Neighborhoods close to downtown GR (Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids: real estate, houses, employment)

[kmberry]

My wife travels for her work often. Recently she has been making a large number of trips to GR, and this time I got to come with her. We're absolutely smitten with the downtown; it's the perfect size and has a wonderful level of activity.


Let's assume that weather and employment aren't issues. Were we to contemplate relocating here, what areas should we consider? Our primary criteria would be as follows:

1. Good schools (we have twin 5 year old boys entering kindergarten).
2. Architecturally interesting and/or historical (cookie cutter houses are right out!).
3. Prefer to avoid suburbs & isolated areas, unless they have downtowns of their own.
4. Would love to bike/walk to things like parks, dinner, activities, etc.
5. Housing: up to about 300k, 4 bedroom, 2000+ sq ft. Some type of yard--enough for a deck and playhouse--but doesn't need to be huge.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[magellan]

Originally Posted by kmberry

My wife travels for her work often. Recently she has been making a large number of trips to GR, and this time I got to come with her. We're absolutely smitten with the downtown; it's the perfect size and has a wonderful level of activity.


Let's assume that weather and employment aren't issues. Were we to contemplate relocating here, what areas should we consider? Our primary criteria would be as follows:

1. Good schools (we have twin 5 year old boys entering kindergarten).
2. Architecturally interesting and/or historical (cookie cutter houses are right out!).
3. Prefer to avoid suburbs & isolated areas, unless they have downtowns of their own.
4. Would love to bike/walk to things like parks, dinner, activities, etc.
5. Housing: up to about 300k, 4 bedroom, 2000+ sq ft. Some type of yard--enough for a deck and playhouse--but doesn't need to be huge.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I was thinking East Grand Rapids until I got to your price range. You'll have a tough time finding 2000 sf in EGR for $300,000.

Rockford might work for you. And if you're a cyclist at all, you can ride about 10 miles on the White Pine Trail to downtown Grand Rapids. It has a little quaint downtown, great riverfront park at the dam, farmers markets and music fests on the riverfront, brewpub, good schools, etc..

Message me if you need additional info.

[kmberry]

Thanks for the input! Generally speaking, what price point would we need to be at to make East Grand Rapids viable? Also, if I'm looking on Zillow, what are the general boundaries i should have in mind for that area?

Rockford sounds pretty great; I'll look into it.

[mjlo]

Grand Rapids public schools are improving, but they are probably not quite to the level you're looking for. You could always look into the academies. As a gay non parent i'm probably the worst person when it comes to school knowledge. I'd say look at the neighborhoods east of downtown. East Hills, Easttown, Cherry Hill, Heritage Hill, and parts of Midtown would have exactly what you're looking for.


The boundaries for the area below.



EGR is shown on the map too would be perfect. About 2.5 miles from downtown and so quaint it hurts. The price point would be hard to hit though. The neighborhoods on the east side are gentrifying fast and have a lot of renovated housing stock that would be in your range. You could even buy one that hasnt been renovated and make it your dream and be well within.

[chh]

I'd recommend anywhere north of Wealthy street, you'll definitely find what you're looking for. I'm not familiar with the schools, you could try and apply for school of choice for East Grand Rapids when next year's forms come up on their website, but from what I can gather it's pretty competitive and you might be best off looking at academies or private schools.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by chh

I'd recommend anywhere north of Wealthy street, you'll definitely find what you're looking for. I'm not familiar with the schools, you could try and apply for school of choice for East Grand Rapids when next year's forms come up on their website, but from what I can gather it's pretty competitive and you might be best off looking at academies or private schools.

I would never recommend picking a place to live where you have to worry about the School of Choice Lottery. Only if you absolutely have to (you can't afford to live anywhere other than a very low priced area), maybe. Even the charter schools in the GRPS boundaries are not great.

That's why I recommended Rockford.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by kmberry

Thanks for the input! Generally speaking, what price point would we need to be at to make East Grand Rapids viable? Also, if I'm looking on Zillow, what are the general boundaries i should have in mind for that area?

Rockford sounds pretty great; I'll look into it.

I would skip Zillow and go to one of the legitimate real estate sites like GRAR.com or Realtor.com and put in East Grand Rapids schools in the search function. You can get something for under $300K but it might not be as big as you want. One of the best school districts in the State though, and no need to send your kids to pricey private schools or religious schools.

If the homes are too small for what you need, that's when you go to plan B. ie Rockford or maybe Ada.

[beachmouse]

Do the MLS listings include finished basements in the official square footage up there? If they don't, there's often another 400-500 square feet below grade that works well for a rec room and home office that isn't part of the official number.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

Do the MLS listings include finished basements in the official square footage up there? If they don't, there's often another 400-500 square feet below grade that works well for a rec room and home office that isn't part of the official number.

The listings here separate out total finished square footage and finished square footage above grade.