — from hiking and biking to backpacking, kayaking and horseback riding.
With the continued impacts of COVID-19 being seen at all levels, it is more important than ever to make personal health and well-being a priority. For people of color, overcoming barriers to access as well as potential stigmas pose additional challenges. At the recent Young Professionals of Color Conference (YPCC), local counselor Janee’ Beville shared insights on the importance of mental and emotional care.
Creston’s Lions and Rabbits has relaunched as a nonprofit, Lions and Rabbits Center for the Arts, which allows the organization to expand its social and economic impact through public art and programming.
Grand Rapids-based theater production company plans to invest $750,000 on the West Side to transform a vacant building into a permanent home.
Generational shifts in transportation have prompted a new outlook on alternative transportation and highlight solutions for getting around without a vehicle.
With the recent resurgence of vinyl, more music lovers are looking to listen to albums the ‘old school way.’ KDL’s Grooves vinyl collection offers patrons the opportunity to borrow turntables and over 1400 vinyl records from eight branches across their network.
City of Grand Rapids is using a new model, the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP), that will give residents more say in how its $2 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds will be spent in each of the city's three wards.
The Great Lakes gateway to SXSW, Michigan House, launches statewide summer event series, Michigan House Summer, featuring fireside conversions, music performances and local food, drink and merchandise.
High automobile speeds and distracted drivers create increased pedestrian safety concerns, prompting infrastructure shifts and conversations about street safety.
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