Posted June 23, 200915 yr Heartside is a Neighborhood of Grand Rapids located South of downtown. An arena (which will be in my downtown tour) anchors the north end of the district. Only a few of the large warehouses have yet to be rehabbed into lofts. There's still a ton of new construction going on despite the recession. I'm not familiar with GR, but I believe there are plans to put in a streetcar system, which should really help connect this area to downtown. I plan to make a second thread of downtown. View over the Heartside neighborhood Tha End! :-D
June 23, 200915 yr Never heard of it. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 23, 200915 yr Thank you for the pics, I really liked pics no. 9 (the overview). Grand Rapids appears to be really moving forward on downtown development and infill in surrounding neighborhoods. I hope they get their streetcar system.
June 23, 200915 yr Been to grand rapids many times. Downtown GR is a very cool place for a city of it's size. They've maintained a great deal of their historic fabric and have done some fantastic infill projects over the last 10-15 years.
June 23, 200915 yr Awesome pics and district! I really like the sharp red brick streets in a couple of those shots. I, um, need to get out to Grand Rapids. Me too. Let's go.
June 23, 200915 yr Love it. If you're thinking of visiting, consider checking it out at the end of September / beginning of October. There is going to be the first year of a GIGANTIC arts event there, ArtsPrize (http://www.artprize.org), an open exhibition of artists (artists are allowed to participate as long as they can find space within the designated zone ... a real incentive for artists to build relationships with local property owners) ... visitors will vote for one exhibited artist to receive $250,000, the largest art prize in the world. So far, there are 50 participating venues, many in Heartside and Downtown.
June 23, 200915 yr my god, i had to get past a dozen photos before i came to a shot with something that wasn't rehabbed and might not be occupied. wow. very impressive. can you ballpark guesstimate what percent of the total stock in that district is in use/not yet in use? or at least rehabbed/not yet rehabbed?
June 24, 200915 yr Thanks for the comments guys! mrnyc, about 4 years ago I got an internship in GR. My family drove through this neighborhood and at that time, new development had only begun with a few brave souls. It was a very rough area and tons of abandoned buildings. Most of this development happened simultaneously and is still continuing. Just about everything has been rehabbed except for one single block where a row of buildings is sinking. Surprisingly, these warehouse renovations are relatively small compared to ones on the North and westsides which are absolutely massive. That will actually be my second thread and downtown will be 3rd. I really love GR and would definitely live there. I had actually been offered a job there, but when the recession hit, a lot of architects were losing jobs and that offer basically evaporated.
June 26, 200915 yr Thanks for the comments guys! mrnyc, about 4 years ago I got an internship in GR. My family drove through this neighborhood and at that time, new development had only begun with a few brave souls. It was a very rough area and tons of abandoned buildings. Most of this development happened simultaneously and is still continuing. Just about everything has been rehabbed except for one single block where a row of buildings is sinking. Surprisingly, these warehouse renovations are relatively small compared to ones on the North and westsides which are absolutely massive. That will actually be my second thread and downtown will be 3rd. I really love GR and would definitely live there. I had actually been offered a job there, but when the recession hit, a lot of architects were losing jobs and that offer basically evaporated. How is the rest of GR doing? Has it been hit as hard as other Michigan cities but the loss of manufacturing jobs?
June 26, 200915 yr Great stuff by the way. I'm really impressed with the lack of surface lots in the warehouse district.
June 26, 200915 yr Wow! I've never been there, and that's seeming more and more like a major oversight on my part. Excellent photos, and the area looks visually exciting. The older buildings look like they've been done really well, and I like the variety of designs in the infill.
June 27, 200915 yr ^ Thanks Rob! Grand Rapids is unusually impressive...even for Michiganders. I feel it's way ahead of the game in so many categories. BTW, you all should check out this guy's GR photo stream. Some incredible photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliott_andrew/3661521145/in/set-72157606347897556/ And stay tuned for my N Monroe/Medical Mile, Downtown, and East Grand Rapids threads. Lots more interesting architecture to come.
June 27, 200915 yr How is the rest of GR doing? Has it been hit as hard as other Michigan cities but the loss of manufacturing jobs? Wonderful pictures of a place Im pretty unfamiliar with. Looks rather cool and funky. Because I work with a lady from Grand Rapids, I caught this the other day in the PD. Although certainly the whole state of Michigan has been hit hard, it looks like some very good and welcome news for G.R. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/06/farmers_group_to_expand_in_wes.html Also 8Shades, that sounds like a great way to bring attention to your city and certainly as an arts destination... I know Cleveland has been doing some of the same type of thinking, but it sounds like somebody in G.R. is thinking even bigger....... Ill have to look into this more...
June 27, 200915 yr Hey, I followed my flickr stats page to find a few views that came from this thread. Thanks for the shout out, and I'm very glad you enjoy my photos!
June 27, 200915 yr Those of us in GR are very excited about all the development going on, and ArtPrize is a very big deal. Heartside is a beautiful area with some amazing businesses, from little restaurants to the very large Van Andel Arena. Looking forward to seeing your post about the other areas!
June 28, 200915 yr Hey, I followed my flickr stats page to find a few views that came from this thread. Thanks for the shout out, and I'm very glad you enjoy my photos! Definitely! And we hope you can stick around here and share some more of you work with the forum. We also have a GR Developments thread. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,18167.0.html I wish we could update it more, but I live in Ann Arbor and don't get out there often.
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