By: Deborah Johnson Wood
An attractive streetscape, pedestrian friendly shopping, new business development, and economic development for existing businesses—these issues and more could be the focus of a steering committee looking for ways to attract businesses and spur economic development along Grand Rapids' Michigan Street corridor.
The committee of business owners, residents, city staff, site planners, library foundation representatives and others launched its discovery process at a public meeting last Monday night.
“We are heading the efforts to develop a corridor plan from Bostwick Avenue east to Plymouth,” says Matthew Jamrog of Rylee’s Ace Hardware at 1121 Michigan. Jamrog chairs the steering committee and the Michigan Street Corridor Association (the former Michigan Street Area Business Association).
“Michigan Street is a main thoroughfare to downtown. We want to put together a long-range plan for future business development and to see how it might look five, 10, 15 years from now.”
The corridor is one of the most heavily trafficked connections to downtown from the East Beltline and from exits along the I-196 freeway. Its mix of lumberyards, historic homes, new condominiums, manufacturing, health care, restaurants, funeral homes, dry cleaners and other businesses make it unique among the city’s 20 business districts.
The corridor’s boundaries overlap those of six neighborhood and business associations. The committee convenes next month to review plans already developed by those groups.
“We want to review them for ideas and continuity, and to see if there’s an opportunity to not reinvent the wheel,” Jamrog says.
“Michigan Street has its own unique set of characteristics,” says Kara Wood, city economic development director and member of the steering committee. “We discussed that we should make decisions based on that knowledge and not try to make the corridor something it’s not.”
Source: Matthew Jamrog, Michigan Street Corridor Association; Kara Wood, City of Grand Rapids
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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