Lansing / Grand Rapids ? (Detroit, Allendale, Grand Haven: apartment complex, jobs, home)

[skyhawk]

Hi,

I'm a college senior from Georgia and I'll be attending Cooley School of Law in Michigan this Fall. They have two campus locations: one in Lansing and one in Grand Rapids.

I don't know much about Michigan, or about the differences between these two cities. If anyone could give me some info on how they differ, or just characterize either of these two cities based on your experience then I would really appreciate it.

If anyone needs to know about Georgia I'll be happy to do the same for you.

Thanks,

Jason

[Grindsmen]

Well, Lansing is in the middle of the state and is a College town due mainly to Michigan State University.

Grand Rapids is an hour west of Lansing, a bigger city, and the main College is probably the much smaller Grand Valley State University.

Both towns are cool. Grand Rapids is closer to Chicago (3 hours by car) Lansing closer to Detroit. Grand Rapids is about 45 minutes from the west coast of Michigan which has beautiful beaches and cool small towns like Grand Haven.

[Sorcha]

I live in Lansing and it's a smaller town than Grand Rapids. I used to temp at Cooley Law School and their campus is spread out over a few blocks. It's a really good school. There are also pretty cheap apartments for rent. But a word of warning, parking is a pain in the neck and expensive so a lot of students ride bikes.

[Great Lake Boy]

I like both cities. Grand Rapids is close to Lake Michigan though. I think GR is more conservative than Lansing too. I am not big on the conservative movement.

I think Lansing fairs better than the rest of the state for jobs and economy due to MSU, GM ( Well what hasn't been outsourced to third world countries ) and State Government. I live JUST west of Lansing and I find it allot better than some places in Michigan.


GLB

removed

[kwhitt]

Grand Rapids is conservative. If you want a college town feel I'd go with Lansing. Both cities have plenty of shopping. If you're renting an apartment, you can get something nice in areas surrounding either city for around $700-900 a month.

[magellan]

Having grown up in Lansing, off to Kzoo for college, and now residing in GR with family still in Lansing, I'd say GR hands down. It's downtown is much better, the job market is much better, and the neighborhoods are much more eclectic. In addition, Cooley's campus is in a national historic district just South of downtown GR called Heartside, with pubs, art galleries, the arena, coffee shops, Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts, Avenue for the Arts, and quite a few loft apartment projects. In addition, with GVSU's downtown campus, Kendall College of Art and Design, WMU's GR campus, MSU's med school moving to downtown Grand Rapids, and Calvin's art programs all downtown, there's well over 25,000 college students downtown at any given time. Add in Aquinas and GVSU's Allendale campus and there are over 50,000 college students in GR.

Here's an old picture I took a few summers ago of Ionia Avenue in the Heartside District, with its rebuilt brick streets. Cooley is one block over to the right in this picture. In the foreground right is the Globe Apartments (factory conversion), and WMU's campus about halfway down on the right. There's a new apartment complex just out of view to the right that is scheduled to open this Spring.



And here is Commerce Ave where Cooley's campus is:




There are a few missions/homeless in this area, but it's becoming more mixed with all the redevelopment/historic preservation going on.

Hope that helps.