I actually wasn’t going to post this video. I haven’t lived in Grand Rapids all that long (so it’s really not my place to criticize this video), but the video misses some of the real funkiness of the art and buildings even in the streets that were filmed.
But it’s getting some play on other blogs and, well, it does show some of the streets and parks where I walk my dog, so I felt obliged.
So here’s the story: this video is meant as a snub to Newsweek, which back in January named Grand Rapids (with Flint and Detroit) as one of Michigan’s three top-ten dyingest cities in the country. So now Newsweek, seeing how a bunch of Grand Rapidians will parade the streets to prove Newsweek wrong, has sheepishly apologized.
To the Grand Rapids crowd:First off, we LOVEyour YouTube LipDub. We’re big fans, and are inspired by your love of the city you call home.
But so you know what was up with the list you’re responding to, we want you to know it was done by a website called mainstreet.com–not by Newsweek (it was unfortunately picked up on the Newsweek web site as part of a content sharing deal)–and it uses a methodology that our current editorial team doesn’t endorse and wouldn’t have employed. It certainly doesn’t reflect our view of Grand Rapids.
They should have just asked my dog. He loves Grand Rapids. He’s very urbane and so loves to strut through all these city streets, plus he’s figured out a place (that appears in the video) where he can jump in the river when it’s hot.