Moving to Grand Rapids-Living here without a car (Detroit, Walker: apartments, rentals)
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I've been looking through this forum and haven't found my exact situation so here it is. Will appreciate input from any of you!
Me: Female, mid-forties, creative/artsy type, single, work out nut, love walking/running/biking on trails, like to live in quiet, peaceful surroundings.
I am very fortunate to be able to work out of my house and have been given the ok to move really anywhere in the country. I have lived in the Detroit metro area all my life and have yet to experience this beautiful state. I have become fascinated with the city of Grand Rapids and thought I would like to move there for a year or so first. My plan is when I turn in my vehicle lease (early next year) to move somewhere where there is public transit rather than having a vehicle. I have invested many hours of research in this so chances are I will know what you are talking about with any of your suggestions. I will probably rent a house as apartment life is probably not the best for me. I am looking around $1000 a month to pay for rent just to give you an idea. I really like what I've seen of Rockwood, but I know there are no busses there. So here is what I'm asking.....can you name any neighborhoods around GR that are safe, quiet (meaning not a ton of college age people), within the bus system, in great visual surroundings and really just a cool all around place to live. I'm not an old fogey at all....very young in everything I do but I do lead kind of a quiet life, would travel to a place for night life rather than living right in the middle of it. Thank you!
I've been looking through this forum and haven't found my exact situation so here it is. Will appreciate input from any of you!
Me: Female, mid-forties, creative/artsy type, single, work out nut, love walking/running/biking on trails, like to live in quiet, peaceful surroundings.
I am very fortunate to be able to work out of my house and have been given the ok to move really anywhere in the country. I have lived in the Detroit metro area all my life and have yet to experience this beautiful state. I have become fascinated with the city of Grand Rapids and thought I would like to move there for a year or so first. My plan is when I turn in my vehicle lease (early next year) to move somewhere where there is public transit rather than having a vehicle. I have invested many hours of research in this so chances are I will know what you are talking about with any of your suggestions. I will probably rent a house as apartment life is probably not the best for me. I am looking around $1000 a month to pay for rent just to give you an idea. I really like what I've seen of Rockwood, but I know there are no busses there. So here is what I'm asking.....can you name any neighborhoods around GR that are safe, quiet (meaning not a ton of college age people), within the bus system, in great visual surroundings and really just a cool all around place to live. I'm not an old fogey at all....very young in everything I do but I do lead kind of a quiet life, would travel to a place for night life rather than living right in the middle of it. Thank you!
Heritage Hill, in the areas further away from Grand Rapids Community College (like Morris, Madison, etc. near Wealthy). Despite being within walking distance of downtown, they are very quiet with huge tree canopies and a very peaceful setting. There's also a really cool quiet area of HH on Union between Fulton and Cherry.
I go to Wealthy St Bakery for coffee a lot and there is constantly a stream of runners and bicyclists (and a few baby strollers) going by.
I lived in Grand Rapids without a car while I was a student, quite a few years ago. The bus system was good then, I am sure it is better now. It is very nice to buy a monthly bus pass and know you can go where ever you want to. The city is also bicycle friendly, except for some frantic traffic streets and that #@#@ hill.
Having a good selection of food within walking/biking distance of home will add to your quality of life when you don't have a car. My advice is to look for grocery stores that you like, and then hopefully find a neighborhood near the grocery store.
There are two grocery store locations that I would suggest taking a look at:
There are two grocery store locations that I would suggest taking a look at:
Family Fare near Fulton and Fuller
Family Fare near Leonard and Fuller
Heritage Hill is pretty close to the Family Fare on Fulton and Fuller, and pretty much downtown. It's probably the best bet. You can also check out the East Town neighborhood, which is close to that store. It's sort of hipster/artsy/college-ish.
Yes having a grocery store is important however I can take a bus to one I'm assuming. This is my big plan to get out of debt in a year thus the reason for ditching my car. I've researched Heritage Hill and the houses that seem to be for rent are rather large, however I'm not sure if they're all like that, plus I had the impression that it's probably a college age area with nothing but rooms being rented out in these houses. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that though as I think I would like that area. Someone mentioned Eastown and said it was college-ish which is what I don't want. Nothing against younger people but have had bad experiences with parties/disruptions and would really rather live in family friendly areas or older communities. I will be visiting GR in the next week or 2 and I need to plot out some destinations. As long as I can take a bus to a grocery store and gym and venture into downtown I'm good. Are there any gourment type grocery stores in the area? In my area it's Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Buschs, Nino Salvaggio....but I know there aren't any in GR. Anything similar? Thank you all for your comments as it really does help.
Your situation sounds similar to mine in certain ways. Generally you are correct about Heritage Hill. East Hills and Eastown areas are similar in that regard too.
I would take a look at the area west of Grand Rapids, west of Covell, in the Lake Michigan Dr/Leonard St region. There's two bus routes nearby, #'s 12 & 7, with grocery shopping at Family Faire at Collindale/Lake Mich Dr and Meijer on Wilson/Lake Michigan Dr.
Nice homes & apartments abound and drive times to downtown are measured in minutes if that's important. The areas are generally safe with not much riff raff you would find near downtown ...
In the winter you've got a first rate gym in Walker Ice & Fitness on Remembrance (plus outdoor hiking trail). The downtown Y near GVSU's campus is pretty good. Millenium Park is nearby, Blanford Nature Center, as is Kent Trails if bicyling, skating, walking is your thing. I-96 is close by for those quick jaunts to Lake Michigan.
GR isn't exactly known for its wide selection of gourmet type grocery stores There's a bunch of smaller neighborhood stores but don't know if any would be classified as gourmet. I've heard the new D&W at Knapp's Corner is suppose to be quite nice.
Yes having a grocery store is important however I can take a bus to one I'm assuming. This is my big plan to get out of debt in a year thus the reason for ditching my car. I've researched Heritage Hill and the houses that seem to be for rent are rather large, however I'm not sure if they're all like that, plus I had the impression that it's probably a college age area with nothing but rooms being rented out in these houses. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that though as I think I would like that area. Someone mentioned Eastown and said it was college-ish which is what I don't want. Nothing against younger people but have had bad experiences with parties/disruptions and would really rather live in family friendly areas or older communities. I will be visiting GR in the next week or 2 and I need to plot out some destinations. As long as I can take a bus to a grocery store and gym and venture into downtown I'm good. Are there any gourment type grocery stores in the area? In my area it's Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Buschs, Nino Salvaggio....but I know there aren't any in GR. Anything similar? Thank you all for your comments as it really does help.
Heritage Hill is full of huge Victorian homes, but not a whole lot of them are single family homes these days. Landlords generally divide up these homes into individual units. There are lofts, 1 bedrooms, etc. Some of these houses are near 10k square feet, and end up being apartment buildings. It's not just college students by any means. There are families, recent graduates and college students. It's a pretty even mix honestly.
East-town is more college oriented since rent is a little cheaper there, it really just depends on what part of the area you live in. There are families in the area, but you might wind up next door to a college house that has parties.
There is an organic/health grocery store on 28th Street, which is accessible by bus but it is probably a fairly long ride. Family Fare in East Grand Rapids is closer and has a nice selection of groceries. World Market (I think?) is also on 29th street.
Thank you Jandur for your comments. What I'm doing is "weeding out" areas and you kind of confirmed what my gutt feeling was in Heritage Hills even though it sounds incredible.
Actinic, ironically I have been looking along Lake Michigan Drive as far as a place to live because as I was mapping things I knew there were bus stops along there as well as a Snap Fitness I think. As much as I don't want to live in an apartment, Bayberry apartments have many great reviews so I was going to check that out as well as some of the subdivisions around there. I've seen quite a few houses for rent on line in that general area. Looks like it's near trails as well and pretty safe. I'm glad you confirmed that for me. You have a similar situation? And yes D&W would be the type of store that will be on my "route". I will also check out that Walker and Fitness center you mentioned. Sounds awesome. Thank you so much!!
Heritage Hill is full of huge Victorian homes, but not a whole lot of them are single family homes these days. Landlords generally divide up these homes into individual units. There are lofts, 1 bedrooms, etc. Some of these houses are near 10k square feet, and end up being apartment buildings. It's not just college students by any means. There are families, recent graduates and college students. It's a pretty even mix honestly.
East-town is more college oriented since rent is a little cheaper there, it really just depends on what part of the area you live in. There are families in the area, but you might wind up next door to a college house that has parties.
There is an organic/health grocery store on 28th Street, which is accessible by bus but it is probably a fairly long ride. Family Fare in East Grand Rapids is closer and has a nice selection of groceries. World Market (I think?) is also on 29th street.
Not necessarily true. There are some areas of HH which are almost entirely owner occupied; especially where the homes are smaller and more manageable (but still gorgeous). I would say that Eastown is more rentals and young people than HH, unless my impressions of Eastown are totally wrong.
GB Russo's on 29th Street is pretty good for gourmet. Kingma's on Plainfield is not bad, and they carry a lot of organics.
Not necessarily true. There are some areas of HH which are almost entirely owner occupied; especially where the homes are smaller and more manageable (but still gorgeous). I would say that Eastown is more rentals and young people than HH, unless my impressions of Eastown are totally wrong.
GB Russo's on 29th Street is pretty good for gourmet. Kingma's on Plainfield is not bad, and they carry a lot of organics.
Yeah not all of them are apartments, might have made an over-generalization there. The huge ones, at least in my experience usually aren't single family homes. Not a ton of people can really afford those homes in general, and don't really need that size.
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