Grand Rapids Equitable Economic Development & Mobility Strategic Plan
PROJECT SUMMARY: In the winter of 2019, the City of Grand Rapids initiated a three-pronged planning process to develop an Equitable Economic Development & Mobility Strategic Plan, and contracted independent consultants to lead each of the three legs:
Economic Development Plan (HR&A)
Mobility Plan (Nelson\Nygaard)
MobileGR Organizational Assessment (Sam Schwartz Engineering)
The first and second parts of the plan were developed as a single public-facing plan—the Equitable Economic Development and Mobility Strategic Plan—while the third part was more of an internal development tool. The strategic plan evaluates current programs and practices through an equity lens and sets a goal for equitable economic development and mobility, supported by a set of actionable strategies for the City’s Economic Development Office and MobileGR to implement. The mobility plan focused on active transportation, parking, and transportation demand management. It provides recommendations on policies, programs, and investments over the next five years. The plan was adopted by the City in January 2020.
TEAM: HR&A and Nelson\Nygaard
ROLE: I served as a project planner for the parking elements of the plan. In this role I was the primary researcher, data analyst, and writer for parking conditions analysis, strategy development, and implementation planning. In addition, I supported project team coordination, stakeholder interviews, and plan writing. Also, I contributed to development of a Critical Parking Strategies supplemental memo, to providing further detail on the implementation of three parking strategies.
TOOLS USED: ArcGIS; Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator); Smarking; Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneDrive