I am one of the few Grand Rapids homers, obviously I'm biased but I can give you my take for what it's worth. Grand Rapids has a strong and growing downtown and core, the neighborhoods around it are gentrifying pretty quickly. Right now there are a little over 1000 apartment units under construction around downtown and another 2000 at various stages of planning. Like a lot of cities it feels like the entire core is under construction. Even in the winter downtown is active with festivals and other events, it never feels lacking. The dynamic of the city is changing and there are plenty of people moving to the area, especially recent college grads. It can be hard not to get swept up in the energy.
You will like Grand Rapids if you like:
Craft Beer: It has one the stronger beer scenes in the country with over 30 breweries in the city. With bigger names like Founders, and more acclaimed niche places like Vivant. The city likes to tout the statistics from beer tourism, as people travel from a far to tour the breweries.
Summer outdoor activities: Downtown Grand Rapids is 25 miles from Lake Michigan and some of Michigans foremost beach communities are in the metro area. (Saugatuck, Holland, Grand Haven) It's 2 hours from the awesomeness of Traverse City, the north country in between is filled with campgrounds, resorts, and trails. It is quite hilly and beautiful. Also the city itself is full of events that keep the core busy.
Minor league sports: Obviously it's not known for it's sports scene. However the local minor league teams are well supported, and creative about keeping the community engaged in attending. If you need major league sports, Detroit and Chicago are 2 hours in either direction offering a plethora of both. D1 College Schools are closer if you're into your college sports (Michigan State is 1 hour away, university of Michigan is about 1:40minutes).
A Strong economy: People mostly hear about Grand Rapids growing economy and low enemployment rate (under 4%) It's the most economically diverse of Michigan's cities with the largest growth sectors being in R&D, Biosciences, and Education.
You will not like Grand Rapids if:
You can't handle cloudy, snowy winters: People over-dramatize the affects and length of winter but make no mistake, Grand Rapids is one of the cloudiest and snowiest Midwestern cities. Lake Michigan does tend to keep it a little warmer. The true effects of winter are felt mid December-mid march with the bulk of snow coming in Jan/Feb. It's not actually as bad as people like to infer, still if you prefer mild winters it's a definite downside.
You need major city amenities: Pro-sports, and high end shopping are two of the most obvious things missing in GR. There is enough stuff going on in the city that I don't feel like I'm missing out. If I need to sit in traffic on a freeway and stare at suburban office towers I can always go to Detroit
All in all it's a cool town, I have yet to meet a person who has come to Grand Rapids and wasn't pleasantly surprised. (Although I'm sure they are out there). I love the feel and architecture of the city and it's housing stock, along with the beauty of western MI and the lake shore. If you want to check it out you can DM me and I can give you some pointers about where to stay and what to look for.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
