VIRAL: City pride, Grand Rapids style

I saw this video pop up on Gawker more than a week ago, and have been fascinated ever since.  The video - referred to as the "Grand Rapids LipDub" and set to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie" - was made in response to a "Newsweek" article referring to Grand Rapids, MI as a "dying city."  About 5,000 residents turned out for the making of the single-take film on May 22nd, which virtually shutdown downtown Grand Rapids for the afternoon.

I find it so remarkable and inspiring that a negative ranking brought and entire city together.  A true community effort is what made this response so successful.  The Mayor, firefighters, police officers, TV stations (their personalities and live trucks), radio DJs, recent college grads, and others from all walks of life took part.

The project was created and organized by Rob Bliss, who's been behind several other eccentric events in the Grand Rapids area (click HERE to read the Grand Rapids Press' profile on Bliss from a few years ago).  Bliss was featured last Friday as the "Person of the Week" on ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer.  Since it was uploaded on YouTube, the video has been viewed more than two and a half million times.

Hopefully this video will inspire residents of other cities to take pride in their community.  There are so many people in Rochester and Syracuse who complain about the bad and are blind to all that's good.  Every city has great, unique features that can't be found anywhere else.  If Grand Rapids, a city of 192,000 people (that's smaller than Rochester), can be so creative in promoting itself, so can we.