Grand Forks Economy

[nodak651]

This would be a great "get" for grand forks - especially with the lack of things to do during the winter - although I would rather see them build at the Columbia mall.  The grand cities mall should be torn down and redeveloped, imo.  

Sea Quest is popular and well liked a the Rosedale mall in the Twin Cities.  My wife was there recently and she commented on how busy it always is.  It has an impressive google rating at 4.7 stars with almost 3.5K reviews.  Not sure anything in Grand Forks can match that except maybe the Ralph.

[Cratter]

2 hours ago, UNDBIZ said:

Also, Duluth is a much more "touristy" town than Grand Forks, with the North Shore and the big water.

Speaking of towns that lost population the last 10 years...

[SIOUXFAN97]

5 minutes ago, Cratter said:

Speaking of towns that lost population the last 10 years...

duluth has lost population?  awesome town...seems weird.

[UNDBIZ]

18 hours ago, Cratter said:

Speaking of towns that lost population the last 10 years...

I think they've been decreasing/at a standstill since the 60s.

[OgieOgilthorpe]

On 7/27/2021 at 12:40 PM, Cratter said:

Could be. 

Only two "cities" in the western part of the state, and Bismarck doesnt have that much of an advantage over Minot currently.

With Minot being closer to the (formerly?) growing oil patch to draw from.

Doesn’t have much of an advantage in terms of actual population or in terms of what? In my eyes Bismarck has a big advantage in essentially everything. Straight population is roughly 35% larger than minot, and MSAs would be an even larger gap. Quality of life and quality of…well everything seems much higher in bis too unfortunately.
 

Minot has made some strides with the downtown revamp, finally making some progress with schools and even a stabilizing population not relying entirely on oil-boom citizens. Not even in the same league as Bismarck or Fargo though IMO. 

[UNDBIZ]

8 hours ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

Doesn’t have much of an advantage in terms of actual population or in terms of what? In my eyes Bismarck has a big advantage in essentially everything. Straight population is roughly 35% larger than minot, and MSAs would be an even larger gap. Quality of life and quality of…well everything seems much higher in bis too unfortunately.
 

Minot has made some strides with the downtown revamp, finally making some progress with schools and even a stabilizing population not relying entirely on oil-boom citizens. Not even in the same league as Bismarck or Fargo though IMO. 

Minot's zoo is better and you have the state fair.  Blue Elephant is pretty good.  That's about it though, sorry 

[OgieOgilthorpe]

15 hours ago, UNDBIZ said:

Minot's zoo is better and you have the state fair.  Blue Elephant is pretty good.  That's about it though, sorry 

Good catch, Minot zoo is definitely nicer. Hockey rink situation is better…list ends there ha 

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

On 7/29/2021 at 11:58 PM, OgieOgilthorpe said:

Good catch, Minot zoo is definitely nicer. Hockey rink situation is better…list ends there ha 

Minot's college hockey has potential!

[Frozen4sioux]

On 7/29/2021 at 11:58 PM, OgieOgilthorpe said:

Good catch, Minot zoo is definitely nicer. Hockey rink situation is better…list ends there ha 

Better youth baseball facilities as well....

But after those 3 things... Minot touch Bis or Fargo .. or GF IMHO.

[Frozen4sioux]

On 7/27/2021 at 12:25 PM, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

Including Brockway, Ogdenville, AND North Haverbrook.

 

Came here for exactly this.

Everything I've read here screeeeeeams Lyle Lanley.

This sounds like a terrible idea. The mall, as a whole NEEDS to be demolished, ASAP. The viable businesses in there could fill some of the multitude of empty locations or locations in need of refurbishment.

This is where the city should invest money, helping those businesses move into and revive something else.

Then pressure the mall ownership to either doze it and develop or look into doing it through eminent dominish practices, or just good old fashion finger breaking... however it gets done, doesnt matter. Just need to get it done the land and location is too valuable to slowly rust away or squander money on a few fish tanks.

And as soon as this is done, drag the columbia mall owners in and let em know they are next.

[UNDBIZ]

26 minutes ago, Frozen4sioux said:

Came here for exactly this.

Everything I've read here screeeeeeams Lyle Lanley.

This sounds like a terrible idea. The mall, as a whole NEEDS to be demolished, ASAP. The viable businesses in there could fill some of the multitude of empty locations or locations in need of refurbishment.

This is where the city should invest money, helping those businesses move into and revive something else.

Then pressure the mall ownership to either doze it and develop or look into doing it through eminent dominish practices, or just good old fashion finger breaking... however it gets done, doesnt matter. Just need to get it done the land and location is too valuable to slowly rust away or squander money on a few fish tanks.

And as soon as this is done, drag the columbia mall owners in and let em know they are next.

[SIOUXFAN97]

not exactly sure how local gov goes but can Bo veto this crap?

[northernraider]

I hope the city or JDA does an actual cost-benefit analysis before giving the final go ahead. (Honestly, Grand Forks should make this standard for any large tax break over $500,000). This is not exactly bring in hundreds of new, high paying jobs (maybe 3 FTE and a half dozen Part-timers) and the tourism impact will be very minimal. I mean people are not going to visit Grand Forks just to see a low-budget aquarium. It will be a novelty for those already in town, but have a hard time seeing many people packing up the car solely for this experience. 

[Frozen4sioux]

8 minutes ago, northernraider said:

I hope the city or JDA does an actual cost-benefit analysis before giving the final go ahead. (Honestly, Grand Forks should make this standard for any large tax break over $500,000). This is not exactly bring in hundreds of new, high paying jobs (maybe 3 FTE and a half dozen Part-timers) and the tourism impact will be very minimal. I mean people are not going to visit Grand Forks just to see a low-budget aquarium. It will be a novelty for those already in town, but have a hard time seeing many people packing up the car solely for this experience. 

Bingo

[Kab]

There are a lot better ways to spend this money

tell them after x number of years they would qualify for some kind of grant based on their revenue and employees hired.

was involved in a small town that a southern venture wanted to relocate to.  They wanted free money.  Our EDC was dumb enough to do it and when the money ran out they found another small town.  The only employment was the founder and his wife. I had voted no and the others thought I was crazy.

 

 

i wonder what kind of impact a home football game has on grand forks economy.

look at gas, motels, food, liquor, other shopping, even the airport I’m sure benefits.

just curious , the GF area should be supporting this way more than they do, just my 2 cents worth .

 

[gfhockey]

1 hour ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

not exactly sure how local gov goes but can Bo veto this crap?

Bo wants it

[SIOUXFAN97]

4 minutes ago, gfhockey said:

Bo wants it

you sure?

[Cratter]

16 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

you sure?

Yes

[Cratter]

Gf gave riverside pool a million dollars a few years ago to look a little nicer and stay open, so a few kids could get wet a couple months out of the year.

[gfhockey]

18 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

you sure?

Should have heard him on Knox this morning. 

[nodak651]

What would Brown do?  

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

This would be an absolute boondoggle.

[nodak651]

https://knoxradio.com/2021/08/03/gg-council-keeps-aquarium-plans-afloat/

With some hesitancy the Grand Forks council voted last night (Monday) to continue discussions with a company looking to locate an ecosystem aquarium at the Grand Cities Mall.  The proposed site for the 17,000 square foot SeaQuest would be the former Kmart building.

One of the hurdles is a potential $1 million dollar subsidy to seal the deal.  Mayor Brandon Bochenski says it’s a big “ask” that needs more assessment.  “I am not a huge fan of having public money involved in these projects but something has to start the growth.” Continued....

[gfhockey]

Why don’t we ask the state for money like Jamestown? $1mm isn’t as bad as what they wanted 

[SIOUXFAN97]

6 hours ago, nodak651 said:

What would Brown do?  

ask for seconds before leaving a meeting