Grand Rapids: A City to Watch
The City of Grand Rapids, located in Western Michigan along the Grand River, is a community of nearly 200,000 people. It is the home to the GeraldR.FordMuseum, and the headquarters of Quixtar (formerly called Amway) is located just outside the city’s limits. Despite struggling with large-scale loss of manufacturing employments, the City now boasts that it has more green buildings per capita than any city in the U.S. Under the direction of Mayor George Hartwell and Corky Overmyer, the Mayor’s new Sustainability Coordinator, Grand Rapids has embarked on an ambitious plan to take sustainability seriously. Working with the Western Michigan Sustainable Business, GrandValleyStateUniversity, the City’s Office of Environmental Protection, the City’s Sustainability Manager, the Grand Rapids schools, and virtually every neighborhood, community, and social service organization, Grand Rapids has begun a process of mapping out their path to greater sustainability.
Important Links to Sustainability in Grand Rapids:
