Downtown Grand Rapids Is Getting 100 New Trees This Fall

Downtown Grand Rapids is about to be little more alive, and a lot more green.

Starting this fall, 100 new trees will be planted along downtown sidewalks and streets, with the goal of adding shade, color, and a touch of natural beauty to the city’s rapidly growing skyline. (Pun mostly unintended)

The Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority (DDA) just approved $111,000 to work with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, a nonprofit that’s been keeping our public spaces beautifully lush and lovely for years. Together, they’ll plant and maintain the new trees through next spring.

Where will all 100 trees be placed in Downtown Grand Rapids?

If you’ve ever wandered around downtown during ArtPrize, you know how sunny it can get walking between exhibits. Imagine a few years from now, taking that same stroll with a little more shade overhead. or catching the glow of holiday lights twinkling through branches on a snowy night. It’s the kind of detail that makes the city feel more welcoming, more walkable, and a little more magical.

While we will be getting some great new green spaces, there won’t be 100 new trees in downtown grand rapids. Some of these newly planted trees will replace trees from the past that didn’t make it, hoping to give those spots another shot at some beautiful shade and greenery.

Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. which oversees the DDA, says this project will help maintain the city’s goal of a 10% tree canopy downtown. Which is important, because a healthy tree canopy also cools streets, improves air quality, and provides habitats for our birds and pollinators.

The new trees should all be in the ground by spring, but their impact will be felt for decades. It’s also nice to see that Grand Rapids isn’t just growing, it’s also blooming.