Wanted: a skyline

After reading through all of these comments about what downtown Grand Forks is missing, I have to point out another element that Grand Forks lacks: a skyline. If you weren't overly familiar with Grand Forks and you took a drive down Washington Street, you could simply pass DeMers Avenue by and never realize that you were bypassing the city's core. Certainly no downtown building is currently able to be seen by motorists on I-29. I believe that Grand Forks needs at least a few few taller buildings in our downtown area that, when viewed from a distance, make a recognizable Grand Forks skyline.

I feel that Grand Forks lacks anything that could be remotely called a skyline. Currently, the only taller buildings we have in town are the State Mill, the Canad Inn, and Columbia Towers. Downtown Grand Forks is seriously lacking in anything over a few stories tall. I don't consider a true skyline to be a couple of 10+ story buildings a few miles apart from each other. I would like to see a concentrated cluster of taller buildings located in our city's heart.

It is true that we live in a part of the world where land is abundant, but that doesn't mean we should only continue to push out horizontally while essentially ignoring vertical growth. Although it is nothing like the skylines of Minneapolis or even Winnipeg, downtown Fargo has a few taller buildings that could effectively be considered a skyline of sorts. Why shouldn't Grand Forks - a city which I personally like to consider the most "metropolitan" in the state - have a city skyline too?

When I talk about a skyline, I'm not necessarily talking about such terribly tall buildings. Ideally, I think a cluster of a few buildings in the 10-20 story range would be a perfect skyline for downtown Grand Forks. Perhaps, farther off in the future, we could even have a 25 or 30 story building downtown. I also think that any taller buildings constructed downtown should be architecturally interesting and recognizable as "Grand Forks landmarks" for years to come...our own little versions of the Foshay Tower or IDS Center.

Who would build these buildings and what would occupy them? Keep in mind that I'm not talking about 50 story office towers functioning as corporate headquarters...I'm talking something more along the lines of 10 to 20 story mixed-use buildings filled mainly with apartments or condos. There seems to be plenty of interest in living downtown these days...perhaps developers could consider constructing taller residential buildings than what has currently been done with developments like the new Elite Brownstones or the Current Apartments. I really think residential buildings would probably be the easiest sell for taller buildings downtown. Currently, there are plenty of empty commercial spaces downtown, but I believe that there are usually very few empty apartments or condos.

Next comes the question of where exactly to build the types of buildings that I'm talking about. I've said it before and I'll say it again...there are very few empty lots downtown for any type of development approaching a larger scale. I really think the boundaries of what we think of as downtown need to be pushed out a bit to accommodate growth like I'm talking about. With all of the destruction that was a result of the flood and fire, who wants to see any further buildings razed downtown? Unless we want to lose more historic buildings to the wrecking ball, we need to make sure more space is made available on the outskirts of downtown for development. I agree with those who have stated that no buildings under a certain number of stories should really be allowed to be constructed downtown.

I'm not saying that we should expect to see a number of taller buildings rising out of downtown any time soon. I merely think that establishing a skyline and ultimately encouraging more compact, dense growth is something that we should be seriously looking at. I believe that considerations should be made and plans should be drawn up for building the Grand Forks skyline of tomorrow. A true city needs a skyline and I want to eventually see a Grand Forks skyline that I can be proud of.

What is downtown missing?

There has been plenty of development in downtown Grand Forks in the last few years. A number of previously empty buildings are now filled and formerly empty lots have been converted to residential uses. Today, Herald economist Ralph Kingsbury has an interesting opinion piece about downtown's renaissance.

However, the renaissance is not complete. While much has taken place downtown since the flood and fire of 1997, I still often hear sentiments like "Downtown needs (fill in the blank)" or "Wouldn't it be so great to have a (fill in the blank) downtown." I am pleased with how far downtown has come in recent years. However, like most people, I see room for more development and further improvements.

So what do I think downtown needs? One thing that comes to mind first is retail. I feel that a vibrant city center needs to have plenty of choices of where to live, where to work, where to eat, and where to shop. There are now many dining and bar choices for downtown patrons...far more than just a few years ago. New residential developments, like the Elite Brownstones and the Current Apartments, have also been developed at a fairly impressive rate. However, this increase in residential, dining, and entertainment choices downtown has not been matched with an increase in retail choices.

Truthfully, there are very few stores downtown for the average citizen or tourist to shop at. I fully realize that downtown will likely never again see a return of the retail heyday of the past nor will it probably ever be able to compete with 32nd Avenue, but that doesn't mean that there still isn't plenty of room for improvement. I would like to see a variety of stores set up shop downtown.

How do you get small stores to open up downtown when most other retail activity is located in the southern sections of town? I think a few "anchor" stores might do the trick. Just like a shopping mall needs large, anchor stores to bring traffic to the smaller stores, I believe a downtown needs a few larger stores that attract shoppers to the neighborhood. These larger stores wouldn't have to be national chains, but I also don't think we should discourage national retailers from setting up shop downtown. A Borders or a Whole Foods Market would certainly bring shoppers downtown. I think that, along with more shoppers, such stores would also bring more retail establishments to the city's core. I believe that the synergy of a few large stores downtown would create the impetus for a retail renaissance of sorts.

Now, I'm turning it over to you...what do you think downtown needs more of? What types of restaurants? How about stores? Are there different types of residential developments you would like to see downtown? Please, share your thoughts and opinions of how downtown can be made even better than it currently is.

Open Thread #47

What's on your mind?

New poll: how about Leevers?

Now that Leevers has left the Grand Forks market, their old building on South Washington Street sits empty. Although Leevers was a smaller sized supermarket, their old building is still a fairly large space to have sitting empty on one of Grand Forks' busiest streets.

Personally, I don't imagine that this building will sit empty for too long...at least I'm hoping we don't have another Target on our hands here. Now the question becomes what should fill that empty space. I'm interested to hear what you think about this and that's why the new poll question is "What do you think should happen to the old Leevers building?"

Poll results: you're pretty young

If you're reading this, you're probably fairly young. My recent poll regarding the ages of readers shows that only about 10% of visitors to GFL are over the age of 50. Around 37% of readers are in their twenties, making this demographic group the largest on this blog. Click here for the full results.

Selection		Votes
under 10	13%	31
10-19	7%	17
20-29	37%	87
30-39	19%	45
40-49	12%	29
50-59	6%	13
60-69	4%	10
70-79	0%	0
over 80	0%	1
233 votes total

Open Thread #46

A new week and a new chance to have your say...

The future of University Village?

I recently came across several images of plans for University Village. All of the plans and renderings are from Icon Architects and they appear to be from a few years back. Click here to view a video of these plans.

University Village site plan
Some of the plans seem to have changed from when these proposals were drawn up. For instance, the plans show a new UND Alumni Center just west of Suite 49. Recently, the Alumni Association announced plans for a new center, but the proposed location is now near the President's House on campus.

Still, I think the plans are interesting. For instance, they show a potential location for the University Village hotel: just north of the Ralph Engelstad Arena. In the past, the location I had heard mentioned was just north of Suite 49.

Closer view...note hotel connected to the Ralph

One rendering also shows a proposed student housing complex. This has been mentioned before, but this is the first time I've seen any possible designs.

Note "Student Housing" in upper left
-All images Icon Architects

GFL's second birthday

Thursday marks the second birthday of Grand Forks Life.

Let's look at a few numbers. Since October 4 of 2005, GFL has had over 120,000 unique visits and over 215,000 page views/hits. In total, this blog has had 387 posts by me and 6,648 reader comments. Let's break that down by year. In GFL's first year of operation, I put up 138 posts which drew a total of 1,514 comments (an average of 11 comments per post). In GFL's second year, I put up 249 posts which drew a total of 5,134 comments (an average of 21 comments per post).

However, these are all more than just statistics. These numbers show that a growing segment of local residents are making this blog a part of their daily lives. Some of you have been around from almost the beginning, while others have only recently discovered this forum for community interaction and information. I thank each and every one of GFL's readers. It has been very interesting getting to know all of you.

I believe this blog has evolved to have two complimentary purposes:

First, it allows any citizen the chance to share their thoughts and opinions of life in Grand Forks. The advent of "open threads" this past year has especially given people the ability to discuss a limitless array of topics. I believe this level of communication can be a very valuable tool for community leaders. Never before has it been so easy to gauge what people in this city are thinking and saying.

The second purpose of this blog is to get out information. Through my own posts and through the comments of readers, this blog has been responsible for breaking a wide assortment of local news stories. Readers of this blog will often get "the scoop" long before it airs on television or is printed in the paper. In fact, there have been a number of stories that likely never would have been mentioned in the local media had this blog not first published them. Click here to see just some of the stories that were on GFL before ever appearing in other local media. I'm happy that this blog is able to function as an independent, fresh source of news.

Thanks to all who read this blog and use it to discuss life in our community. You are responsible for Grand Forks Life's success.

Bank Forward @ University Village

Here's a look at what the new Bank Forward branch currently under construction at University Village will look like when completed. The bank should open next month. Back in May, GFL was the first to report about Bank Forward coming to University Village. Can anyone tell me exactly where that Starbucks is going to be located? My guess is on the left (south) side of the building.

I Love Grand Forks

Quick...name one reason why you love Grand Forks. That shouldn't be very hard to do, in my opinion. Grand Forks may not be perfect, but I think even the most indifferent resident could come up with a list of things they love about this city.

I have a long list of reasons why I love living in this city, but now I want to hear why you love living here. So, I'm starting another new type of thread titled "I Love Grand Forks". Take a moment and name a few of the things about Grand Forks that you think make it lovable, livable, and maybe even unique.

These reasons can be as big as something along the lines of "the people" or as small as something like a favorite menu item at a local restaurant or a friendly cashier at a local store. Share as many reasons why you love Grand Forks as you care to. Rest assured that this will be a recurring type of thread so you don't have to share every reason just now.

We have a bit of an inferiority complex in this part of the country in general and in Grand Forks in particular. I think something like this will be a good way to point out the multitude of reasons why Grand Forks really is a pretty great place to live after all.