Stormwater Design for Commercial Snow Storage Areas
Winter brings a problem most property owners never think about until the snow starts piling up. Where does it all go once it melts? Good stormwater design answers that question before the first storm hits. A commercial lot without a real plan can end up with flooded entrances, blocked drains, and ice patches that stick […]
Grading Plan Design for Barrier-Free Winter Routes
West Michigan winters don’t play nice. Grand Rapids gets more than 70 inches of snow in a normal year, much of it lake-effect off Lake Michigan. Snow falls, melts a little, then refreezes into ice. That cycle turns a simple walkway into a hazard. A smart grading plan is your first line of defense. It […]
Land Development Planning for Former Furniture Factory Sites
Grand Rapids earned the name Furniture City for a reason. For more than a century, big plants here built chairs, desks and cabinets shipped across the country. Many of those factories sit empty now. They also sit on prime ground close to downtown. That makes land development on old factory sites a smart move and […]
How Urban Planning Supports Mixed-Use Development
A block where you can live, work and grab coffee does not happen by luck. It takes a plan. Urban planning sets the rules and framework that let homes, shops and offices share one place, and it is what makes mixed-use development possible. In Grand Rapids, where downtown and its neighborhoods keep drawing people, that […]