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Old 06-13-2012, 06:11 PM
 
6 posts, read 16,769 times
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OK, after awhile I think I have now figured out where I may be relocating to, Grand Rapids! I will be relocating from Omaha, Nebraska and am 24 year old single male. I am looking for an area/place to live in Grand Rapids. I would like to be close to restaurants, bars etc and preferably be in a younger, vibrant community. Ideally, a remodeled condo would be very nice. I am not sure if there are many 'urban' areas in Grand Rapids, but that would be my preference.

I would also like to be pretty close to a gym and golf course. My budget is about $900 per month. I will also need parking and want to be in an area that is safe and secure. Any help that anyone can offer is much appreciated, as I am kind of going in blind. Thank you in advance.
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Old 06-13-2012, 07:46 PM
 
Location: Niceville, FL
13,258 posts, read 22,891,622 times
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Downtown Grand Rapids has seen a lot of condo conversions and you can walk to a lot of nightlife and restaurants. Not sure how parking shakes out there though. The adjacent Heritage Hill area to the east skews toward 19th century mansions converted to small apartment buildings in various stages of interior renovation, and you should be able to find a place with off-street parking included. There's a new nice YMCA complex over by the Grand Valley State University branch campus west of the river.

While you aren't golf-course adjacent, the core of the metro area is nice and compact, and unless you're going to the Lake Michigan beaches, (30-45 minutes away) you can generally find just about anything within 15-20 minutes of where you are, including multiple golf courses.
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Old 06-13-2012, 07:51 PM
 
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//www.city-data.com/forum/grand...-downtown.html
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Old 06-14-2012, 08:54 AM
 
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
8,882 posts, read 19,881,379 times
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There are quite a few apartments downtown that would fit the bill. And I can think of at least half a dozen golf courses within 10 - 15 minutes of downtown. The Mines is one of my favorite, built on rolling terrain that used to be old gypsum mines, on the West Side.

I'd google:

Boardwalk
Globe Apartments
Division Park Avenue
Loose Leaf Lofts
Metropolitan Park Apts
38 Commerce
Gallery on Fulton

as some examples. There are a ton more.
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Old 06-14-2012, 05:32 PM
 
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For $900, with parking, especially for a nicer place in downtown, is going to be out of your price-range. You will probably need to find a roommate. We are moving to GR in August sometime, and have the very same budget. We settled for a newer place in Allendale. About a 20 min drive to downtown. Not much new construction in and around GR. Some nicer apts I came across were:

Welcome To Stone Falls of Ada

index

Loft 45

Good luck and PM me if you have any questions!
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Old 06-14-2012, 07:25 PM
 
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Thank you all for the input. I have been doing some research, and indeed I think downtown is the place to be. However, it is tough to find a nicer, high end condo for the budget.
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Old 06-14-2012, 08:48 PM
 
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
8,882 posts, read 19,881,379 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by knew2charlotte View Post
Thank you all for the input. I have been doing some research, and indeed I think downtown is the place to be. However, it is tough to find a nicer, high end condo for the budget.
You might try Craigslist for apartments. A lot of people around here use it:

craigslist: grand rapids classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events

I've sold stuff on Craigslist in one day using it.
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Old 06-15-2012, 08:04 AM
 
1,210 posts, read 3,067,508 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisCanDoIt View Post
For $900, with parking, especially for a nicer place in downtown, is going to be out of your price-range. You will probably need to find a roommate. We are moving to GR in August sometime, and have the very same budget. We settled for a newer place in Allendale. About a 20 min drive to downtown. Not much new construction in and around GR. Some nicer apts I came across were:

Really? How much is parking downtown these days? I had friends that lived in Plaza Towers for $800/mo. I don't think she paid more than $50/mo for parking.
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Old 06-15-2012, 09:44 AM
 
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
8,882 posts, read 19,881,379 times
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There's also Heritage Hill. A lot of apartments like this:

Near St. Mary's Hosp., Spectrum Hosp., Downtown & surrounding colleges
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Old 06-15-2012, 10:27 AM
 
16 posts, read 29,825 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jandur View Post
Really? How much is parking downtown these days? I had friends that lived in Plaza Towers for $800/mo. I don't think she paid more than $50/mo for parking.
How long ago did they live in Plaza Towers? Rents have increased quite a bit in downtown, there seems to be a bit of a rental boom. As far as parking, I was quoted anywhere from $70-$120/month in addition to rent.
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