For the most part in popular culture, Grand Rapids stays out of the conversation for many urbanists and is typically overshadowed by the first largest city in Michigan, Detroit. And Just like Detroit, we lost a lot of architectural beauty and character for the city when it was restructured and demolished under the premise of "Urban Renewal".
The photos of postcards, courtesy of John M. Colburn Sr, display an interpretation of the city that black and white photographs could not. It shows the city as alive, colorful, with the beauty of a city that has character that was beginning to take shape as a sprawling metropolis. This life would not last long, as John Paul Jones would arrive and turn Grand Rapids from a place where people lived in to a location people would commute to (MLive). When Jones was introduced head as the city development committee he was dedicated to win the approval of voters to launch his downtown revitalization project. The primary voter demographic were under a constant push for urban renewal, parading housewives around areas to display their case for urban renewal. It succeeded
What city planners like Jones fail to realize is you can not systematically grow a city, they grow organically.
