Grand Rapids move from California

[michfish]

I would suggest Forest Hills, Cascade, Ada, and Rockford areas. The east side of GR is not as conservative as the rest of west Michigan. These are all very safe communities.

[momof11]

hi, I post under mom of 11 now (formerly blessings11- email problems) We moved to Newaygo County and love it. We have 8 acres and 5 are wooded so the kids are in heaven! We drive into GR once a week for band class and it is not a bad drive at all (coming from California traffic! nuff said) We are learning all about septic tanks and wells now and loving the deer and wild turkeys that run through our woods.

[cjhsa]

The newest school in the area, Forest Hills Eastern, is one of the best in the state AND has great sports programs if you kids participate. If you own a home in California, you can easily afford to buy a home with land in Ada or Grand Rapids Township - but fair warning, Michigan property taxes are high. Expect to pay about $4K/year on a $300K house. Right now there's lots of homes for sale but many have been delisted because of the credit crisis. If you can pay cash, try knocking on doors. Look at zillow.com for "Make me move" listings.

I moved from California myself back in 2005. You will find a few things - people are friendly here -to a point. They also aren't nearly as bright or worldly as the average Californian. The only thing that really costs less here is housing and land - everything else costs the same or more, including insurance. Bring your gardening skills. Because land is cheap, you can grow a lot of your own food, however, the growing season is only four months long - June 1 - Sept 30 for most things.

You will have a major outlay at first to get your family winterized. In SoCal you don't need winter clothes except for the occasional excursion to the Sierra. Here, you need to buy your entire family winter clothes - and for the kids that means every year as they will destroy them/grow out of them. 9 kids ....

Good luck. Feel free to post any questions you might have of a former Californian (NorCal).

[suydam]

Originally Posted by cjhsa

The newest school in the area, Forest Hills Eastern, is one of the best in the state AND has great sports programs if you kids participate. If you own a home in California, you can easily afford to buy a home with land in Ada or Grand Rapids Township - but fair warning, Michigan property taxes are high. Expect to pay about $4K/year on a $300K house. Right now there's lots of homes for sale but many have been delisted because of the credit crisis. If you can pay cash, try knocking on doors. Look at zillow.com for "Make me move" listings.

I moved from California myself back in 2005. You will find a few things - people are friendly here -to a point. They also aren't nearly as bright or worldly as the average Californian. The only thing that really costs less here is housing and land - everything else costs the same or more, including insurance. Bring your gardening skills. Because land is cheap, you can grow a lot of your own food, however, the growing season is only four months long - June 1 - Sept 30 for most things.

You will have a major outlay at first to get your family winterized. In SoCal you don't need winter clothes except for the occasional excursion to the Sierra. Here, you need to buy your entire family winter clothes - and for the kids that means every year as they will destroy them/grow out of them. 9 kids ....

Good luck. Feel free to post any questions you might have of a former Californian (NorCal).

They already moved... this thread is 10 months old.
"mom11" the post above yours, is the original poster letting us know that they settled in Newaygo.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by suydam

They already moved... this thread is 10 months old.
"mom11" the post above yours, is the original poster letting us know that they settled in Newaygo.

Yeah. People need to look at the date in the upper left hand corner of the post before they respond.

Plus, cjhsa, property taxes of about 1.3 - 1.5% of market value is not expensive. Look around at other markets and you'll see.

[momof11]

thanks cjhsa, we have been working on winterizing our wardrobes. We've been hitting thrift stores and resale shops for the most part and we still need to get a few more things. I am making scarves in my spare time! We are hoping to make it to November 1st before we turn on the heater. So far so good. My mother in law came to visit this week and she is amazed at how low the food prices are here and this is small town prices. Insurance is high though and we use a lot more gas because nothing is close.

[cjhsa]

You're welcome and I'm sorry I misinterpreted and posted after the fact.

Another thing you'll get used to - those deer and turkey running through your back yard are quite tasty, and hunting season is now. Nov 15-30 is the firearms deer season. I highly recommend that anyone going out in the woods during that time wear blaze orange whether you're hunting or not. I'm not saying that all hunters are bad hunters... but it only takes one.

In my opinion, the best thing about Michigan is the outdoor opportunities it offers. I grew up here before moving west. Here I hunt and fish whenever I can - something that was very difficult to do in California as we lived in Silicon Valley (I did fish the saltwater a few times). My son is 13 today, and he's been hunting with me ever since we moved back. He tooks his hunter's safety class this year after two years of apprenticeship with me, and we have a great time in the woods.

Welcome!

[jpb]

Originally Posted by blessings11

We are currently selling our home in Southern California and hoping to move to the Grand Rapids area. One of my concerns is the crime rate in GR. Are there areas that we should steer clear of? We are not committed to GR proper, a city or town nearby would be fine. We do need to be within a reasonable driving distance of the airport and we have to have high speed internet. We'd like at least an acre of land as we have a lot of children (9 at home) My brother just moved to GR and he loves it but really doesn't know the area well enough to advise

Iam presently living in GR for two months. (in hospital after car wreck, getting great medical care. i actually live in Grand Haven a shoreside community about 30 mi. west . i have lived there since 78 and i couldnt have wanted a better place to raise my children. great schools , a perfect beach state park, there is a lot of open country in between the two cities9Allendale has Grand Valley University. Home prices are dropping so come on over and enjoy.