Mappamatical Misdirection! The importance of good requests and suggestions

As a REALTOR, when somebody tells me that they want a home in Alger Heights, I don’t show them homes in Comstock Park….unless i want a cross-eyed look.   The same is true of people suggesting restaurants as well.

For example, somebody recently asked for a local donut vendor close to 28th street and the Beltline, and a respondent persisted with an answer of Marge’s Donuts (about 5 miles away). Or, and this happens all the time, somebody asks for a date night restaurant in downtown Grand Rapids and people often suggest Amore. Frankly, neither one of those answers is helpful. In both instances, the Original Poster (OP) was specific about what they were after, and what many people did was shout their favorite restaurant. Neither place is remotely located in the requested area, and the responses are really unhelpful and often create discord.

This also applies when somebody asks a very non-specific question.

Where should I eat tonight? Where can I find an inexpensive place to eat on the SE side? Who has the best desserts? “.  None of these are very specific and can cause confusion.  Only after people make a ton of suggestions to the OP do we discover that the OP wants something in Grandville for only $10 a person, and that they are vegetarians. This would have been great information to have upfront and would have saved a lot of time and effort on the part of the well-meaning respondents.

Now, hopefully this is where I can come in and offer some help. There are people who are honestly directionally challenged.  For those, I have created the map at the top of this blogpost.  A lot of people don’t realize this, but Grand Rapids is divided into four quadrants and the cross streets that divide the city are Fulton and Division.  Everything address wise is originated at this intersection. Hopefully you can see by my professionally drawn graphic how this would look. Take a peek at this and see if it adds any clarity to where things are in GR.  Hopefully this will be of some help to those who spend less time staring at maps than I do.

I am going to get back to eating my vegan barbecue sandwich alone at home that I picked up downtown after I requested a steakhouse on the NE side of town for a romantic dinner with my wife. ;).


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