Downtown Grand Rapids, MI

Downtown Grand Rapids is the original settlement for the City like most American cities and transitioned from a mostly manufacturing/warehouse area for the city’s flourishing furniture corporations in the mid-late 19th century to a more traditional American dwtn in the early 20th century. Dwtn doesn’t have well branded/defined districts but I would generally divide it into 4 quadrants: The SW quadrant is the Warehouse District with lots of loft conversions, unique stores & boutiques and some newer developments like Studio Park and Van Andel Arena. The SE Quadrant host the Trinity Health District with Dwtn’s worse urban form. There is the Historic Core centered btwn Fulton & Lyon and Division and the River contains a great collection of well maintained turn of the century historic commercial bldgs and Dwtn’s Civic Heart (Rosa Parks Circle).  North of here is the Medical Mile containing Corewell Hospital, many research facilities, and the City Civic Center.

Downtown Grand Rapids is a solid urban Downtown in the top tier of Dwtns in metro areas btwn 1M-1.5M. Dwtn excels at hosting a great collection of well maintained historic bldgs, comfortable sidewalks & streetscaping, good cultural and regional amenities, quality school & high levels of university students. Recent in-fill has generally been at a high urban quality and retail amenities are decent. For Dwtn Grand Rapids to become a top tier urban district it needs to continue attracting more residents, improve its bike infrastructure, create more and better park amenities, and fill in a decent # of surface parking lots especially during Trinity Health Hospital.

Click here to view my Downtown Grand Rapids Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Solid grid and connectivity. Dwtn has several wide main streets common for Mid-western Dwtns but no wide 1-way pairs. Two highways cut through dwtn but not inner belt.
• Solid public transit Dwtn and surrounding pre-1920s neighborhoods. Decent transit for neighborhoods developed before WWII. Hit or miss transit service for suburban areas, but most suburbs have some level of transit.
• Decent number of activities for families dwtn with several family friendly museums and a sports arena mainly used for Hocky.
• Solid K-12 schools with pretty well rated public schools and a good # of private/charter schools.
• Better rental options with some studios leasing in the low 1Ks, more 1-beds that lease btwn 1-2K, wide variety of 2-beds that mostly range from 900K to 2.5K, but some that lease around 5K, but only a handful of 3 & 4 bed options.
• Pretty good college present Dwtn with 12K students enrolled at Grand Rapids CC which has a large presence in the SE edge of Dwtn with multiple bldgs. There are a couple other smaller satellite campuses Dwtn including a pretty large one from Grand Valley State University.
• Very solid stock of attractive historic architecture including a nice mix of late 19th century 4-6 story Italianates, several midsize antique towers, and lots of warehouse bldgs south of Fulton.
• Plenty recent multi-family infill and several decent newer residential towers. Plenty of bland mid-century architecture too although the City Hall bldg is to some pretty interesting.
• Decent retail amenities including a supermarket, a couple drug stores, a good amount of boutiques, consignment stores, and gift shops, a handful of antique stores & bookstores, plenty of banks, plenty of salons, some dessert joints, a couple of gyms, two major hospitals, and plenty of churches.
• Solid cultural amenities including plenty of restaurants, bars, & cafes, several live music venues, a major theatre complex, several performing arts theaters (although mostly modern), plenty of art galleries, a decent # of museums (esp. if you include those across the river), and a couple historic sites. For regional amenities Dwtn hosts a large convention center and indoor arena.
• Solid employment #s Dwtn (at least pre pandemic) of around 35-40K.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density is so so but certainly could be better for a stable dwtn like Grand Rapids.
* No direct transit line from the airport to Dwtn. Takes about 1 hr. using 2 bus lines.
* Bike infrastructure is pretty mediocre. Some bike lanes in and around dwtn and decent lanes across the City but not consistent connections across the City and into Dwtn. Some bike lanes in the suburbs but not good connections into the City. There is no dedicated bike share System in the City.
* Pretty good range in prices for for-sale options but a bit limited. Some 1-bed condos that sell anywhere btwn 200K-400K, more 2-bed condos ranging from 200K-800K,  Only a handful of 3 & 4 beds that are generally more expensive.
* Park and recreation space is pretty underwhelming for a Dwtn. There is a recreational trail along the east side the grand trail but it feels free urban. Several smaller plazas and parklets and 4 medium sized parks (Rosa Parks Circle, Calder Plaza, Veterans Memorial Park, and Hearthside Park). The Rosa Parks Circle was a good additional to dwtn and has provide a much needed Civic Heart with lots or programing (including an ice rink). Calder Plaza also has some events but not in the heart of Dwtn and is a pretty cold modernist plaza.
* Some more interesting medium sized high-rises along the river. But other the Grand Rapids skyline is pretty so so. Just not a critical mass of vertical buildings or other stand out landmarks.
* Good number of surface parking lots especially surrounding the two hospitals Dwtn. The number of  surface parking lots around Trinity Health Center is particularly atrocious in the SE corner of Dwtn. At least the Medical Mile area is seeking lots of new construction.