On November 6th the community access show "City Connection" hosted Kyle Van Strien, current chair of the Grand Rapids Planning Commission, and City Commissioner Melinda Ysasi (2nd Ward). In the show's traditional format the host interviews the Commissioner Ysasis, then Planning Commissioner Van Strien, and then the two together.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) - or more correctly: The Michigan Department of Spending Money On Roads - would like to expand US-131. This would involve the seizure of property currently occupied by the Downtown Market, Heartside Park, and the Rapid Transit Center. For a lane of highway, through an urban area, in the year 2023, during a climate crisis, a water quality crisis, and rising economic inequality.
The Rapid's goal for on-time performance of fixed route service is 90%. "On-time" is defined by the industry standard of being less than five (5) minutes late, and less than one (1) minute early. All the vehicles in the Rapid's fixed route fleet are equipped with real-time vehicle location and information systems.
UPDATE 2023-11-10: The stream is available on Youtube 👉here👈. The public comment for the 959 Bristol Ave NW development is 🔥lit🔥! 😑 The discussion at the end of the meeting related to the topic of reducing or eliminating residential parking minimums starts 👉here👈.
Let's take a look at the Federally defined Urbanized Area (UZA). This is in contrast to the city, and the generally meaningless Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) which is most commonly cited. The appealing aspect of the UZA is that it represents a geographically contiguous area, usually clearly defined by the underlying infrastructure. It is also fun to say.
