Kimberly Van Dyk once passed on corporate life to take an internship with Americorps. Today, she's one of Grand Rapids leading advocates for neighborhood business. The community redevelopment specialist talks about putting bank branches in the neighborhoods, barriers to reviving the city, and her seven-year-old's enthusiasm for mass transit.
How did you get started in the community redevelopment game?
After graduating from Western Michigan I went to work for an organization called SEED, Southeast Economic Development. It doesn’t exist anymore. But it was the organization that started the revitalization on Wealthy Street, including the Wealthy Theatre. I did that as an Americorp volunteer for two years. That experience lit a fire for neighborhood work in me that I haven’t been able to put out.
What's the difference between your organization, Neighborhood Ventures, and say, the Neighborhood Business Alliance?
We're a formal affiliate of the NBA, and we share some board members so we ensure input from neighborhood business owners. NBA is like a mini Chamber of Commerce. Neighborhood Ventures, on the other hand, is like a neighborhood based Right Place Program. They're the business member advocacy group. We're the economic development organization.
Neighborhood Ventures, recently changed its name from the Neighborhood Business Specialist Program. What was the driving idea behind the switch?
It's not just a new name. We're an entirely different organization now. A couple of things drove us to shutdown NBSP and start Neighborhood Ventures. One of them was a severe budget shortfall on the part of the City of Grand Rapids, which was our funding source. The other was this understanding that plenty of opportunities exist to help neighborhood business districts. We didn’t think they would be explored and pursued if an organization didn’t exist specifically to pursue them. That's why we established to Neighborhood Ventures.
What's the organization's vision?
A city full of successful, vibrant business districts that are distinctive and reflective of each unique neighborhood.
How do you achieve that?
We're exploring four things that have never been done before in Grand Rapids. We want to establish Corridor Improvement Authorities and Business Improvement Districts. One is a tax capture program; the other is a special tax assessment. They're the same economic development tools that were used to revitalize downtown Grand Rapids. We're also working on a business recruitment program to attract new retail and service businesses into the neighborhoods. Unlike most major cities, that type of effort doesn’t exist right now either. We're also piloting a micro-loan program for neighborhood business owners.
People likely will be glad to hear that because neighborhoods in GR need some basic services – grocery stores, pharmacies, etc. What are the recruitment program's key targets?
You just named them. Coffee shops, book stores, day care, bank branches. It's still way too hard to find the basic goods and services in the inner city. Even though, due to the incredible density, most businesses are more economically viable in the inner city than people commonly think.
The city use to have these types of amenities. Why's it such a challenge to relocate these things in the neighborhoods?
There are multiple barriers to operating a successful business in the older parts of town. You've got old buildings that require a lot of money to bring up to code and make them inviting places to go. You've got old infrastructure like plumbing and wiring. If streets and buildings are rundown people perceive them as unsafe. Also, unfortunately we've become a nation of car drivers, and neighborhood business areas typically have a lack of parking. Without convenient parking, it makes it harder to be competitive, especially with suburban development.
Do we have a parking problem, or a walking problem?
I'm not advocating plowing down buildings to create parking lots. I recently read a study that said it's not how far away the parking is, it's sight distance. You could park the equivalent of three blocks away from Meijer's. But if you can see the front door, and its well lit, walking is no problem. But if you park three blocks away in a neighborhood business district often times the store is around the corner and you can't see the front door. That can discourage people from stopping. It's kind of crazy. But those are the types of challenges, perceptions, and realities we're working through.
Many of the cities GR competes with already have begun building permanent mass transit systems. Would that help revitalize neighborhoods here in GR?
Absolutely. We're going to need areas that are much easier and more convenient to get around. We need to provide greater mobility, whether that's walkability, rollability as in bikes or wheelchairs, automobiles, or public transportation. I think more and more people are becoming aware of that. My seven-year old loves to ride the bus.
You guys are working intensively in the Southtown district these days. What types of services are you providing for business there?
We're working very intensively on a five-year plan. We're doing business recruitment and retention. Infrastructure improvement. Marketing and branding services. The Face Forward façade improvement program. Architectural design grants. We're also piloting a micro loan program with Mercantile Bank specifically for small, neighborhood-based businesses. The idea is to increase the tools to revitalize neighborhood business districts.
What do you do for fun?
I spend a lot time with my husband, Doyle, and our two little girls – Noelani, seven, and Rosabella, two. So I don’t have what you would call free time. We do a lot of family stuff – order pizza and watch movies, go to the beach, watch Whitecaps games. We're going to a choir concert later this week. We love to travel, especially visiting family in Nicaragua.
Photographs:
Kimberly Van Dyk along a revitalized section of Wealthy Street
Neighborhood Ventures staff (left to right) - Kimberly Van Dyk, Guillermo Diaz, LaToya Staten
Photographs by Brian Kelly - All Rights Reserved