Grand Rapids (Forest Hills, Jenison, Grandville: real estate, condos, house)

[Grindsmen]

What are the more affluent areas of Grand Rapids? Looks like possibly Forest Hills or East Grand Rapids?

[justwonderin]

If you are talking about school districts, Forest Hills and EGR are the "affluent"
choices. Cascade, Ada, EGR, Rockford are affluent areas. It is gorgeous country here, the schools in all of these areas are great. Nice private schools abound as well.

[mich2fla]

I live in Ada (Cascade Township) and my kids attend Forest Hills schools. We love it here. Ada/Cascade is a little more out in the country with more open spaces bike trails and nice parks. From my house, it's only 20 minutes from downtown GR and 15 minutes to the airport.

EGR is nice, since the taxes are a bit higher there, not much house for the money. If cost is not a concern, check it out. EGR is landlocked, only new development is the condos going up on Wealthy and Lake Drive.

Rockford is OK, it seems a little out of the way. I like the downtown area of Rockford. It seems like everyone from Rockford commutes to GR daily and traffic does get heavy on the East Beltline or US 131. It depends what is your preferences.

Check out removed and search by school districts to get an idea on housing cost.

Post here or PM me if you have any more questions about the surrounding areas. Been here all my life.

[Ken Owens]

I would move to Jenison very nice high school great teachers and a nice place to live

[mich2fla]

Originally Posted by Ken Owens

I would move to Jenison very nice high school great teachers and a nice place to live

I do not consider the Jenison area to be affluent. Good schools, yes. Completely different discussion.

[barlar1045]

Well, in addition to the two you named, you could add Ada (home to the Amway Corp.), as well as several of the suburb areas, like Byron Center, Rockford (just up the E. Beltline), and parts of Grandville, as well. The greater Grand Rapids area has sprawled considerably, and the newer developments tend to attract the more monied crowd. Also, in the literal center of the downtown area, the Heritage Hill area is flush with historic homes that require considerable cash. In addition, much of the downtown area has very recently been developed into luxury condos, though I would think this would not be as attractive for those with young children.

[Globusproject]

Originally Posted by mich2fla

I live in Ada (Cascade Township) and my kids attend Forest Hills schools. We love it here. Ada/Cascade is a little more out in the country with more open spaces bike trails and nice parks. From my house, it's only 20 minutes from downtown GR and 15 minutes to the airport.

EGR is nice, since the taxes are a bit higher there, not much house for the money. If cost is not a concern, check it out. EGR is landlocked, only new development is the condos going up on Wealthy and Lake Drive.

Rockford is OK, it seems a little out of the way. I like the downtown area of Rockford. It seems like everyone from Rockford commutes to GR daily and traffic does get heavy on the East Beltline or US 131. It depends what is your preferences.

Check out removed and search by school districts to get an idea on housing cost.

Post here or PM me if you have any more questions about the surrounding areas. Been here all my life.

I too am interested in Grand Rapids. From the above quotes I have a certain idea of the local housing conditions there. I interviewed for a position at Blodgett and Butterworth in 1993 and had checked out the area then. But I believe that this area has changed considerable in many ways since then. Last year I again checked it out and noticed that Pulte was building new housing in the North of Grand Rapids. And there was another new development in the South. Housing seemed reasonable with 4 bedroom Colonials going for $250,000.

I wanted to look at the recommendations to search specific web sites, but the web address was removed. So if one of you could convey this to me, privatelly, I would like this.

Any comments on Grand Rapids would be appreciated. I am not much interested about the school districts as I will have no children going to school. But I am interested in housing. Good areas with good appreciation of Private Family Residence real estate, probably in good growth areas.

Thanks for your assistance with this before hand.

Globusproject

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Globusproject

I too am interested in Grand Rapids. From the above quotes I have a certain idea of the local housing conditions there. I interviewed for a position at Blodgett and Butterworth in 1993 and had checked out the area then. But I believe that this area has changed considerable in many ways since then. Last year I again checked it out and noticed that Pulte was building new housing in the North of Grand Rapids. And there was another new development in the South. Housing seemed reasonable with 4 bedroom Colonials going for $250,000.

I wanted to look at the recommendations to search specific web sites, but the web address was removed. So if one of you could convey this to me, privatelly, I would like this.

Any comments on Grand Rapids would be appreciated. I am not much interested about the school districts as I will have no children going to school. But I am interested in housing. Good areas with good appreciation of Private Family Residence real estate, probably in good growth areas.

Thanks for your assistance with this before hand.

Globusproject

Since you don't care much about the schools, you might as well look in Heritage Hill, Cherry Hill, East Hills - Cherry/Lake/Diamond, Marywood/Aquinas, Midtown, Wealty Street areas. Hundreds (maybe even thousands) of beautifully restored homes covering hundreds of different architectural styles dating back to the late 1900's. Or buy in one of the number of new condo projects downtown. One of them, the Fitzgerald, is a total refurbishment of the old YMCA built in the early 20th century.

Many of these areas are seeing modest gains in property values. Some sites you can check out for more info:

heritagehillweb.org
wealthymainstreet.org
rapidgrowthmedia.com - neighborhoods
easthillscouncil.org
thefitzgeraldresidences.com

East Grand Rapids had gotten a little overpriced, so appreciation may not be as great in that city. Suburban homes are not faring as well, because we have not been immune to losses in manufacturing. But Grand Rapids did ADD jobs and population last year, in contrast to the rest of the State.

Back to you!
Magellan