City of Grand Rapids - City Home

2010 Grand Crossings Labor Day Walk

You don't have to go all the way to the Mackinac Bridge to join the annual Labor Day Bridge Walk. Join your neighbors, invite your friends. Participants can walk as many as five miles, the equivalent of the Mackinac Bridge, and cross as many as seven bridges. The route is wheelchair accessible and appropriate for all fitness levels. No sign-up is necessary. Please make sure you are physically able to participate. Mayor George K. Heartwell will lead the walk. The City of Grand Rapids offers its own bridge walk on Labor Day, September 6, 2010, at 8:00 a.m., at Ah-Nab-Awen Park, near the corner of Pearl and Scribner.…more>>

Future Cities Conference - September 9-10

Concerned about climate change and how it will impact Michigan? Join mayors, city managers, community, and private sector leaders at the inaugural meeting of the Michigan Community Partners to collaborate in planning and implementing best practices and strategies for building sustainable communities throughout Michigan. This event will showcase national and local leaders who are at the forefront of energy efficiency and renewable energy, jobs for the new economy, sustainable urbanism, transit-oriented development, green building, water conservation, municipal food scrap programs, local food systems, zero waste schools and more. …more>>

ArtPrize Begins September 22

Find all the information you need about ArtPrize here.…more>>

Mayor Receives Honorary Degree

Albion College began its academic year with Class of 1971 alumnus George K. Heartwell speaking at the college's opening convocation. He was then granted an honorary Doctorate degree. …more>>

My GRCity Points Program Unveiled

Ready to earn rewards for recycling, volunteering, and making our city a better place to live? Join the City of Grand Rapids, Local First of West Michigan, and CEOs for Cities to launch an innovative community engagement program--MyGRCity Points. This new web-based incentive program encourages people to volunteer to help build a stronger Grand Rapids community, while earning reward points that can be redeemed at local businesses for discounts on products and services. MyGRCity Points will operate on a platform that links people to local businesses and to local government. Created by the City of Grand Rapids, MyGRCity Points is being developed and managed in partnership with Local First and CEOs for Cities. …more>>

Find Burial Records Online

If you are searching for loved ones who are buried at any of the City's six cemeteries (Fairplains, Fulton, Greenwood, Oakgrove, Oakhill, or Woodlawn) you can now find information online 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. Simply go to the website http://cemetery.grcity.us to search by name. Information such as the date of birth, age, burial location, gender, place of death, date of death, spouse's name, mother's name, and father's name (if available) can all be found with the click of a button. This new webpage is a great resource for families of loved ones and genealogists.…more>>

Mayor's Youth Council now accepting applications!

The Mayor's Youth Council (MYC) offers youth leadership and civic engagement opportunities to teens. The mission of the MYC is to be a voice to city officials on issues that affect teens and it offers students hands-on, real life experiences on the inner workings of city government. The Council meets with the Mayor monthly to discuss public policy, plans youth forums such as Mayor's Youth Night Out and KidSpeak, holds an annual teen party/fundraiser and participates in community service projects. Ninth through twelfth-graders who are residents of Grand Rapids are eligible to apply. For more information, please visit www.grcity.us/myc. …more>>

Take the LEAD in getting a job!

The Leadership and Employment, Achievement and Direction (LEAD) program provides unique training in civic engagement, leadership and employability skills to young people ages 15 to 21. This fun and interactive experience consists of workshops in resume and cover letter writing, interviewing, financial literacy, and field trips to local businesses and colleges. Students that complete LEAD will be employed for six months at a business participating in the Mayor?s 50 Campaign. The Mayor's 50 is a campaign to identify 50 businesses to partner with the City of Grand Rapids to provide meaningful jobs for young people. For more information, please visit www.grcity.us/lead. …more>>

Clearwire 4G launches in Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids is the first city in Michigan and one of fewer than 50 cities in the country with CLEAR high-speed 4G mobile internet. Clearwire's 4G service, marketed as CLEAR, currently covers over 100 square miles and 200,000 people. The city is committed to fully leverage this leading edge technology to significantly increase the information available to our public safety officers and to further transform public service work processes. For more information go to www.wirelessgr.com.…more>>

Resolution for Transformation Priorities, 6.22.10

The City is undergoing a transformational process that will include a thorough and critical examination of every City service to determine if the service could be better provided by another agency exclusively or jointly through a partnership or consolidation of jurisdictions. City services will be reviewed to seek maximum cost efficiency, improved customer service, and effective service results. The City will work with the Transformation Advisors to implement the City?s Five-Year Transformation Plan. The City Commission wishes to provide additional guidance to accelerate this process by focusing on the following initial priorities. …more>>

New Systems Save Time and Money

It began nearly two years ago--the City of Grand Rapids, working with CDW-G, nears complete replacement and redesign of the City's Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, saving over $750,000 annually in IT expenses-- but also transforming the operations of the City. Two years ago Information Technology "guru" Paul Klimas, upon joining the City, informs the City Commission that the City's computer systems are antiquated and failing--no surprise to City employees and citizens alike. But the strategic recommendation to 'refresh' the City's computer architectures was daunting and concerning to most, as you can't simply turn them off for a period of time. City operations had to continue. …more>>

GR's Volunteer Rate Ranked in Top Ten

Grand Rapids has one of the best volunteer rates in Michigan and ranked ninth among 75 mid-size cities in the recent "Volunteering in America" report released by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Grand Rapids' residents volunteer at a rate of 37.6 percent, well above the national average of 26.8 percent. The city of Grand Rapids has a long commitment to service, rising in the mid-size city volunteer rate ranks from 12th in 2008, 10th in 2009, and now 9th in 2010. "I'm rightfully proud of Grand Rapids' recent ranking on the Volunteering in America report," said Mayor Heartwell. "The service commitment of our citizens is having a widespread, positive impact on our community." …more>>

Recommendations for FY11 Preliminary Fiscal Plan

Click here to read the recommendations to amend the FY2011 Preliminary Fiscal Plan to permit the City Commission to approve a budget by June 30, 2010. This document was the basis for the City Commission's budget discussion on May 25, 2010.…more>>

Community Based Code Compliance Program Underway

In April, neighborhood associations began partnering with the City on a Community Based Code Compliance Program. How does it work? Neighborhood associations contact property owners when an exterior housing or nuisance code complaint has been reported to the City. The neighborhood association then sends a courtesy letter to the owner listing the violation and a follow-up date for compliance. If the violation is corrected as of the follow-up date, the case will be closed--no fees, no hassle. If not corrected, the case goes back to the City for enforcement, and fees may be assessed by the City if violations still exist. …more>>

Grand Rapids Named Most Sustainable Community

The City of Grand Rapids was presented the Siemens Sustainable Community Award for mid-size communities by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and Siemens Corporation on May 13, 2010. The winning communities were praised for improvements to the quality of life for residents by achieving vital economic, environmental, and social goals. Mayor Heartwell accepted the award at the ceremony in Houston, Texas on May 13, and stated that this award is "a strong affirmation of the collaborative work that we have been doing in Grand Rapids. Once again Grand Rapids has been brought to the forefront as a leader in sustainability."…more>>

Recreation Reaps Rewards WINS!

Grand Rapids' Recreation Reaps Rewards (RRR) program has been awarded the 2010 WOODTV 8 Connecting With Community Award! This award recognizes the combined expertise and leadership of community partners that inform, educate and empower people in West Michigan in areas such as education, health and safety, and in making our community a better place to work and live. …more>>

City of GR Accepts SAFER Grant

The City of Grand Rapids has accepted a federal SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant for $2,962,553. The federal grant program was created to provide funding directly to fire departments to help them increase the number of trained, frontline firefighters available in their communities. Conditions of acceptance include a commitment to retain SAFER funded firefighters for two years. The passing of the income tax increase was key to ensuring the City of Grand Rapids could meet these requirements. This grant will enable the GRFD to recall 6 personnel that are currently laid off and hire 11 additional firefighters. …more>>

Grand Rapids' First Youth Master Plan

The first-ever Grand Rapids Youth Master Plan has been released! This 'living' document was developed from a 2-year process involving an adult steering committee and the Grand Rapids Youth Commission to ensure that children age 0 to 21 are ready for college, work and life. Specific recommendations generated by the community will be given to city/county/state elected officials, parents and all concerned citizens on broader partnerships, bigger goals, better data and bolder strategies. National support for this plan includes: National League of Cities, the Forum for Youth Investment and the U.S. Department of Juvenile Justice.…more>>

Watch the Town Hall Meetings held in April

The links to the recorded Town Hall meetings held in Grand Rapids in April can be found here. City staff appreciates everyone who took time out of their busy evenings to attend and participate in these meetings. …more>>

Stay Informed with our Media Releases

Informative Media Releases sent from the Executive Office can be found on the right side of this page, or by clicking here. The page is updated at the same time media releases are distributed. …more>>

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