By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The latest concepts for the Shaping Our Square proposed area specific plan could mean re-defining what “neighborhood” means in south Grand Rapids. Those concepts were presented last Saturday at a fourth planning meeting for the Boston Square neighborhood.
That “neighborhood” isn’t a traditional neighborhood defined by political boundaries, but where the Oakdale Neighborhood, Fuller Area Neighborhood, Southeast End Neighborhood and the Boston Square Business corridor converge.
“The Boston Square area is characterized by a large triangle bounded by Kalamazoo Avenue, Fuller Avenue and Adams Street,” says Tom Bulten, executive director of Oakdale Neighbors. “In that triangle is Adams Park School, which will soon be vacated, large parking lots, an old railroad right of way that’s just vacant land—there are great businesses, but a fair amount of underutilized land.”
The goal is a transit- and pedestrian-oriented community hub with that triangle at its core; a mixture of commercial/residential surrounded by residential.
“Traditionally, Grand Rapids neighborhoods have had major commercial corridors on their edges,” Bulten says. “We’re operating from a point where a neighborhood has commercial activity at its center, with a gathering point like a green space or a square with a fountain.”
Bulten says the city’s Master Plan supports the concept. Other neighborhoods — such as Eastown, Midtown and Madison Square — have completed or are undertaking similar plans.
“They are good examples of this idea and inspire us very much,” Bulten says.
Bulten expects to have a final design meeting to give neighbors one more opportunity to participate. The date and location have not been determined.
Source: Tom Bulten, Oakdale Neighbors
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Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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