Viva la Avenida is an Area Specific Plan for Grandville Avenue. Grandville Avenue is the primary corridor in the Roosevelt Park neighborhood, and the residents desire their neighborhood and traditional business district to be an attractive and vibrant place. Williams & Works led a neighborhood planning process focusing on Grandville Avenue, which represents the cultural heart of the Hispanic community in Grand Rapids.
Inclusive engagement included attending community events to ask for input, visiting area schools and meeting with neighborhood children, conducting face-to-face interviews at residents' homes and businesses, and hosting a full week-long design charrette. This award-winning Area Specific Plan was adopted by the City of Grand Rapids in 2017, and is the culmination of a broad base of community input and feedback. It provides direction for future improvements that affect housing, transportation, aesthetics, land use, and development types along the corridor. The vision calls for increasing safety within the street space, connecting area parks to neighborhoods, and planning for infill development by respecting the existing development pattern, and accommodating green infrastructure through bulb outs and bus bulbs.
The project was a collaboration between the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association, Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, and the City of Grand Rapids. The consulting team consisted of Williams & Works, Nederveld, and Aligned Planning.
