Urban Grand Rapids

The post is a follow-up to the 2020 post concerning the construction and financing of the ADU at 535 Shirley St NE answering questions which came up at Grand Rapids' first ADU bootcamp which occurred on August 22nd, 2025. The 2020 post ended the story of the ADU at its physical completion and occupancy permit. Of course, the financial status of the ADU took a bit longer to finalize.

The municipal agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on 2025-08-28 is 👉here👈

As of 2025-08-26 no agenda items have been posted for the 2025-08-28 meeting.

Population. It is the most basic measurement of a city, without population you cannot calculate density. Some threshold of density is what creates a city. Thus trends and shifts of a city's population are the background music which plays through the entire story of a city.

We all know the story of cities like Detroit, once in the league of present day Chicago, which then collapsed to just over a third of its once-upon-a-time glory. The same story can be told of many smaller cities across the midwest; such as Gary, IN falling from ~180,000 citizens - roughly the size of Grand Rapids in 1980s - to barely 70,000 citizens in 2020 - roughly the size of Grand Rapids in the late 1890s. As it is citizens - and the resulting density - which creates a city, decline is painful; a city which looses population, whose density declines, is a lesser place.

We’ve all heard them; the complaints about ever increasing traffic. I’ve heard it from neighbors, local activists, coworkers, and even City Commissioners.

“Once upon a time you could drive across Grand Rapids in ten minutes…”, or so the legends say.

And then there is MDOT, whose experts - despite no substantive population growth - predict the linear growth of highway traffic volumes until the day Heimdall sounds Gjallarhorn, heralding the assault upon Asgard and the final battle.

The municipal agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on 2025-08-14 is 👉here👈

The municipal agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on 2025-07-24 is 👉here👈

201 Market Ave. SW

It is signage time for the amphitheater!

In June the City Commission received, with remarkably little fan faire, the second major update to the 2020 Housing Next study. This time the study includes estimates for the years 2025 through 2029.