A Master Plan for Downtown, Downtown Schools, & the River Corridor 

Facilitated by Downtown Grand Rapids Inc [DGRI], the City of Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Public Schools [GRPS] and led by Interface Studio, GR Forward is the roadmap to guide change and investment in the coming years.  With a focus on Downtown, the Grand River and improving public schools through efforts to reimagine Innovation Central High and a new Museum School, GR Forward encompassed three planning efforts in one.  

Grand Rapids is poised to become a resilient, waterfront city and an urban playground for all ages centered around a progressive and lively Downtown. GR Forward is designed to guide this ongoing transformation. All members of the community – those who live, work, learn, and play in and near Downtown and the River – were welcomed participants, invited to help craft a collective vision for the future and identify key actions for change to make the vision become reality.

Over 4,400 people helped to create the plan.  

The process sought insights and ideas each step of the way through large public meetings, on-line participation tools, neighborhood forums neighborhood forums, focus groups and a Downtown Open House that reused a vacant storefront as an exhibit of Grand Rapids' past, present and potential future.