East Grand Rapids on the Today Show (Detroit, Wayne: living, shop)

[magellan]

Originally Posted by khfar

I think my husband would have loved it if I were far, far away from all things shopping!

Where is Birch Run? I'm guessing it's closer to GR, right?

No, actually it's between Flint and Saginaw (North of Detroit), right on I-75. Her folks still live in that area, so she takes advantage of it. They have most of the major designer label outlet stores.

Prime Outlets

[Cato the Elder]

If you go to Birch Run, it's not that much further to Frankenmuth. You might have noticed signs for Bronner's on the highways; it's a store in Frankenmuth. We walked around the town with our son earlier this year and he loved it.

[suydam]

Originally Posted by scottmi

(especially culturally....what is there....10% black people? That's not diverse).

Be nice now....

Races in Grand Rapids (city of):
* White Non-Hispanic (62.5%)
* Black (20.4%)
* Hispanic (13.1%)
* Other race (6.6%)
* Two or more races (3.2%)
* American Indian (1.5%)
* Vietnamese (0.8%)

Cato - Frankenmuth is great, I agree. Don't leave without eating some fried chicken at Zender's.

Kfhar, if you're looking for upscale, just go to Somerset Collection in Troy. That's the only "upscale" shopping in Michigan if you take "upscale" to mean what it means in other states (no outlets, which are the antithesis of upscale, aren't they?). Somerset has Neiman, Saks, Nordstrom, Macy's and lots of upscale small shops too (e.g. Tiffany, Burberry, Armani Exchange, Louis Vutton, etc.). If that's what you're after, that's the only option of its kind short of a drive out of state.

[scottmi]

Originally Posted by suydam

Be nice now....

Races in Grand Rapids (city of):
* White Non-Hispanic (62.5%)
* Black (20.4%)
* Hispanic (13.1%)
* Other race (6.6%)
* Two or more races (3.2%)
* American Indian (1.5%)
* Vietnamese (0.8%)

Cato - Frankenmuth is great, I agree. Don't leave without eating some fried chicken at Zender's.

Kfhar, if you're looking for upscale, just go to Somerset Collection in Troy. That's the only "upscale" shopping in Michigan if you take "upscale" to mean what it means in other states (no outlets, which are the antithesis of upscale, aren't they?). Somerset has Neiman, Saks, Nordstrom, Macy's and lots of upscale small shops too (e.g. Tiffany, Burberry, Armani Exchange, Louis Vutton, etc.). If that's what you're after, that's the only option of its kind short of a drive out of state.

Well that's funny, anytime I'm in Grand Rapids (passing through or actually looking around / shopping) I don't see 2 black people and 1 hispanic person for every 6 white people. If GR has this many "minorities" they must keep them tucked away where as few people as possible can see 'em.

This is a great time to quote Maddox and his funny but true look at the way advertisers, companies (and apparently cities like GR) promote the world:

"4. At least 1 in 3 people chosen at random will necessarily be "African American," even though only 13% of the US population is black."

[magellan]

Originally Posted by suydam

Be nice now....

Races in Grand Rapids (city of):
* White Non-Hispanic (62.5%)
* Black (20.4%)
* Hispanic (13.1%)
* Other race (6.6%)
* Two or more races (3.2%)
* American Indian (1.5%)
* Vietnamese (0.8%)

.

Hmmm, the racial makeup of Grand Rapids almost exactly matches the United States as a whole, yet that's not "diverse" enough for some people.

In fact, Grand Rapids is more "diverse" than the city of Detroit, yet Detroit is held up as the "more diverse" option? (Detroit is 98% black, the poster child of mono-culture) And since when did the African American population percentage determine the "diversity" of an area? What about Asians? Middle-Eastern? Hispanic? I guess they don't count toward diversity?

[scottmi]

Originally Posted by magellan

Hmmm, the racial makeup of Grand Rapids almost exactly matches the United States as a whole, yet that's not "diverse" enough for some people.

In fact, Grand Rapids is more "diverse" than the city of Detroit, yet Detroit is held up as the "more diverse" option? (Detroit is 98% black, the poster child of mono-culture) And since when did the African American population percentage determine the "diversity" of an area? What about Asians? Middle-Eastern? Hispanic? I guess they don't count toward diversity?

Well, I don't think Blacks alone represent "diversity" but for a long time, they were the largest minority in the country overall. So for most, "diverse" means blacks and whites side by side. Nowadays you could probably lump hispanics in with blacks since they are just as large, if not larger in many areas.

In places like Detroit or Benton Harbor, I would still consider them "diverse" in terms of races. Mainly because of one thing - even if the towns themselves are mostly Black, the nearby surrounding areas are mainly white. There isn't enough distance to truly keep these places separate - people will spill over on both sides for work, entertainment, etc..

You don't see this in GR though - it's a white folks' town, much like most places in Michigan.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by scottmi

Well, I don't think Blacks alone represent "diversity" but for a long time, they were the largest minority in the country overall. So for most, "diverse" means blacks and whites side by side. Nowadays you could probably lump hispanics in with blacks since they are just as large, if not larger in many areas.

In places like Detroit or Benton Harbor, I would still consider them "diverse" in terms of races. Mainly because of one thing - even if the towns themselves are mostly Black, the nearby surrounding areas are mainly white. There isn't enough distance to truly keep these places separate - people will spill over on both sides for work, entertainment, etc..

You don't see this in GR though - it's a white folks' town, much like most places in Michigan.

Haha! Too funny. Most people would call the differences between Detroit and its suburbs, and St Joseph/Benton Harbor, as "racial segregation", probably the two worst cases of it in the country. It's not diversity in the slightest when white people en masse move away from black people, or polarize blacks to not cross "geographical boundaries" such as the St Joseph River or the Wayne/Oakland County line.

People might spill over the lines for work or for a venture to a casino or bar, but they certainly aren't living together in harmony. Sorry, but you just don't see that much racial "disharmony' in Grand Rapids.

But then again, if you like big urban cities like Chicago, New York, Seattle, or San Francisco, Grand Rapids ain't even close (in a good way in my opinion). If you like suburban living, other than the lack of a Nordstrom, Grand Rapids' metro area is just as good, or even better, than many others.

[scottmi]

Originally Posted by magellan

Haha! Too funny. Most people would call the differences between Detroit and its suburbs, and St Joseph/Benton Harbor, as "racial segregation", probably the two worst cases of it in the country. It's not diversity in the slightest when white people en masse move away from black people, or polarize blacks to not cross "geographical boundaries" such as the St Joseph River or the Wayne/Oakland County line.

People might spill over the lines for work or for a venture to a casino or bar, but they certainly aren't living together in harmony. Sorry, but you just don't see that much racial "disharmony' in Grand Rapids.

But then again, if you like big urban cities like Chicago, New York, Seattle, or San Francisco, Grand Rapids ain't even close (in a good way in my opinion). If you like suburban living, other than the lack of a Nordstrom, Grand Rapids' metro area is just as good, or even better, than many others.

Well, I have very recent experience with "diversity" as I described by living in Chicago. There, you can map the races by street and for the most part, whites stay with whites, blacks stay away from downtown (to live) etc.

HOWEVER...

You can't do too much without running across blacks or hispanics (or whites if you're black, etc.).

That's what I meant. Forced integration due to sharing of resources.

[CaseyAnnWMU]

Originally Posted by khfar

I wanted pro sports.

Yeah...Well if you saw the Lions today, Detroit wouldn't have seemed so appealing! ;-) Haha.

[khfar]

Originally Posted by CaseyAnnWMU

Yeah...Well if you saw the Lions today, Detroit wouldn't have seemed so appealing! ;-) Haha.

Oh, have no fear! I wanted pro sports so that I could possibly attend games when MY team was playing them! That would be the Cowboys, Stars, Mavericks.