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Tiny Apartment Shows the Value of a Good Fit

Seattle Times – 8/21/10 – Full Article

photo: BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

excerpt:

“Sauer’s tiny Seattle home is remarkable. But it shouldn’t be.

“I wanted to compress my home to squirt me back out to the community,” he says, taking inspiration from dwellings in Scandinavia and Japan, places where space is dear. “That was one of the philosophical reasons. I want to be able to shop daily, not store a lot and eat really well.”

Homeowners are building smaller in general. It’s economical and ecological. But few do it in 11-feet-3-inches wide, by 16-feet-2-inches deep, by 10-feet-4-inches tall (Sauer is very accurate) with two beds, a full kitchen with a dishwasher, bathroom with a shower, a soaking tub set into the floor just inside the front door. On three living levels. There’s also closet space, a dining table and storage for two bikes. All of it contemporary and in cool blue, with accents of black, red and white…”

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Community Groups Address Housing Concerns at GR City Commission Briefing

Link to full RAPIDIAN ARTICLE

A coalition of 24 community organizations will be presenting a position paper to the Grand Rapids City Commission at 10:30am tomorrow (7/27/2010) calling for cooperation to address growing housing concerns as a result of the recent changes in the real estate market.

The position paper calls for three primary issues to be addressed.

* Ensuring a minimum standard of quality among all rental units by adding single family rental units to the City’s rental inspection and certification program.

* Redesigning the City’s vacant property inspections program to mitigate the negative effects that the foreclosure crisis has had on property values, crime, and neighborhood stability.

* Creating a comprehensive, accessible, and accurate database of parcel information.

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Baxter Neighborhood Gets New Park in 2010

Check it out! My Sign is used in the story:

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Go Grand Rapids! CNN Article

Link
Full Article.

Excerpt:
(Fortune) — It is not the kind of view you expect these days in downtrodden Michigan. From this rooftop plaza on the 17th floor of Bridgewater Place, evidence of urban renewal spreads in every direction. Directly to the south is the modern campus of Grand Valley State University, home to 11,000 students. Across the Grand River lies the sprawl of the redeveloped entertainment district, with its new arena and convention center, steps away from downtown business and government office buildings. Atop a hill to the east is the city’s crown jewel: a $1 billion (and growing) medical complex that includes a cancer research center, specialized treatment facilities, and a medical school.

This is Grand Rapids, a small city (pop. 200,000) in western Michigan with a redevelopment plan that has lessons for other cities looking to engineer new growth after the decline of old-economy industries. That this plan has taken hold in, of all places, the Rustbelt of Michigan makes it all the more remarkable. Two decades ago the city could have been headed the way of Flint, Pontiac, and, yes, Detroit. But instead its fortunes have steadily improved, thanks to a remarkable combination of business leadership, public-private cooperation, and the deep pockets of local philanthropists.

Grand Rapids is much smaller than that city on Michigan’s eastern coast, Detroit (pop. 800,000). Its populace is a bit more diverse, its suburban leaders were willing to work with city government, and its issues were much less complex. But at a moment when corporate, philanthropic, and political leaders in Detroit are just beginning the process of working together to help revive the city (see “Downsizing Detroit” on time.com), the Grand Rapids reinvention is worth examining. For years Detroiters were promised that one master project after another would solve their woes. None did. But in Grand Rapids, business leaders painstakingly set goals, aligned with government officials, generated support, and empowered key players. “Every community has a culture, and you have to pick out what works in your own town,” says Birgit Klohs, the energetic head of Right Place, a local economic development group. “You have to figure out who the leaders are, get them onto a team, create the vision, and get everybody headed in the same direction.”

more at bit.ly/gogr

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Details unveiled for 27 million dollar Grand Rapids Urban Market in Heartside Neighborhood

Full Article Link

By Chris Knape | The Grand Rapids Press

March 24, 2010, 8:00AM

GRAND RAPIDS — A dilapidated produce distribution center at the southern end of downtown could become a hub of commerce for local farmers, food makers and artisans as part of a $27 million urban market concept unveiled Wednesday.

Grand Action, the private group that led efforts to build the Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place, said it would forge ahead with plans to develop an urban market offering space for vendors to create and sell a variety of foods and other goods.

The market also is envisioned as an educational facility with a greenhouse, demonstration kitchen and meeting rooms that will help people better understand local food systems while teaching about healthier eating.

The preferred location is the 3.5-acre former Sonneveldt Produce Co. complex, 435 Ionia Ave. SW. The site is visible from U.S. 131, south of Wealthy Street.

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