The $2.5 billion in new development (starting in 2000) here in GR is getting some national attention.  Land Development Today (PDF) explains that one of our driving forces is environmental stewardship.  In fact, the Grand Rapids metro area has more LEED certified buildings per capita than any other location in the United States. 

Grand Rapids is a leader in green buildings. The United States Green Building Council estimates that metro Grand Rapids now has more square footage per capita under LEED certification than any other city in the United States. The area boasts many LEED firsts, including the first transit center,the first YMCA, the first church, and thefirst municipal building in Michigan.This trend has been promoted by local businesses, government, and schools. Local philanthropist Peter Wege(Steelcase heir), a longtime environmentalist and conservationist, recognized the value of green buildings and has made LEED certification a requirement for many of the building projects he has supported. As a result, buildings such as the new Art Museum are being built to qualify for LEED certification. The region has also begun to realize that sustainability can lead to economic development. Mayor George Heartwell has been a strong supporter of sustainability. Last year, he joined more than 150 other mayors in signing the US Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.

From "The Revitalization of Grand Rapids", Land Development Today (November/December 2006)

I was lucky enough to hear David Gottfied speak at the Herman Miller Environment conference this summer.  David was one of the founders of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and he helped start the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standard.

Why is the Grand Rapids metro area so green?  Conservative and green don't usually go together, and yet we lead the nation in green building.  That is remarkable, and it should serve as a warning to the forces who would like to see the sustainability movement identified with a bunch of tree humping hippies.

In fact, much of the angel startup money flowing to cutting edge technology companies today is focused on sustainability.  Green is the new thing, with many of the internet visionaries of yesterday betting the farm on green technology startups.  Grand Rapids is obviously in a great position to take advantage of this national global trend.

RiverTown Crossings has decided to ban city buses from their property.  From the GR Press article:

"RiverTown General Manager Randy Zimmerman said the move was prompted by 'several violent incidents' he blamed on bus passengers."

As Chris Knape points out,  this is a holiday slap in the face for the poor and handicapped passengers who depend on this transportation.

Feel free to send RiverTown an email to express your opinion.

New Urbanism has become enormously influential, according to this NPR report about an Atlanta community called Glenwood Park.  An alternative to the "auto centered suburb" is what they are after, and the success of these communities is off the charts.

Alex Marshal, a critic of New Urbanism at times, makes a good point when he says:

The Achilles' heel of New Urbanist developments has been their "downtowns," the classic "main streets" meant to be at the heart of the developments. If they were built, and successful, it would be a significant improvement on suburban life. But the reasons these mini downtowns fail point to the structural flaws in the whole theory of TNDs.

Retail needs an enormous accessible customer base to succeed. Street-level retail in cities get this from enormous density and the therefore enormous quantity of people that walk by their front doors. Suburban retail get this by locating on a main highway where a high volume of traffic goes by their parking lots.

New Urban developments have generally tried to locate their mini-downtowns in the center of their low-density subdivisions. The result is that they have neither enough pedestrian, nor enough auto, traffic to make retail succeed. The "main streets" of virtually all New Urban developments have failed.

An exception is the Disney-produced Celebration in Florida. But it may be the exception that proves the rules. Disney had the enormous financial muscle to build the downtown first, before any homes were built or sold. It also had the marketing muscle to pull in tourists to its shops, even though the downtown lacks immediate access to a main highway. Tourists are making these shops succeed, not residents.

He is correct in my estimation.  Which is why it will be interesting to witness first hand my home town of East Grand Rapids as it adds density in an effort to rescue it's dwindling downtown retail customer base. Even though it wasn't concieved as a new urbanist community when it was founded a hundred years ago, East Grand Rapids is almost a perfect example of new urbanism, with mixed use residential, office, retail, schools and a lake all within walking distance of a village that even includes a large grocery store.  I've been looking long and hard for new urbanist settings that might rival it's combination of walkable village atmosphere and family friendly recreational lifestyle.  I've not found it, although I've not been to Seaside. 

EGR isn't known to be affordable, but compared to Seaside it is a total bargain.  Gaslight Village is about to take on a bit more density when the new Jade Pig developments are finished.  My guess is that the trend toward new urbanism will continue, and that EGR will one day be highly regarded as one of the true original new urbanist communities that evolved from natural forces and community needs.

My town of East Grand Rapids has made the national news lately.  First, Reeds Lake neighbors convinced East Grand Rapids city leaders to keep a newly constructed home off the Parade of Homes:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10897265/

Might this be the first time that a Parade home has been turned away from a neighborhood?  One of the neighbors was quoted as saying that the parade would draw a "criminal element" to her neighborhood.

And this week a few dozen of our high school students were reprimanded after some parents discovered photos of underage drinking on their blogs:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/08/tech/main1296738.shtml

It's not easy being portrayed by the media as snobby and drunk.  Most of us who live here are neither, and the community is more diverse than other affluent suburbs in West Michigan.  The culture in EGR is totally focused around schools and family, which helps explain my take on the common thread between the two news makers listed above:  Parental concern about childrens safety.

Speaking from experience, the overwhelming urge that parents feel to keep their children safe is incredible.  It makes you crazy, and then causes you to adopt parental behaviors that you always despised as a teenager.  It is true, EGR is not perfect, but we are doing the best we can to raise our children in a safe and healthy environment.

The Point Paulo resort was located in East Grand Rapids, along the shores of Reeds Lake. The Marx Brothers, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, George Burns, Will Rogers, Morton Downey, and Walter Winchell stayed there, along with Buster Keaton, Fanny Brice, and many others. Several of the stars of the Vaudeville tour called Reeds Lake and the Ramona Theatre their favorite stop on the Orpheum Theatre circuit, primarily because of the beautiful resort on Reeds lake known as Point Paulo.

For the past few years I've managed a small Website that outlines the resort.  My wife came up with a great idea:  Why not make the PointPaulo.com into a Wiki?

Voila

Futurist Joel Kotkin, a fellow of the New America Foundation, wrote a column for the Washington Post titled "Rule Suburbia," declaring that the land-use debate is now over and suburban sprawl is the undisputed winner.

"Once we acknowledge this reality, we can turn to the task of making the best of it." Kotkin wrote.

He makes a good point.  Americans have spoken with their feet, and their feet are not being used for walking, they are being used for driving to the suburbs.  The suburbs provide an undeniable allure of safety, natural beauty, and open space.  Add in the low cost of suburban land and you've got yourself a cultural revolution.

He says that the main challenge of the 21st century is to "transform suburbia into something more efficient, interesting, and humane".  And then he points toward the future of suburbia, which is an evolution toward village building.  Suburban areas are quickly becoming grid locked by traffic jams.  Services and products that are made available nearby to these suburban meccas are very profitable.  Suburban villages that are capable of delivering goods and services locally are already popping up in fast-growing regions all over the US.

If we are in fact headed for a global peak in oil production which drives fuel prices sky high, the "suburb as village" model may well be our saving grace.  Centralizing our goods and services within clusters of suburban villages could help us transition to a more sustainable delivery model. 

For instance, right now you can save money by driving to Walmart even if it's a 30 mile journey.  But eventually that 30 mile journey will cost far more than the savings you realize on your Walmart purchases.

Similarly, it currently makes sense to create one huge high school and bus thousands of kids to a centralized location.  But the cost of fuel could force busing prices through the roof.  Consequently it would save money to build small schools in the village and keep the kids close to home.

And the list goes on:  Health care, day care, entertainment, restaurants, and civic venues will all be rebuilt with the suburban village in mind.  Eventually the suburban wasteland of strip malls and McMansions will have to evolve or die.